Some have the idea that those who went west did so only by going on starvation rations or by eating very monotonous meals.
With some, of course, this was true, but most fared reasonably well. E.W. Conyers’ party did even better than that! Celebrating the Fourth of July near Independence Rock in 1852, the ladies of the wagon train prepared a true feast.
MEATS: Roast Antelope, Roast Sagehen, Roast Rabbit, Antelope Stew, Sagehen Stew, Jack Rabbit Stew, Antelope Potpie, Sagehen Fried, Jack Rabbit Fried.
BREAD: White Bread, Graham Bread, Warm Rolls, fresh from the oven.
PASTRY: Pound Cake, Fruit Cake, Jelly Cake, Sweetwater Mountain Cake, Peach Pie, Apple Pie, Strawberry Pie, Custard. (A dozen or more varieties, both of cakes and pies, not enumerated.)
DRINKS: Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, and Good, Cold Mountain Water, fresh from the brook. The snowball was brought into use in making a fine lot of Sweetwater Mountain ice cream.
Not too bad for a people a thousand miles from “civilization!”