Genevieve County and flows east briefly passing through a portion of northern Perry County before emptying into an offshoot of the Mississippi River across from Kaskaskia Island, just north of St. Mary’s roughly six miles south of Sainte Genevieve.

[7][8] In 1541, Spanish explorer De Soto had sent Hernando de Silvera and Pedro Moreno from Capaha, with Indian guides, to obtain a supply of salt from a saline stream to the north, presumably the Saline Creek in Ste.

The purpose of the settlement was the manufacturing of salt which was used for meat preservation, skin tanning, and fur processing.

These men were sending approximately thirty-five hundred barrels of salt to New Orleans each year.

[10] As well as producing salt, La Saline's location along the Mississippi River meant that it served as a lead-shipping point.