The Lewis and Clark Salt Works

During the expedition west and the start of wintering at Fort Clatsop, the Corps of Discovery had run out of salt. Before refrigeration, salt was crucial for preserving food, and without it, the group was unlikely to survive the trip back east—or possibly even the winter. On December 28, 1805, five men set out from Fort Clatsop to find a suitable place to make salt. They found an ideal spot near a Clatsop-Nehalem village about 15 miles from the fort, in what is now Seaside, Oregon. 

Privates Joseph Field, William Bratton, and George Gibson stayed at the site to produce the much-needed salt for the return trip. The process required gathering sea water, letting it settle and boiling it continuously in kettles on a stone furnace.

When the group left the site on February 20, 1806, they had produced 3.5 bushels (approximately 28 gallons) of salt, which Captain Lewis described as “excellent, fine, strong, and white.”

While the original furnace no longer exists, a replica has been built on the site.