Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Camp Desolation Christmas Menu

I'm reading a book called "A Rocky Mountain Christmas: Yuletide Stories of the West". I was expecting some Christmas stories from our pioneer ancestors and things like that. But it is more of a history of Christmas in the Rocky Mountain areas. So it is more of a history book than a story book. But it has been interesting to read.

My favorite part tells about a group of explorers in 1848 that found themselves in an area in Colorado during a big and long snowstorm. The game had been scarce and there was a real possibility of starvation. The explorers experienced many hardships. They named their log outpost "Camp Desolation". Cold and miserable, the men were determined to celebrate the holiday. One member of the party recorded this whimsical Christmas dinner menu.

Soup
Mule Tail

Meats
Mule Steak, Fried Mule, Mule Chops, Boiled Mule, Stewed Mule, Boiled Mule, Scrambled Mule, Shirred Mule, French Fried Mule, Minced Mule, Damned Mule, Mule on Toast (without the toast), Short Rib of Mule with Apple Sauce (without the Apple Sauce)

Beverages
Snow, Snow Water, Water

2 comments:

Sondra said...

I guess that they were probably grateful to have the mule, but I don't think I would want mule! It sounds as if even through this time of deprivation someone kept their sense of humour! I'm going to count my many many blessings as I think of poor Camp Desolation!

YbsisKaren said...

Amazing what people will eat when they have to have strength. The Lord provides us what we need when we need it.