The Portland daily press., 1900-06-13
QUEER PLAINS.
OhIshoma Has Two Grsat Salt Areas
I3a0 Feet Above the Sea.

Sixteen miles from Augusta, now as
suming Importance as q new railway
terminus, lies the smallest Of the two
great salt plains of Oklahoma. Its area
embraces nearly one hundred square
miles. IL measures ten miles east and
west and across It's centre and twelve
miles north and south. The salt deposit
Is from one inch TO four inches deep. Its
elevation Is 1920 feet above sea level,
about the average Of Woods county. No
trust seeks TO control 1t and the sun,
which shines for the poor as well as the
rich, never entirely shuts down its evap-
Grating plant. In the desert are saline
springs, the sourse Of pools and lagoons,
where the water spreads in the suns rays
and passes away in vapor, leaving the salt
deposit. The shifting winds Of centuries
have blown his salt beyond the natural
boundaries Of the pools, yet ten years
show very little encroachment on the
tiIlable land around.
During hot days one of the most active
springs deposits sat in the form Of an ant
hill, from the apex of which tiny
stream Of saline water trickles down, leav'
ing n scanned, porous base. The action
of the wind completes the work, and a
column Of chlorate OF sodium Is formed,
but does not stand long, for the erosion
continues and the column soon breaks ut
the bottom and falls With true Amerk-
can perseverance the little spring begins
again and the process is repeated. This
curiosity has its archetype in Holy Writ.
/ is sobriquet of Lots Wife," however,
does not prove the hypothesis that 1t Is
an exempliiication OF the ancient pillar OF
salt, which has none OF these suggestive
repetitions. When Lot found his wife
transformed into pillar of salt he was
wise enough to let 1t go ut that ana not
take a fresh one.
Over the west county line, In Wood
ward county, Is another salt plain double
the size of the one near Augusta. Blocks
of salt cut in Woods county have been ex-
hibited in Augusta, and governmental
tests show them TO be IS per cent. pure
and possessed of the same properties and
strength as sea salt. This saline product
of the plains Is too far from railroad
now to be available for commercial pur-
poses, but previous to the settlement OF
the Cherokee Strip hundreds OF fat cattle
grazed on the nutritious buffalo grass
which grew close up to the same deposits;
they were never known to stray far. and
cattlemen came from q distance and
carted away big loads of salt for herds
grazing elsewhere.
On first sight the salt appears like a
lake of shimmering water. The view In
spires vision of foam crested waves rip
pling over the sand In the days when
| Oklahoma was known as the promised
Land" many an emigrant, plodding
along by jaded team In the arid heat OF
midsummer, has seen one OF these two
salt plains and shouted for joy. Expect
ing to hear liquid sighs from tiny waves
tapping idly against wet sand, nothing
breaks the silence of the lonesome waste
save the crunch of booted feet in the dry
salt.
Last December while crossing the edge
of one Of the saline plains, caravan
happened to be in the path OF storm.
The towering clouds of blackness made a
grim setting for the silvery white plain.
The horses, heated from exertion in the
previous warm air, shivered in the sud
den change of temperature. The wind
blast, icily cold, rs though from the far
north, put new life and vigor into man
and beast. Dust rolled up In "a white
cloud, from which shrapnel, in the shape
of course salt, which we thought to be
sleet, bombarded the ewes that dared
watch the spectacle, and winnowed sea-
soning, sifted superflne salt, left u smart
ing eyes and a salty taste on the lips
New York Sun.