Edmund McIhenny, the creator of this fine and wonderful condiment, fled New Orleans after the Union Army entered the city during the Civil War. He and his wife took refuge on Avery Island until Union forces captured the salt mines there owned by his wife's family. They then fled to Texas. When the returned after the war to their plantation, the only crop that remained was one of capsicum peppers. Determined to make money from the peppers, Edmund tried to make a hot sauce. The peppers were combined with vinegar and Avery Island salt and then aged in wooden barrels. In 1868, 350 bottles of Cajun Tobasco Sauce were produced. Voila.