Food was very important to the Men of the Mountains. They ate what they could, when they could, never knowing when the "starvin times" were coming. It was usually feast or famine, and rarely anything in between. What did they eat? .. Usually anything that didn't try to eat them first.

    Beaver tail, venison, Elk, buffalo (especially hump), were among their favorite. Sometimes mountain lion, raccoon, possum, squirrel, and other critters when times were lean.  After Ronnyvous, they had coffee, sugar, sometimes peppermint candy (Yep, some Mountainmen had a sweet tooth), flour, bacon, salt and pepper, and dried fruit to supplement their rations. They would roast the coffee beans, cook up some bacon, make bannock or pan bread in the bacon grease, and be ready for the day. Meat usually didn't last long (unless it was winter) and they would gorge themselves when they had a fresh kill, saving small cuts of their favorite meat for later. In reading some of the journals from the Net, coffee was by far their favorite drink. A man could put up with just about anything, but being out of coffee was one of the worst. They also liked fresh vegetables when they could get them. Some grew wild (berries and the like), and others, like squash and beans, they would trade for with friendly Indian tribes.  Also, the pan bread and dried fruit mixed with a bit of sugar and water, could make a great cobbler for those with a sweet-tooth.

    A favorite was "Boudins", the small intestine of a Buffalo.  They would clean them, turn them inside out, and eat them.  Sometimes raw... sometimes cooked.  A sure way to get "water" was to drink the blood from the heart of a freshly killed Buffalo, or to take the paunch (stomach), and drink from it if it was full of water. The liver was a rich source of vitamins, and was usually eaten raw.

    Not very much of the Buffalo was usually wasted by the Mountainman.  Sinew was used for sewing, bone for some tools, meat to eat, hide for warm winter robes, horn could end up a powder horn, they ate the tongue, testicles, intestines, heart, liver, drank from the paunch... etc... They learned well what the Native American taught them.

    This was a favorite of the Mountainmen, or so I have read.  Depending on what or who you read, some say it was delicious, others say "passable"...  Mostly, I think is was because of the "fat" content of the tail, and during the winter months, the body craves fat for fuel and energy.

            Take one large Beaver tail, and skewer it on a stick.
            Make sure you got a good fire goin first...
            After the fire has charred the skin and made it so you can peel the
                hide and anything else off... put it back over the fire until cooked
                all the way through... The hide will bubble and blister from the fat
                inside... when it does this, it is ready to "peel"...
 

            Now it's ready... get a good cup of coffee, kick back and enjoy!!