Good Eatin' Down in the Canyon

Who knew you could find so much of interest in such an old book. This is my third post about John Wesley Powell's book Canyons of the Colorado, now renamed The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons. This time we're talking culinary arts.

In 1869, Powell and his men floated the Colorado River from Green River, WY, more than 1,000 miles down to the mouth of the Grand Canyon, the first persons ever to do so. Native Americans still largely ruled the area he went through, although there were some settlers at this point.

Powell tells this amusing story of some time they spent with the Indians:

After we have partaken of goat stew and bread, a course of dumplings, melons, and peaches is served, and this finishes the feast. What seem to be dumplings are composed of a kind of hash of bread and meat, tied up in little balls with cornhusks and served boiling hot. They are eaten with much gusto by the party and highly praised.

Some days after we learn how they are made: they are prepared of goat's flesh, bread, and turnips, and kneaded by mastication. As we prefer to masticate our own food, this dainty dish is never again a favorite.

OK. I don't think I need to expand on this.