“One incident that happened that summer impressed me with solemn thoughts. For lack of a house a great many people gathered under the trees one Sunday to hear the preacher. A rain came up and we all retired to the rock house. As I listened to a good sermon and saw the preacher laying his book on the rock where I had so often set my coffee pot, my mind ran back to the many times I had camped here, to times when the scream of the panther or the growl of the bear mingled with that of my dogs in the fight. Little did I think that afterwards I would sit here and hear the voice of the man of God echoing among those rocks. I was convinced that the all-wise Creator had not made these mountains and valleys merely for the wild beasts. “People kept pouring in, and in the fall and winter of 1879 my house was always full of sick and helpless people who had no shelter. We could never turn them away, and many times my wife and I had to give up our own bed. “One miraculous cure I remember was that of a young man who was brought helpless to my house by his father. He had rheumatism and had to be carried in from the wagon. He drank freely from the keg of Basin water we had at the house, and then his father took him to town the next day and bathed him in the water two or three times a day. In one week they came driving back and the boy was sitting up in the seat and could get around very well. The old gentleman started on to his Missouri home with his son and a barrel of Basin water.... “The town built up rapidly without much form or improvement of streets until after Governor Clayton located here, and through his influence and energy the town soon had a railroad and passable streets, and then the springs were improved and the streets fixed, adding much to the looks and comfort of the place. Now it is one of the most picturesque towns to be found in the state, and is visited both for health and pleasure. The town has many magnificent buildings and substantial enterprises, including the Sanitarium Company, which has grounds near Eureka Springs and is doing much in the way of improvements. The beautiful scenery in every direction fills the visitor with astonishment not to be described with the pen.”[13] One story is told about John Gaskins and his encounter with a bear near Oil Spring on the outskirts of Eureka Springs. Some say it was another hunter who killed the bear, but the incident is usually credited to Uncle Johnny.