Phillips County Museum News for Wednesday, August 21, 2024

In 1918, a wildcat oil rigger testing in the area for oil struck a gushing well of hot water at

approximately 3,100 feet. Gas also flowed from the well so drilling was abandoned. Over time

water bubbled out from around the old casing and formed a pool. Elbert Davison, a Saco rancher on

the Great Falls Ranch had a son stricken with polio. He built a box out of planks around the hot

mineral well and would bring his son there to soak in the hot flowing water. Other people soon

began bathing in the water so a larger box was built out of railroad ties.

In 1926, a group of Saco people tore out the o...