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Hot Springs National Park is a United States National Park in central Garland County, Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Hot Springs, the county seat. Hot Springs Reservation was initially created by an act of the United States Congress on April 20, 1832 to be preserved for future recreation. Established before the concept of a national park existed, it was the first time that a piece of land had been set aside by the federal government to preserve its use as an area for recreation. The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess medicinal properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town. Incorporated January 10, 1851, the city has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, illegal gambling, speakeasies and gangsters such as Al Capone, horse racing at Oaklawn Park, the Army and Navy Hospital, and 42nd President Bill Clinton. The area was made a national park on March 4, 1921.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The National Parks: Index 2009–2011 )〕 It is the smallest national park by area in the United States. Since Hot Springs National Park is the oldest park maintained by the National Park Service, it was rightfully the first to receive its own US quarter in April 2010 as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters coin series. The hot springs flow from the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain, part of the Ouachita Mountain range. In the park, the hot springs have not been preserved in their unaltered state as natural surface phenomena. They have instead been managed to conserve the production of uncontaminated hot water for public use. The mountains within the park are also managed within this conservation philosophy in order to preserve the hydrological system that feeds the springs. Following 8,000 years of use by indigenous peoples, European Americans discovered and appropriated the springs. They have used the hot spring water in therapeutic baths for more than 200 years to treat rheumatism and other ailments. While this was a reservation, the area developed into a well-known resort nicknamed The American Spa; it attracted not only the wealthy but indigent health seekers from around the worldl. The park includes portions of downtown Hot Springs, making it one of the most accessible national parks. There are numerous hiking trails and camping areas. Bathing in spring water is available in approved facilities at extra cost. The entire Bathhouse Row area is designated as a National Historic Landmark District that contains the grandest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America, including many outstanding examples of Gilded Age architecture. The row's Fordyce Bathhouse serves as the park's visitor center; the Buckstaff and Quapaw are the only facilities in 2015 still operating as bathhouses. Other buildings of the row are being restored or are used for other purposes. The park has become increasingly popular in recent years, and recorded over 1.5 million visitors in 2003, as well as nearly 2.5 million non-recreational visitors. ==Discovery and protection== For thousands of years, this area was visited by chiefs and tribes of numerous indigenous peoples. They called it the "Valley of the Vapors" at the time of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto's arrival in the area in 1541. He was the first known European to see the springs. Members of many Native American tribes had been gathering in the valley for over 8,000 years to enjoy the healing properties of the thermal springs. Around the 18th century the Caddo settled in the area, followed by the Choctaw, Cherokee, and other tribes from the Southeast across the Mississippi River. There was agreement among the tribes that they would put aside their weapons and partake of the healing waters in peace while in the valley.〔Hot Springs AR Info: (Hot Springs AR History & Facts )〕 The Quapaw lived in the Arkansas River delta area and visited the springs.〔 In 1673 Father Marquette and Jolliet explored the area and claimed it for France. The Treaty of Paris 1763 ceded the land back to Spain; however, in 1800 control was returned to France until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. In December 1804 William Dunbar and George Hunter made an expedition to the Ouachita Mountains and the springs at the request of President Thomas Jefferson, to study the native peoples and flora and fauna. They found one log cabin and a few rudimentary shelters used by people visiting the springs for their healing properties. In 1807 Jean Emmanual Prudhomme, of French colonial descent, became the first European-American settler of modern Hot Springs. After he regained his health following two years of bathing in the hot water and eating local foods, he returned home to his plantation on the Red River in Louisiana.〔 Not long afterward trappers John Perciful and Isaac Cates arrived; Perciful put up more cabins for visitors. On August 24, 1818, the Quapaw Indians ceded the land around the hot springs to the United States in a treaty after having been forced to a reservation south of the site.〔 They were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s. After Arkansas became its own territory in 1819, the Arkansas Territorial Legislature requested in 1820 that the springs and adjoining mountains be set aside as a federal reservation. Twelve years later, in 1832, the 22nd United States Congress formed the national reservation, granting federal protection of the thermal waters and giving Hot Springs the honor of being the first “national park” to be designated for such government protection.〔 The Hot Springs Reservation was set aside for public use as a park on June 16, 1880.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hot Springs National Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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