Our bodies need salt as well. Jack > From: mho4@comcast.net > To: lisa_18406@msn.com; pacambri@rootsweb.com > Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:13:54 -0400 > Subject: Re: [PACAMBRI] Salt in 'olden' days > > Salt was used to preserve meat / fish for the winter so indeed it was very > important to have salt. > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: pacambri-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:pacambri-bounces@rootsweb.com] > On Behalf Of Lisa Baker > Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 3:06 PM > To: pacambri@rootsweb.com > Subject: [PACAMBRI] Salt in 'olden' days > > I enjoy reading this columnist, he often provides insight to our ancestors > everyday lives. > > Salt supply was a common concern in olden days John Switzer, Sunday, March > 10, 2013 The Columbus Dispatch > > There's a saying dating to Roman times that a man "is worth his salt." > > I've also heard it said that a man "is worth his weight in salt" or is "the > salt of the Earth." > > All those sayings mean that a person has worth because salt was so valuable > in olden days that it was sometimes used as currency. In pioneer days, for > bartering purposes, a bushel of salt was worth a cow and a half. Salt was > vital for preserving meat and flavoring food. > > Pioneers and American Indians alike obtained salt by boiling down water from > a salt spring. It took 800 to 1,000 gallons of saltwater to make a bushel of > salt. > > Daniel Boone once wrote to Virginia authorities that "we are almost > destitute of the necessary article of salt." > > Michael Bergman, who is a historian and farmer in Madison County as well as > a buff on anything about Boone, told me this story about the great > frontiersman and salt: > Boone and 30 other men from the settlement of Boonesborough in Kentucky went > to a place called Blue Lick on the Licking River to make salt on Jan. 1, > 1778. After they made one pack-horse load of salt, three of the men took it > back to Boonesborough. > > On Feb. 7, Shawnee Indians captured the 27 remaining salt makers and took > them to their village near what is now Xenia in western Ohio. > > A historical marker along Rt. 68 tells of the plight of the salt makers. > > Boone was made to run the gantlet but later was adopted into the family of a > chief named Blackfish. Eleven other salt makers also were adopted into > Indian families, and 10 were taken to Fort Detroit to be held for ransom. > The fate of the other captives is unknown. > > Boone's Indian name was Shetowee, which meant "Big Turtle." He was also > sometimes called "Wide Mouth" because of his wide grin. > > While he was living with Blackfish, he was, ironically, taken to a salt > spring along the Scioto River. I have heard there once was a salt spring the > Indians used at the site of Griggs Reservoir. > > While making salt, Boone learned that the Shawnee planned to attack > Boonesborough, where his family was living. > > Boone escaped from the Shawnee in June 1778 and followed the Bullskin Trail, > a major Indian path that Rt. 68 now roughly follows, back to Kentucky, where > he warned the settlers of the pending attack. > > One thing this story tells us is that salt was so prized that the pioneers > would leave the safety of their fortified villages and risk the perils of > the wilderness to obtain a supply. > > Retired weather columnist John Switzer writes a Sunday Metro column. > jswitzer@dispatch.com > > > > > > > - - - - - - - - - - > > Search for more Cambria County information on our webpage: > http://www.camgenpa.com/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PACAMBRI-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > - - - - - - - - - - > > Search for more Cambria County information on our webpage: > http://www.camgenpa.com/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PACAMBRI-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message