The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1905-08-11
DESERT BILL OF FARE
SOURCES FROM WHICH THE NOLAN
SUPPLIES HIS LAROEa.

| About some OF the Indian villages
OF the west are to be seen small
| patches OF maize or few tiny melon
| patches. hut these cultivated areas are
/ of little account as compared with the
| number of persons to be fed. These.
| too, are cSccp;ions rather than the
rule, majority Of the towns having
! no such cultivated fields.
! In the various parts OF the arid re.
gion which shelters 30 great Il portion
OF our barbarian population Is found
u tree remarkable for certain proper
ties The botanical name of this plant
| is prOsopis iuliilOra. 1t is popularity
known as the algaroba, or honey mes-
quite 1his tree tbrivcs with little
moisture grows, with thick, bu>hy top,
30 n height of twenty TO forty feet uf-
fOrds shelter from the wind ana sun,
and, best Of all in the sight Of the hun
CRY natives, ii yields abundant crops
OF fruit known as mesquite beans
The slim green pods hang in clusters
from the tips Of the boughs, often
bending the branches nearly To break
ing, so abundant do they grow. The
; pods, which urc six or seven Inches
long, are pulry. Juicy, fairly palatab!e
aud nouri~hng.
These beans are gathered. dried ana
stored in the peculiar granuri"s Of the
Indians huge baskets holding several
bushels cach-and are pulycri2cd wheu
wanted for food in wooden or stone
mortars and the meal thus formed is
soaked in water ana eaten without fur.
,her preparation or it is baked into a
sort OF unlcavcncd bread. 1t j. The
: principal and fuyoritc food Of several
tribes.
The screw bean IL another food prod
net. less plentiful, but even more high
~ priced because of ITS sugary quail
ties. This fruit Is often eaten ~ pluck
ed from the tree. Ii ripcns the latter
part of June or in July, little later
4 than the mesquite bean.
In some of the mountain sections the
: Prunus andcrsonii or chnmiSh, Is
. found In abundance. The pits Of this
fruit are pounded in mortars. ana the
meal is then eaten. There are many
varieties of the cactus fruit which arH
utilized for food. the fruit Of the Opuu-
tia tuna or prickly pear being notable
: example.
The dead loco weed. the pest Of the
cattlcmen. is favorite with the In
dians. 70" the yellow pods of Che plant
when pulverized serve as spice 10 rem
der some of the otherwise insipid dish
. ~ palatablc.
q The roots of the cancer root are
roasted over live Goals, aud when
Young. succulent ana nouriShing are
prime favorites with the red epicu-
rcans.
Flowers OF the yucca and agIve are
u boiled, dried and preserved TO be- eaten
as occasion requires. The young shoots
or crowns of these plants are also
roasted aud eaten. Seeds of the Arte-
- mlsla tridentata or NORWOOD aud the
Z, Atriplcx lcntiformis are pulyerlZcd and
eaten. Pine nuts form a very impor
taut item of food with many of the
u tribes in the wooded section of the
country. and acorns furnish other
= tribes with a large part of their living.
There are other herbs which are uti-
lized 10y the Indians as food Indeed,
there are few plants which are not
capable of being rendered edible in
some manner. There are. however, 9th.
~ er things besides plants which are
made to satisfy the pangS of hunger
In the animal kingdom are Il number
Of varieties Of creatures, not clIsSed in
the game list of the white man. which
minister to the appetitcs and needs OF
&. the rcd man.
There are in the southwest, particu
larly in California, bodies of bitter
: poisonous waters known rs bOracil
lakes. owens lake. twenty miles long
is OF this class. 1t is a vcritablc Dead
4 sea, and, like the sea of that name AM
y its counterpart, the Great salt lake oI
Utah, its heavy, brackish waters d,
a not support fish or marine life
At certain seasons of the year thi
= waters of these boracic lakes aboun.
in white grubs known TO the Indian.
of that region as "koochabee." Thcs,
grubs are the larvae of two winged
fly, the Ephydra californica. SO plcn
- tiful are these grubS in their seaSOr
they line the shores of the lake 10
depth of several inches, where tn,
waves east them up from their watcrl
incubator. The Indians at this season
of the year camp upon the shores o
the lake, gather this peculiar harvcs
ana dry II in the sun. Later the grub
are ground in stone mortars into tin'
powder, and from this insect mea
- they bake bread which is highly
priced
There are a number of other insects
lizards reptiles aud the like-which ar
used as food by different tribes. Th'
er chuckawalla, a lizard somewhat re
le sembling the ella monster, is com
:, mon article OF food with Lower Cali
nj fornia Indians and with some Of tn
,r tribes north OF the line. 1t may not b
= the most inviting Of foods-somc of tn
insect and reptilian foods are far iron