Let's Dine Out

Has your family ever taken a long car trip? Did you eat at restaurants or shop along the way? On the Oregon Trail, pioneers could not stop in restaurants or grocery stores.

-  Cyndy Hall

There weren’t any. What if you had to pack your car with all the food you needed for a cross-country trip? A five-month-long trip? With no refrigeration?

Pioneers in the 1800s chose their food supplies carefully. Flour was the most important item because bread was eaten every day. Salted meats such as bacon and beef jerky were good sources of protein and traveled well. Beans, rice, pickles, dried vegetables and fruits, hard cone-shaped loaves of sugar, crackers, tea and coffee—all these items were on the packing list. Everybody carried a large supply of hardtack, or sea biscuits. Hardtack was made of flour and water. It didn’t taste good, but it stayed fresh for a long time. It also could be dipped into coffee or milk to soften it up.