Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-07-17
STEAK MADE HUGO FAMOUS

Undoubtedly the most picturesque feature of President Roosevelt's recent tour of the. country was the one that made the town of Hugo, Col, famous the cowboy breakfast and it's T-bone steak. Seldom has cowboy break fast been considered an event of sutfi- cient note to have it's details described in the public press, but this one, with the president of the United States as guest of honor, will be for many years the. great occasion in the histoIy of Hugo, and May 4, the date on which { It was given will not soon be forgot ten. The cook who cooked this break ! fast and who glories in this exalted hit l of cookery is Jack" keppel, who de- serted his herds and rode many miles ] in order to be on hand and offieiate at ! Hugo.
 II was proudn said MT Keppel, quite prond when the Lincoln county Cattle Growers association, at the suggestion of Judge c. M. Miles, of | Hugo, selected me to take charge of | the cooking of the cowboy breakfast | which We had determined to serve to | President Roosevelt. The Holt Live Stock company's chuck wagon was driven down to Hugo for my use, and ' it was we'll supplied, as it was ready ' to start next day on it's regular rounds up route. It was in charge of Foreman l 5. G. Sherman, by whom it was kindly offered to us. As my assistant for the great enterprise I had that old veteran of the range, John Heyman, as good q camp man as ever drew breath. so long as he was awake and thus fixed up, l felt fully equal to the great un- dertaking ahead of me. On Friday preceding the eventful Monday, May 4, when the president was to come through, went to Huge from nay ranch at Arroyo, to, get everything | shipshape and in order. On that even ing we swung the pot rack and cleared a space about the rear end of the chuck wagon, and on Saturday we un- packed the provisions aad laid in but ter and such things as had been over ] looked.
 ''On Sunday, just to get my hand in and have things in working order, E cooked a couple of dozen :rawhides' from Denver. I hadn't done any cook ing for five years and I was a little | me, but the way those people ate and ate and came back for more convinced me that John and I could do the big stunt as well as anybody. Sunday, night, about half-past eight o'clock, | closed off the feeding and left nothing on but the beans, which cooked over q roaring fire till twelve o'clock. While the beans were cooking a number of l n16 fiT1oo eraAI {Io,, fire and swapped lies and sang songs and kept me company. It was a fine night and they were all sorry when twelve o'clock came and took off the beans and drove them all away. And enough and I had important work ahead of me for the morning.
 l T rolled out nay bedding right alongside the campfire and turned in to my blankets a little before one o'clock. I could hear the others cele- brating uptown and I wished could be with them, but I knew that would never do for me- A few hours later was up wooling John Heyman to get him awake, and beating around with q club to find daylight in the dark. The first thing did after making up ! II. John and I then made twelve gallons of coffee in three big pots, and got the fried potatoes ready. The next thing was to make the biscuits and put them in the Dutch ovens ready to bake. | made eight dozen of these and patted them out around and smooth. It's quite a job to. make good biscuits, and you bet I was particular with these, I wanted to have 'em just ready when the president came, so went over to the depot and found out from the telegraph operator the exact ! moment when he would arrive.
 l "When we saw the smoke of the pi lot train we heaped the fire on the tops of the Dutch ovens This train brought the governor and Congressman Brooks. They were too busy getting ready to receive the president to want to eat anything, and the biscuits were not done anyhow When the president s train hove in sight We got excited around that campfire. I can tell you, I picked out a big T-bone steak, the finest one I ever saw, for the president. As the train was slowing un I nodded to John Heyman, my assistant, to ! drop the big steak on to the hot sur face of the oven, which was on the rack and heated up just right. By this time the biscuits were done to q l turn and everything was ready. I had heard discouraging reports to the effect that President Roosevelt would not be allowed time enough at Hugo for him to get off and eat, but l knew if l could once get him within range of that breakfast, where he could get a whiff of that steak. he would have to stay and eat. Well, I have cooked many q steak, but I was certainly more proud of that one than of any I ever turned oyer. It was a regular 'heaut,' and when the president cut 1 into it and munched the first mouth full and saw the tickled expression of his face, I was so proud-well I just had to swing my hat and holler. '- | China Tribune