Wagon Wheel Kitchens: Food on the Oregon Trail : University Press of Kansas : 9780700606108 : 0700606106 : 31 Aug 1993 : Pioneer temperaments, Jacqueline Williams shows, were greatly influenced by that which was stewable, bakable, broilable, and boilable. Using travelers' diaries, letters, newspaper advertisements, and nineteenth-century cookbooks, Williams re-creates the highs and lows of cooking and eating on the Oregon Trail. She investigates the mundane?biscuits and bacon, mush and coffee?as well as the unexpected?carbonated soda made from bubbling spring water; ice cream created from milk, snow, and peppermint; fresh fruits and vegetables. Understanding what and how the pioneers ate, Williams demonstrates, is essential to understanding how they lived and survived?and sometimes died?on the trail. "This book holds an encyclopedia of information culled from diaries and contemporary newspapers. I can't think of a more intimate account of the lives of the overlanders, how they turned