Full Text of History of Vermillion County Illinois -- Chapter VI

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CHAPTER VI.

THE VERMILION SALINES.

SALT WAS ANXIOUSLY SOUGHT BY EARLY EXPLORERS-THE SALINES OF SOUTHERN 
ILLINOIS-SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN WORKED BY A PREHISTORIC PEOPLE- JOSEPH 
BARRON, FOR MANY YEARS GOVERNOR HARRISON'S INTERPRETER, VISITED THE 
VERMILION SALINES IN l801-AGAIN AT THE SAME PLACE IN 1819 WITH A PARTY 
TO EXPLORE IT TO AFTERWARD WORK THE SPRINGS-SECOND EXPEDI-1 TION TO THE 
SPRINGS ORGANIZED WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE OF BARRON-LITTLE EVIDENCE OF ANY 
PREVIOUS ATTEMPT TO WORK THE SPRINGS TO PROFIT- BLACKMAN TOOK LEASE IN 
HIS OWN NAME-DIFFERENCES AMONG CONFLICTING CLAIMANTS SETTLED IN l822-
JOHN W. VANCE LEASED THE SALINES IN 1824 AND WORKED THEM TO PROFIT-
EVIDENCES OF EARLY USE OF SALINES.


	The discovery of salt in Southern Illinois was a great factor in 
attracting immigration to the territory, in the beginning of the 19th 
Century. The scarcity of that commodity at this time is evidenced in a 
book published in 1796, where the statement is made that "there was no 
salt to be had west of the mountains, excepting at Marietta, and what is 
for sale here is brought over the mountains, on pack horses, and is sold 
for sixteen cents a pound."

	The earliest known settlement on the Saline river in Southern 
Illinois, was made in 1800, or at latest date, in 1802. They found 
abundant evidence of some one having made salt before their coming, but 
who, and at what time, was more difficult to determine. Many have been 
inclined to the theory that salt was manufactured in southern Illinois 
by a people whose history antedates that of the tribes who inhabited 
this country at the coming of the Europeans. As evidence of this idea, 
the pottery found by the early settler could be explained in no more 
satisfactory way than to assume it had been used in this work.

	This pottery has the appearance of having been moulded in a 
basket, or frame work, which has left its impression on the outside of 
the article. Some are inclined to the belief however, that the pottery 
was moulded on the outside of a mold, and that the impressions were made 
by wrapping coarse cloth around the vessels as they were lifted off the 
mold. This same pottery, or salt pans, was found in abundance both in 
and around the salt works of Illinois and Missouri, near St. Genevieve. 
There is a tradition that the salt springs, wells and licks, on the 
Saline river in Gallatin county, were operated by the Indians and French 
for many years previous to the coming of the English about 1800. Certain 
it is that the French understood the salt making process; and the 
Indians no doubt, knew where the springs and licks were. An Englishman 
writing to the Earl of Hillsboro in 1770, in speaking of the region 
around the mouth of the Wabash and Saline rivers, mentioned the 
abundance of salt springs in that region. In another description of the 
region of the Wabash the writer says: "The Wabash abounds with salt 
springs, and any quantity of salt may be made from them in a manner now 
done in the Illinois country." This was in 1778, twenty-two years before 
the coming of the English to these salt works.

	The earliest reference in the west to salt making to be found in 
state papers is in the law of May 18, 1796. In an act of this date it is 
made the duty of the surveyors, working for the United States and making 
surveys in the territory northwest of the Ohio river, "to observe 
closely for mines, salt, salt springs and salt licks and mill seats."

	In the winter of 1799 and 1800, Wm. Henry Harrison was the 
delegate in Congress from the territory of the northwest. In his report 
Mr. Harrison says:

"Upon inquiry we find that salt springs and salt licks are operated by 
individuals, and timber is being wasted. Therefore we recommend that 
salt springs and salt licks, property of the United States, in the 
territory northwest of the Ohio, ought to be leased for a term of 
years." No definite action was taken upon this by Congress. Upon March 
3, 1803, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to lease the 
salt springs and licks for the benefit of the government. It was in June 
of this same year that Harrison made the treaty at Fort Wayne, whereby 
he made the purchase of land, a portion of which is in what is now 
Vermilion County, known as the "Harrison Purchase." This was two years 
after Joseph Barron, Harrison's interpreter, visited the Vermilion 
Salines.

