Tree Bark as Human Food 



By Hu Maxwell. 



WHEX the many kinds and great numbers of 

 trees constituting the American forests are 

 considered, it is remarkable that the bark of so 

 few of them is of value as human food. Many an ex- 

 cellent woodsman has starved to death in the forest be- 

 cause he could not find in the bark of trees the means 

 of sustaining life. Nuts and other fruits in season sup- 

 ply food ; and many herbs possess edible roots which In- 

 dians and frontiersmen of early days knew how to pre- 

 pare and use as food; but the bark of trees was usually 

 of no avail as a means of preserving human life in time 

 of famine. 



WESTERN YELLOW PINE BARK AS FOOD 



These trees are in the State of Washington. It was in this region in 

 1805 that Lewis and Clark first recorded the fact that Indians 

 used this tree's bark for food. The bark has been so used, in a 

 small way, over an area of nearly a million square miles. 



That, however, has not been the popular belief. It 

 is quite commonly supposed that in the days of the 

 pioneers when forests were everywhere, that the hunter 

 or traveler who knew the woods was able to peel a tree 

 trunk, skin out the soft inner bark and make a tolerable 

 meal of it and thus appease hunger and sustain life in 

 times of adversity. That did sometimes happen under 

 certain conditions; but it was unusual. Some theorists 

 who know very little of woodscraft and of the real re- 

 sources of the primeval forests, have lately amused the 

 public by writing articles pretending to point out how a 

 man can go into the forest and without clothes, food or 

 shelter, remain indefinitely without assistance other than 

 that found naturally in the forest. 



Such a thing may be possible, but it is barely probable 

 and then only under favorable circumstances. In summer 

 when fruit is ripe and the weather is warm it is more 

 nearly possible than in winter or when conditions are 

 not the best. At any rate, the bark of trees could be 

 depended upon to a very limited extent only to supply 

 food. 



Xo fact of forest history is better known than that 

 the Indians often died of hunger in the primeval wilder- 

 ness. They knew the trees well and were acquainted 

 with the food value of all the nuts, buds, roots, and bark 

 that existed in the regions over which they ranged, and 

 yet large numbers sometimes perished of sheer hunger. 

 It is true that life was often prolonged or saved by a 

 bark diet, but evidently it was not always possible to do 

 so. Much depended upon the region, the season of the 

 year, and the kind of trees within reach. 



Much light is thrown on this matter in a series of books 

 known as the "Jesuit Relations," consisting of some 



INDIANS ATE WESTERN RED CEDAR 

 Formerly Indians of the Northwestern Pacific Coast made 

 much use of the soft inner bark of this cedar as an ab- 

 sorbent of fish oil and bear fat, and ate the mixture, 

 which they said was palatable. The custom, however, no 

 longer exists. 



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