Recently, I filmed an OJAC tiny-tour about Buffalo Hunters.
(Check it out on the museum Vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/user32466522)
Fort Griffin was a supply stop for Buffalo Hunter Companies before they embarked on their two-three week hunting trip following the buffalo herds. So, what supplies did these hunters purchase? Luckily for us, the answer was found in F.E. Conrad’s ledger book. Conrad operated a mercantile store located in the town of Fort Griffin.
F.E. Conrad
The hunting party would normally include a shooter and a few skinners, so supplies were needed for four to five men. During one trip in 1877, Dick Cromwell and Briggs Company made the following purchases at Conrad’s Mercantile before beginning their buffalo hunt:
· 400 lb flour
· 25 lb coffee
· 10 lb tobacco
· 2 lb soda
· 1 container of lard
· 11 bushels of oats
· 150 lb lead
· 1 keg powder
· 200 .45 caliber shells
· 2 boxes Winchester cartridges
· 2 boxes primers
· 50 .50 caliber shells
· 12 skinning knives
· 2 boxes ax heads
· 1 steel
· 1 file
· 1 pair of long johns
· 1 pair of overalls
· 1 overshirt
· 1 blanket
Could you even imagine buying 400 pounds of flour? My mind instantly goes to items that did not make the list. Such as bacon, which was a staple for hunting groups and cattle drives. Did they plan to eat buffalo meat which would always be fresh from their kills?
Isn’t it ironic that something like this mercantile journal, which was mundane paperwork for Conrad, becomes a wealth of information for historians in the 21st century!
Jewellee Kuenstler, THCP Coordinator
Buffalo Hunter’s Camp