Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1910-12-22
PIONEER TALES
IN CHRISTIAN.
continued trcm First Pace. !.

reTuRe In the tree. Inc nORS Wouiu
get fat in the fall on beech-nuts and
acrons and the favor Of the meat
was excellent
The people who established the
salt works made wagon road up
the side of the bluff. up which the
teams could pull half load, then
unload on top of the hill and go
back and get the other part of the
load. Well. something like twenty
years ago E. H. Hopper. Clarence
Anderson and some others camp
ed at Misplace. When they broke
camp, they decided to come out by
tais old road and save amile or so
which they would have had to
travel had they come out by the
safe route. When they were about
half way up the hill the old horse
stopped and began to let the wagon
back, and over it went horse, wagon
and all, and rolled down the side OF
the hill some 80 or 40 feet. The load
of tents, minnows, buckets, frying
pans, and all was scattered all over
the side of the hill. They secured
the help of neighbors, patched up the
wagon and got to town about one
O'Clock that night.
The we'll is about $50 feet deep
and there is a copper tube in it FIVE
inches in diameter which is worth
several hundred dollars. The water
is as salty as it can be. 1t was rails
ed with horse power pump. The
furnaces, of which there are several
to be seen today, are about 75 feet
long, built on the slope of the hill
and fifty large cast kettles were
placed in each furnace. These ket.
Ties would hold from two to five
barrels of water.
The water was boiled down to a
mushy brine. then put in vaults to
allow the water to drain out. This
became hard and was rock salt in a
few days. 1t was then broken up
and ground in a mill very much like
the old tan bark mills of that day
Then it was put in bags ready for
market. These works supplied ali
the salt that was used in radius of
hundred miles. My grandfather
cold me he had seen as many as 10
wagons at the works at once, all
waiting to be loaded with salt. An
old negro teamester, named Pete
told me that on one occasion about
1926, he with two other drivers of
six mule teams, had got their loads
to the top of the hill by making two
trips and were ready to start next
morning. They camped for the night
with the 18 mules tied in the woods.
About o'clock they were aroused
by the stampede of the mules. They
went with torches to ascertain the
lcause of the trouble. and found all
| the mules had broken their halters
and two rattlesnakes we're crawl
ing around where the mules had
been hitched. OF course they killed
the snakes. 1t was late the next
evening before they found enough
mules to pull their wagons and had
to use four mules to the wagon. AT
that some of the males were not
found for several days. Some had
gone 80 or 40 miles to their homes
and one was never found.
About the year 1924 there was g
man named Mootry experimenting
these works who was unpopular il
the neighborhood. He abused anC
scalded cattle that came around the
works, and made himself disagreeablt
to the neighbors in various ways
He had an exaggerated estimate o.
his courage and bravery. One summel
evening my grandfather's baby boy
four years old, did not show up a
home when night came He wa
} lost. There were in those days som,
wolves and wildcats in the wood
and many rattlesnakes; besides tn,
river was but two or three hundred
yards from the house. so it was
serious thing for small children Il
be lost there in the hills. The neigh
> borhood was aroused and search fo
: the child was kept up until 2 O'Clock
8 in the morning when he was founl
in his play house in the orchard
Y oruardad nv a faithful doc Thi