PURE AND IMPURE FOOD. 



" What a Man Eats He Is." 

 Edited by C F. Langworthy, Ph.D. 

 Author of "On Citrac'onic, Itaconic and Mesaconic Acids," "Fish as Food," etc. 



COOKING IN WESTERN COWBOY CAMPS. 



Discussing the camp cookery of the West- 

 ern plains, H. A. Crafts in a recent maga- 

 zine says: "A Mexican, with a grimy 

 sack of flour, a little water, a little 

 baking powder and a fire of sage 

 brush, can in a few minutes prepare 

 most excellent biscuits. The Mexican 

 makes his biscuits with the simplest 

 kind of a cooking outfit. 



"Did he have a bread pan? Not at all. 

 Such a thing would be a mere superfluity. 

 No! He simply unfastened that dingy 

 sack of flour from his saddle, placed 

 it squarely upright on the sod, and 

 rolled the top of the sack nicely down 

 until it made a rim around the edge 

 of the flour. Then he scooped out a 

 hollow in the flour and poured in some 

 water. The quantity of water determined 

 the number of biscuits he proposed to 

 bake, and no more water was added in the 

 process of mixing, because that would 

 probably spoil the whole mess. Adding 

 the remaining ingredients, he began to stir 

 the mixture with a spoon, gradually work- 

 ing in the flour from the edges. When of 

 the desired consistency, he took the mass 

 between his hands and molded it. Then, 

 replacing it in the sack, he proceeded to 

 cut from it sufficient dough to make a bis- 

 cuit. That he deftly molded in turn, and 

 placed in his frying pan, already hot and 

 greased with bacon fat. When the pan 

 was full he tilted it in front of his fire, 

 and soon had a panful of beautiful biscuits, 

 white within and browned to a turn on top. 

 "I am told by persons of experience that 

 the novice at open-air cooking nearly al- 

 ways commits the error of using too much 

 fuel. In consequence, there is an excess 

 of heat both in the cooking and the cook. 

 It is surprising how little fuel the expe- 

 rienced person needs to cook a fair meal. 

 A few buffalo chips, a handful of sage 

 brush or pine fagots will suffice. One se- 

 cret of this person's success is the cool and 

 deliberate manner in which he works. 

 The amateur is usually in a great hurry, 

 and thinks he can best accomplish his task 

 by putting on steam. Disaster follows in 

 his wake, and even the tough stomach of 

 the plains rises against his abortive at- 

 tempts at cookery; whereas the man who 

 knows his business uses no haste, little 

 fuel and does not place his viands to cook 

 until his fire has burned nearly down to 

 coals. 

 "The cooking outfit of the round-up is 



usually a well equipped affair, especially as 

 regards provisions, for the Western cattle- 

 man is a generous feeder. The life of a 

 cowboy is exacting, so he is given all the 

 good, wholesome food he cares to eat. 

 The food must be well cooked, too, so the 

 cook on the round-up must be a competent 

 person. He is well paid, getting $40 to 

 $50 a month as wages. The camp larder 

 is well supplied with canned vegetables 

 and dried fruits. Canned fruits are too 

 bulky to carry on the round-up. The best 

 of fresh beef is at all times at hand. Beef 

 is cooked largely into soups and stews. 

 Beef and tomato soup is a favorite dish 

 with the cowboy. Stewed fruit is used in 

 large quantities. It is also cooked into 

 pies, puddings and dumplings ; but it is 

 greatly relished in its simple form, and it 

 is no uncommon thing to see a cowboy 

 eat a quart bowlful at one sitting. It is es- 

 pecially esteemed for its dietetic qualities. 



"The camp changes location daily, as the 

 round-up moves across the country. If 

 possible, it is located near timber. To 

 begin with, the cook secures 2 logs of 

 green timber, according to the size of the 

 outfit. These logs he places on the ground 

 side by side and about 8 inches apart. 

 Then he builds his fire of dry stove wood 

 between the logs. If the outfit is destined 

 to traverse a treeless country, a supply of 

 stove wood is taken along in the camp 

 wagon, and instead of cooking over a pair 

 of logs a narrow trench is dug in the 

 ground and the fire built in that. The 

 cooking is done in large pots, pans and 

 kettles, with a Dutch oven added. 



The cook turns out about 3 'o'clock in 

 the morning. No matter what the weather 

 may be, it must be done. In wind storm 

 or rain storm breakfast must be served. 

 About 4 o'clock he wakes the remainder of 

 the crew. The sleepy cowboys turn out 

 reluctantly, because their sleep was sweet 

 and their bodies tired from much hard rid- 

 ing. They souse their faces in buckets of 

 cold water. If there is a spring or creek 

 near, they prefer to perform their ablu- 

 tions there. Then they saddle their bron- 

 cos ; after which there is a call to break- 

 fast. Each cowboy is supplied with a 

 knife, fork, spoon and a large tin plate. 

 Of course, there is a good sized cup of* 

 coffee, for that grateful beverage is drunk 

 in unlimited quantities in the cow camp. 

 He has a plate or 2 for side dishes. Then 

 each cowboy marches up to the campfire, 

 where there is a smoking row of pots and 



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