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  McCarthy Album 08, Photograph 146

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  Caption: "Old Landmark, Seaside, Or.," c. 1910. Shows a picket fence erected around what a sign calls "Remains of Cairn where Lewis & Clark made salt from the ocean water Jan. & Feb. 1806." When the famous expedition led by Merriweather Lewis and William Clark reached the Pacific Ocean in late 1805, their supplies had run dangerously low, including their salt supply. Salt, used not only to flavor meat but also to preserve it, was extremely important to the health of the expedition. Three of Lewis and Clark's men traveled to a site on the coast near present-day Seaside, Oregon to set up a small salt-works, boiling ocean water in a series of large kettles and then scraping the resulting salt crust off of the sides. In this manner, the men eventually collected about twenty gallons of salt before Lewis and Clark decided the supply was sufficient for the return journey. In 1910, the property containing the remains of the cairns was deeded to the Oregon Historical Society. In 1955, replica salt cairns were built at the site by the Lions Club to commemorate the expedition's activities.

  Date: 1910