Salt Makers

In December 1805, captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark sent five men from Ft. Clatsop to establish a salt camp. All salt available to them had been used on the trip out and they needed to replenish their supplies before heading onward. With several large kettles and five days later, the group found a suitable place on the coast 15 miles southwest of the fort within the present-day city of Seaside. This location was chosen for its proximity to local Indians and the availability of fresh water, game and firewood. Boiling seawater 24 hours a day, records indicate the expedition left the salt camp in February 1806 with more than three bushels (nearly 28 gallons) of salt.