Location and natural resources served to attract the early settlement of pioneers in Montezuma. Situated along a ridge formed from glacier deposits that stretched along miles of undrained marshes, the area served as a convenient camping and resting place for travelers along the Seneca River. The Indians discovered the natural advantage of the high hill at the edge of the marsh and river as dry ground and a good vantage point guarding the movement along the much used Seneca River. The river later became the chief artery of trade and traffic. Merchants depended upon it to send furs, lumber and salt downstream and returning boats carried cargoes of flour, iron, tools and implements.

The area was also rich with the natural resource of salt. The underlying rock is a variety of shale that is part of the Onondaga salt group. This group contains all of the gypsum masses of western New York state. The Indians were the first to discover the salt most likely from following animal life to lick the salt. The first white settlers came in the 1700s, and by 1807, salt was discovered in a tributary of the Seneca River, called Salt Creek. In July of 1810, Dewitt Clinton traveled from the Hudson River to Geneva formulating plans for his dream of a navigable waterway across New York state. On his trip he kept a detailed journal, and as a result of his visit, we have learned about the very early industrial history of the town. Clinton found I.H. Terry acting as both the local physician and innkeeper. He was impressed with the beautiful sweep of the marshes from the porches of Dr. Peter Clarke and John Swartwout high on what is known as Prospect Hill.

Clay was also another resource that was being used. Kilns for firing earthen ware were in operation by 1810. Lake deposited clay containing some iron, furnished the base of the industry. Clinton reported, “Four or five kilns have been burnt and two men can burn one in 40 days. The chief receives about four shillings for every dozen pieces he makes or about $30 a month.”

The systematic manufacture of salt production had just begun being operated by the Cayuga Manufacturing Company, and managed by a Andrews, a former tavern keeper from Skaneateles. Clinton was eager to learn about the developments, and took special interest in the village's leading industry. He most likely could foresee how the salt production would augment his canal idea. He learned that it took from 80 to 100 gallons of Montezuma brine to make one bushel of salt. Nearly 2000 bushels had been made from the previous November to the time of his visit at the works. Several springs had been tapped out, but the best yielding one lay in the middle of the fresh water creek, and salt water was extricated from below the waters of the stream. Indians had worked with the white settlers to further the industry, and it became a bartering commodity.

They discovered a spring near the marshes on the west side of the hill by digging only 12 to 14 feet, and on one site a well was sunk 102 feet. Generally, the lower they dug, the saltier the brine. The evaporation method was used to extract the salt, either by the sun or artificial heat. In 1810, there were 18 kettles and 12 pans in use. Each arch contained two kettles and consumed a cord of wood in 24 hours.

In 1823, the salt made at the Montezuma springs amounted to between 16,000 and 20,000 bushels, of which about 1,000 were produced by solar evaporation, but by 1840, yield was down to only a few hundred bushels. Pumps and well tubing were crude, with the brine being raised by hand or horsepower and lack of maintenance of equipment took its toll.

The land was owned by individuals, and the manufacturer had to purchase or lease the property as well as erect his works.

At Onondaga, the grounds were furnished by the state without charge.

A new shaft was sunk 200 feet deep by an Act of the Legislature which produced stronger brine, but manufacture of salt began to further decline. Again, in 1858, the State Legislature appropriated $7,000 in an attempt to redevelop the Montezuma Salt Springs.

Colonel John S. Clark and William H. Carpenter of Auburn were appointed commissioners to superintend the work which started again in 1860, yet borings in several places produced only weak brine.

However, strong brine equal to Syracuse was found at Charleston, near where Salt Block Road is located today.

In 1863, a bar of iron or steel fell or was actually suspected of being thrown into the bottom of the well, and the operation was discontinued and abandoned.

By 1872, a stock company was formed on the basis of weekly contributions, and seven long vats for solar evaporation were erected. Poor financing and insufficient quantities of the brine brought production to a close by 1874.

Again, another $3,000 were invested by the state to clean out the tube at the derrick near the grist mill in town which was originally sunk in 1839 by Solomon Jacobs. Still they were no longer able to compete with Syracuse, and the entire salt industry in Montezuma once and for all came to an end.

Though the derrick is long gone, today evidence of the 1,000 feet deep well can be found spilling from a pipe casing behind the Montezuma Town Hall on Dock Street. Montezuma's rich resources helped to develop the town, and although they are no longer used for manufacture, they are remembered for their importance in our history.

Cheryl Longyear is historian for the town of Montezuma. She can be reached at 776-8632 or e-mail montezumahistorian@tds.net