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Talk explores the lives of Upper Clearwater pioneers

Ritcey and Ferguson, daughters of pioneers Ted and Jennie Helset, gave a presentation titled “Pioneer Food”
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Sisters Clara Ritcey and Ellen Ferguson give a talk on Pioneer Food in Upper Clearwater Hall on Saturday evening. Their parents

Unremitting hard work. That's what being a pioneer in the Upper Clearwater Valley sounded like, according to Clara Ritcey and Ellen Ferguson.

It also sounded like it was a lot of fun.

Ritcey and Ferguson, daughters of pioneers Ted and Jennie Helset, gave a presentation titled “Pioneer Food” at Upper Clearwater Hall on Saturday evening.

The presentation was part of the Wells Gray Rocks series being held this summer.

Getting enough to eat was a constant struggle, the two sisters said.

Most of the men had hunting licenses but that didn't necessarily mean they followed all the rules.

Fortunately, the game wardens were based in Kamloops.

In order to get to Upper Clearwater they needed to take the train to Clearwater, then walk the rest of the way.

One particular game warden liked to visit once a year. Before he came he would write a letter to Frank Shook and family, asking if he could have a place to stay.

Naturally, the Shooks would pass the word around the neighborhood that the game warden was coming, thereby avoiding any unnecessary incidents.

“He knew darn well what we were eating and it wasn't baloney sandwiches,” Clara Ritcey said.

What the people ate depended on the season.

In the spring, they would carefully gather the first dandelion shoots and eat them with potato salad.

These were the first greens in their diet since Christmas and tasted delicious.

When the dandelions got bigger, they would be eaten as a steamed vegetable with vinegar.

Jesse Emery, later Mrs. Roy Shook, used to can large quantities of pigweed or lamb's quarter.

At the end of May, everyone would plant a large garden. Planting had to be timed properly to miss the last frost or, at Hemp Creek, the spring flood.

The second or third week in June they would start collecting strawberries.

Saskatoons came a little later and were not so popular as the huckleberries.

The best huckleberries came from McLeod Hill, where people could quickly fill a horse's pannier.

The berries would be cleaned and canned the next day – waiting could mean they would spoil.

One man made huckleberry wine in an old fish keg. It fermented as it was supposed to but tasted fishy.

“Did he drink it?” asked Ellen Ferguson.

“Of course he drank it,” said Clara Ritcey.

At the beginning of August came the raspberries. These were best eaten fresh, but also were used to make jam as well as raspberry vinegar to drink.

Helset kidsLater in August came the pin-cherries, which were used to make jam and jelly.

Many planted gooseberries and currants in their gardens.

Some bushes still grow by the Ray Farm in Wells Gray Park.

A Mr. Silk, who lived near Grier Road, had many fruit trees and provided the same to local residents.

Quite a few of the fruit trees growing in the Clearwater area today are descended from Mr. Silk's, said the sisters.

Fish made a good change from the continuous diet of deer and moose meat.

They would be canned into pint and half-pint jars, and were a good source of calcium over the winter.

Her mother's recipe for making sauerkraut begins with, “Take 100 pounds of cabbage,” Clara Ritcey recalled.

Making sauerkraut and putting away potatoes, carrots and so on would keep them busy in the fall.

Also in the fall they could collect shaggy mane mushrooms.

The best way to cook grouse was over rice in a pan in the oven.

Once they had a grouse fly in the window and break its neck. As they went to cook it, they found an egg inside, which they used to bake a cake.

Deer were so common they would almost always see one in their meadow.

If it was too warm to keep a shot deer by hanging it from a tree, they would share the meat with their neighbors.

In winter, people would put off shooting their moose until the weather was cold enough for it to stay frozen.

Canning moose meat was another major chore.

A moose is very big while a canning jar is very small, Ritcey pointed out.

They had no pressure canners and so they had to boil the jars for three hours on a wood stove.

Preserving a whole moose could take several days, especially since the meat needed to be thawed before the process could begin.

Nothing was wasted, including the heart, liver, kidney and tongue.

Rabbits were another favorite winter food.

Clara recalled that one time, when she was in hospital (probably to have a baby), her husband, Ralph Ritcey, shot several rabbits and hung them on the clothesline to freeze.

The snowplow driver used their driveway to turn around in and evidently saw them.

Many years later her son, Frank Ritcey, was talking with the snowplow driver in Clearwater.

The driver, then an old man, told Frank, “It was the darnedest thing I ever saw. A clothesline full of frozen rabbits.”

Frank said, “I know who that was. That was my father.”

Beaver meat was popular, but needed to be prepared carefully to avoid contamination by the animal's scent glands.

Community dinners were important. One winter Grandma Blake invited all the bachelors in the neighborhood over for Christmas dinner.

She spent many hours getting everything ready but then nobody showed up.

She was feeling pretty upset about this and was even more confused when a big crowd appeared the following day.

Turns out she had got her days mixed up on the calendar.

 

“She re-heated the food and they had the best party ever,” Clara said.