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BREADS
TO CAKES
*
Sugar Buns (colonies) Take
3/4 of a pound of sifted flour, (2) large
spoonfuls of brown sugar, (2) spoonfuls of good
yeast, add a little salt, stir well together and
when risen work in (2) spoonfuls of butter, make
into buns, set to rise again and bake until a
golden brown on tins. Mrs. Berkshire, New Lady’s Cook Book, 1731 ________________________________
*
Soda Biscuits (F & I War) (1)
Quart of sour milk, (1) teaspoonful of soda, (1)
teaspoonful of salt, a piece of butter the size of
an egg and enough flour to make them roll out.
Bake on a clean rock or flat plate until they are
brown. (un-named) 17xx ? ________________________________
*
Yeast Biscuits (Rev. War) Take
(2) quarts of flour, (2) ounces of butter, half
pint of boiling water, (1) teaspoonful of salt,
(1) pint of cold milk and half cup of yeast. Mix
well and set to rise, then mix a teaspoonful of
saleratus in a little water and mix into dough,
roll on a board an inch thick, cut into small
biscuits and bake twenty minutes. Sgt. Major A. N. Berwyn, Paoli News, 1776 ________________________________ *
Tarter Biscuits (War of 1812) Take
(1) quart of flour, (3) teaspoonfuls of cream of
tarter, mixed well through the flour, (2)
teaspoonfuls of shortening, (1) teaspoonful of
soda, dissolved in warm water, of a sufficient
quantity to mold the quart of flour. For the large
families the amount can be doubled. un-named, New York Regulars, 1810 ________________________________ *
Reb Bread (Civil War) (1)
Quart of butter milk, (1) quart of corn meal, (1)
quart of coarse flour, (1) cup of molasses, add a
little soda and salt. Bake until tan in color.
1862 Lt. Samuel L. Brown, ________________________________ *
Yeastless Bread (Indian Wars) Mix in
your flour sub carbonate of soda, (2) parts,
tartaric acid (1) part, both finely powered. Mix
up your bread with warm water, adding but a little
at a time and then bake until brown. Mr. John Cottingly, ________________________________ *
Johnny Cakes Popular
with troops of most every war that has been in Take
(1/2) a cup of sugar, (1 1/2) teaspoonfuls of
soda, butter the size of an egg, (1) cup of yellow
corn meal, (1) egg, (1) cup of white flour, (1
1/2) cups of sour cream or buttermilk and a pinch
of salt. Grease a flat pan, bake in a field oven,
medium heat, check when they start to brown. The Book of Recipes, 1837 ________________________________ *
Buckwheat Cakes (1)
Quart of buckwheat flour, (1) gill of wheat flour,
(1) quart - less (1) gill of warm water, (1) gill
of yeast, (2) teaspoonfuls of salt. Mix the batter
at night in order to have the cakes for breakfast;
if very light, an hour before they are required
stir the batter down and let it rise again. Bake
the cakes on a smooth, nicely-greased griddle and
send them to the table the moment they are baked,
piled regularly in the middle of the plate. Left
over batter will serve as yeast for the next
baking; store in a cool place, but don’t let it
freeze if in a winter camp. Bring it out at night,
add buckwheat, etc., and leave it to rise. With a
little care no fresh yeast will be necessary for
the winter. Recipe origin is unknown. 18xx ? ________________________________ *
Below
is a recipe from an 18th century cookbook for
Keepsake Biscuits. KS biscuits were intended to
keep long enough to provide bread for the extended
journeys of the time. I have kept KS biscuits for
several weeks but after the first day or so they
are better if they are heated over a fire. They
can also be broken into chunks the size of the
last joint of your thumb and cooked with meat for
dumplings or cooked with fruit for a cobbler. It is
unlikely that even one KS biscuit ever got baked
in the rocky mountains but it is remotely possible
that someone fresh from his mama's kitchen could
have hauled some a couple of thousand miles to the
mountains. Let your conscience be your guide. Regular
biscuits are very easy. Mix about 1/2 cup of any
liquid fat...bacon Grease,
melted lard, butter, cooking oil... with about 1
1/4 cups liquid...water, Milk,
beer... and add to about 3 cups self-rising flour
and stir into a damp dough. Pinch into balls about
the size of golf balls and flatten between your
palms. Cook them any way you want...in a Dutch
oven if you brought such a thing to the mountains,
in a skillet over a slow fire (turning as needed),
in a skillet inclined before a fire (turning as
needed), or even on a flat rock before the fire.
