This article first appeared in the February 2021 Issue of Muzzle Blasts Magazine. Join the NMLRA today to recieve Muzzle Blasts Magazine, the only monthly muzzleloading magazine.
So many old narratives tend to suggest, probably nothing quite so commonly eaten along the far-western, 18th century frontier as buffalo. These great, shaggy beasts roamed throughout the valleys of the Ohio, Green, Tennessee and Cumberland River drainages in massive, seemingly numberless heards. In speaking of his father's early exploits into Kentucky, Nathan Boone writes: "He discovered several of the noted salt licks or springs, which in every case were easily found by following the well-beaten buf-falo roads leading to them. He visited the Upper and Lower Blue Licks on the Licking River. At the latter place he saw thousands of buffaloes..."1 Think of it... Thousands! Like out on the Great Plains a century later. Fortunately enough for us, they made huge, fairly easy targets with hundreds of pounds of red meat that tasted like the best steak you ever ate in your life.
When it came to buffalo hunting, pretty much everybody got into the act! On a danger-filled journey from Fort Harrod to Louisville, the famous far-western backwoodsman Daniel Trabue relates: "We went to Harrodsburgh, stayd all night. In the morning, Col. Harrod and his Lady, Colonel McGary, and several other Jentlemen and ladys started - about 20 Men and about 6 Ladys. When we had Got a bout one Mile from the Fort I Descovered lndeans in the woods and running to Get before us. I told McGary of it. He halted the company and he went to see the sighn. He came back, said he saw the indeans, and said we was not able to fight them while we had these women. And we retreated to the Fort. A party of men went from the fort and found the indeans had gone away. The next morning we set out again. We had about 15 men and 3 ladies on our next rout. Mistress Harrod Killed a Buffeloe as an exploit on the rout." 2 Fancy that! Even Jim Harrod's petite, little wife was a shootin' buffalo!
Now reliable documentation as well as countless, first per-son narratives show deer and turkey - just as popular, with black bear, not quite so much but nonetheless a heartily accepted staple. Have to admit, I've eaten my share of venison and wild turkey. I'm also very fond of bear meat. All the same; for my two cents worth - you just can't beat buffler. And everybody seemed to be hunting it. So... as a suitable ending for last month's article, I figure I'd just pass along a few buffalo recipes.
Here at Fort Harrod, anytime our little group of Historic interpreters are doing anything or every now and then, anytime we have a fairly large group of reenacters drop by, we always look forward to Mary Barlow's tremendous, buffalo chili. It's really good, easy to make... and here's how she does it:
Miz Mary Barlow’s Buffalo Chili
Brown 1 lb. ground buffalo beef.
Stir in (your choice) chili seasonings mix .
Add one can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained.
Add one can (16 oz.) kidney beans, undrained.
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Now if you want everybody's eyes to roll back in their heads and slap themselves silly with their own tongues, try this next one on for size. Juniper berries were very com-mon in the bluegrass of Kentucky (still are) so it would have been a tasty and interesting twist on your buffler. The onions and sweet potatoes would be procured after the first gardens were set in. I don't know about the lick salt. It does have its own flavor but it's not that easy to get. Check the dealers and traders in Muzzle Blasts.
Buffalo Steak with Caramelized Onions and Pan Fried Sweet Potatoes
4 bone-in, buffalo strip steaks
10 dried juniper berries plus oil of your choice for rubbing
Lick salt (if you can get it), if not regular salt will do
1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut oil for pan-frying
Freshly ground pepper
Grind juniper berries with the salt and pepper using a mortar and pestle or the like. Rub mixture and a bit of oil in just before cooking. Heat the oil in a heavy pan until it's very hot- almost smoking. Sear the steaks for 3 min-utes on each side over high heat before turning down the burner. Cook over moderate heat for an additional 8 to 12 minutes, turning the steaks every few minutes as they slowly brown. Check for doneness often. Rest the steaks (covered) in a warm place for 5 minutes. Pile caramelized onions on top of each steak and surround with pan-fried sweet potatoes.
You can't hardly make a stew I don't like. And this Conestoga Stew doesn't necessarily have to be buffalo either. Any kind of meat would have been used: buf-falo, deer, elk, turkey, small game... You name it and guess what? Its stew! Buffalo however was so darned easy to procure. Upon coming toward a fine salt lick he discovered in the summer of 1770 and later naming both a near-by creek and the lick after himself, Isaac Bledsoe says: "..he experienced some difficulty in riding along the path, so crowded was it and on either side with buffalo; and when he reached the bank of the creek at the lick, he found the entire flat surrounding the lick of about one hundred acres covered with a moving mass of buffalo, which he not only estimated by hundreds but thou-sands." 3 My, my! Once again, buffer just all over the place. Put a little something with it (as in this next recipe) and you've got a meal fit for a king.
Conestoga Buffalo Stew
3 pounds boneless buffalo stew meat Salt and pepper 1 large onion, sliced
4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
8 medium carrots, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons flour
Plain and simple: Cut buffalo into serving-sized portions and place in a heavy pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add onion and enough water to cover the bottom of pot. Cook, covered, over medium heat. When meat is cooking well, remove the lid and allow the meat to cook in its juices. Turn the meat with a fork until brown. Add potatoes and carrots. Cover and cook over low heat for about 1 hour. Check frequent-ly; if juices are cooking out, add water. When meat is fork tender, add the flour to water and then pour over the meat. Stir well. If broth becomes too thick, add more water. Simmer until ready to serve.
