Lewis Clark Saltmakers Return to Pacific Ocean, Seaside, Oregon 2009
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The Lewis & Clark Salt Makers Return

2009 Saltworks Return August 14,15,16, 2009,
starting at 5 PM Friday and running continuously until 3 PM Sunday.

The Saltmakers Return, sponsored by the Seaside Museum and Historical Society in conjunction with Ft. Clatsop Nat. Park and the city of Seaside, celebrates the 1805-06 Lewis & Clark Expedition by making of salt on the Seaside beach. The 1st-person interpretation will take place on the third weekend in August 2007. Visitors will be representing Clatsop Indians who are coming to the salt camp to trade wild berries, fruit, meat and other 1806 trade goods for beads and bright pieces of metal.

You are now entering the year 1806

You will be met by professional first person character interpreters who will prepare you for your journey back to the 1806 salt camp. When you arrive at the sign "You are now entering the year 1806" you will find men in costume, on the beach in Seaside Oregon, performing first person interpretation of the Salt Maker they are portraying. These men have studied their historic character and they perform the part in the jargon of 1806. Who do they do their performance with? You, the visitor! The first person interpreters will be scooping ocean water out of the surf, bringing it to the Salt Camp and actually making sea salt.

Please scroll down to see photos from past events, and click on the small images to see a larger version.

Archive photos from July 2005:

Salt makers on the Seaside, Oregon, beach
Salt makers camp
& Orientation tent
Volunteers giving orientation
Orientation:
Now entering 1804
National Park Service historians Saltmakers
Saltmaker's Camp
Seaside beach view
looking North from Ave. U
Cross country bicyclists ended their trip here, too!
These cyclists arrived during the event after a cross-country trip.
Beach fun by the Saltmakers Camp
Families enjoy the event and Seaside's beach!
Seaside Oregon Surfers by the Lewis & Clark Saltmakers camp
Seaside Surfers
Pelicans flying overhead
Pelicans flying over the event.
Beach view looking North
Welcome to 1804
Welcome!
This boy bartered a watermellon for a brass button and some beads!
Barter
Boiled sea water became usable salt
Sea salt: the finished product.
Located at the end of Avenue U, by the Tides Motel
Camp is near the Tides Motel at the end of Avenue U, Seaside.
Lewis and Clark Salt Makers Tent Saltmakers Returned to Seaside

Archive photos from July 2004:

Lewis & Clark Saltmakers Return to Seaside: Welcome tent
Welcome Tent
(on the beach at
Avenue U & the Prom)
Visitor to this free event go back in time to 1804
Orientation:
Now entering 1804
Visitors interact with the first-person interpretors
Learning about the Salt Works
Carson traded his bag of acorns for some trade beads
Barter
Water is carefully skimmed from the Pacific Ocean, to contain as little sand as possible
Water is carefully skimmed from the Pacific Ocean, to contain as little sand as possible.
Can I help you carry water?
"Can I help?"
Water is carried from the Ocean to the Saltworks Guarding the fire, 24/7
Visitors learn the Salt making process On duty, day and night
Tending the fire  

Archive photos from August 2004:

You are now entering the year 1806 The 1806 saltmakers camp on the beach by Tillamook Head, Seaside, Oregon
The 1806 Camp
Group from Malibu, CA
"Malibu School" Group
Bartering for a thimble
Bartering for a Thimble
Water from the Ocean I've got sand in my shoes.
I've got sand in my shoes!
Corps of Discovery Saltmakers
Tending the fire at the  saltworks  

Boiling Sea Water to  collect  salt

The Saltmakers Return
is sponsored by:

Seaside Museum & Historical Society

Fort Clatsop National Memorial, NPS

The Pacific Northwest Living Historians


Corps of Discovery Saltmakers Camp,  Seaside, Oregon
The Saltmakers Return
is funded by:

Destination: The Pacific

The Autzen Foundation

City of Seaside Promotion Committee

City of Seaside Public Works Department

The Tides Motel Seaside


Observations by
Helen Gaston &
Roy Kirkham, 2002

First Person Interpretation of Lewis & Clark Salt Makers

salt makers, salt-makers, making salt by boiling ocean water, Pacific Ocean, Seaside, Oregon, south of Fort Clatsop, Clatsop County, Oregon