Calk Brisket

5-28-14

There are as many BBQ Brisket recipes as there are “Carter’s Little Liver Pills” (of course most of you have never heard of CLLP’s but some Boomers and beyond might get a chuckle).  I thought I would write a blog about the way I do my briskets.  Now this is somewhat related to chuck wagons in that beef or cattle were driven up the trail and briskets come from cattle. I feel like that is close enough to chuck wagon’s that this blog would be ok.

 Thinking about the price of briskets these days would astound the cattle barons of yesteryear.  A flat brisket is a trimmed brisket, sometimes called the point and it sells $5.87 per pound compared to the untrimmed that is priced at $2.89.  My consideration for using “flats” is the amount of fat and unusable portion just about equals the difference in the two prices.  Now think about this proposition:  the price of beef on the hoof was easily equal to today’s price for one brisket.  So when someone says “Some things never change”, you can tell them the price of beef surely has changed in the last year to say nothing of the last 125 years.

My friend Skip Clark was in need of about 40 lbs. of brisket for a party he is hosting on Saturday and I agreed to cook the meat.  The number of guests expected is to be in the neighborhood of 75.  I vowed many years ago to never cut to close on figuring the amount needed so I use the formula of ½ lb. of uncooked meet per person, plus a little bit.  In this case we purchased 41.3 pounds at $5.87 per pound for a total of $243.00.  Additionally I needed a gallon of Cattleman’s BBQ Sauce, Montreal seasoning, and crushed red chile pepper, mesquite wood,  a bbq pit, utensils, a pan, and approximately nine hours to complete the task. 

The cooking began on Wednesday at 9 am when I built a mesquite fire in my bbq pit.  It takes about 45 minutes to burn down to coals and then they are spread across the floor of the pit so the fire will be directly under the meat. 

The brisket usually has a little thin gristle and should be trimmed off along with just a small portion of the thickest fat.   I trim and prepare the meat while the wood is burning down and apply a liberal amount of Montreal seasoning and crushed red chili pepper (like what you put on pizzas).  When the mesquite wood has turned to chucks of coal the meat is placed on the pit fat side up.  Now there are some “Q” ologists  that say the lean mean will not absorb any of the fat drippings because the texture of the meat is too tight and it will just merely run off.  (a Q ologist is one who knows his business about BAR BE “Q”.  Wrong!  If you cook a brisket with a lot of fat still on the meat it will definitely obtain a taste that is drastically different from one that has been trimmed of all the fat. 

I try to keep the pit temperature around 250 degrees and sometimes it will vary between 200-300 degrees.   I add a small piece of mesquite about 2” x 10” to keep the temperature consistent.  Once the meat has been placed on the fire (I put mine on at 10 am) I will turn it over ever thirty minutes for a total of four hours.  I mix the Cattleman’s sauce 50/50 with water and using a plastic squeeze bottle squirt the sauce on to the briskets beginning with the third turning of the meat and then again every thirty minutes.  I sometimes add the same seasoning to the sauce that I put on the outside of the meat.

The next step is sometimes called the Texas Crutch and it is simply a way to cut down on the amount of time it takes to get tender brisket by sealing the meat and allowing it to steam itself.   I have an aluminum pan with a lid which is actually an Army field oven pan and I use it instead of wrapping the briskets in tinfoil.

 The trouble with tinfoil is if it obtains a puncture while turning all of the juice will run out and you will be left with a very dry piece of meat.  The aluminum pan takes care of that worry.  I have also used the heavy duty tinfoil pans to “steam” the briskets and just add a sheet of heavy foil across the top to seal the meat. The down side of using the Texas Crutch is that the tough exterior of the brisket is now very soft.  If you want a hard outer crust you can place it back on the fire to get the crust back…but it will be at the expense of cooking out some of the moisture.  I like them fine with a soft exterior and don’t get many complaints.  Those that do complain, well they are only able to complain once.

I place the briskets in the pan until a BBQ fork will easily puncture the brisket which is about 3-4 additional hours….sometimes less.  There are a lot of elements that can change your cooking time like wind, rain, snow, type of wood, cut of meat, distance meat is from fire, etc.

After seven hours the brisket was almost falling apart tender.  Skip is going to serve the meat on Saturday so I have to hold the meat over and will deliver it to him on Friday.  He is going to serve the meat chopped.  I have decided that I will bag the briskets in heavy zip locks and keep them on ice until I chop it up and deliver it on Friday.  He will reheat the brisket in an electric food warmer. I might add here, if you have time the briskets are a whole lot easier to chop when they are warm.  

I enjoy doing the briskets because I can open up my “cook shack” which is an outdoor wood burning stove enclosure.  This day my wife Linda and I had breakfast burritos I made on the stove along with some percolated coffee.  While all the “goings on “ are going on I am playing a little Ray, Willie, Darrell, Johnny, and Mike (did you figure out what all the last names were?) music on the stereo.  As they say in some circles “It don’t get no better than this.

