FOOD What Pioneers ate on the Oregon Trail

[Old Gray Mare]

Fair use.

What Pioneers ate on the Oregon Trail (hoe cakes &c.)
Tasting History with Max Miller

The video goes over the how; what supplies were available, foraging opportunities, the hardships, terrain, distance traveled from provisioning opportunities on the trail effected food.

All though he only goes into detail and has a tutorial in making hoe cakes he mentions a lot of other foods that were commonly used on the trail. Many of these foods are no longer part of the average American diet such as portable soup, sage hen, dried apple pie and hardtack.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ehnuEUwe6M

run time 24:10

 

[school marm]

Not finding a link.

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

Not finding a link.

I think the paste stripped it out. Or it was forgotten.

 

[AlaskaSue]

I love his channel!
24:10

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ehnuEUwe6M&t=136s

 

[cleobc]

Thanks for posting. I've been extra interested in the Oregon Trail since genealogy research showed my great-great-grandfather and -mother came out west that way in 1852, along with 10-12 other relatives on my mother's side in various years and different wagon trains. My mother wasn't aware of this, the story got lost, but I have found confirmation of it at oregonpioneers.com, etc.

It was a difficult trip, but I would love to go back in time and travel the Oregon Trail..

 

[sssarawolf]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail. Our kids played it over and over again trying to make sure they could live to the end of the trail. It had them get supplies and if you didn't get enough you came to a sad end.

 

[Red Baron]

Wild turkey used to be very prevalent during the 1700's and 1800's and was a staple food of the pioneers until overharvesting and loss of habitat almost wiped out the wild turkey in the 1930's.

 

[CaryC]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail. Our kids played it over and over again trying to make sure they could live to the end of the trail. It had them get supplies and if you didn't get enough you came to a sad end.

Yeah I saw Root play it as a little girl in "Person of Interest".

 

[CaryC]

Many of these foods are no longer part of the average American diet such as portable soup, sage hen, dried apple pie and hardtack.

What do you mean no longer part of the average American diet?

We eat that stuff on an annual basis.

Granted part of that is determined by location. There are no Sage Hens here. Neither are Pheasants. But you can sub any wild bird, and we do.

Dried apple pie, is what is used in our commonly eaten, and getting it all up in the eyebrows, Fried Apple Pie, and here in the south Fried Peach Pie. SB's Fried Pies make you slap yo momma.

And Hard Tack is close to Crackers. (Unleavened Bread) Army guys know exactly what that is. Came in C and K rations, with the emphasis on hard. LOL

I'm sure there is a lot of other stuff to be learned from the Oregon Trail folks when it comes to cooking.

Much better than going to CA via Donner Pass. LOL

 

[Murt]

my mother made the best fried peach pies (from dried peaches) that you ever had
the apple was good but the peach was on a different level

 

[WalknTrot]

My grandpa made great hardtack. Of course, he was a cook in logging camps around the turn of the (20th) century up north here. He knew what he was doing, and how to use rye flour and caraway! His hardtack combined with Grandma's raspberry jam. Fabulous.

There's also a certain Finnish descended lady in our neighborhood who does it right. She's at all of the VFD craft sales and township rummage sale fundraisers. Haha. One of the first booths everybody runs to when the doors open. Her hardtack AND her pasties sell out before you can turn around.

As to the video...wish he would have actually done more cooking of old recipes and less blabbing. Other observation? Wagon trains and pioneers - just like any other grouping of people - you are always gonna find some precious flower bitching about the food.

 

[SlipperySlope]

My first hubbys' family were on the Oregon Trail in 1847. They started off at St.Louis after patching up a used covered wagon. One of the women wrote a diary about it but I can't remember if she mentioned food. I do know they were lucky in that they had few problems and deaths on the trip.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

What do you mean no longer part of the average American diet?

We eat that stuff on an annual basis.

Granted part of that is determined by location. There are no Sage Hens here. Neither are Pheasants. But you can sub any wild bird, and we do.

