ONONDAGA SALT GROUP, 
135 
Onondaga county continues so copious, and of a quality so superior, there is little probability 
of any thing being found of equal value in the Fourth District. 
The origin of these brine springs has been so fully discussed by Mr. Vanuxem and Dr. 
Beck, that it is quite unnecessary here, to enter into a detail of the numerous facts and their 
natural inference, which to a great degree are already before the public. The addition of 
new facts may hereafter place the subject in another aspect, and since there are now many 
arguments supported by facts, which apparently favor directly opposite hypothesis regarding 
the origin of the brine, it seems desirable that more information should be collected before the 
subject can be finally decided in the minds of all. The rocks of this group, particularly the 
lower portions, are far less accessible than farther east, consequently the means are less for 
ascertaining the nature and origin of these brines. It is quite evident, however, that the 
source, whatever it may be, is less prolific in a westerly direction from Cayuga county than, 
in that county and Onondaga, which presents the greatest development of the group. 
Were it not that the deep excavation at the outlet of Seneca and Cayuga lakes has removed 
the upper portions of the group, and at the same time affords a means of escape for the sa¬ 
line waters, we might expect to find brine springs of good strength in this place. The recent 
borings at Montezuma demonstrate the existence of strong brines at that point, and the occur¬ 
rence of brine springs on the east and west margins of the marsh, where circumstances seem 
unfavorable, also offer facts favoring this view. 
The Galen salt spring in the town of Savannah formerly yielded a sufficient supply of 
water for the manufacture of salt in the early settlement of the country, but the proportion 
of saline matter was only about nine per cent. This spring is directly on the western edge 
of the Cayuga marsh. 
At Clyde, a deep boring was made for salt water, where no spring previously existed ; 
small quantities of strong brine were obtained, but the work was abandoned after penetrating 
four hundred feet.* More recently a spring has been discovered a little east of the village, 
and a boring to some depth has been made ; the water is sensibly salt to the taste, but it has 
not been analyzed, having only come to notice when the survey was nearly completed. Salt 
was formerly manufactured from a spring about two miles east of Lockville. These springs 
are all in this group, and indicate a common origin with those farther east. 
In Monroe county I am not aware of any brine springs in this formation, though several 
are known in a lower rock. The only brine spring which I have seen in the Onondaga salt 
group west of Wayne county is in the town of Elba in Genesee county, on the land of John 
G. Satterlee. It is the most copious and strongly impregnated saline in the Fourth District. 
The fact of its origin being in rocks of the same formation as those of Salina and Monte¬ 
zuma, renders it the more interesting. When I saw this spring the water was flowing from 
one point in quantity about as much as a common pump would supply, and of a decidedly 
saline taste. The vegetation is destroyed for several rods around the place, and there are 
See Report of Dr. Boyd, page 318, Annual Report of 1838. 
