La Saline, Missouri facts for kids

La Saline was once a small village in Missouri, United States. It is now an empty place. You can find it about six miles south of Sainte Genevieve. It was an important spot for making salt a long time ago.

What's in a Name? (Etymology)

The name La Saline comes from the French word for "saltworks" or "salt marsh". This name was chosen because of two natural salt springs in the area. These springs also gave their name to a nearby stream, called Saline Creek.

The French settlers called this stream La Rivière de la Saline. This means "The Salt River". The Spanish called it Las Salinas.

There were actually two small settlements: La Grande Saline and La Petite Saline. La Grande Saline was the bigger one. People often just called it La Saline or sometimes Old Saline.

A Look Back: History of La Saline

Early Salt Seekers

Long ago, in 1541, a Spanish explorer named De Soto sent some of his men to find salt. They went with Native American guides to a salty stream in the north. This was probably Saline Creek in Ste. Genevieve County.

Later, during the time when France ruled this area, both French settlers and Illinois Native Americans came to La Saline. They gathered salt from the springs there.

Making Salt a Business

People started settling along the Saline River in the early 1700s. By 1715, French groups were already making salt at La Saline. At first, these camps were temporary. But over time, they became permanent villages.

Two settlements grew along the Saline Creek. Grande Saline was near where the creek met the big river. Petite Saline was further up the creek. The main goal of these settlements was to make salt. Salt was very important back then. It was used to keep meat from spoiling, to prepare animal skins, and to process furs.

The French built ovens to boil the salty water from the springs. When the water boiled away, the salt was left behind. In 1788, the Spanish government also set up a small outpost at La Saline.

By 1800, many people were making salt here. Both French and American settlers used four or five large furnaces. They boiled off the water to get the salt. These workers sent about 3,500 barrels of salt to New Orleans every year! This busy place was sometimes called 'La Saline Ensanglantèe', which means 'The Bloody Saline'. This name might suggest it was a tough or dangerous place to work.

Shipping Lead and Decline

Besides making salt, La Saline was also a place where lead was shipped. Lead was mined at a place called Mine la Motte, which opened in the 1720s. The lead was brought by animals or carts over rough roads. Then it came down the Saline River Valley to La Saline. From there, it was loaded onto boats on the Mississippi River.

In the early 1800s, people started making salt in southern Illinois. This made the salt business in La Saline less important. By 1822, only about seventeen workers were still making salt. They used 100 to 150 large kettles. But by 1825, all salt production had stopped.

Without its main business, La Saline began to empty out. It was no longer a busy village.

Who Lived There? (Population)

The first people to live in La Saline were French colonists. They came to produce salt. Later, many Americans also moved in to work there.

In a count taken in 1797, Americans made up most of the households. There were twenty-eight American families. People from five other places also lived there: French, French Canadian, Creole, Irish, and Scottish.

People of different faiths lived in La Saline too. There were Anglicans, Catholics, Presbyterians, and Anabaptists. In 1804, records show that 59 people lived in La Saline. The village was always quite small. It had a mix of people, often more single men than families, and many people only stayed for a short time.

How the Village Looked (Layout)

La Saline was not a planned village. It just grew naturally over time. There were no straight streets or organized plots of land. It was typical for such villages to have a few cabins scattered along a creek and a road. Small gardens were usually found near the cabins.

Since the main activity was making salt, not farming, there weren't large fields for crops. The village simply grew around the salt springs and the river.

Where Was It? (Geography)

La Saline was located right on the Mississippi River. It was at the mouth of Saline Creek. Across the river from La Saline was Kaskaskia Island. The village was about six miles south of the town of Sainte Genevieve.