The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1860-07-20
Letter from Syracuse.

Syracuse. its synonyms and rapid growth-Tht
salt springs-Process of -making-The the
DRY of these saline springs-The Onondaga val
ley-The Onondaga Indians, their virtues, vi
ceS and general habits.
SYRACUSE, n. u, July -, 1860.
To the Editor of tile Caledon,aa.
We have been spending a week in SYRIA
cuse; not the Syracuse of Sicily in which
the philosopher Archimedes and the tyran,
Dionysius lived, but this which is known by
the synonyms Central City," from its geo.
graphical position, "City of Salt" from its
extensive salt works, and City of Conven.
tons" because for few years nearly all the
state conventions have been held here
Though this is not quite Western city, ye,
its growth has been rapid. A gentleman
just past the prime of life tod me he could
remember when the region was entirely a
swamp containing but single house it has
now population of more than thirty thou.
sand.
The salt springs have been the cause of its
growth. They are now yielding annually "a
bout seven millions of bushels of salt.
The process of sat-making is simple, bu,
interesting. The water is pumped UP from
wells, more than two hundred feet deep, into
elevated reservoirs, by enormous pumps car.
ried by water. From these reservoirs it is
conveyed by pipes, partly into watts these
watts are shallow, about eight inches deep and
raised two feet above the ground) where it is
evarorated by the sun and partly to caul,
irons where it is evaporated by artificial heat
The watts are constructed with movable roofs
SO that the rain may be guarded against
vi course rainy season is less favorable
to this business than a dry one. One of the
I overseers told me these watts covered nearly
seven thousand acres. Yet much more is
made by boiling.
Inns salt water is supposed to come out
through the Onondaga valley ia broad valley
stretching south from Syracuse twenty miles,
and to gather its saline qualities by passing
over deposits of salt somewhere in the val
ley. 1t is accounted for by other theories,
but this appears the most reasonable. The
springs are owned 10y the state, and furnish
substantial income
We rode through the Onondaga valley on
the 18th. 1t is like the valley of the Connec-
tcut IN those sections where the latter is the
broadcast
Here is still remnant of the Onondaca
tribe OF Indians upon reservation assigned
Them by the state. They have adopted few
OF !he rt,tnes but most of the rirts of the
whites. They have made almost no improve
ment upon their native customs. Much
missionary labor has been performed smonc
them with little apparent success. They are
SLOW to receive intellectual teaching or moral
wisdom. Their land has grown up to weeds
and bushes. and their habi,ations are not
much better than pig pens. The Indians are
'fcesS'r''y lazy. They plant and SOW scan.
'Iy' seldom laying up much for winter, but
depending upon begging to great extent
II falls to the squaws to perform this latter
oihce. We read Of council fires" among the
Indians. This remnant has council
house but there is not much romance in its
appearance, for it is no better than an old
deserted house by the wayside Doubtless
the Indian in his native wildncss does nos.
Sess some noble traits. but think our fancy
has exaggerated them. Their glory is in
"lilawatha, not in real life, just as much as
the romance of the ocean is in poetry and no,
IN sea-sickneSs.