The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1890-03-29
DIGGER INDIAN FARE,
A Chiefs Account of Butter Made From
Bugs, Gnats and transformers.

Bugs, Gnats and Grasshoppers.
mo acorns no Indians" sententious
ly said Chief Bonnell, the captain" O
the remnant Of the Yosemite tribe, to ,
Los Angeles Times correspondent. Ii
his rude and imperfect form of speech
the chief without following substanti
ally said:
1.-The acorn crop Of this valley hal
been failure for the past five years
Whenever the crop is failure in this
valley the crop is bountiful on the coast
range, and when it is large there it is
sparse here" No explanation can be
given of this seeming popularity, only
that cit just happened So" The Mono
and other Indians that frequented this
valley to gather the acorn crop come
no more, and have abandoned this love-
" vale to bowling tourists aud pro-
fessional sight-seers. Through the
kindness of the chief l was shown
through his small camp of a few huts
and perhaps twenty-five or thirty fol-
lowers of a tribe that q few years ago
numbered more than one thousand.
Though the acorns have disappeared
the caches" or store baskets remain.
These baskets are queerly, if not Won
derfully made. being II 1-2x3 feet, and
placed on platform four feet from the
rround. The sides are formed OF
bushes interlaced with pine boughs in
verified, the needles of which prevent
squirrels from climbing up, and also
conduct the rain downward on the
outside The top is rooted with pine
bark and made water-tight. The acOrns
are stored here and preserved during
Winter for future use, just as the wood
pecker drives the acorns in the holes
he drills in the pine trees. 1t is both
interesting and amusing to see the
squaws prepare the frugal meal of
acorn bread. The women and child
rem gather the acorns in small baskets
the more worms in the acorns the
better they are relished. Each acorn
is placed on its particular end and nit
on the head with pebble, which opens
it, separating the bark from the kernal:
then it is spread on rock to dry, |
after which the women grind the acorns
into meal by means of mortar and
pestil, something like the druggists
mix compounds for the disorgan.
ization of the stomach of the paleface.
In the meantime the bucks have built
fire surrounded by rocks, which are
made ''white heat" The meal is
poured into water-tight basket, and
the white heated rocks are dropped in.
The water is not permitted to boil, but
is hot enough to cook the meal The
stuff is stirred like cruel until it as
sumes thickness like paste. A hole
is "scooped" into the bed of the stream,
and the water permitted to run over it.
This removes the tannin, or bitter
taste, and although little sand adheres
to the cake it does not seem to make
much difference.
The butter used for this bread is also
very primitive, and is, perhaps, the
origin of the manufacture of our oleo-
margin of Mirror Lake it is covered
with flies and other insects, which
make it thick with Larvae and pupa.
The women and children-always the
women and children-skim off this scum
of living and dead insects, wash away
the foam in fresh water, and thus they
have good, fresh butter. Butter is also
made of gnats and grasshoppers. The
grasshoppcrs are caught, threaded on
strings and filed away for future use
until they become a little mellow as in
a green state they are considered too
rich for the red mans blood. The
are, caught by forming
line of women and children and driving
them into ditch dug by the women
and children. Sometimes, when an
impromptu meal is wanted, the grass is
set on fire, and the jumping grass
hopper is not only caught, but it is
cooked at the same time.