Correction to New Liverpool Salt Works

Uncategorized 1 Minute

One of my readers asked me what I knew about the history of the name “Salton,” as in the Salton Sink, Salton Sea, Salton Station on the Southern Pacific Railroad line. I reread my post on the New Liverpool Salt Works and discovered I had made a typographical error; the salt works were incorporated in November 1883, not 1893! I am grateful for the opportunity to correct my error.

If you are interested, the earliest reference I can find regarding the name Salton was an article in the May 11, 1884 edition of the Los Angeles Herald:

All the earlier maps show names for the area such as the “Colorado Desert” (1856); Coahuilla Valley, Cabazon Valley, Frink Dry Lake (late 1870s). By the time of the natural overflow of the Colorado in 1891, Salton was in use.

FYI: Walters became Mecca.

Published by History Trover

I grew up in the Coachella Valley; my parents were "heavy earthwork" contractors, mostly building government projects, so I spent a lot of time on the back roads of the West. I'm a graduate of Vassar College (history major) and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary. Retired from the Law, I now grow dates, sweet limes & figs on the family ranch, and am the State Senate appointee to the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy.

Published

10 thoughts on “Correction to New Liverpool Salt Works”

  2. Hi. Really enjoy your posts! (You probably don’t recall I was born in Indio in 1947 and lived there through 7th grade… picked up a lot of arrowheads west of town.)

    I probably missed something, but are you saying that in recent historic times… post white settlement for sure (UN-sure about Spanish explorer times)… the Salton sink was ALWAYS dry?… until the flooding you mentioned??

    Thanks!!
    gary

    —
    Gary Wagner
    Wagner Instruments
    17225 Ambaum Blvd. S.
    Burien, WA 98148
    c-206 714-2692
    gary.wagner@att.net

    Like

    Reply

    1. I’m sorry I wasn’t clear. There had been water in the sink over the eons. The Colorado would cut a new channel, sometimes going north, then it would silt up (or an earthquake changed its course) and it would dry out again. I was trying to say that the name “Salton” to refer to the lake, region &/or townsite wasn’t used until 1883/4.

      I hope this makes it clearer.

      Like

      Reply

  3. The IID general manager testified before Congress last week regarding the Colorado River and Salton Sea. It seems as if all we get is more talk and little action. The issue is not important to politicians who believe the Salton Sea was a mistake and not worth saving.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. The proposed redistricting map politically aligns Imperial County with Coachella and Riverside. This should be a positive development with regards to the Salton Sea.

        The Imperial County was once part of San Diego County, and the current Assembly district extends along the border from the coast to the desert. Juan Vargas is the Valley’s Congressional representative.

        It would seem to be a conflict of interest as Vargas has not been a water advocate for the Imperial Valley. He supports the transfer of water to San Diego which has been a contributing factor to the decline of the Salton Sea.

        As part of the 2022 budget, Vargas did support a $2.5 million earmark for various Salton Sea projects although a big chunk of those funds are reserved for yet another study. The Imperial County Board of Supervisors are not satisfied.

        Chairman Michael Kelley said,

        “How many studies has the Salton Sea been involved in? For years and years and years and all we do is study it until it dies. Then we don’t need to study it anymore.”

        Vice Chairman Jesus Escobar added,

        “It would have been fixed already if we would have spent the money toward actual infrastructure instead of study after study.”

        Intergovernmental Relations Director Rebecca Terrazas-Baxter told the board,

        “They really haven’t made any real progress or commitment to improving not just the Salton Sea but the New River.”

        Kelley ended the meeting by saying,

        “I just don’t seem to have any faith in them coming to the plate and doing a damn thing for us.”

        Will the political realignment be a net-positive for the Upper and Lower desert? The region has shared, common interests so it makes sense that a unified district would have more political clout.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s