[Lee Heggy]

Good morning Sam and Snippy!

For those who would care to know why 'Booneslick' is named thus I will elucidate. West of the Mississippi salt was an expensive and rare commodity. It was a neccessary ingredient in the preservation of foodstuffs and in curing hides along with supplimenting a heathy diet for people and livestock. Naturally occuring saline springs are quite rare and the places where they do occur are commonly called 'licks' since wildlife would frequent these places to obtain the salt. Booneslick was one of these places and the springs there produced a high quality salt in amounts that made their commercial operation viable. I have been there several times and the springs are still as active as they were in Daniels day. The stone evaporation pans are still in situ as well as one can see the foundations of the storehouses and coummuity structures. You can see the general layout of this very important center of pioneer commerce. The setting is fairly rugged but it is a typical Missouri landscape, lush and forested. The springs number at least four fairly large outlets. and are at the bottom of a deep cool hollow. The plants there are of the sort that thrive in a salty microenvionment (pitcher plants, sundews etc.) and are protected by law due to their rarity. If you are traveling thru Missouri I encourage you to take the time to visit this place.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Lee Heggy.

Interesting how today we take salt for granted.

[snippy_about_it]

Mornin' Lee. Thanks for the elucidation. ;-)

[colorado tanker]

One of my more offbeat reads was a history of salt. It's amazing how important the commodity was, mostly because of its use in food preservation, and how much history and geography it explains. When Gandhi began his campaign for independence from Britain he chose salt as his key issue because the British prohibited Indians from making salt and forced them to buy British salt.

The advent of refrigeration and modern canning and then Morton's industrialization of salt production put and end to local operations like Booneslick.