Pemmican
Winter was a preserving season for women and to some extent for trappers. For example, it was a good time to make pemmican, the best of all concentrated foods. The…
Buffalo as a Complete Diet
There will be occasion farther on to describe Indian methods of hunting the buffalo, the making of dried meat and pemmican, and the additional uses the buffalo served. It seems proper to point…
Stagecoach Conditions to Denver, 1860
"With the 'gentlemanly' express messenger, J. S. Stephens, and the driver, a total of 11 people rode this coach, including two children. A traveler who arrived at Denver in August, 1860,…
Buffalo
"The morning brought with it no joy. We had arrived at the westernmost limit of the 'gigantic Leicestershire' to which buffalo at this season extend, and could hope to see no trace…
Bones for Fires
"Buffalo herds were behind the hills, but we were too full of sleep to follow them. The plain was dotted with blanched skulls and bones, which would have made a splendid bonfire.…
Gunpowder Seasoning
"During the twelve ensuing days the men continued to live on the meat of starved or exhausted horses and mules. As the salt supply ran out they discovered that gunpowder sprinkled on…
Freighter Meal
"'Bacon was the r e l i a b l e meat,' and flap jacks, beans, crackers, and sour dough fried in a skillet and flooded with molasses was the most…
Dirty Water
"Strong coffee most likely was served always, and the enlightened cook with his coffee pot would waste no time in getting down to the draw for his water supply before the thirsty…
Purchasing Provisions at Fort Kearny
"The most important items to be obtained from the commissary were grain (when available), bacon, pickled pork, and flour, the price of which fluctuated wildly . . . After the…
Platte River Water
"The only reliable daily source [of water in the Platte Valley] was the Platte River itself. Platte river water was obtained in two ways: by scooping it up out of…
Buffalo Chips
"[F]or the most part along the Platte a camp fire developed from the ubiquitous dried droppings of the buffalo, sometimes called dung or manure, but more commonly called 'buffalo chips.'…
Emigrants’ Daily Menu
"Charles M. Tuttle describes the daily menu of a typical emigrant: 'for breakfast, coffee, bacon, dry or pilot bread; for dinner, coffee, cold beans, bacon or buffalo meat; for supper,…
Soda Springs
"Lydia Waters came equipped with lemon extract and sugar and had an epicurean morning among the springs while her company lay over to recruit. She broke off some of the…
Balsam Gum
"Then they had stores of balsam gum from the fir grove traversed on the divide. It was not only good to chew but healthful."
Jerking Buffalo Meat
"To 'jerk' buffalo meat, the camp constructed a large rectangle of boughs or wooden strips, like a huge picture frame, and laid poles thickly across it. Then they elevated the…