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.

Moccasins and Hog on Hominy

The dress or clothing of the Midwest pioneer was a curious cross between the working white man and Indian grab.  The hunting shirt, made of linsey, course nettle bark, linen buffalo hair or dressed deerskin was universally worn by men.  Breeches, leggings, and moccasins completed the men's daily attire.  Women and children dressed in simple linsey garments.  Shoes were only worn in cold weather when moccasins served for the entire family.

There was seldom a lack of food on the frontier.  The soil was fertile, and the forests had plenty of game.   One of the popular dishes was "hog on hominy" which was pork served with Indian corn which was boiled in lye (yikes!) to remove the hulls, then soaked in clear water and cooked soft.  Breakfast and dinner included cornmeal mush and milk (if available).  Cattle were not numerous in the Midwest wilderness early on, so hominy was more common.  Mush was served with sweetened water, molasses, gravy from fried meat,  or bear fat.

Coffee and tea were unknown on the frontier and even thought to be "sissy" drinks, better suited to women and children.  Vegetable gardens next to the cabin, raised pumpkins, squashes, potatoes, beans, melons, and "roasting ears" (my family still called corn by that name in Indiana growing up).  The forest provided wild game like squirrel, rabbits, deer, bear and elk, and well as wild fruits, grapes.and honey used for sweetening.  The pioneers ate hardy and well!

Next time...Making a living
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Today in Pioneer History: "On April 15, 1865, President Lincoln is pronounced dead after being shot at Fords' Theater in Washington DC the night before by John Wilkes Booth.  Only six days before the Civil War had ended with General Robert E Lee surrendering."