Dried apple pie, is what is used in our commonly eaten, and getting it all up in the eyebrows, Fried Apple Pie, and here in the south Fried Peach Pie. SB's Fried Pies make you slap yo momma.

And Hard Tack is close to Crackers. (Unleavened Bread) Army guys know exactly what that is. Came in C and K rations, with the emphasis on hard. LOL

I'm sure there is a lot of other stuff to be learned from the Oregon Trail folks when it comes to cooking.

Much better than going to CA via Donner Pass. LOL

Can someone get these foods? Yes, but it takes an effort and in the case of wild fowl, some hunting skill or a friend that has it and is willing to share. The point I was trying to make is: you're probably not going to find a significant number of hunters in Brooklyn or San Francisco. Also making portable soup is a PITA.

Our Amish neighbor treated me to a Schnitz (dried apple) pie. It was good, very sweet but good.

 

[naegling62]

What? No fried Okra? The horror!

 

[tnphil]

Wild turkey used to be very prevalent during the 1700's and 1800's and was a staple food of the pioneers until overharvesting and loss of habitat almost wiped out the wild turkey in the 1930's.

Wild Turkey seems plentiful now. And comes in a bottle.

 

[CaryC]

Can someone get these foods? Yes, but it takes an effort and in the case of wild fowl, some hunting skill or a friend that has it and is willing to share. The point I was trying to make is: you're probably not going to find a significant number of hunters in Brooklyn or San Francisco. Also making portable soup is a PITA.

Our Amish neighbor treated me to a Schnitz (dried apple) pie. It was good, very sweet but good.

And my point wasn't towards you but the article, which makes it appear those foods are no longer around, when they are.

Granted those in San Fran may not use them, but then again they won't when a Shumer event hits, either. Simply because it is not available to them. You're not going to go Sage Hen hunting on Haight Ashbury, and 6th, when there is an EMP. Just saying.

But for those out in the rural areas that depend on grocery stores, now they might actually learn something.

So all in all it is a good article.

 

[CaryC]

Wild Turkey seems plentiful now. And comes in a bottle.

They are and ever growing.

 

[CaryC]

What? No fried Okra? The horror!

Right. And boiled Okra is how I found out my dining room table was unlevel, when it slid out of the bowl. LOL

 

[Slydersan]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail. Our kids played it over and over again trying to make sure they could live to the end of the trail. It had them get supplies and if you didn't get enough you came to a sad end.

There is a collaborative card game based on the computer game. Everyone works to get someone/anyone to the end.
And yes you can still "Die of Dysentery". LOL (there are a couple of expansions for it as well) I've played it, it's fun and nice change of pace from the every man/woman out for themselves type game.

 

[hiwall]

You can play the Oregon Trail Game online for free and nothing to download.

Oregon Trail Deluxe, The : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive

MS-DOS: Oregon Trail Deluxe, The by (1992)

archive.org

 

[Delta]

Thanks. As a student of the western migration I enjoyed this very much--especially the bit about fuel and the issue with drinking water. Frankly I think it must have been an horrendous experience.

 

[joannita]

My mother used to make mango pie. Tasted just like peach pie.

 

[bw]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail.

You can still play those old games online on emulators.

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

At middle achool one of the kids hacked the Oregon trail game and changed messages in it to more demented stuff like:
A snake got bit by amy
Or amy broke keiths schlong

Teachers did not know how to fix and just kept folks from playing on that computer and it was hilarious

 

[Wildweasel]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail. Our kids played it over and over again trying to make sure they could live to the end of the trail. It had them get supplies and if you didn't get enough you came to a sad end.

The most common ending for Oregon trail players:

 

[Publius]

They ate anything they could get ahold of.

 

[Intestinal Fortitude]

eaten by other travelers - Donner Party (reservations please . . .)

 

[hd5574]

We had a deer jump our yard fence and was in the yard a couple of days ago..a nearly daily occurrence.. the garden is also fenced..but if great interest to the
deer.
We are on eleven acres...the fenced yard is an acre or so for kitchen garden and the dog. we have woods and the guy behind has 45 acres..of woods
The woods has plenty of turkey sign.