	That same summer Governor Harrison leased the Southern Salines to 
a Captain Bell, of Lexington, Kentucky. By an act of Congress March 26, 
1804, all salt springs, wells and licks, with the necessary land 
adjacent thereto, were reserved from sale as the property of the United 
States. The Territorial Governor was authorized to lease these salt 
wells and springs, to the best advantage of the government. During all 
this time the salt to be found on the Vermilion was not accessible 
because of the hostility of the Indians who lived along the banks. The 
Kickapoos had a large village near where the wells were afterwards dug. 
The treaty of August, 1819, however, extinguished the Indian titles to 
these lands, and the search for salt was begun.

	That the presence of salt was known at that time is beyond 
question, because of an affidavit made by Joseph Barron to the effect 
that he was, himself, at the "Vermilion Salines" as early as the year 
1801.

	But there is another and even better proof of the fact that the 
springs were known to be found in a letter written by Shadrach Bond, who 
was governor of the state of Illinois at that time. The letter was 
written to Wm. H. Craw ford and reads as follows:

                                           KASKASKIA, April 3, 1819. 
To the Hon. Wm. H. Crawford,

	SIR :-It is ascertained that there are valuable Salt Springs upon 
sections 22 and 23 in township 2, N. of R. 7 E. of the 3rd, principal 
meridian in this state and (since the titles, for all Salt Springs 
together with land reserved for the use of the same within this state 
have been granted to the state), I have the honor to request that the 
usual quantity of land may be reserved for the use of the springs upon 
the afore mentioned sections and as contiguous thereto as may be. I have 
the honor, etc.

                                              SHADRACH BOND.

	P. S. At the request of Judge Towle I send the enclosed 
certificate. This letter which, it will be noticed bears date of April 
3, 1819, shows knowledge of the salt springs antedating the exploration 
of the Vermilion river by Barron and his company when they reached the 
springs September 22, 1819.

	Barron's long connection with General Harrison was such, that had 
any knowledge of the springs been had, it would have been his as well. 
Barron was Harrison's interpreter and was well versed in all the 
dialects spoken by the Indian tribes who lived, hunted or claimed to own 
the lands watered by the Wabash river and the streams flowing into it.

	The extreme hostility of these Indians can be understood in no way 
better than by the fact that, in spite of the interest shown by General 
Harrison in other salt springs, these on the Vermilion were left alone. 
The positive previous knowledge of these springs is proven" by the above 
quoted letter and again by the fact that it was less than a month after 
the treaty was made that Mr. Barron was again on the spot prepared to 
locate them. He took with him three white men and two Shawnee Indians 
whom he (Barron) had hired to show him minerals, etc. Whether he took 
the white men to help him, or was going to share the profits of the 
expedition, is a little uncertain from the text of the affidavit on 
record. This affidavit, after making oath of his going to the salines in 
1801, goes on to state that he was again at the same "salt spring 
situated on the Big Vermilion river, on the north side, about one and a 
half miles above the old Kickapoo town, and about fifteen or eighteen 
miles from the Big Wabash river, in the county of dark, state of 
Illinois, on the 22d day of September, 1819, in company with Lambert 
Bona, Zachariah Cicott, and Truman Blackman, together with four Shawnee 
Indians whom I had hired to go with me and show me the minerals, salt 
springs, etc.

	This party duly located the springs and returned to Fort Harrison 
that Barron might make the necessary record of the discovery. A recent 
law of Illinois gave the discoverer of salines the right to manufacture 
salt within a given area. While Barron was perfecting his arrangements. 
Captain Blackman organized another party to go on an expedition to these 
springs and take the credit of the discovery already made. This 
expedition was kept a secret, from all but the ones interested. Seymour 
Treat, Peter Allen, Francis Whitcomb, and Captain Blackman's brother, 
Remember, comprised the party when they left Fort Harrison, but the two 
Beckwith brothers, Dan and George joined them at the North Arm Prairie, 
where they were living with Jonathan Mayo. It is thought that these five 
men crossed the Wabash at the mouth of Otter Creek, in the latter part 
of October and struck out in a northwest course through the timber and 
prairies keeping the direction with a small pocket compass.

