The mineral that built a nation, forgotten by history until now.
You know salt as a kitchen staple, something you shake over dinner without a second thought. But what if the story of American expansion, warfare, and survival hinged on this humble white crystal more than on gold itself? From the settlement of the frontier to the desperation of the Civil War, salt shaped economies, sparked bloody conflicts, and determined whether communities lived or perished. Yet no comprehensive account of its extraordinary role in American history has ever been written.
White Gold: The History of Salt in Settlement and Commerce in The United States 1400-1900 changes that. Ronald Switzer traces salt's sweeping journey across five centuries, from the indigenous peoples who gathered and traded it at sacred sites like the Zuni Salt Lake, through the European explorers who recognized its potential, to the entrepreneurs and soldiers who fought and died for control of salt springs and deposits. You will discover how the Confederacy's crippling salt shortage hastened its defeat, how salt wars erupted in west Texas, and how African slave labor fueled production across the South. Organized state by state, this meticulously researched volume reveals the hidden infrastructure of a nation built on a mineral more precious than gold.
Inside, you will find:
- A state-by-state account of prehistoric and historic salt works across America
- The critical role salt played in both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War
- How indigenous peoples, explorers, and settlers transformed salt into currency, commodity, and catalyst for westward expansion