Green Coffee Beans And Hard Tack

Grandma B said, "I saw a coffee grinder in that picture of the covered wagon. I actually have an old coffee grinder as well as a churn." Grandma Lu grinned at her friend and said, "You know, B, there was no McDonalds coffee for you on those wagon trains. Everyone chuckled because they knew that Grandma B loved her McCaf'e coffee.

Grandma Lu said, "I had fun doing some research on what those folks took on their wagons. Mercy sakes. We are so spoiled! I just don't know if we could do it nowadays. In the story Nell said that they were running out of water. That happened a lot in those days. When that happened they had to do what they called dry camping. They would eat hardtack. All it was was flour and water. They cut it into small pieces and baked it. It would last for years. They would have to soak it in coffee for any flavor at all. They also chewed on dried meat called jerky."
"Getting back to coffee, B, they only took green coffee beans on the wagons. Then when they were able to stop they would fry those coffee beans in a cast iron skillet called a spider. When they were cooled they ground them and put some of the grounds in boiling water over the campfire.

"I think I heard you say one time that  your grandma drank her coffee from a saucer. My grandfather did too, then he would suck the coffee out of his mustache. It fascinated me when I was a little girl. But I was not allowed to ask him why he did that, of course. (There were strict rules about children talking at the table in those days.)  In those early days the grounds would settle to the bottom but when they poured their coffee the coffee grounds would come to the top so if they poured it in a saucer then they could blow it cool and slurp it gently so that they didn't get any coffee grounds in their mouths."
"When I was just a little girl my mother would have what she called "club." She and her friends would take turns having it at their homes. She would make what she called egg coffee. She mixed the coffee grounds with the beaten egg and dump it into boiling water into her great big blue speckled coffee pot. All the grounds stuck to the egg. Well, I'm here to tell you that egg coffee is clear as a bell and just delicious. I have used it while we were camping and during power outages."
Margaret said, "I love these stories, but what did they do for drinking if they ran out of water? I love my coffee too."

"From what I have read and heard they often had to ration their drinking water as Nell says in her story. However, they also had milk cows that many folks took along. They would hang their churns on the side of the wagon. The wagons had no springs of course, so the rocking would automatically churn the butter on their way down the trail. They did have milk to drink, but there was no washing clothes or taking baths when they were so short of water."

Marlee was listening and said, "What did the kids do?"
Grandma Lu said, "They had chores to do just like you do. One of the main things they did was tend to the animals and take care of the little kids. They also would scare up firewood if they found any dead trees or broken limbs. It was really hard work, but at night they often would have music and story sharing.

There was one more thing that was in the big wagon trains and that was the Chuck Wagon. The cooks on that wagon did a lot of the big cooking. The men would hunt rabbits, and deer and many other wild animals and the Chuck Wagon cooks would often do the cooking then would save the leftover food for the trail. People got very tired of eating beans and rice and bacon. The cooks would fry out the bacon then pack it in bran. Bran is part of wheat or corn and is very dry, but still sometimes bugs got into the bacon. I can't even imagine, can you?"
"We have talked so much about the wagon train that Nell was on, but does anyone remember what she could not do? She was afraid to tell Nathan that she couldn't cook. Remember? Well, let's see what happens. She should be getting closer to Iowa pretty soon."