﻿122 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Louisiana 
  [Sect. 
  

  

  laborers 
  produce 
  about 
  two 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty 
  barrels 
  of 
  salt 
  per 
  

   month, 
  at 
  an 
  expense 
  of 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty 
  dollars."* 
  

  

  To 
  this 
  statement 
  Darby 
  merely 
  adds 
  that 
  the 
  salt 
  works 
  are 
  

   situated 
  on 
  the 
  land 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Postlethwait 
  on 
  Saline 
  bayou 
  about 
  25 
  

   miles 
  by 
  road 
  from 
  Natchitoches, 
  f 
  

  

  The 
  local 
  demand 
  so 
  increased 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  forties 
  Mr. 
  

   Drake 
  attempted 
  to 
  obtain 
  a 
  stronger 
  brine 
  by 
  a 
  deep 
  boring. 
  

   A 
  well 
  a 
  little 
  over 
  a 
  thousand 
  feet 
  deep 
  was 
  bored 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   licks 
  and 
  an 
  artesian 
  flow 
  of 
  salt 
  water 
  of 
  from 
  18 
  to 
  20 
  gallons 
  

   per 
  minute 
  obtained. 
  The 
  water 
  was 
  weaker 
  in 
  salt 
  and 
  more 
  

   gypseous 
  than 
  that 
  near 
  the 
  surface. 
  | 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  civil 
  war, 
  this 
  locality 
  was 
  the 
  scene 
  of 
  great 
  

   activity. 
  Since 
  the 
  war, 
  the 
  primitive 
  methods 
  employed 
  at 
  

   these 
  works 
  have 
  been 
  unable 
  to 
  produce 
  salt, 
  which 
  could 
  

   compete 
  with 
  the 
  cheap 
  salt 
  made 
  in 
  large 
  quantities 
  in 
  other 
  

   localities 
  by 
  improved 
  methods, 
  and 
  which 
  improved 
  facilities 
  

   for 
  transportation 
  have 
  put 
  in 
  easy 
  reach 
  of 
  the 
  people. 
  

  

  Rayburns 
  salt 
  works. 
  — 
  (See 
  Fig. 
  2, 
  p. 
  53). 
  Situated 
  in 
  

   Sec. 
  31, 
  15 
  N., 
  5 
  W., 
  at 
  a 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  early 
  settlements 
  in 
  

   Red 
  river 
  valley, 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  1840 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Foust 
  commenced 
  

   making 
  salt 
  at 
  this 
  locality 
  for 
  the 
  immediate 
  neighborhood. 
  

   The 
  work 
  was 
  continued 
  on 
  a 
  very 
  modest 
  scale, 
  until 
  the 
  break- 
  

   ing 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  Civil 
  war, 
  when 
  the 
  restrictions 
  imposed 
  on 
  the 
  

   importation 
  of 
  salt 
  b}^ 
  the 
  federal 
  blockade, 
  caused 
  it 
  to 
  have 
  

   a 
  very 
  greatly 
  enhanced 
  value. 
  The 
  fame 
  of 
  Rayburn's 
  lick 
  

   spread, 
  and 
  in 
  1862 
  men 
  came 
  from 
  far 
  and 
  wide, 
  bringing 
  with 
  

   them 
  gangs 
  of 
  negroes. 
  Hastily 
  built 
  shelters 
  were 
  put 
  up, 
  the 
  

   valley 
  was 
  soon 
  dotted 
  with 
  shallow 
  wells 
  from 
  15 
  to 
  20 
  feet 
  

   deep, 
  which 
  were 
  protected 
  from 
  the 
  fresh 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  

   occasional 
  freshets 
  by 
  low 
  levees. 
  The 
  natural 
  mounds 
  were 
  

   utilized 
  for 
  furnace 
  sites 
  ; 
  and 
  near 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  valley, 
  

   where 
  these 
  mounds 
  were 
  not 
  found, 
  artificial 
  ones 
  were 
  

   made. 
  Large 
  iron 
  sugar-kettles 
  from 
  four 
  to 
  six 
  feet 
  in 
  diameter 
  

   were 
  mounted 
  on 
  rude 
  foundations 
  made 
  of 
  ferruginous 
  sand- 
  

  

  * 
  Sketches, 
  Historical 
  and 
  Descriptive 
  of 
  Louisiana 
  by 
  Maj. 
  Amos 
  Stod- 
  

   dard, 
  Phila., 
  1812, 
  p. 
  400. 
  

  

  f 
  A 
  Geog. 
  Des. 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  Louisiana 
  by 
  Wm. 
  Darby, 
  1816, 
  p. 
  29, 
  

   X 
  Hopkins 
  2d 
  Ann. 
  Rept. 
  GeoL 
  Sur. 
  La., 
  pp. 
  4-5, 
  1871. 
  

  

  