Tejano History
La Sal Del Rey
Tejanos |
LA SAL DEL REY. La Sal del Rey, sometimes ungrammatically called El Sal del Rey and also known as La Purificación, is a salt lake four miles southeast of Linn and twenty-eight miles northeast of McAllen in east central Hidalgo County (at 26°33' N, 98°04' W). The lake has a circumference of five miles, is a mile long, and ranges from three to four feet in depth. The bed consists of rock-crystal salt composed of 99.0897 percent sodium chloride. The large salt deposit, the depth of which is undetermined, has no connection with any other body of water, and how it was formed is not known. Salt blocks removed from any spot in the lake are quickly replenished, often in two or three days, as the water is shifted by the predominantly southeastern winds of the area. Engineers estimate that the lake holds four million tons of salt. The water may dry out completely or, in periods of much rainfall, be more than ten feet deep.
Full article on the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online