Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1891-05-29
"a SALT ISLAND.
SWoNRERFULIsLA DEL oar.
MEN OFF MEXICO.
Contains the Only Pure White
Natural Salt Deposit in the
Worid-aIined by Va
qui Indians.

st OF Guaymas, Mexico, and five miles
81: SC OF the mainland of Lower Califor.
!, in the. Gulf of California, lies
3; lail island known to the Mexicans rs
- Isla del Carmen.
s. carmen Island, although only nineteen
q lies in length and six miles in width at
~ oroadest part, is noted as one of the
s. ost remarkable islands on the Ameri.
N continent. At this place is found
+ Ie only pure white natural salt deposit
-own, aud the value of such q mine is
u condary only to the tabled gold mines
King Solomon. The island is owned
81 q Spanish-American named james
losca, who went to Lower California
+ nrty years ago and married daughter
& the Governor. He lived at La Paz,
n 1e capital of the lower half of the State,
here he has been American Consul for q
81 lumber of years.
n Carmen Island is fortunate in having
"a hne harbor in Salinas Bay where large
essels find an anchorage in four fathoms
d 4 water. Within mile OF this anchor
n Se the salt is mined. Just how long
4 lnce this saline deposit was discovered
81 70 one can state with anyaccuracy. Two
Il hundred years ago there was Jesuit
Il oission Mt Loreto on the mainland west
Il # the island, and it is known that the
"a athers obtained the salt they used for
q domestic purposes from Isla del Carmen,
= tut among the Yaqui Indians there is q
81 egend that their forefathcrs knew of the
n stS!ong before the mission was es-
81 ablisISed and that it was one of their
a lumber who first acquainted the pious
brethren of tho existence of the mine.
Il But it was not until 1865 that the salt
n deposit was utilized for commercial pur
4 poses: In that year a Mexican, who di-
Il nned the value of the mine, bought the
Il Stand from the Government, but after
i 'wnlng it only two years he sold his title
Il 10 Ben Holiday, Of famous overland
Il 'tage.line notoriety, for $4,000. The
q aew proprietor engaged James Viosca to
4 manage his acquisition, but after Holli-
day died the bankrupt estate was glad to
realize ready cash for the salt treasure,
Ind Vlosca became the owner of Carmen
I Island. To him it has become veritable
i gold mine.
The salt deposits cover a surface of
LOGO acres. About one third of this
! acreage is mass of pure, clean white
4 salt; the remainder is covered simply
with layer of soil, brought there by
rains from the adjacent mountains, and
also in places with thin coating of coral,
I'll OF which when removed show the
pure white salt beneath. The salt de-
posts in this basin have proved by actual
investigation to be fourteen feet in thick
aess, but it is hard to work at any depth
below the surface, as the briny water
weeping through creates a new layer of
ialt of from five to eight inches in thick
ness in fifteen days. The most remarka-
Die thing about this deposit is the fact
chat although the salt has been taken
from this basin for ages, the surface of
The lake has never been lowered, but al
ways retains the same level.
The method of obtaining the salt is
very sample. A man armed with an iron
bar breaks off chunks of the crystalline
mass, which are then loaded into carts
and haule,i to dry land, from 6O0to 500
teet distant. Here the stuff is dumped,
reloaded and taken to the wharf, half a
mile away, where lighters receive the salt
and convey it to the vessels lying in the
bay. Crude as this system is, the cost
Of mining the salt and conveying it to tie
wharf averages tri1c less than twenty
five cents ton.
The entire salt basin is always covered
with briny solution averaging four
inches in depth. The workmen, who
are mostly Yaqui Indians, wade around
all day, long in their bare feet in this
pickle deposit: and the result OF their ex-
posure is seen in numerous cases of sore
ankles to which the Indians are sub
jectcd. Before they became hardened
to the work the poor fellows suffer ex-
crnciating torments the moment their
I. joints come in contact with the salt
water, but, like everything else, the sys-
tenn finally gets accustomed to the expos
ure, and, once thoroughly seasoned, the
indians cease to complain. But irritat-
ing as this ISL does not compare with
the agony suffered by the poor fellows,
who, while pounding the briny crystals,
receives splash of salt water in his eye.
Half dozen of the Yaquis have partial
ly lost their sight in this way and one In
dian on the island has become totally
blind. The brine is SO strong that If o
particle gets into the optic the sight is
E. tnSStiOyCu uuleSS iuc sullue substance can
. be removed at once by vigorous appli-
cation of fresh water. AS pure water can
only be obtained at distance it often
a happens that the sufferer prefers to take
y his Ah,auces rather than go to the trouble
of reaching the remedy Hence one eyed
Morkmen are quite prevalent on the
s island. =. =; s;ss.s7s..s,ssS
b Many theories have been advanced &C
Z counting for the presence OF this wonder
full salt deposit, but the one most gener-
ally accepted is that the surrounding hills
and mountains contain Immense sodium
deposits, which are dissolved by natural
courses of water, either rain or under
ground, veins, and then carried to the
lowest ground which in this case is the
basin that contains the salt deposits. All
creeks in this vicinity ,discharging their
water into this lake have salt water be-
fore getting to point even several feet
higher than the surface water of tho
lake, which has no communication what.
L ~