Goodnight & Loving at Fort Stanton Live ...Chapter Two

This blog is a continuation of one I did earlier.  The first one was in preparation for the trip and this one will be at the fort….which is Fort Stanton, New Mexico in about 1866.  

You can take a little time and look on line to find Fort Stanton Live and the website will give you some background on the fort and they even have a Facebook page that will tell you about what the staff at the fort has been doing to upgrade the surroundings.  Larry Pope is the commander of the operation and is the person who “gets things done”.  The fort is quite impressive. 

Talk about re-enactors who know their history.  If you rolled all of the historical knowledge you would have quite an encyclopedia………….wooooo, now that is an old word.  What I am trying to say is the base line knowledge is extremely high.  Many of the historical actors have multiple uniforms.  I ask “James” what the price of the Dragoon uniform he was wearing would cost……..$350 for the headgear and the coat about twice that much.   Hummmmm, I think I will stick to cowboying because I can get into a “uniform” for say…..hat $100, shirt $65, pants $65, boots $150, vest $45, pistol & holster $325, watch $ 300, suspenders $65, wild rag $39,  shotgun $ 225, chuck wagon $16,000, trailer $7000, to say nothing of all of the antique cooking pots, pans, etc….………………hummm on second thought…..well too late now.

We arrived at Fort Stanton mid-morning and got the lay of the land from Larry and we began our methodical camp setup.  We were in a really good location which was where most of the spectators came in to the parade grounds from the parking lot. 

We were to share the fire pit with two other camps, which was no problem and it was especially nice that the fire ban was lifted that very day.  The only annoyance was the distance the fire was from the wagon which sort of limited us on what we were going to prepare.  The plan was to basically prepare food for ourselves and we were going to go Johnny Cakes for the public which requires constant attention to maintaining the fire and cooking the cakes.  We adapted and just provided historically dialog with the spectators about why a chuck wagon would have been at the fort.  We maintained that Charlie Goodnight had indeed invented the chuck wagon for the cattle drive up the Goodnight-Loving Trail, however this little drive of 500 head was a test run for the chuck wagon to see how well it would do and what provisions it would carry.  We further interpreted this drive to Fort Stanton to be just prior to the famous cattle drive up the Goodnight-Loving Trail in which Oliver Loving died from his injuries from an Indian attack.  If you haven’t seen the movie Lonesome Dove, give it a look because this portion of the movie is very accurate to what actually happened with One –Armed Bill Wilson, Charles Goodnight, and Oliver Loving. 

I met some folks in Ruidoso that later showed up at Fort Stanton and brought some Sand Plum jelly for the camp.  This was sort of the way the weekend went, that is to say, meeting people along the way and visiting about history and telling them about why we are doing this historical re-enactment.  It was great fun.  I wish we could have cooked more.

We were very lucky that we got Ann Marie, Jacob, William, and Maggie to camp beside us.  Ann Marie was the laundress and an amazing woman.  She sews all of their period clothes, makes bread, grows vegetables, sets up their camp and, by the way, this is their history class because she also home schools the children.  The other side of the laundress camp was Jennifer Breeding who was amazing in her own right serving as the fort sutler.  She had lots of clothes for sale as well as other period things that she made herself.  Eddie and I contracted her to make us each a period shirt which will be from a historically accurate pattern. 

The three camps shared the fire pit and that worked out just fine.  We made venison steaks the first night with pan de campo.  Breakfast was eggs, bacon, potatoes, onions, and tortillas.  One meal was beans and Navajo tamales.  All of these items would have been available within the premises of the fort at this period.  We brought the venison from a kill just prior to reaching the fort.   We got the pinto beans on to cook early and they were ready for the noon meal.  We had bran bread brought by the “jelly” folks and zucchini bread made from Ann Maries garden zucchini. Late evening the special treat was Shoofly Pie that James and Ann Marie cooked in a Dutch oven buried in the ground.  Quite tasty!  It is a molasses based pie. 

I had noticed on Facebook that Larry Pope’s daughter Emily had received a new guitar so when I saw her I asked if she would come to the camp in the evening to play and sing which she did most energetically.  She is quite a budding musician and has complete confidence in herself and abilities.  Not intimidated in the least.  It was very enjoyable!

The cavalry had, I think it was six cannons on a firing line, one of which was brand new and this was to be the very first firing.  It went off without a hitch. Quite explosive!! James was in charge of one cannon battery and invited me to go and become one of the crew.  The training is precise and sounded interesting but I didn’t get to the area soon enough as the cannons were about ready to fire when I arrived.  Maybe I will get another chance in the future to participate in the firing.