Anne McGinty was quite a gal, a real pioneer in the true sense of the word and much revered by the little settlement of Harrodstown. In the late 1770's/early 1780's she owned and ran an "Ordinary" on the southeast side of old Fort Harrod. Sold alcohol, food, livery service and over-night lodging to weary, Kentucky frontier travelers. Received her license (and some stern advice} straight from the Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry himself. Once again, buffalo wasn't the only sort of meat a lad might run across in one of Anne's meat pies. Anything from squirrel on up would literally be "fair game".
Anne McGinty’s Fried Meat Pies
1 lb. ground buffalo
1 tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. dried oregano
2 cups corn or white hominy
1/3 cup diced green peppers
1/3 cup grated carrot
1/3 cup chopped yellow onion
1/3 cup chopped green onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 or 3 T all-purpose flour
Salt & pepper to taste.
Brown meat over medium heat in a large cast iron skillet. Add paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and oregano. Mix well. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about
3 minutes to blend the flavors. Stir in the corn/hominy, green peppers, carrot, yellow onion, green onions and garlic. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occa-sionally for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Add in just enough flour to absorb the grease. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons onto each dough circle. Fold over and crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 to 3 inches of oil over medi-um-high heat to about 350°F. Fry pies in the oil a few at a time until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Serve warm.
It's exceeding hard to imagine how many buffalo roamed through the entire length and breadth of Kentucky's majestic, Green River basin. Well before the era of the longhunter, the French and their Native friends called it the "Buffalo River". My last month's article roughly cen-tered around a number of historic, Green River hunts and scouts I've done myself and a handful I've read about over the years... drawing most especially from Daniel Trabue's crucially important, buffalo hunt made during the hard winter of 1779-1780. Traveling to Bullitt's Lick for salt by way of Logan's Station and Ft. Harrod, Trabue tells us: "It was suppriseing to see the quantity of people that had recently moved out to Kentucky and they weare more yet a coming. Mr. Smith, Mr. Foster, and these same young men, and several others, and myself started for the woods. Took some of our salt and 2 Negro Men with axxes to cut wood, for the hard winter had began. The snow was Deep and the weather cold. We went to Green River and soon killed some Good fat Buffeloos. Mr. Foster and some others took their loads and went to the fort. The weather at last got so intencly cold that we had to lye by for several days. The snow was fully knee deep. Our meet that we had kept for our own eating failed. The Turkeys had got poore."
The weather had altered a little for the better. Mr. Smith and I concluded we would go out and try our luck once more as we had nothing to eat. We made socks to go over our shews with Buffelo skins putting the wool inside and we had woolen gloves . We put on 2 pair of gloves and Buffeloe socks on over our shews. We had not got fair before we found 11 buffeloes in one Gang. Shot down one. They broak and run off We boath shot at once and killed 2 more. The Dogs run off after them, stopt them again. We concluded to shoot the leaders - to wit, the Old cows - and then the younger ones would not leave them... Made up a good worm fire and guted all our buffeloes before we went to sleep." 4 I'll bet those hungry hunters ate their fill of buffalo that evening too! Donchathink? The following I believe, is a slightly fancied up, 21st century example of what might have been on the menu that night.
Green River Buffalo Roast
1 3 - 4 pound roast
1 tablespoon salt
1 tsp. pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
2 tablespoons of rub (your choice)
2 cups of water
Preheat oven to 350°. Sprinkle roast with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Work the rub in all over the roast. Place in a roaster with the water. Seal the top with foil. Bake on bottom rack of oven for 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Use the drippings for gravy. Serves 8 to 10.
Can't deny I have a sincere partiality for buffalo meat. Always have. I've never been able to understand why some folks will refuse to eat buffalo. I have to assume they've just never tried it. Now I do sure enough, dearly love regular beef. Eat it all the time! Heck yes, all you beef producers out there! "It's what's for dinner"... But here's the deal: you can give me a chunk of buffalo whenever you please- and I gar-rone-tee, I will be one happy, happy guy. For my two cents worth, it tastes like the very best quality beef you ever put in your mouth.
The meat it self is not that hard to get your hands on. Any good butcher shop should be able to fix you right up. Shoot, even Kroger will have ground buffalo from time to time. Ask around. You can get it if you try. Take a hunk of that stuff out with you on one of your primitive, 18th century scouts... and you're doing exactly what so many of our kind were doing back 250/260 years ago. It's like you brought along some sort of original, pre-rev war, flintlock rifle or a cool old, antique tomahawk. Yet another integral and fascinating part to the puzzle. Come dinner time out there on the trail and you're cooking up your buffalo... Doesn't really matter if you're huddled up in some wild, forsaken rockhouse on the Little Barren River or com-fortably seated in a fine Williamsburg tavern on Duke of Gloucester St. with a bottle of good Madera and a choice array of elegant side dishes -you gotta love that buffler.
References
1. Boone, Nathan, My Father, Daniel Boone, Edited by Neal
O. Hammon, pps. 30, 31.
2. Trabue, Daniel, Westward Into Kentucky, Narrative of Daniel Trabue, pps. 58, 59.
3. Draper, L.C., Life of Boone, edited by T.F. Belue, p.256.
4. Trabue, Daniel, Westward Into Kentucky, Narrative of Daniel Trabue, pps. 73, 74.