but to the world. Beginning as early as A.D. 1000 ancient Caddoan people practiced agriculture by possibly mining salt. Evidence of their presence can be observed at "salt licks" even today. The debate of the earliest mining at Drake Salt Works is said to be 1542 during DeSota's expedition along the Mississippi River. It is the history of the Works that is the topic whichthis essay will endeavor to cover.
The Drake Salt Works is located in Western Winn Parish along the Scenic Saline Bayou. The Works has been a source of revenue, not to mention seasoning for well over one hundred fifty years, and has served such peoples as Indians, early explorers, and the inhabitants of this region. The French, who commanded an outpost in Natchitoches, LA, reported that since 1701 they had traded with the natchitoches Indians, the main item being salt. Where they acquired the salt is still a heavily debated topic, but strong evidence suggests that they procured it from none other than the Drake Salt Dome. Many early explorers gave descriptions of the Works from expeditions led by the Indians. These descriptions give the picture of "several sparse exposures" extending along a bayou for over a mile, each covering a space from forty to sixty acres a piece, with an efforesence of salt covering the surface so thickly that even a growth of the usual salt grass could not advance".
Between 1824 and the 1840's there seems to be no record of information except that Reuben Drake acquired one hundred twenty acres to the Salt Works through a land grant in 1840. His name is associated with the Works to this day and he has been credited with the operation of salt mining. Reuben Drake drilled for oil around this time to a depth of 1,011 feet using wooden bits and hollow cypress logs as casing with oxen pulling the drilling operation. In 1854 Drake sold the Salt Works and equipment to James Carter Weeks. Weeks purchased the property and continued to produce salt until November 12, 1861 when he leased it to Henry H. Slaughter and Joseph P. Crosley on the 12th day of November, 1861. At that particular time the Salt Works was known as Drake Old Mills and Salt Works.
One of the greatest contributions of the Works was during the Civil War. As the blockade of the South had prevented all foreign trade with the British, the Confederacy was now dependent on its own domestic Salt Works to supply its army. The Drake Salt Works was viewed as one of the major suppliers of salt to the troops of the South. It is not only used as a cooking agent, but also had to be used to cure leather. One retired confederate officer stated. "Do you wnat to know why the North whupped us Southerners? It's because they had no salt." In truth the troops often went for weeks or months at a time without their rations of salt, and could have indeed played a part in the victory for the North.
As the years roll along, naturally technology progresses and the methods of retrieving the salt improved over the years. From Indians who would acquire the salt from the ashes of plants, brine at salines, and its free state to the Americans who evaporated or boiled the water to obtain a purer salt. These peoples were responsible for keeping the Salt Works in operation and produced much of the southern regions salt and shipped it out along the Mississippi River and the Drake Salt Works became recognized as a large scale producer of salt in the south.
The importance of the Drake Salt Works continued throughout the early twentieth century. Being a rural community, the people who lived in Winn and surrounding parishes were dependant on the Works for their own supply of Salt. There was no Wal-Mart in those days to supply salt to everyone, so the Works was a source for seasoning. The legacy of the Works is a vital one to the people not only in Louisiana, but to the South and that deserves recognition. In October of 1986, Congress designated Saline Bayou as part f the National Wild and Scenic Corridor. This is a first step to preserving a piece of our heritage in Louisiana. The Salt Work's is no longer producing it's chief product, but now stands as a monument to the resourcefulness of many people who have made use of it, and the provision made by a greater Power to supply people witha vital ingredient to life.
The above essay was written by Zachary Price of Calvin, LA. He was the 2007 recipient of the Drakes Salt Works Scholorship and attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA. To view the Drakes Salt Works site to find out more about the scholarship go to: http://www.drakesaltworks.com/
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