The thing about having a display such as our chuck wagon is that there isn’t much time to spend getting to know any of the other members of the encampment.  Several I have met on prior occasions to Fort Stanton and they were really pleasant folks to visit with.  I am hoping next year that we will know the ropes a little better and can trade off covering what we need to do at the camp and visiting and getting around to some of the scheduled activities.  I never did look at a schedule of activities and therefore missed many things I would have loved to have attended. 

I would have attended the Military Ball on Saturday night but by that time the old dogs were barking pretty good and besides there were a number of people in the wagon camp just swapping historical

Sunka (Eddie Sandoval), our Apache scout, was especially interesting to the visitors and he spent a lot of time visiting and telling about his involvement with the trail drive and how the Apache were utilized for their tracking and scouting abilities. Now on the other hand, Charles Goodnight (Steve Woods), did as he always does….went into teaching mode.  He held the adults attention as well as the younger visitors to the camp.  We had some cowboy belt buckles in a canvas bag up on the seat of the chuck wagon and when a youngster needed a little boost in his/her spirits we got them to climb up on the wheel and pull the bag out of an old boot top and dig out a buckle for their prize. 

A highlight of the activities of the day was the ambush of the cavalry by the Mescalero Apaches.  The event is staged just off the edge of the fort grounds and the cavalry were out on a patrol when they spotted a couple of Indians in the brush…..who then lured the patrol into the ambush from a ridge just about the marching patrol.  The skirmish lasted for quite a while with the soldiers taking the most punishment.  Many of them “died” before retreating to a better cover from which to fight. 

Sunka and Ronald Lah were two of the leaders of the ambush.  Afterwards everyone joined midways on the battlefield for some good natured high fives.  It was quite entertaining for a couple hundred spectators.

Larry Pope had the evening meal catered for all participants and a local group fed a BBQ plate and everyone did a bit of relaxing.  Following the supper was the military ball, which we didn’t participate in which was certainly our loss because my wife, Linda and I have attended in the past and had enormous amounts of fun. Instead of going to the ball we all set around the camp and visited and shared stories and recounted the day’s activities. 

Our plan on Sunday was to get up and have coffee and get loaded and then leisurely spend the day and then the night in Ruidoso before everyone heading home.  For me it is only a about 2-3 hours home but for them about 10-11 hours.  

We did get up and started having coffee and pretty soon there was a circle of chairs with people joining in again with stories and recounting of the weekends activities.  It was evident to all that this was more fun than packing up and leaving this peaceful setting.  It was way late in the morning, in fact, nearly noon when we got everything loaded.  Everyone was helping each other with the duties of loading and Steve and Eddie talked it over and decided to go ahead and hit the road to home.  They were home close to midnight….me …well I was home before very long.  It was Adios to a wonderful weekend and several additional new friends.

Fort Stanton is Aive!

Goodnight & Loving at Fort Stanton Live

Charles Foxwing Goodnight

Oliver Loving

CHARLES GOODNIGHT

PARKER COUNTY-TEXS

I UNDERSTAND YOU WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH FORT STANTON –(STOP)- I CAN MEET YOU AT FORT SUMNER IN JUNE –(STOP)- WILL TAKE FIFTEEN OR TWENTY DAYS –(STOP)-GOOD WATER AND GRAZE THE WHOLE DISTANCE-(STOP)-YOU CONTACT FORT STANTON TO SET UP CONTRACT –(STOP)-OLIVER                             

                                                                                                                                                                      6:45AM

TRANSLATION IN DEPTH…. Charles, I know you may find this telegram troublesome( Charles could not read or write) maybe your friend Molly can help you out.  I understand from your wire that you want to go together and take some beeves down to Ft. Stanton in July.  I can meet you in Ft. Sumner the first of June and gather up what we need since we both have a large number just getting fat and sassy because they didn’t take what that asked for the last time.  I figure it will take us 15 - 20 days.  We will follow the Pecos River for about 75 miles south then cut over to the west and pick up the Hondo River and follow it for about fifty miles then we will head north for the last 20 or so miles along the Rio Bonito.  We should have good water and grazing the whole way.  Will you wire the commander at the fort and see how many head he wants us to deliver?  Depending on what he says we can get what boys we need to get the job done.

Gathering up some necessary hands…..