	When they came to a stream, supposed to be the Big Vermilion, they 
camped. This was October 31, 1819. They inferred they were about 25 
miles from the Wabash river. Here Captain Blackman pointed out a smooth 
spot of low ground about twenty to thirty rods across, where he said 
there was salt water. There was no vegetation growing there and little 
trace of people ever having used the water. Peter Alien in his affidavit 
testified that there were "some few places where the Indians had sunk 
curbs of bark into the soil for the purpose of procuring salt water." 
Two or three of the men were set to work •with spades to dig in the soil 
and, by going two or three feet into the saturated ground, saline water 
was procured. This water was boiled down in a kettle they had brought 
with them for the purpose, and they found that about two gallons of 
water made four ounces of good clear salt. An experimental well was dug 
a few rods from the former, and the water was found to contain a larger 
per cent of salt. The agreement was made that Blackman should recognize 
Treat, Whitcomb and the Beckwiths as partners in the discovery of the 
salt springs and each should pay his portion of the expenses. Whitcomb 
and Beckwith were left in charge so that no one could come and claim 
possession. Blackman had learned a lesson from his own treachery of 
Barron. These men were to go on in the manufacture of salt while the 
others returned to Fort Harrison to procure tools and provisions as well 
as to move Treats' family.

	In the latter part of November, Treat returned, coming up the 
Wabash and Vermilion rivers in a pirogue, with tools, provision and his 
wife and children. The men were good axe-men and a cabin was soon built 
so as to give Treat's family needed shelter. While the settlement was 
thus made, the development of the salt works was not so easily 
accomplished. Blackman had proved as dishonorable in the case of the 
second party as he had toward Barron.

	Notwithstanding the promise to include the others in the profits 
of the discovery of the salt springs (which was after all not theirs, 
but Barrons) Blackman took the lease or permit to manufacture salt in 
his own name. Complaint was entered by the other men as well as by Mr. 
Barron, and some three years passed before the difficulty was adjusted. 
Another letter from Governor Bond gives one reason, at least, for the 
delay.

To J. B. Thomas, N. Edwards, and D. P. Cook:

                                               KASKASKIA, Dec. 20, 1819.
	On the 3d of April last I wrote the Secretary of the Treasury that 
Salines had been discovered upon sections 22 and 23 in township No. 2 N. 
Range No. 7 East of the principal meridian and requested that the usual 
reservations of land for use of the same might be made, I have not 
received the answer of the Secretary. Will you have the goodness to 
communicate with him on the subject and let me know the determination of 
the Government. A valuable salt spring has been discovered upon the 
Vermilion river in the eastern part of the state and I have received 
several applications to lease it. The lands about have not been surveyed 
and I can not lease until some reservation of land from public sale 
shall be made for its use. Will it not be possible to obtain a 
reservation before the surveys are made? Please to give me an early 
answer. 
                              I have the honor to be Gent. Yrs. &c.,
                                                  SHADRACH BOND.

	The gentlemen addressed in this letter were representing Illinois 
in Congress at that time. The examination of these salines was not made 
until the following year, however. It was August 28, 1822, before the 
President approved the necessary reservation, and even then the land 
could not be leased because of the fact that it was found to be on a 
section 16, all of such number being set apart for school lands. This 
complication called for the following letter from Gov. Coles to the 
members of Congress.

