Did you know that the Onondagas first showed the salt spring to Pere Lemoyne?
NOTE: This is a virtual geocache. There is no box to find here, but you will learn about an important event in the early history of Syracuse.
The fountain erected here as a memorial was dry today, but the structure itself is quite interesting. It commemorates the discovery of a salt spring in the area, an event that occurred when the Onondaga Indians first took Pere Lemoyne, an early missionary, to the spot. The Onondagas told him the water wasn't drinkable, that it was inhabited with an unfriendly spirit. Pere LeMoyne knew that when this water dried out it would leave salt behind. The salt industry later made the area very prosperous. Syracuse became known as The Salt City. And that's the rest of the story!
From the City of Syracuse Web site:
"The Catholic tradition was originally introduced by Pere LeMoyne in 1654, when he established the mission on the east shore on Onondaga Lake, but it was the influx of immigrants during the nineteenth century which greatly influenced the growth of the Catholic Church in the area."
"In 1797, the Village of Salina acquired the plot now known as Washington Square. It was used as a cemetery until it was dedicated for park purposes in 1839. In 1847, the village became a part of the City of Syracuse. Washington Square Park is also home to the LeMoyne Drinking Fountain monument."
"Located in Washington Square Park,the LeMoyne Drinking Fountain was dedicated in memory of Father LeMoyne who discovered the salt springs near Onondaga Lake, and was unveiled on July 1st, 1908. It was designed by Gail Sherman Corbett and was given by Mr. William Kirkpatrick."
Learn more about the history of salt in Central New York at The Salt Museum, a program of the Onondaga County Parks Department.
The rules to log this cache:
1. Use your GPS to reach the virtual cache location, then see if you can answer this question:
The relief images on the fountain commemorate the salt spring discovery involving the Onondagas and Pere Lemoyne, but who exactly was the person being memorialized with this monument, and what important post did they hold in Syracuse? We don't mean the person in the figure in the photo above, or the donor, whose name is given in the text here. We want to know the honoree. The answer can be found at the virtual cache site, but to my knowledge, it's not on the Internet.
2. Send an email to me with your answer to the cache question through the geocaching.com emailer. Please wait for a reply confirming your correct answer before logging the cache as found. DO NOT answer the cache question in your log report! Feel free to share anything else you may know about this historic event in your log. Local historians and geologists are encouraged to hold forth on the topic of salt springs.