Wokiyaka Casmu Sunka

SUNKA SANDOVAL

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

NEED SCOUT FOR MONTH JUNE AND  JULY (STOP) CHARLES GOODNIGHT AND MYSELF  TAKING BEEVES FROM FORT SUMNER TO FORT STANTON (STOP) WE EXPECT TO HAVE COMANCHE AND RENEGADE PROBLEMS (STOP) WIRE ME IF YOU CAN JOIN US AT SUMNER MIDDLE OF JUNE (STOP) PUTTING TOGETHER HANDS RIGHT NOW (STOP)

OLIVER                                                                                                                            7:40 AM

This is the next message……………..sent by way of  Wells Fargo Stage Lines

Charles Goodnight

Parker County, Texas

We have about 490 head of beeves at Fort Sumner that the Quartermaster didn’t pay us for the last time we delivered.  It seems as though we will continue to supply the Fort with beef since the Navajo have not taken to well to farming.  There are several thousand Indians, mostly Navajo at the fort and they are growing restless by the day.  Word has it that several of the young bucks have acquired horses and left the res at Fort Sumner.  We can continue to supply the fort with beef as long as we keep up a good relation with the Quartermaster.  What beef they have right now should hold them until September.  If it is ok with you, maybe we can get a similar unwritten contract with Fort Stanton over in Lincoln County.  What I was thinking was we could take the 490 head to Fort Sumner to Fort Stanton mid-summer and take care of their need.  I understand that there are a number of buffalo soldiers at Stanton and will be there for some time. I am a little concerned about the raiding of some renegades and also the young bucks from the reservation at Sumner.  The blamed Comanche are a concern too, but not so much the Mescaleros …they seem to mind their own business   .  I wish we could get our hands on some of those Henry's we have been hearing about. I understand you can put a handfull of cartridges through to Henry in less time than it takes you to spit.   Maybe we will get lucky and will have enough jingle in our pockets when we get back to Weatherford that we can pick up enough of them that will allow us to sleep better at night.

Oliver

The telegrams and Stagecoach letter are about a cattle drive by Loving and Goodnight after they had delivered 2000 beeves to Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1866.  According to the history books in June of 1866 Goodnight and Loving partnered up to make a cattle drive to western markets.  They were hoping for a big demand from settlers and soldiers on the western front for their beef.  Biggest of which was for the fort to supply beef to the Navajos who had recently been placed on a reservation near Fort Sumner.  If all this panned out then the drive would be profitable for them.  As it turned out Goodnight returned to Texas with approximately $12,000 in gold to buy more cattle. Loving went on to the railhead in Denver, Colorado with the remaining cows and calfs that the fort was not interested in purchasing at 8 cents a pound. According to our part of the re-nactment at FORT STANTON LIVE, Loving and Goodnight embarked upon another venture to Fort Stanton to supply the fort and settlers with some of the beef that they left on grazing land near Fort Sumner.

Larry Pope

My wife, Linda,  and I have been going up to Lincoln County New Mexico for a few years to the festivities at Lincoln and Fort Stanton and  have enjoyed the outing very much.  As I have mentioned in the past we are even writing a book called Forts, Farbs, and Phantoms about some strange happenings at the fort….but that is, as they say, another story.  This story is about participating in the festivities you can find online called Fort Stanton Live.  There are several companies of soldiers both Union and Confederate as well as buffalo soldiers and some other soldiers depicting other wars in the 1800’s.  This particular period is around the 1860’s, so there will be some Civil War re-enactments as well as representations of life just after the War Between the States.

A while back it occurred to me that the Fort Stanton Live July 12, 2014 would indeed be a possibility for setting up my chuck wagon and doing something completely different from what my friends and I would ordinarily do at a cook-off or some other setting.  This event would have the participants be “in character” the whole time.  Well I thought that would be very interesting and would require a good bit of research pertaining to the time period of 1866.  Again, I was thinking….which is sometimes dangerous….that it is entirely possibly that Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight could easily have been at Fort Stanton to deliver some beef because they were doing that exact thing at Fort Sumner, New Mexico.  So the research began looking into what was going on “in the day”.  I thought about the telegraph and how it was used back then because I wanted to send a telegram to my partner, Charles Goodnight, but realized there must be some etiquette when sending a telegram.  They charge by the word and if you were to write “10^th” you would be charged for 3 words.  It would be cheaper to write “tenth”.  There are some many other tricks to keep the cost down.  I tell you this just to let you know that researching is sometimes fun and you find out a lot that you don’t or didn’t know.  For another instance, the Henry repeating rifle was invented in 1860 and there were 900 made between 1860 and 1862.  Another tidbit was that Charles Goodnight could not read or write.  He mostly used his wife as the person to cipher what he needed to communicate.  Charles’ first wife Mary, as Charles called her, and known to everyone else as Molly, met Charles in 1864 and they were married in 1870 and they had no children.

Laundress-Ann Marie 

In the time sequence of Goodnight and Loving the famous cattle drive they made blazing the Goodnight-Loving Trail occurred in 1867.  And don’t forget that Lonesome Dove, the Hollywood movie, was also based on this same drive.    Our re-enactment occurred in 1866 and again history has a little hiccup in that Goodnight invented the chuck wagon by redoing a Studebaker wagon and outfitting it with a box on the back that the cook would store all of his necessary cooking items.  The glitch in the re-enacting history is that the wagon was a John Deere and not a Studebaker and since history doesn’t say that the chuck wagon was used first on the Goodnight-Loving trail we insist that this trip from Fort Sumner to Fort Stanton was a trial run to see how it worked out and what things would be necessary to have on the wagon. 