They can even be cooked in a regular house oven at
400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. A rope
of dough can be curled around a stick and toasted
over the fire but I have never had very good luck
with this method...making the rope not much bigger
than a pencil might help. Somebody help me on
this. I hope
this helps. Lanney Ratcliff, expert biscuit chef ________________________________ *
Keepsake Biscuits
Lanney Ratcliff, expert biscuit chef 1 quart
milk or cream - I use half and half 1 &
1/2 cups butter or lard 2
tablespoons white sugar 1
heaping teaspoon salt 1
teaspoon cream of tartar 10 cups
all purpose flour - NOT self rising Cut the
butter into the dry ingredients, reserving about
three cups of the flour. Add the milk and mix in
enough of the reserved flour to make stiff dough. Roll
out between 1/2 & 3/4 inch thick and cut into
biscuits - or roll into balls the size of small
eggs and flatten into biscuits. Place
fairly close together (they hardly raise at all)
and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 to 25
minutes, or only until the bottoms are lightly
browned. If you cook them until the tops look like
regular biscuits they will be hard as Chinese
arithmetic. The excessive fat will make them look
(and be) gummy, but they will be fine when cool.
This recipe makes about 40 biscuits. NOTE:
AS THE RECIPE SAYS DO NOT OVERCOOK. GOLDEN BROWN
IS TOO, REPEAT, TOO DONE. COOKED BROWN THEY WILL
BE HARD AND CRUMBLY. NOT GOOD!! TAKE MY WORD FOR
THIS. ________________________________ *
Bannock
Concho Smith “The bannock man” This
bannock recipe makes up a batch of bannock for 24
persons. Ingredients
6-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 1/4
cup baking powder 1/2 cup and 1 teaspoon butter,
melted 3 cups and 2 tablespoons water. Directions: #1
Measure flour, salt, and baking powder into a
large bowl. Stir to mix. Pour melted butter and
water over flour mixture. Stir with fork to make a
ball. #2 Turn
dough out on a lightly floured surface, and knead
gently about 10 times. Pat into a flat circle 3/4
to 1 inch thick. #3 Cook
in a greased frying pan over medium heat, allowing
about 15 minutes for each side. Use two lifters
for easy turning. The
word 'bannock' referred originally to a round
unleavened piece of dough, usually about the size
of a meat plate, which was baked on the girdle and
used by the oven-less Scots/Irish workers. ________________________________ BEAN RECIPES BAKED
PINTO BEANS (Serves
8) 2 cups
dry pinto beans 5 cups
water 2
small, fresh, onions, chopped (or equivalent
dehydrated) 1 cup
stewed potatoes, or tomato sauce (or equivalent dehydrated) 1/4 cup
molasses 1/4 cup
soy sauce 1
tablespoon chili powder Add
pintos to water. Cover and simmer until tender, 2
to 3 hours. Add other ingredients and simmer until
tender and tasty. ________________________________ BEAN
BURRITOS (Serves
6 to 12) 3 cups
cooked pinto beans, mashed 1 dozen
whole wheat flour tortillas 1
tablespoon oil 2
small, uncooked jalapeno peppers, chopped (or
equivalent dehydrated). Heat a skillet. Add the
oil and the chopped peppers and saute 5- minutes.
Add the beans and cook them until almost dry. Then
put 1 to 2 tablespoons of the mixture in a
tortilla and roll. For a different taste dip the
tortilla in hot oil. Then fill with the mixture
and roll. ________________________________ FRIJOLES (Serves
6) 3 cups
cooked pinto beans, mashed 1 fresh
clove garlic, minced (or equivalent dehydrated) 1 small
fresh onion (or equivalent dehydrated) 1
teaspoon salt 1 pinch
of oregano 1/2 cup
grated cheese (or equivalent dehydrated) Mix all
ingredients. Cook in top of double boiler over hot
water until cheese is melted. Also makes a good
filling for tortillas. ________________________________ *
Soups *
Portable Soup Portable
soup seems to have lots of discussion on it
contents, after doing some research this is what I
found documented. In the
book "Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the
Corps of Discovery" by There
is no known record to the portable soups used by
armed forces at the time. Cutbush describes the
preparation of a portable soup, or "Tablettes
de bouillon (Under Direction to Nurses and Orderly
Men for the Preparation of the diet, &c. for
the sick.)": *
BARLEY SOUP (Serves
8) 2
tablespoons Oil 1-1/2
cups Pearled Barley 2 fresh
Onions, chopped (or equivalent dehydrated) 2
stalks fresh celery (or equivalent dehydrated) 4 cups
Water 1 cup
sliced fresh mushrooms (or equivalent dehydrated) 1/4 cup
chopped fresh parsley (or equivalent dehydrated) Salt or
Soy Sauce Saute
barley, onions, and celery for 5-minutes. Add
water and bring to a boil. Simmer for an hour or
so. Saute mushrooms and add to soup. Season to
taste with soy sauce or salt. Garnish with
parsley. Buck
Conner ________________________________ *
BASIC BEANS (Serves
8) 5 cups
boiling Water 2 cups
dry Pinto Beans Add the
beans to the water. Cover tightly and simmer on
low heat 2-1/2 to 3 hours, or until tender. Beans
should not be seasoned until after they are
tender. Then add salt, chili powder, chopped
onions and a little oil. Simmer a little while
longer. ________________________________ *
BEAN SOUP (Yields
6 cups) 4 cups
cooked beans, and thick juice from cooking 2 cups
water or stock 2
Tablespoons lime juice (if available) 4
Teaspoons oil 2 small
fresh onions, chopped (or equivalent dehydrated) 1
to 2 teaspoons salt. Simmer all ingredients until
thick. Garnish just before serving with chili
powder. ________________________________ *
Johnny Soup This
was a common soup and a favorite of the "Bucktails"
of Pennsylvania and Gen. A.Wayne’s Lennie Lenape
(Delaware) scouts. (8) oz.
