The pioneers who trekked west in covered wagons in the 1840s knew they had to take enough food to last six months. Trading posts between the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast were few, and the emigrants crossed through territories where the availability of game and wild berries was uncertain. Recommended supplies per adult typically included 200 pounds of flour, 10 pounds of rice, 30 pounds of pilot bread (dehydrated meal wafers), 25 pounds of sugar, 75 pounds of bacon, 1/2 bushel each dried beans and dried fruit, 1/2 bushel corn meal, and lesser amounts of coffee, tea, and salt. Most foods containing folic acid were perishable, so to prevent the debilitating effects of scurvy travelers were advised to take kegs of pickles or vinegar. All this—plus clothing, cookware, furniture and personal items—had to be packed in wagon beds smaller than the size of a modern SUV. Those with means took more than one wagon, hiring teamsters to drive them. Some families hauled cooped chickens, for meat and eggs, on two-wheeled carts. Others drove cattle or sheep as food sources to be consumed as they crossed the continent. Riding horses, extra draft animals, family dogs and milk cows walked beside the wagons. The women discovered that hitching a pail of milk beneath the wagon “churned” butter .
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