Mackey's Salt Kettle

Mackey's Salt Works on the Illinois River in Indian Territory was an important station on the military road to Ft Smith, Arkansas, and this salt kettle was one of more than 100 pieces of equipment there. For many years before the Civil War, salt was made there for the Indian population, and until 1864 federal troops used the plant to supply salt to the army and refugees. In that year, on the eve of capture by the Confederates, federal soldiers burned the establishment and destroyed the kettles. After the war, impoverished Cherokees patched and reused the kettles for a few years.

Muskogee, Oklahoma · United States