Ledbetter Salt Work, C.S.A.

The spring was found by accident. In 1861 three cattlemen, Cal Greer, William King and Vol Simonds, lost their horses on the way back from a drive to the Concho and found the brine while walking home. Settlers came to make their own salt before Ledbetter took over: Billy McGough called the water "salty as brine, but bitter and muddy," and his men let it settle in barrels and boiled it down in pots. Ledbetter's house and corrals made the site the westernmost settlement in country the Comanches frequented, and it stayed so for almost ten years.

What the plaque says

Located 8 miles southwest on Salt Prong, Hubbard Creek. Discovered 1861 by trail drives. W. H. Ledbetter began extensive development of deposits in 1862 with increased Civil War demand for salt. A large furnace was built, kettles and materials for refining were brought from East Texas by wagon. Salt in large quantities was furnished Confederate troops west of the Mississippi, State Militia, area ranches and towns. Smoking or salting were only ways to preserve meat. When South levied a meat tithe, salt was vital to cure bacon for military. Back side Ledbetter Salt Works: Salt was a must for horses and mules used by cavalry, artillery and supply wagons. Hides were preserved with salt to make shoes and harness. Rangers used it to treat rattlesnake bites and aliments. Settlers came from a 200 mile radius for salt, taking it by saddlebag and wagon. The frontier regiment Texas Cavalry guarded the works and roads from hostile Indians during the war. Indian troubles continued after the war. In 1867, nearby U.S. Fort Griffin was established, and a "six-pounder" cannon was loaned to the works for defense. Salt was produced until 1880. A Memorial to Texans Who Served the Confederacy Erected by the State of Texas, 1963

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Old Jail Art Center — steps away
  An art museum in Albany's 1878 stone jail, where the masons carved their initials to be sure of pay, now holding Chinese tomb figures and works by Picasso and Klee.
• Fort Griffin State Historic Site — 14 mi
  The ruins of an 1867 cavalry post on a plateau above the Clear Fork of the Brazos, judged unfit for habitation and used nine more years, now home to the official state longhorn herd.
• Fort Phantom Hill — 23 mi
  A field of lone stone chimneys north of Abilene, left by the fire after the Army left in 1854, later a stage stop and a buffalo-hide town of more than 500 people.
• Conrad Hilton Center and Mobley Hotel — 30 mi
  The 40-room oil-boom hotel in Cisco that Conrad Hilton bought in 1919 when a bank deal fell through, now a museum of the Hilton start and of Cisco's 1927 Santa Claus bank robbery.

More markers nearby

• City of Albany — steps away
• Fort Griffin Fandangle — steps away
• Texas Cattle Trail — steps away
• Lt. Col. William E. Dyess — steps away