These middens were believed to be the possible location of the Clatsop and Tillamook village the salt makers camped by. If those middens were the same village as mentioned in the journals, then the location of the saltworks camp would have been further south than the site owned by the historical society. No further examination of this question was undertaken. Several years later, opponents of the proposed Salt Works addition to the memorial, who felt that the authenticity of the site was questionable, used the excavations to support their position. Those who supported the addition of the site to the memorial maintained that further excavations would probably not reveal any evidence proving it to be the salt makers neighboring village or any evidence of the salt makers camp.
Salt Works replica.
From 1959 until its inclusion in Fort Clatsop National Memorial, the Salt Works site remained relatively unchanged, managed by the Seaside Lion's Club. In 1968, the Oregon Historical Society offered to donate the site to the National Park Service. With this offer, a ten-year debate over the addition of the Salt Works to the memorial began. During the settlement of Oregon in the 1800s and into the 1900s, the sites of Fort Clatsop and the Salt Works held an attraction for the residents of Clatsop County and other Oregonians. The dedication and persistence of individuals in the local community and in the Oregon historical community, who felt that federal recognition was the best way to properly preserve Fort Clatsop and the Salt Works, eventually led to the creation of Fort Clatsop National Memorial.