Note 011 — Chapter I

James implies that the Onondaga salt deposits are in the Carboniferous system. Such deposits, however, occur in almost every geological system, from Silurian to Recent, and the New York areas are found in the Silurian; the Kanawha salt district is Carboniferous. The Onondaga springs were known to Jesuit missionaries as early as 1646, and soon after were utilized in making salt for the Indian trade. The existence of salt licks and springs west of the mountains was an important factor in the settlement of the trans-Allegheny country. The pioneers could not have ventured so far from the coast without a native supply of this necessity.—Ed.