By Andrew Somerville with assistance from E.L. Foxx

Recipes and cooking practices tell us something about the creativity and adaptability of frontier people in early Yavapai County. Before the late 1880s, when the railroad connected to Prescott, food resources were limited or expensive.

In the 1860s and 1870s, most goods were sold by merchants who had government contracts with military outposts like Fort Verde and Fort Whipple. An economic depression in the mid-1870s likely didn’t make purchasing food any easier. According to Scott Fritz’ Ph.D. paper, Yavapai County Merchants: The Center of Arizona's Early Territorial Economy, 1863-1881, merchants sold local products like corn, wheat, vegetables, beef, veal and mutton, as well as imported goods like flour, sugar and coffee to forts and civilians.

George Barnard created the Juniper House, apparently Prescott’s first restaurant, named because it originally had no building or stove, so cooking and serving food was done from a campfire under a juniper tree. Its menu for July 4, 1864, published in the July 6, 1864, Arizona Miner newspaper, may indicate meals sometimes eaten by frontier people.

“Breakfast, until 9 o’clock. Beefsteak, Fried Liver, Venison Steak. Mutton Chop, Tea and Coffee with Milk. Dinner from 12 to 3. Mutton Broth, Bean Soup. Beef Soup, Beef Barbequed, Beef Potpie. Venison Barbecued, Venison Potpie. Beans. Venison Barbecued, Mutton potpie. Apple Roll, with Sauce. Tea and Coffee, with Milk. Supper, from 4 o’clock.”

But frontier food was not all beef, mutton or venison. A recipe from the July 30, 1870, Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, instructs the reader to mix chopped ham, pepper, butter and eggs and spread it on toast.

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. In frontier days, perhaps, lemons were rare, so according to the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, July 30, 1870, "a very nice substitute for lemonade can be made by dissolving a small portion of citric acid in water, flavored with a good essence of lemon, and sweetened to taste." The August 31, 1887, Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner claims "Iced tea is a delicious summer drink" and that "half the people don't make it right." The recipe then says tea should be "very weak" and poured into a "goblet with ice" with a teaspoon of powdered sugar.

Frontier life could be hard but still able to satisfy a sweet tooth. A recipe you may want to try for your next social gathering, from the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, September 30, 1887, involves making a dried honey-date-like dessert by stewing pears and drying them in an oven for up to two days. If no one eats it at one party, you can serve it at another, because the recipe claims the dessert lasts for “a year or two.” The Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner from January 1, 1890, even has a recipe for doughnuts, though made without holes in the middle, frosting or sugar.

There is one 19th century food obsession that contradicts the idea that frontier food was primitive: oysters. According to a Journal Storage article (JSTOR) by Mathew Wills, How Oysters Became a Food Fad Way Out West, oysters were popular both before and after the expansion of the railroads. People went to great expense to obtain them. Wills relates that a Prescott buyer in February of 1879 ordered Baltimore oysters for $96.25 express shipping, plus $30 for the telegram explaining the transaction. This is the equivalent of a few thousand dollars today, and the oysters arrived within 14 days in good condition. This example underlines the true cost and effort of an extravagant meal on the frontier.

On October 10, 10am to 3pm, at Sharlot Hall Museum stop by the Living History Adventure “Harvest Feast: Recipes of the West” at the Ranch House. Living History Adventure is included with General Admission and Membership. See sharlothallmuseum.org/event-calendar for details.

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1 The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.