We have talked about the food we would fix, but first I thought that Charles, Oliver, Bill, nor Sunka would have been the coosie for this re-enactment so something must have happened to the cook.  Yes, an unfortunate accident happen after a storm had occurred on the upward reaches of the Pecos River and it was on a pretty good rise.  Everyone waited several hours for the water to go down and growing impatient they decided to cross.  The chuck wagon was the first to cross and the force of the water spooked the team and turned up river and the current slammed against the side of the wagon throwing Jebediah into the water.  He quickly  grabbed hold of a spoke in the front wheel  and was pulled under the water, the wheel stopping on his arm. There were out riders with ropes tied onto the wagon but they couldn’t let loose of the ropes or the wagon would have gone over on top of Jebediah.  Before any of the other men could free him, he had drowned.  It was a tragic accident but that is the reason we are doing our own cooking.

Now for cooking and what we might have to eat while at the fort.  Possibilities are: beans, bacon, venison, redeye gravy, Johnny cakes, eggs (chickens at the fort), tomatoes, and smoked meat.

Charles’ chuck wagon would not have had all of the stuff that is on my wagon so I began to eliminate all unnecessary items like:   “table legs” for the serving tables, most of the fly poles, chairs, water hose, pan liners, trays used for staging chicken fried steaks, breast collar on water barrel, unnecessary pots, pans, and coffee pots, and propane lanterns.  I did a quick inventory of the hot and cold blast lanterns and did some maintenance on them to get them burning somewhat efficiently.  Nearly all of the Dutch ovens were eliminated. 

The water barrel, according to Wikipedia, “was attached to the wagon” so mine will be held onto the side of the wagon but first needed a good soaking since it would probably be the only water we will have to use while at the fort. 

I knew we would need to refrigerate some things like the venison, eggs, and a few other things so I needed to build something that would hide an ice chest.  Off to Academy where I purchased a medium sized cooler and took it home for measurements.  Soon the wooden box was built which now resembles a tomato box.  I had recently redone an Arbuckle’s box so it will be used to “hide” a few other items.  Since we may be giving away some food items I thought we would need a place to store some paper plates etc.

Now let’s see, we will need enough cooking iron to feed about 12-14 cowboys so I added a 16”, 14” and a 12” Dutch oven, one bean pot, one coffee pot, two small frying pans and an enamel kettle.  

The sleeping arrangements will be cowboy tipis with cowboy bedrolls so I needed to remake my bedroll so that it would function as one and not just a prop.  Sharpening the axe will come in handy when the wood needs splitting.  We will be using the chuck wagon coffee grinder so we will need to restock the coffee beans.  I still have to go through the chuck box itself and remove all of the non- period spices and aluminum untensils, coffee mate, sweet and low, etc.  Now it is beginning to look like a real trail wagon.  I just wonder what all went through the mind of Goodnight and his cook as to what should be taken on the wagon.  We still sit around the fire and debate this topic.  Basically every wagon that went up the trail was constructed differently and contained the things that were important to that particular trail crew. 

I am looking forward to doing this “in character” re-enactment and I hope you are getting the idea of a little special fun we are going to have at Fort Stanton, New Mexico.  Come on out and join us.

Arizona Hoorah

The Southwest chapter of the American Chuck Wagon Association held a Hoorah on March -21-24, 2014 just outside of Ft. Thomas, Arizona at the end of Poverty Flats Road at the home of John and Sandy Sullivan.  President Russ Richins, of the Southwest chapter, was on hand to help with the organizing of the various events scheduled throughout the three day event.  The ACWA president-Wayne Calk, Administrative Assistant-Nancy Sparks, and three board members-Dave McDowell, Kathy Christianson, and Glenn Moreland were present.  
                                                                               

The Hoorah began three years ago in Ft. Thomas, Arizona as a way for chuck wagon owners and ACWA members could come together to celebrate the chuck wagon heritage while getting to know each other under circumstances other than competitions.   Clearly the gathering has grown from a little over 20 the first year to over 60 this year.  Chuck wagon aficionados traveled from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Washington, and Colorado to participate in what is turning out to be a shining star in the American Chuck Wagon Association. 

As we arrived in Thacther, Arizona the first stop on Thursday was at Brashas’ Grocery Store where manager, Edmundo Lopez provided the event with nearly all the groceries we needed for the event at Poverty Flats.  The amount topped the $500 mark.  Edmundo was such a fine gentleman as was his assistant.  We are humbled by his extreme generosity and will be forever in his debt for kindness.  We wanted to be able to display a sign showing that he was the sponsor for the event and invited him to attend and he said that all he wanted in return was a group photograph to place upon the wall of his office. 

