Big Bone as a Salt Industry
The first known survey of the region that currently encompasses Big Bone is recorded in Robert McAfee’s private journal. The entry stated that on July 5, 1773, Captain Thomas Bullitt surveyed “a tract of very good land on Big Bone Creek” but no permanent settlement was made (Collins 1874:55).
In 1779, while Kentucky remained a territory of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia awarded a land grant to William Christian for his service during the French and Indian War, consisting of 1,000 acres that lie “on a South Branch of the Ohio River called the Big Bone Creek including the large Buffalo Lick and Salt Spring known by the name of the Big Bone Lick being about four miles from the Ohio River. Christian became the first person to legally own Big Bone (Jillson 1936:77-78).
The following year, Christian sold the land for 1,350 pounds to David Ross of Bedford County, Virginia. Ross, who already owned approximately 100,000 acres in the area, purchased quantities of land from American soldiers who acquired land grants from the State of Virginia. Ross and his agents began a salt manufacturing venture at Big Bone, also leasing land to other manufacturers (Hedeen 2008:11).
A small fort was built near the Lick as protection from Indian raids, however, due to eventual financial troubles, Ross sold approximately 2,000 acres along Big Bone Creek to Virginians Wilson Allen, Edmund Rootes, and Jacob Myers in 1806, relinquishing full control in 1808. It was during Ross’ ownership of the Lick that President Jefferson commissioned William Clark to collect bones for display, first asking Ross for permission to access the site (Cooper 1831:5; Yealey 1960:28; Jillson 1936:47-48).
By 1810, A Scotsman named James Colquohoun acquired territory along the lick to continue salt production. He built two fine furnaces and mounted kettles that could hold 15-100 gallons of water, producing approximately sixty bushels of salt per day. The brine from the springs would be poured into these containers heated by fire until evaporation created salt crystals. However, due to cheaper costs of production elsewhere in the Ohio Valley and the difference of quality of brine, the venture was not successful. Production also required 500-600 gallons of water to create one bushel of salt, making it a very costly endeavor. Due to fuel and labor costs along with poor roads in the area, salt production ceased in Big Bone by 1812 (Yealey 1960:28; Hedeen 2008:13-14; Jillson 1936:92-93).
