Salt Springs In This Area

Salt Springs In This Area. . , Salt: The Precious Substance , If an area or territory possessed any prospect for settlement by Europeans or Americans, it had to have the quantity of food sufficient to last year-round - especially meat. Salt was the main means available to preserve meat for later consumption. Salt was also thought to be indispensable for pickling and preserving other food stuff and for seasoning as well as in the curing and tanning of animal hides., Thus, the need for salt was great. For instance, it is reported that four pounds of salt were required to cure 20 pounds of ham and 15 pounds of salt to cure 100 pounds of pork or beef. , What Is a Salt Lick? , Animals such as deer, elk and bison would gather at briny springs and actually lick the ground to obtain salt. Hence the term "lick" was generally applied to all salt springs. , Distribution of Springs in the Boone's Lick Area , Approximately one-third of the state of Missouri contains saline waters, mainly in the north and west. The distribution of saline water roughly corresponds with the Pennsylvania-age rock formations in the state. As glacial drift is thick over almost all of this area, saline springs occur most commonly along the southern edge of the drift and the Pennsylvanian-age formations. As one ascends the Missouri River, the Howard and Saline county area is the first to contain major saline springs. Many of these springs were used in the production of salt in the early history of the Missouri Territory and early statehood. , Upper Spring/Lower Spring Complexes , Boone's Lick is not a single spring. Rather it consists of a series of springs and seeps in two areas. The upper spring complex consists of two springs and had a series of troughs and furnaces. This is located farther up the valley. The lower spring complex contains several (at least two) springs and had a water duct system and furnaces. , (side quote:), "buffaloe[sic] plenty within a few miles of our salt works…and in one instance a buffaloe come up with our own to the furnace, where one of the Frenchmen killed it while licking in the [salt] trough and slaughtered it." , -Reminisce of Jesse Morrison, 1851