ECKEL.] 
SALT    INDUSTRY    IN    UTAH    AND    CALIFORNIA. 
493 
ing  the  summer  by  solar  evaporation  was  gathered  into  piles  along  the  banks  and 
carried  over  from  one  year  to  another.  About  this  time  the  chlorination  process  for 
the  reduction  of  silver  ores  was  discovered.  Probably  the  first  use  of  Utah  salt  for 
this  purpose  was  at  the  Alice  mill,  located  at  Butte,  Mont.  It  was  before  the  days 
of  railroads,  and  the  salt  was  packed  to  Butte  on  the  backs  of  mules,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$200  per  ton.  As  the  chlorination  process  became  better  known,  other  mills  put  in 
the  system,  including  the  Ontario,  located  at  Park  City,  Utah. 
The  salt  for  this  mill  was  hauled  in  wagons  from  the  shores  of  the  lake  to  Park 
City,  at  a  cost  of  $15  per  ton.  The  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  salt  caused  further 
outlays  in  its  production,  and  salt  fields  were  made  on  high  ground  and  the  brine 
was  pumped  to  them,  the  average  height  above  the  lake  being  about  20  feet.  This 
was  found  to  be  greatly  preferable  to  the  plan  of  depending  on  the  spring  overflow 
into  low  places,  as  the  natural  overflow  was  uncertain,  while  with  pumps  as  much 
water  could  be  raised  as  was  desired.  The  increase  in  the  demand  was  very  rapid, 
especially  for  milling  salt,  and  the  output  for  all  purposes  reached  a  total  of  50,000 
tons  in  1890,  whereas  not  over  500  to  1,000  pounds  were  gathered  in  1848. 
Utah  salt  production. — Utah  at  present  ranks  sixth  among  the  States 
as  a  salt  producer,  so  far  as  quantity  is  concerned,  and  fifth  if  the 
value  of  the  product  be  considered.  This  is  shown  in  the  following 
table: 
Rank  of  various  States  as  salt  producers,  1902. 
Rank. 
Quantity. 
Value. 
1 
New  York 
New  York. 
9 
Michigan 
Michigan. 
Ohio. 
3 
Kansas .                                    
4 
Ohio 
Kansas. 
5 
California 
Utah. 
6 
Utah 
California. 
The  amount  of  salt  produced  in  Utah  for  each  year  since  1882,  as 
compared  with  the  total  production  of  the  United  States  for  the  same 
years,  is  given  in  the  following  table,  the  data  for  which  have  been 
compiled  from  various  volumes  of  the  Mineral  Resources  of  the 
United  States: 
Salt  production  of  Utah  and  entire  United  States,  18S0-1902. 
Year. 
Utah. 
United  States. 
1880                                   
Barrels. 
96,  760 
92,  820 
107,143 
114,285 
107, 140 
164, 285 
325?  000 
Barrels. 
5,  961, 060 
6,  412,  373 
6, 192, 231 
6,  514,  937 
7,  038,  653 
7,  707  081 
1882 
1883.                           
1884                                 
1885. . .                  
1886..                           
1887 --.-    •--- ...,.-.. 
8;  003,  962 