 

[hiwall]

They ate anything they could get ahold of.

And drank any water they found.

 

[Murt]

You don’t know what you will do until you have to

I was so hungry one time I ate ham and egg C rations and liked them

 

[33dInd]

You don’t know what you will do until you have to

I was so hungry one time I ate ham and egg C rations and liked them

Ohhh
Add some Tabasco sause
And your set

 

[Blacknarwhal]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail. Our kids played it over and over again trying to make sure they could live to the end of the trail. It had them get supplies and if you didn't get enough you came to a sad end.

People CONSTANTLY dying of dysentery in that game.

 

[tnphil]

We had a deer jump our yard fence and was in the yard a couple of days ago..a nearly daily occurrence.. the garden is also fenced..but if great interest to the
deer.
We are on eleven acres...the fenced yard is an acre or so for kitchen garden and the dog. we have woods and the guy behind has 45 acres..of woods
The woods has plenty of turkey sign.

Same here but only on 1.75ac. The deer gracefully jump over the chain link fence with barely a thought or effort. The lot next to us on our little dead-end street is empty and somewhat wooded (won't perk for septic). It backs up to a large open lot that goes up a small hill which connects to a few more wooded acres until a subdivision. The deer run around the area. If push comes to shove, I'll need to learn how to dress out a deer. In the meantime, we have small flocks of wild turkeys out gobbling in the early mornings. We have a fair amount of rabbits, I remember how to dress them out. And we have Squirrels whom I have kinda subsidized last couple of years by feeding them. As long as the pair of gray foxes caught on my trail cams don't eat everything up, we have some options. And squirrel and rabbit can be mighty tasty.

 

[John Green]

I wonder if they ate Biden’s Uncle Bosey ?

 

[hd5574]

Same here but only on 1.75ac. The deer gracefully jump over the chain link fence with barely a thought or effort. The lot next to us on our little dead-end street is empty and somewhat wooded (won't perk for septic). It backs up to a large open lot that goes up a small hill which connects to a few more wooded acres until a subdivision. The deer run around the area. If push comes to shove, I'll need to learn how to dress out a deer. In the meantime, we have small flocks of wild turkeys out gobbling in the early mornings. We have a fair amount of rabbits, I remember how to dress them out. And we have Squirrels whom I have kinda subsidized last couple of years by feeding them. As long as the pair of gray foxes caught on my trail cams don't eat everything up, we have some options. And squirrel and rabbit can be mighty tasty.

We are lucky here in VA if we hunt our own land.. we don't need a hunting license..we and the neighbor with 45 acres are fenced along the road..with gates that are locked
And we are fenced long the other property line.. the garden has a six foot fence so the deer don't jump the garden fence and we have solar lights.. that warn them at night
When we were first married we ate lots of deer but we're zoned AG so we can raise beef

 

[Old Gray Mare]

My grandpa made great hardtack. Of course, he was a cook in logging camps around the turn of the (20th) century up north here. He knew what he was doing, and how to use rye flour and caraway! His hardtack combined with Grandma's raspberry jam. Fabulous.

Thanks for the hint on rye and caraway in the hardtack. I never would have thought to use them. The pioneers would have used whatever was to hand and rye was grown much more extensively then than it is today for rye whisky. Now you've got me hungry for a good crusty rye bread.

 

[JMG91]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail. Our kids played it over and over again trying to make sure they could live to the end of the trail. It had them get supplies and if you didn't get enough you came to a sad end.

Still have mine--and a computer that can play it!

 

[Profit of Doom]

People CONSTANTLY dying of dysentery in that game.

Wasn’t one of the Yellowstone shows about this?

 

[BornFree]

Modern progressive answer:
They ate Indians of course.

 

[Kathy in FL]

There used to be a computer game called The Oregon Trail. Our kids played it over and over again trying to make sure they could live to the end of the trail. It had them get supplies and if you didn't get enough you came to a sad end.

Best. Game. Ever. Lol