There have been many mentions of the salt spring located in Greenwood in historical offerings through time. I will attempt to take what I have learned and give you a glimpse from the earliest known until today.
In the late 1700s and into the early 1800s before Levi Davis came and settled Greenwood, the local Native American tribes of the Iroqouis Confederacy used a secret path which was part of the Forbidden Trail to reach the spring. It is thought that these Indians were not the local Canisteo; but, from the Seneca tribe from Alleghany, around the Letchworth area. The Native Americans would traverse all over the local area using these trails. To find out more about the Forbidden Trail, see https://www.alleganyhistory.org/culture/stories-and-folklore/original-stories/1118-the-forbidden-trail.
They would borrow kettles from their white neighbors and trek to the spring, build fires on a plot of flat ground along the other side of the creek, now known as Bennett's Creek and camp for a number of days, sharing the area with the local deer and elk. They spent their time dipping and carrying the water from the spring, about twenty yards on the other side of the creek, to boil it off to reach the salt; a rare and tradable commodity at that time.
At some point not too long a time before Levi Davis came in 1824, a Mr Burger and Mr Matthews built cabins near the spring. It is thought that the flat, field-like area near the spring may have been the location; but no recognizable foundations or evidence existed to verify this. But, logic leads one to believe that the area was cleared at some point as it is surrounded by forest.
These gentlemen set up shop boiling the water off to reach the salt. They came up with what was thought to be a brilliant idea, a well, that would allow them to bring more of the spring water out and easier too. So, they attempted to hand-drill a well. They placed a long rod with a drill bit into the spring and over time while shoring up the walls with wooden casings, they reached 64 feet. But, still no well and the rod broke off and was forever stuck in the deep hole. They abandoned this effort and continued to carry the water in kettles just as the Native Americans before them. Mr Matthews died, Levi Davis purchased the land; and the enterprise was abandoned. Settlers continued to make the trek and spend a few days boiling and would leave with their sack of salt.
Starting in 1896, the New York and Pennsylvania (NYP) railroad was put through along the other side of the creek bed, and the spring was for the most part buried. It was left to be overgrown and somewhat lost to the citizens of Greenwood. See more about the NYP at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_%26_Pennsylvania_Railroad.
The flood of 1935 washed bridges and tracks away for 10 miles south of Canisteo. Since the line was in need of renovation, had been losing money for years, and had little hope of regaining profitability, shareholders voted to end operations. Again, this area was abandoned and forgotten. All that was left were the local phone lines running from Blanche Wallace's switchboard to the citizens along Main Street.
Around the early 1960s a group of historically-minded citizens including Ed Mullen, Stanley Murray and his son, John (my dad), along with a few of their Boy Scouts decided to pick up the mantle and resurrect the area around the salt spring. What they found at the sight of the spring was an area about a foot square with a bit of the rod visible. They dug around and were able to uncover about 18 inches of it. As these men were members of the fire company, they decided to try and flush the drill out of the well by using water from the fire hose. No such luck. The rod remains buried there today.
The scouts turned their efforts to creating a camp site on this spot. Using that flat area near the spring for their tents, the first group of scouts including Stan Murray, Butch Kernan, Gary Chaffee, Skip Mullen and Roger Mills and their aforementioned leaders, began the tradition of camping at the salt spring around 1961 or 1962. They boiled the salt water and what tasted a bit like salt but was very gray and not too appetizing was all they got. Who knows, that may have been what it looked like back in the 1700 and 1800 hundreds. We are spoiled by our processed bright white salt of today, yes?
They built a suspension bridge across the creek which was about thirty yards wide at this time and invited the townspeople to join them around their campfires on Saturday night. They put on skits, sang and did feats of "magic" to demonstrate that the spirit of scouting could set a pile of logs ablaze all on its own. You may have read about these events as Grace Young, Greenwood News reporter, was a frequent guest.
This first group of scouts also marked the portion of The Forbidden Trail that led to the spring. This portion is referred to as the Canisteo path; a lesser known and at times secret portion of the trail system used by the Iroquois Confederacy.
As a young adult, I happened upon a hint about the salt spring and became curious. My aunts, Anna Marie (Murray) Schwartz and Sally (Murray) Coates were none too keen on showing me where it was located. I had this vision of it being far, far away from my grandparents house and believed that for decades. Recently, through this project, I uncovered that it is very close by, almost across the street. I will be making my trek to the salt spring when I visit this summer. Care to join me?