A small group of folks arriving on Thursday made a short trip over to Safford, Arizona to enjoy the fine steaks at the Copper Steer Steak house. This is the only time that we have when “someone else” serves the food.  Our meal planning begins on Friday and the Arizona sunrise is nothing short of spectacular.  Of course with the full complement of cowboy tipis, flags from around the US and also a windmill to help serve as a backdrop didn’t hurt.  Steve and I were up early with our own little campfire and coffee pot gurgling…we were ready to start the morning.  It wasn’t long before many of the camps were up and attum, ready to see what else the day would hold for this group of friends and strangers.  I think it can easily be said that is wasn’t long before there were no strangers…only friends.  

Friday began with some hot steaming cowboy coffee, as you would expect.  Some of the guys were rushing around loading some poles for a project back in El Paso.  Many of the folks were beginning to arrive about mid-morning and the lunch preparations were underway with Steve Woods from Denton, Texas, Bob Sparks from Brownfield, Texas and myself making Pico de Gallo to go with the marinated and grilled flank steak to be served on a flour tortillas.

As folks got their camps set up they immediately got their “swap meet” stuff lined out on the ground or table like fire iron, coffee pots, ovens, lanterns, dippers, knives, steak turners, harnessing components, cookbooks, pots, pans, three tined forks, and a lot more.  The quality of the items were really good and many good bargains could be had if you were quite enough to pick them up before someone else got to the good stuff. 

The time frame for Friday was to have everything at Poverty Flats set up and ready so we could journey down the road to Pima, NM by 4 pm for the Vaquero gathering at Gummer’s Camp.

Randy and Rhonda Hawkins hosted the Friday night event, at their home in Pima, Arizona, in honor of the Vaquero.  It was explained at the supper--it was with much indebtedness to the Vaquero that we owe for the many cowboy ways we learned from them.   To the Vaquero—We Salute You!

Randy and Rhonda Hawkins at Gummer’s Camp Western Town provided a Mexican meal highlighted by their Tapatias.  Randy gave everyone a guided tour of his western and chuck wagon collectables.  Their backyard is the location of the western town of which they are quite proud. During the meal we were entertained by a most capable group of musicians led by their fiddle player.  I apologize that I didn’t get their names but they were indeed quite good and entertaining. 

Saturday morning began with coffee and with Dave McDowell from Chandler, Az preparing donuts, Scottish scones and Welsh Cakes.  Martin Winslow from Cortez, Colorado was cooking the donuts (folks sort of hovered around the donut bowl and ate the wonderfully hot pastries)  and Rodney Carriker, also from Cortez, served as the fireman for the whole event having coals ready for whatever it was that was being prepared.  I might add that there were a few folks mentioned who were sort of responsible for preparing certain meals or side dishes, but all of the rest of the people in attendance fell in and offered their assistance from everything to washing dishes to making the fire.  That makes it a Fun For All!!! 

As the clock ticked, it came to pass that the black powder cannon demonstration and “front end loaders” didn’t get to do their thing because of some personnel glitches.  As it turned out we spent time with Dave McDowell leading a discussion on the timeline of certain spices during the cow camp era.  He explained that oregano, garlic, chilies, bell peppers, mustard seed, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, vanilla, and lemon extract were available along with various sweeteners like loaf sugar (cones) and molasses followed by syrup.  Corn was the most plentiful after the Civil War but flour, baking powder (Saleratus) and yeast was also available.   Canned goods were available in 1865 and the most common were corn, tomatoes, beans, pineapples, strawberries, cherry, peach, oysters and lobster—costing from 50 cents to a dollar per can and were sold in cases of 24 for $12-$15 per case.  By 1870 United States canners were producing 30 million cans of food per year.  The most common on the chuck wagon were tomatoes but the prairie supply points often stocked canned oysters and sardines, potted chicken, deviled ham, as well as cheese and crackers. There are other categories that Dave covered that can be obtained through the ACWA May 2014 Newsletter. 

John Sullivan, Sandy Sullivan and Randy Hawkins worked off and on during the morning prepping for their wheelwright demonstration that was to occur after lunch. 

Bob and Nancy Sparks gave a historical accounting of the chuck wagon and discussed in detail the many things that chuck wagon judges (both have judged many chuck wagon competitions) look for when judging the wagons for competitions. Using a sample judging sheet, they went down the list talking about all the items on the “check sheet”.  There was enlightening and interesting commentary from the Sparks’ as well as Kathy Christenson and Glenn Moreland.  Some “new” wagon owners got many of their questions answered. 

Russ Richens, from Phoenix, AZ, was busying himself with the hot dog preparations and cooking up some more of the skirt steak while Rex Dalton, from Cortez, CO, was making up two batches of Pico De Gallo, one with green chilies and the other with Jalapenos. 

