Salt Spring
Fitzpatrick had killed a lean animal [horse or mule] and sent us part of it, together with the bad news. I really cannot say whether it tasted good or bad...without salt nothing has any flavor to me, so to speak. Some of the men seasoned their meat with gunpowder, which contains 60-75% sodium nitrate, but Preuss found this no substitute for good old NaCl. The salts in the blackpowder and priming are what corrodes the barrel if you don't clean it, preferably with lots of hot water. February 15, 1844: Preuss is in the "Same situation." The little dog [Tlamath] tasted all right, but the great good news is that the men have bartered rock salt from the Indians. Just now Taplin is bringing in a big lump. Preuss's term "rock salt" is, of course, a translation from the original German, which may be a distinction between salt from mountains (as Salzberg) and salt taken from the sea. Frémont (below) describes it as "a cake of very white fine-grained salt." February 16, 1844: Preuss is "Still in the old snowhole." The horse meat is all right as long as the salt holds out. February 17, 1844: Frémont and Jacob Dodson returned to the Long Camp from a two-day exploration north into the Canyon of the South Fork of the American River. Here we had the pleasure to find all the remaining animals, 57 in number, safely arrived on the grassy hill near the camp; and here, also, we were agreeably surprised with the sight of an abundance of salt. Some of the horse Guard [near Markleeville] had gone to a neighboring hut for pine nuts, and discovered accidentally a large cake of very white fine-grained salt, which the Indians told them they had brought from the other side of the mountain; they used it to eat with their pine nuts, and readily sold it for goods."
It answers the Indians' description of "from the other side of the mountain," being a day's foot travel (in summer) from the Carson Pass, on the north bank of South Fork of the American River, just above Fry Creek. However, there is a similar site on the headwaters of the Mokelumne, which might more likely have been the source for the Indians Fémont's men encountered near Markleeville. The salt springs Frémont passed remain a great
attraction to deer, and is within an eighth of a mile of a
fairly large concentration of bedrock mortars--most likely
Maidu. I reported the sites to the State some years ago, and
a "Sensitive Area" tag is on a nearby tree [tree now
gone]. Springs seep out of the granite on both sides of
the river, and in the driest months of August and September,
it dries on the surface of the rocks to a depth of about
3/16 inch. It is quite easy to quickly gather large
quantities - bushels in a season. I've caught an awful lot of trout along this stretch over the last 50 years.
This granite outcrop about 50 yards upstream contains 14 of these grinding holes, which were once used for grinding acorns. They are found throughout the area, including at least one I have seen several hundred feet up Fry Creek from the river.  After the Indians, and after Frémont, settlers
used the salt spring. Above is the ruin of an old salt
lick. It is located in the same rock formation on the
opposite (south) side of the river. The names are J. A,
Read, L. Randall, and Jack C. Read. I don't know anything of
the Reads, but the Randalls early owned much property in the
area, including the Hotel at Whitehall. Cattle were ranged
in the mountains in summer. A house owned by a member of the
family was across the river from what is today called
Randall Tract, just above Whitehall near the 26 milestone.
Below is another photo with a hand print. The writing says
"Witness my Hand. October 18 (illegible)." There is a small
cairn nearby that is probably an old boundary marker.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
February
13, 1844: Charles Preuss was at the Long Camp near
Carson Pass, and had just gotten the news from Tom
Fitzpatrick that he had not been able to get any of the
horses up from Grovers Hot Springs to Charity Valley.
Frémont
passed this place on February 25, 1844, but he was back
up away from the river bottom, and except in the dryest
seasons, the salt spring is not evident anyway. I have been
aware of this salt deposit for many years, but only after
reading the Report did I consider it in relation to
Frémont's comments.
