cje
Full Member
Posts: 60
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Post by cje on Sept 30, 2012 19:20:50 GMT -5
I have long ago read what the Alamo defenders had to eat during the battle (Beef and Corn) but in the month preceding the battle, what would they have eaten? Did they have coffee? Any sort of Winter Veggies?
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Post by Rich Curilla on Oct 2, 2012 22:09:27 GMT -5
Bexar was fallow in February. Even when Bowie was scouting for Austin in October of 1835, food was hard to find.
I think it was Susanna Dickinson who said in one of her accounts that they had food enough for a month.
And of course Bowie rounded up "80 or 90 bushels of corn and...20 or 30 head of beeves," on February 23rd. according to Travis. My assumption has to be no veggies, no Cookies 'n Cream, and probably no coffee.
They lived off of Bexarenos' generosity in the previous weeks, from what I can tell.
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Post by Tom Nuckols on Oct 2, 2012 22:31:30 GMT -5
Coffee was definitely on the menu. Coffee was an extremely important commodity in that time and place. I recall there are records of Travis and Neill having each bought hundreds of pounds of coffee. I think the former bought his before the siege began, so we can assume it was in the fort. The latter bought his after the siege began, so assume the opposite. The Gonzalez 32 may have brought some coffee in with them, however.
Veggies? Almost certainly not...unless you consider beans to be veggies. I can't recall specific references to beans in the Alamo literature. But consider that beans were used to decide who among the Mier Expedition would be executed only six years after the Alamo. From that, I think it's reasonable to assume beans were a common staple in the region at that time. Consequently, I'd be surprised if the defenders didn't have some beans in the fort.
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Post by Tom Nuckols on Oct 2, 2012 23:18:35 GMT -5
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Post by Hiram on Oct 3, 2012 9:49:40 GMT -5
Historically, coffee was definitely a staple (for some of us it still is.)
Well of course...they had beans, "frijole beans" according to the Governor's brother Bill Daniel. Wait a minute...that was at San Jacinto...okay never mind. 
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Post by Rich Curilla on Oct 3, 2012 12:24:30 GMT -5
Historically, coffee was definitely a staple (for some of us it still is.)
Well of course...they had beans, "frijole beans" according to the Governor's brother Bill Daniel. Wait a minute...that was at San Jacinto...okay never mind. ...or, as Ned Huthmacher always says, "Free-Holy Beans." Thanks Tom. I had totally forgotten about that Travis purchase, and yet -- strangely -- the "walnut scantlings" purchase sticks in my head. Perhaps I was Jameson and not Melton. LOL. |
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Post by Rich Curilla on Oct 3, 2012 12:26:59 GMT -5
But, for sure, no Cookies 'n Cream. |
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