The fire was hot and the wagon wheel tire was in amongst the coals expanding so that John, Randy and Sandy could set the tire on a butcher knife wheel during their wheelwright demonstration.  The tire spokes and fellies had been put in place and the procedure for doing so was talked about by John. He explained that tire had a section of it taken out to better fit the outside measurement around the wheel.  The setting of the tire didn’t go so well and it was determined after a couple of tries that further adjustments would have to be made before the final fitting.  The demonstration outside of John’s wagon barn was informative as well as enlightening because of all of the close tolerances. 

The American Chuck Wagon Association held a meeting to discuss the possibilities of the ACWA sanctioning chuck wagon cook-offs and ultimately culminating in an ACWA Championship Cook Off.  Some of the pros and cons were discussed as well as some issues such as the fairness of someone who is really far from most of the cook offs being held.  The ACWA announced an upcoming meeting in Abilene, TX to discuss the topics further. Also discussed at the Hoorah was the implementation of the ACWA Awards Program.  Awards discussed were:  Pioneer Award, Western Heritage Award, Rookie of the Year Award, Youth Award, and the Hoodlum Award.  Much discussion occurred around the need for wagon recognition and it was brought forward that the award might include the whole wagon camp.  We took that information and promised to present it at the Abilene, TX meeting.

During the calendar year I was contacted by the Bethany Braley, Executive Director of the National Day of the Cowboy organization that the ACWA had been selected as one of their recipients of the Cowboy Keeper Award.  Beth asked when would be a good time that she might be able to present the award in person.  I suggested the Hoorah and she was excited about the possibility of attending.  Many times when a distinguished award is presented the presenter does a brief fanfare and the award is handed over, BUT not this one.  Beth did an amazing amount of research in recognizing the ACWA accomplishments and goals of preserving the Chuck Wagon Heritage.  It was with honor that we, the board of directors of the ACWA, accepted the award by such an eloquent delivery by the Executive Director.  Thank you so very much National Day of the Cowboy for this honor.

Grant Smith from Alma, New Mexico was on hand to give a demonstration of his exceptional Dutch oven pie making skills.  As you can see by the picture the crust isn’t your ordinary pie crust.  Grant went through the steps of creating the masterpiece.  He had his cookbooks for sale that included many outstanding recipes and “tricks” that he has learned from cooing with Dutch ovens for 60 years.  And speaking of cookbooks, there were at least 5 other chuck wagon cookbooks for sale.

Several appetizers were being enjoyed while preparations were being made for the New Your Strip steaks, chicken, baked potatoes, salsas, frijoles and several desserts.  Socialization or as some would call it…bsing was at a high pitch.  Rex Dalton and Joe Cannon had some wonderful tales to tell and were quite memorable, like the “this is gonna hurt” and the “breaking of 28 mules” and one that Joe Cannon told last year was about the “neighbor’s dog”.  You just had to be there to appreciate the humor in the stories.

Later in the evening, around the big campfire, the group was entertained by two local musicians (didn’t get names) with Glenn Moreland setting in and singing some songs.   It was a nice culmination for the evening.   Several individual campfires burned late into the night kindling the fire of old and new friendships. 

John and Sandy were up early preparing their Mountain Man breakfast which was a combination of eggs, cheese, sausage, onions and other ingredients.  Not much need for breakfast to be announced…as everyone was ready to indulge in the smells coming from the central fire pit.  And, as has become a tradition at Ft. Thomas, a cowboy church service. 

This summarizes THE HOORAH at Ft. Thomas, Arizona.  When it was begun three years ago, we didn’t know what was going to become of the future of the “get together”, we just knew that it would be fun and a chance for folks to come together in an environment without a competition.  The organizers feel that the Hoorah has served the purpose and has paved the way for others to step forward and organize a gathering in other areas.  The next event—The Chuck Wagon Rendezvous-- will be in Bennett, Colorado at Lost Creek Farms on May 4-6, 2014 followed by another one in Sat the Three Hearts Ranch on September 12-14, 2014 in Fredericksburg, Texas. 

See ya on down the trail!
Wayne

Cup of Coffee

Is it the coffee or is it where you have it or is it who you share a cup with? All are considerations for a good cup of coffee. My suspicion is a good cup of coffee is a combination of all three. Now we have all had that cup of “coffee water” that is just barely a notch above water itself, and it probably still sufficed for that early morning pick me up. However that cup of flavor that is just right is the one that keeps us going back for more. Now on the other hand there are those places that stick in your mind as memorable. Still the last, but not least, is who you may have a cup of coffee with and that too keeps you coming back for more.









As an example of the first, Linda (my wife) and I were at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing, a local restaurant, several years ago and had the most wonderful cup of coffee. The setting was and always is very nice, but the coffee was extraordinarily good. It was a blend of Hawaiian Rain Forest. Magnificent!









