Eureka - Condensed Milk!

On a voyage across the Atlantic on rough seas in 1851, Gail Borden learned that the cows on board the ship were too seasick to produce milk.  Listening to the hungry babies on board crying, he began to think that his condensing procedure (that made the Meat Biscuit) might be used to provide milk in emergency situations such as that..

Borden knew that milk was one of the most fragile foods and people had tried before to preserve fresh milk and failed.  Cheese was the obvious answer, but Borden wanted to condense whole milk.  All the theories of the day said it couldn't be done, but Borden did not believe that.  In Europe there had been some success in evaporating milk to preserve it, but it had proven unmarketable. Preserving milk wasn't difficult, but preserving the quality and taste was another matter. 

Borden began by boiling milk over a charcoal fire and adding brown sugar to it before sealing it in glass.  Although it would keep for months, it had a dark color and smelled like molasses.  Next Borden bought a vacuum pan but that caused the milk to stick to the sides of the pan when heated, then foamed up and boiled over. 

At this point Borden was advised to give the whole idea up...but that wasn't an option for Borden.  He added a bit of grease to the vacuum pan and Eureka!  Condensed milk!  The innovation was so simple that he had trouble convincing the patent office that he had done anything to patent.  Borden explained that as soon as milk came out of the cow it began to change - to decompose, and only his vacuum would keep the milk fresh before sealing.  The patent was issued for evaporating milk in a vacuum. 

Next time...The commercial success of condensed milk
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On September 23, 1875, Billy the Kid is arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry.  He later broke out of jail and roamed the American West, eventually earning the reputation as an outlaw and a record of 21 murders.  His life was short and ended in his being shot in 1881 in New Mexico by Sheriff Pat Garrett.

Gail Borden- Inventor and Pubic Servant

Gail Borden was a land agent in Texas who wanted to find a way to make food more portable for those pioneers traveling west in the 1800s.  Borden had been born on a farm in New York, then migrated to Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana where he knew firsthand the problems of westward travels.  He was a self-taught surveyor and schoolteacher before coming to Texas in 1829.

His long public career in Texas began in 1835 when Borden and a friend found the weekly newspaper, The Telegraph and Texas Register, the first newspaper to last more than two years in Texas.  He became the official printer for the Republic of Texas, printing the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836.  Borden was named official surveyor before moving to Galveston to become the Collector of Port, where he designed the city street layouts, the water supply and a became seller of land lots.

Borden was also an inventor.  His "Bath House" was a portable way for ladies to bathe in the waters of the Gulf in privacy.  For his wedding anniversary, he gave his wife a revolving dining table with a center that rotated to serve individual guests.  Other inventions included his own steamboat and his "Terraqueous Machine" which was a sail driven covered wagon for land or sea.  Although it was amphibious, when tested in the Gulf waters, it capsized, dumping all his passengers in the water.

Borden's most important discovery in 1849 was an improved process for preserving the nutrition of meat by extraction.  Combining the condensed extracted meat with flour, he made a biscuit or cracker for carrying over long journeys.  Advertising his own product in 1850, Borden showed the benefits for seamen, travelers, explorers and anyone traveling in Indian Country where a campfire could signal danger.  The first arctic exploration carried the Meat Biscuit canisters along.  In 1851 the Meat Biscuit was exhibited alongside McCormick's Virginia Reaper and Colt's Revolver in London's Crystal Palace Exhibition. 

Borden spent six years and $60,000 promoting his Meat Biscuit.  It was deemed unsightly and unpalatable unless under dire circumstances.  Borden, however, had a better idea - which in 50 years would come to mean milk to Americans. 

Next time...Bessie the Cow
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Today in Pioneer History: "On September 19, 1827, Jim Bowie stabs a Louisiana banker with the Bowie knife.  The actual inventor of the Bowie knife was probably not Jim himself but his brother, Rezin Bowie who reportedly came up with the design after nearly being killed in a vicious knife fight.