To N. Edwards, J. B. Thomas and D. B. Cook:
	Gentlemen, - In the year 1819 a saline was discovered on the 
Vermilion river in this state, which was examined the ensuing year in 
conformity to the instructions received from the commissioner of the 
General Land Office, by Col. Th. Cox, the Register of the Land Office at 
this place who reported that "from all appearances there was little 
reason to doubt of its being saline of more than ordinary value," and 
recommended that the Govt. should reserve from sale and appropriate for 
the use of the Saline a Tract of Land which "should extend two miles on 
each side of the creek, & about ten miles in length, extending about six 
miles below Blackman's wells." Since Col. Cox made his examination and 
report, the lands in that district of country have been surveyed and the 
Salines have been found to be in section sixteen, in township 19, N. of 
Range 12 W. of the principal meridian. In a letter addressed by Mr. 
Meigs to Govr. Bond dated August 28, 1822, he says:
"The President of the U. S. has approved of the reservation suggested by 
Th. Cox who was appointed to examine those salines in 1820," and adds 
that "Mr. Kitchell, the Register of the Land Office at Palestine, has 
been requested to designate, according to the best of his Judgment the 
lands alluded to in Mr. Cox's report by section, Township & Range and to 
exempt them for sale." This Mr. Kitchell informs me he has done but has 
suggested a small alteration in the reservation as proposed by Mr. Cox. 
In the letter above referred to Mr. Meigs says "as Section on No. 16 in 
township 19 N. of Range No. 12 W. of the section principal Mn. is 
covered by a salt spring I would suggest that the Secretary of the 
Treasury is at present absent from the city, that you (Gov. Bond) make a 
selection of a section in the same township, for the purpose of 
education and report the same, to the Register of the Land Office at 
Palestine who will reserve the same from sale until the decision of the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall have been obtained."

	In accordance with this suggestion Gov. Bond authorized Mr. 
Kitchell, the Register of the Land Office at Palestine to select another 
section in lieu of Section 16, who selected and reserved from sale 
section No. 28 of the same township for the purpose of education.

	With a knowledge of these facts, but without knowing whether the 
proper sanction had been given to the exchange of the 16 section or of a 
more formal approbation of the President to the reservation, as 
designated by Mr. Kitchell, I have been induced by the earnest 
solicitation of the parties claiming to have discovered the Saline who 
have been applying for a lease the last three years, to lease it (viz: 
the West half of section 16, and the East half of Section 17) to them 
for the term of four years under the provision of act entitled "An act 
to encourage the discovery of salt water."

	I have thought proper to state these facts for your information & 
to enable you to have perfected the title of the State to the 
Reservation in question and the proper sanction given to the exchange of 
the 16th section; and I am the more particular in calling your attention 
to them as doubts are entertained by some whether Legislative provisions 
may not be required in one or possibly both cases.

	ermit me also to call your attention to the fact that proper 
titles have not been received for the grants of Land which the Federal 
Govt. has made to this State for the use of Salines & for the location 
of its seat of Govt. By having Patents made out & forwarded to this 
office you will render us acceptable service to this State and a 
particular favor on your fellow citizen.
                                                    EDWARD COLES.

	That Gov. Coles was a man who would not work a hardship to any one 
is shown by the way he treated this complicated matter. A selection from 
a letter written by him dated May n, 1823, will explain the whole thing. 
This letter was written to W. H. Crawford, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and after reference to the letter written him by Gov. Bond and 
the suggestion of Mr. Kitchell in selecting another section to take the 
place of the one covered by the salines yet was set apart as school 
land, all of which he says, "I presume has been reported to you," Gov. 
Coles goes on to say: "The object of this letter is, to obtain from the 
Govt. the express designation and formal reservation of lands for the 
Vermilion Saline, and its consent to the exchange of the 16 section and 
to the selection which has been made of section 28 in the same township 
for the purposes of education.

	"Attention to this subject has become the more necessary as 
relying on the Government fufilling the declarations and suggestions of 
Mr. Meigs, I was induced in December last to yield to the importunities 
of the persons who claim to have made the discovery of the Salines, and 
who had been for several years waiting impatiently for the Lands to be 
surveyed (during which time some of them had been making salt in a small 
way), to grant them a lease for four years, on condition of the working 
and improving the saline."