An example of the 2nd and 3rd was many years ago in San Antonio, Texas. Linda and I were meeting my brother Max and his wife Jeannette for a weekend…..it may have even been a Thanksgiving family gathering. We were staying in a hotel on the River Walk and I made plans with Max the night before to meet him down on the river at a restaurant for a cup of coffee (he doesn’t even drink coffee) and read the newspaper. I remember nothing about the caliber of coffee or the restaurant. But being there on the River Walk and sharing that quiet time on the river with my brother made a lasting memory.





I have been told many times when making coffee on




a campfire at the back of my chuck wagon “Now that has got to be the best tasting coffee I have ever had.” True probably at the moment, but it also was probably not the best coffee ever, instead it was the ambience of the campfire and the chuck wagon that made the coffee taste so good. I will even go so far as to say the people making those praises of my coffee were most likely tasting some pretty good coffee.







A recent memory of “a good cup of coffee” occurred out in Ft. Thomas, Arizona at a Chuck Wagon Hoorah put on for a bunch of chuck wagon connoisseurs. It was an outstanding morning with Rex Wailes, Dave McDowell, Eddie Sandoval, Steve Woods and I sitting around a little fire out by Rex’s teepee. Rex and Dave had been up for quite some time when I joined them at the fire around 5:30 am. The others joined the campfire coffee brigade shortly after. That particular morning Rex and Dave were probably on their second to fourth cup of coffee. Their line of chat had already taken on a life by itself talking about the enjoyment of the morning and the things the desert has to offer, like the sound of the distant coyote or the cooing of the dove or even the feeling you get when you know you are in the Land of the Apache. Was it the coffee that I remember so well, no….but the times and the people there that we shared coffee with. It was a peaceful time with absolutely no pressure dealing with food




preparation. Some of you may not know that these gatherings are like a chuck wagon cook off without the competition and without anyone having to cook something at a specific time. Well, again the coffee wasn’t exactly special other than the fact that Rex puts his coffee grounds in a lady’s silk stocking and thus has no grounds to be concerned with when pouring coffee.


Now I have said on many occasions when serving cowboy coffee “I will guarantee there will be coffee ground in your cup of coffee.” People don’t mind or at least don’t say anything except for the owner of a big auto dealership where we were cooking breakfast and he said with a big smile, “I have told lots of folks that your coffee is the crunchiest ever.” I don’t know if he liked it or didn’t, I couldn’t tell. What I hope is that he remembered where he had the crunchiest coffee ever.







At home in El Paso my wife Linda and I make coffee every morning and enjoy our southwestern home and the offerings we have inside and outside. We are always searching for the better cup of coffee and have tried many since moving from the instant variety we used for such a long time. (Funny how we can get in a rut and just keep doing the same thing because it may be easier.) We recently tried a New Mexico Dark Roast Pinon Coffee and indeed it was dark roasted and we didn’t care for the nutty taste by itself. We ended up mixing it with some other blends and toning it down a little. Our usual cup of something a little different is a Mexican coffee which has just a bit of cinnamon in the it. The coffee is usually pretty good. We use a French press to achieve the result we like but it is the location and the person with whom you share it that makes the next morning worth getting up early to enjoy.


Just a few weeks ago I was in Bennett, Colorado for another chuck wagon gathering at Rex and Sheryl Wailes farm when we again were enjoying that wonderful aroma of coffee boiling over an open fire, the stillness of the early morning sitting by the fire visiting with friends and enjoying a cup of coffee taking in the distant beauty of the snow topped Colorado Rockies….indeed priceless!







Another time that will live in my memory for a long time will be when Steve Woods and I had set up the chuck wagon at Billy the Kid Days in Lincoln, New Mexico. It was an early morning with a light rain coming down on our wagon fly (this was back when it rained occasionally) with a nice fire going just prior to sunrise and the coffee in hand and as they say…kicked back. Ahhh, now this is what it is all about. Those times are special, and I am always up for the possibility of creating a memory around that cup of coffee. I look forward to those times. I have many, many memories that deal with enjoying a cup of coffee with loved ones and friends and have chosen just a few here to illustrate the meaning of a good cup of coffee





Now some of you might just want the recipe I use and it is very simple. First, I don’t know how much the coffee pot holds, but I stick my hand into the freshly ground coffee and get about 3 fingers of coffee and put into the cold water. I fill the pot up till it is where I can see the water in the spout. When it starts boiling I will place the pot off of the hottest part of the fire and let it do its thing for a little while and then it is ready. Maybe throw a couple of sticks of cinnamon in the pot. Maybe, but what does it matter? If the coffee isn’t that good then maybe the location and the friends or your significant other will make up the difference for a less than perfect cup of coffee.








See you round the campfire. I’ll have the coffee ready.