j eckel.] SALT AND GYPSUM OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. 413 
I Saltville. The salt licks of this locality were known, as noted above, 
before 1800. Early in the nineteenth century a marsh which covered 
! the present site of the village of Saltville was drained by a channel lead- 
ing to the Holston, and wells were sunk in the area uncovered. Brine 
was pumped from these wells for many years before the presence of 
rock-salt beds was established, and the entire salt product of the dis- 
trict is still obtained from wells, no mining of the rock salt having 
been attempted. 
The earliest wells were about 200 feet deep, passing through earth, 
clay, gypsum, and shales. In 1842, when the deposits were described 
by Hayden, six salt wells had been put down, only two of which 
were then in operation. A shaft sunk in 1840 passed through the 
usual thickness (18 to 20 feet) of muck, clay, etc., and then through 
alternating beds of red and blue shales and gypsum, one of the gyp- 
sum beds being 40 feet thick, finally striking a bed of rock salt at a 
depth of 220 feet. This salt bed continued to the bottom of the shaft, 
at a depth of 273 feet, and was ascertained by boring to extend to 113 
feet below the bottom of the shaft. No water was encountered in the 
well. This was the first discovery of a bed of rock salt in eastern 
United States, though Parker some years before had noticed the 
occurrence of salt beds in the Northwest, on the Oregon trail. The 
rock salt from the shaft contained, in places, some interbedded shales, 
these impurities being commonest near the top of the salt beds. An 
analysis of the rock salt gave — 
Per cent. 
Sodium chloride 99. 084 
Calcium chloride Trace. 
Calcium sulphate *_ . . . 0. 446 
Iron, alumina, etc . 470 
A well bored in 1842 to a depth of 214 feet struck a flow of strong 
brine at 193 feet. In 1,000 grains this brine contained — 
Grains. 
Sodium chloride 240. 52 
Calcium chloride .08 
Calcium sulphate 5. 35 
Iron, alumina, etc Trace. 
At this date (1842) two establishments were producing salt, the 
total annual product being about 200,000 bushels. Analyses gave — 
Analyses of salt from Saltville, Va. 
, 
l. 
2. 
Sodium chloride - . 
Per cent. 
98.54 
.016 
1.444 
Per cent. 
98. 146 
Calcium chloride - - 
.034 
Calcium sulphate - - 
1.820 
Further analyses of Saltville brines, rock salt, and commercial salts 
will be found in the tables on pages 415 and 416. 
