The large saline deposit at Grand Saline was a major source of salt in Texas during the Civil War. Salt was first obtained there by Indians, and works were built in 1854. Sam Richardson, the owner in 1861, went to war and left his wife to run the works until the Confederate government took over production. Because salt was considered a strategic industry, salt workers were exempt from army service for a time, and many wells were sunk to obtain more than 10,000 pounds of salt made daily for civilians and the army west of the Mississippi River. Mule-powered pumps drew brine from the wells, and gum logs, hollowed out and pinned together, formed a pipeline to receive huge iron evaporating kettles. Salt was then sacked, purchased, and hauled away on horseback, in wagons, and in oxcarts. During the Civil War, demand for salt increased because it was the only known way to preserve meat for the Southern army. Meat was salted, smoked, and then packed in salt for the long, hot trips to army camps. Horses and mules used by cavalry, artillery, and quartermaster units also required the mineral. Salt also preserved hides for making shoes, harnesses, and saddles. When the Confederate government levied a meat tithe on farmers, demand for salt increased further, and cattle and cotton were often exchanged for salt, which itself became a medium of exchange. When salt became scarce, women dug up smokehouse floors to extract salt from the soil. Other Civil War salt works operated along the coast and in other East, Central, and West Texas counties.