The first map of Kentucky, prepared by John Filson in 1784, bore on the legend: "Big Bone Lick; Salt and Medical Spring. Large bones are found there."
The 57 Degree spring waters contained salt, muriate of lime, sulphate of soda or magnesia, sulphurated hydrogen gas along with less active ingredients.
The Clay House was built in the early 1800’s as a health resort just west of the Lick, it burned down in the mid 1840’s, around 1848 a new Clay House was built, In the early 1900’s the resort went out of business and it was dismantled for scrap lumber in 1945.
During the operation of the Clay House there were several owners and several remodels done, durning all of these there were a wide verity of medical claims that bathing in and/or drinking the spring water could be used in the Prevention and Treatment of hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, rheumatism, uterine trouble, lead poisoning, boils, parasitic skin disease, hair tonic and could wash off chemical pollutants.
The Big Bone Lick Spring is a natural spring and is part of Kentucky’s karst topography.
“Karst topography is a geological formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite, but has also been documented for weathering resistant rocks, such as quartzite given the right conditions” - (Wikipedia)
A Karst Landscape is made up of sinking streams, sinkholes, caves and springs. Karst springs usually have less ground filtering as normal spring water does. So big Bone Licks spring is generated mostly from sinkholes at higher altitudes and has less ground filtering as regular spring water does. Remember, do not drink the water that is at this spring.
Before the spring was used as a Medical Spa it was used to produce salt. The first recorded salt manufacture is from Mary Ingles in 1755. She was a captive of the Shawnee Indians and one of her uses was to manufacture salt. In 1779 the land was gave to William Christian from Thomas Jefferson, the Governor of Virginia, for his services in the French and Indian War. Through 1812 ownership of the land transferred several times, during this period these springs were major producers of salt in the area. Salt production ceased because the cost of production to make the end product was higher than the competitions. This was due to it taking 500-1000 gallons of salt water to evaporate to 1 bushel compared to new springs in the Ohio Valley that could produce 1 bushel using 50 gallons or less.
But Big Bone Lick is known for the bones found in the area, Big Bone Lick is the Birthplace of American Verterbrate Paleontology. This is all due to the salt springs that were located here. The mammoth and the mastodon were among the animals to visit the Lick but ancestors of the sloth, bison and horse also frequented the area. This area which had vegetation and salty earth around the springs was used by these animals to supplement their diet. Because the land was soft and marshy many of the animals became trapped in the nearby bogs and died.
Now you can see this area is a State Park and still draws people to visit. The spring that you are now at is just a small reminder of Centuries of anamals and people who have traveled to this area, adding to the geological changes that have been made.
Thanks for visiting, to get credit for this EarthCache please email me the answers to questions 1-6 and complete logging requirement A:
1. What is the color of the water at the spring?
2. What smell does the spring give off?
3. This spring is slowly drying up, what do you think the impact will be on the area?
4. Estimate how many Square Feet there are for the surface of the Spring?
5. Describe the area and what effects you think this spring has on it?
-- Please include things like water movement, plant and animal life, ect.
Please include in your online log:
A. A fact about Big Bone Lick that you didn’t previously know before visiting the area. (Required)
B. A picture showing you and/or your GPS with the Spring in the background. (Optional)
As always uploading pictures are optional, but they will help keep things interesting so if you are able to, please do so.
Also, Take your Time, Enjoy the Walk and have fun with the Cache, EarthCaches are not about the numbers.
If you have the time you can also do 'Prehistoric Creatures' (GC1EXKA) and 'Caching 101' (GC1CBBW), they are both located on the same Trail as this EarthCache.
If you visit the Bison area, take a picture so you can complete the 'Photo Geocoin Challenge' (TB4Z96Y). Look for the trail that starts near the end of the parking lot by the Visitors Center.