	During this interim of waiting for a lease to be given several 
wells were sunk at the salt works. Whitcomb and Beckwith, together sunk 
one to the depth of fifty feet, drilling mostly through solid rock and 
at their own expense. The salt was excellent in quality, purity and 
strength. Great expectation arose regarding these salt works in the 
Wabash valley. It was at this time in the infancy of the salt works that 
the letter written Gov. Bond by James B. McCall was sent and at the time 
that nothing seemed possible to be done to make a lease of the springs. 
He wrote: "The people of the eastern section of your state are very 
anxious that the manufacture of salt might be gone into. Appearances at 
the Vermilion Salines justify the belief that salt may be made north of 
this sufficient for the consumption of all the settlers on the Wabash, 
and much below the present prices. Nearly all the salt consumed above 
the mouth of the Wabash is furnished by Kentucky, and the transportation 
so far up the stream materially enhances the price, and in the present 
undeveloped state of the country as to money, prevents a majority of the 
farmers from procuring the quantity of this necessary article that their 
stock, &c., requires."

	This letter was written by Mr. McCall from Vincennes in a futile 
effort to have the Salines developed. The date was June, 1820, six 
months after Gov. Bond wrote his second letter to the members of 
Congress in which he expressed an anxiety to know the determination of 
the Govt. upon the subject of these Salines. In this letter he asks: 
"Has the Gov. established any general rules upon these subjects? What 
evidence will be required of the discovery of a salt spring? An early 
answer as will suit your convenience will be thankfully received."

	Continuing the correspondence between Gov. Coles and W. H. 
Crawford, Secretary of the U. S. there is a letter, a part of which 
refers to this subject and is as follows:
                                EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois, July 19, 1823.
Sir - I had the honor to receive by the last Mail your letter of the 12 
Ulto., giving the sanction of the President of the U. S. to the 
reservation made by J. Kitchell of the forty sections of land for the 
Vermilion Salines and approving the substitution of section 28 in 
township 19 N. of range 12 W. (you state 10 W., but this I presume must 
be a mistake) for the purpose of education, in lieu of the 16 section in 
the same township, on which the Vermilion salt springs are situated. I 
am with great Respect and esteem yours,
                                                 EDWARD COLES.

	The following Spring the Salt works were leased to John W. Vance 
and then, for the first time, they were worked to their full power. Mr. 
Vance brought twenty-four large kettles from Louisville, in a bateau, 
down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash and thence up that stream to 
the Vermilion as far as the mouth of Stony Creek about four miles 
southeast of Danville. The water was low and the channel was obstructed 
by a sand bar at the mouth of the creek, so the boat was abandoned and 
the kettles were hauled by ox teams to their designation. The capacity 
of the springs soon justified the increase of the number of the kettles 
to eighty, each holding 140 gallons. A furnace was built of stone at the 
bench of the hill near the wells, and these kettles were set in it in a 
double row. It took 100 gallons of water from the wells to make a bushel 
of salt. From 60 to 80 bushels were a good week's run. The state only 
kept the salt springs until 1829 when in accordance with the following 
instructions the land was declared for sale. This letter from Gov. 
Reynolds tells its own story:

To Amos Williams and William Reed.
	Gentlemen: - You are by these presents, required to proceed in 
conformity to the provisions of "an act providing for the sale of the 
Vermilion Saline reserve, and appropriating the avails thereof," 
approved January 19, 1829, to advertise the said Saline lands, and to 
take such other steps as may be necessary to the full and complete 
execution of the duties imposed on the Register and Receiver by the said 
recited act.
                                    Respectfully yours,
                                               JOHN REYNOLDS.

	The use to which the proceeds from the sale of the Vermilion 
Salines was put is stated in another letter written the governor of 
Indiana, dated Dec. 29, 1832.

	After reciting the joint resolution of the general assembly of 
Illinois in regard to the improvement of the Wabash river he goes on to 
say: "Some years since the legislature being well satisfied of the 
importance of the improvement of the navigation of this river, 
appropriated the money arising from the sale of the first ten thousand 
acres of the Vermilion Saline lands. This sum amounts to $11,985.16, and 
is now ready to be applied on that object for which it was 
appropriated." He goes on to urge Indiana to contribute a sum equal to 
that, etc.

