Camping

When Lewis and Clark explored the Northwest Territory at the beginning of the nineteenth century, they carried a portable soup, a forerunner of the bouillon cube, which only required potable water to heat a nutritious, beef-based beverage for their troops. Advice for the westward flow of pioneers during the nineteenth century was to keep their

food for the trip … compact, lightweight, and nonperishable. Each family brought along such staples as flour, sugar, cornmeal, coffee, dried beans, rice, bacon, and salt pork. Some also brought dried fruit. Mealtime on the Oregon Trail was governed by the sun. … Breakfast had to be completed by 4 a.m. so that the wagon train could be on its way by daybreak. Beans, cornmeal mush, Johnnycakes or pancakes, and coffee were the usual breakfast. Fresh milk was available from the dairy cows that some families brought along, and pioneers took advantage of the rough rides of the wagon to churn their butter. “Nooning” at midday meant stopping for rest and a meal. Little time could be spent preparing the noonday meal, since the wagon train could only travel by daylight. Usually a piece of meat was fried over the camp fire. Longer-cooking stews were left for the evening meal. The women made bread dough while riding in the wagons and timed the rising so that it would be ready to bake when evening camp was made. … (Lee, 1992, pp. 241–242)