Howdy, For your next camp-out:-), another tidbit from 49er Reuben Cole SHAW's on the Northern trail in June, 1849:: "On reaching the Platte, the GENERAL[the guide] informed us that for 300 miles along the river we should not find a particle of timber, and that the cooking would have to be done over a fire made from buffalo chips (the dried excrement of the buffalo). which, when used in the TRAPPER'S FIREPLACE, proved a very satisfactory fuel. " ....I will briefly explain the manner in which the fireplace, or oven, of the trapper was constructed, when using buffalo chips... Selecting a spot a short distance from the steep river bank, a hole about 6 inches in diameter and 8 to 12 inches deep was excavated. An air tunnel was then formed by forcing a ramrod horizontally from the river bank to the bottom of the cavity, giving the oven the required draught. "In making a fire (after gathering a quantity of dry chips, which were found in abundance), a wisp of dry grass was lighted and placed at the bottom of the oven, opposite the air tunnel, feeding the flame with finely pulverized dry chips, which readily ignited. Then after filling the fireplace with broken chips and placing around the oven two or three small rocks on which to rest the cooking utensils, we had a combination which at first gave us a grand surprise, as but little smoke and only a slight odor emitted from the fire, and we found, after having eaten our first meal cooked in this manner, that the prejudice previously entertained against buffalo chips as a fuel had VANISHED into thin air." Now you know:-))))), Bob Norris in Dallas <BNorris166aol.com>