	Although the Salines passed out of the ownership of the state in 
1829, the salt works were an industry for many years afterward. The 
wells were abandoned and the works closed between 1848 and 1850. G. W. 
Wolfe, of Catlin, is the only living man who worked in them. When a boy 
of 18 his brother Isaac operated a well for two years. The young man 
pumped water for 25 cents per day and boarded himself. The stock of the 
well was made from hickory tree, through which a hole had been bored. It 
stood 25 ft. above ground and the pumper stood on a high elevation and 
pumped water into a huge trough that carried it over the kettles quite a 
distance away. Three hundred strokes of the big heavy handle were 
considered one man's task before he was permitted to rest, day in and 
day out. The most salt that could be made at that time was seven bushels 
per day and the price had been reduced to 50 cts. per bu. At this rate 
there was not profit enough in the works to have it worth while to keep 
them up. When the springs were first opened the brine yielded 1 bu. of 
salt to 170 gallons of water and made 40 to 50 bu. of salt per week. 
Later a cavity of 18 in. was found from which flowed a much stronger 
brine 100 gallons of which yielded a bu. of salt. The production became 
120 bushels per week.

	The salt sold readily at the salt works for from $1.25 to $1.50 
per bushel Much of it was taken down the river in pirogues to supply the 
country there. A great deal of it was taken away in wagons and much of 
it was taken on horseback in sacks by people who were too poor to own a 
team.

	People came from as far as the settlements at Buffalo, Elkhart 
Grove, the Sangamon and Illinois rivers and from the neighborhood of 
Rockville and Rosedale Indiana. This prosperity continued until the 
discovery of great quantities of brine upon the Kanawha river and the 
completion of a government pier at the mouth of the Chicago Creek, 
making a practical harbor, where vessels could safely enter, made 
competition which could not be met at the Vermilion Salines. The works 
were finally abandoned, the buildings being vacant, were destroyed, and, 
at last, the very existence of this, at one time most important industry 
of eastern Illinois, is forgotten and by many can not be located. The 
settlement about the old salt works was long ago completely obscured, 
and now it is almost impossible to exactly locate the old wells 
themselves, without an appeal to the few residents of the county who had 
some one of the past generation tell about it, so completely has the 
change been made. Following the direction given by one who yet knows the 
location of these wells, and going a half mile west of the crossing of 
the Middle Fork, into the bottom, near the north bank of the Salt Fork, 
between the cultivated fields and the river, there is nothing remaining 
to show where this once great industry was located. All trace has been 
effaced, and, strange to say, this is the work of the great rival 
industry-the coal operations. Vegetation covers this spot where the wild 
animals came to get the necessary saline matter for their health; where 
the Indians and the French traders who came to them for their furs long 
before the white man came for the salt; where the white man sought 
wealth for himself and convenience for others. The Indians who were here 
when Major Vance came told him that the French traders and the Indians 
made salt at these springs for at least seventy or eighty years before 
they were developed by the Americans; and they told him, they "had no 
recollection of the time, it was so long ago, that our people commenced 
making salt here." Lost is every sign of the well-worn trail of the 
buffalo and other wild animals which were at the coming of the white man 
found converging at this brakish ooze from many directions. Even the 
testimony of its having been the resort of an abundance of game, by the 
quantity of broken arrow heads to be found in the locality for a half 
hundred years after Major Vance came, is no longer to be found. Grain is 
reaped on the spot where the buffalo and wild fowl roamed to satisfy 
their desire for salt; the farmer sells the produce of the soil from the 
land which yielded the salt manufacturer his wealth, and even the 
mtemory of Mother Bloss "who was the last to cling to the produce of the 
salt works," is dim at best in the minds of the people who pass this 
historic spot.

	Had it not been for the finding of salt on the Vermilion River, 
the history of Vermilion County would have differed greatly.

	It was salt and furs that prompted the settlement of this section. 
Any other river would have offered the furs, but at that time the salt 
was worth more than any other thing. It was worth more than any precious 
metal and of itself, induced settlement of this region as nothing else 
could have done. The fur bearing animals along the banks of the streams 
brought the trader; these in turn were driven away by the white man 
seeking salt and disappeared; the salt attracted the early settler and 
drove away the trader; this industry yielded all trace of its being to 
the later means of wealth in the region when the coal interests 
obliterated all signs of the former source of wealth.

	Surely the way of life comes by abandonment.