dried lentils, (3) cups water, (1) chopped onion,
(1/2) teaspoonful of black pepper and (2) cloves
of garlic. Salt to taste, fry bacon pieces - add
to taste. Johnny cakes or biscuits cut into small
cubes for a filler. Add nuts, rye or rice to make
it go farther. Wash and clean lentils, put in a
large pot to cook with (3) cups of water (cover
lentils by an inch). Medium heat / add garlic,
onion and pepper, let simmer for one hour. Add
bacon pieces and salt to taste. Put cubes into
broth at time of serving. If adding rice or rye
cook until they are soft. Sgt. John Yellowman,Lenape,1761 Pennsylvania Gazzet,1765 ________________________________ *
Smith Bean Soup Smith
bean soup with red onion strips and a tart apple
(sliced into small pieces) work great. The Rev.
War cooks used Granny Smith or Winesap apples,
when available, in many of their dishes, an
attempt to break up an otherwise bland diet for
Officers and the Enlisted men. Lenape Cookbook,1781 ________________________________
*
Gourd Soup (Civil War) The
gourds should be full-grown, but not those with
hard skin; slice three or four, and put them in a
stew pot, with (2) or (3) onions and a good bit of
butter; set them over a slow fire till quite
tender (be careful not to under cook). Stir to
keep from sticking to sides of pot and make sure
the soup is well done, season as needed. Mrs. Ellet, The Practical Housekeeper,1857 ________________________________
*
Court Bouillon (F & I War) Court
Bouillon is used for boiling fresh water fish or
others which are without much flavor. It may be
prepared before hand and used several times, or
the vegetables may be added at the time the fish
is boiled. Fry in
(1) tablespoonful of butter, (1) chopped onion,
(1) chopped carrot, (1) stalk of celery. Then add
(2) quarts of hot water, (1) cup of vinegar or
wine, (3) peppercorns, (3) cloves, (1) bay-leaf
and (1) teaspoonful of salt. This is a good base
for seafood soup according to the local tavern
owners.
* "MEAT'S MEAT" Interesting thoughts from some hard times. Who
said; "meat’s meat", many people in
the "know" claim that Bridger made the
statement on a return trip from the shining
mountains. You may be suprised to know that was a
very common term made by many, famous and
not-so-famous starving men.... George
F. Ruxton
wrote "meat’s meat, is a common saying in
the mountains", and "from buffalo down
to rattle- snake, including quadruped that runs,
every fowl that flies and every reptile that
creeps, nothing comes amiss to the mountaineer. Moses
Schallenberger
was snowbound in the Sierra Mountains in 1844, he
wrote after trapping a coyote. "I soon had
his hide off and his flesh roasted in a dutch
oven. I ate this meat but it was horrible. I next
tried boiling him, but it did not improve the
flavor. I cooked him in every possible manner of
my imagination, spurred by hunger could suggest,
but could not be eaten without revolting my
stomach." On another occasion he wrote of
catching two foxes, roasted one and found
"the meat, though entirely devoid of fat, was
delicious." Lewis
& Clark
remarked "on October 2, 1805, nothing except
a small prairie wolf killed that day" they
did not comment as to the flavor. Merriweather
Lewis’s journal entry of June 3, 1806 states
"our party from necessity having been obliged
to subsist some length of time on dog have now
become extremely fond of their flesh; it is worthy
of remark that while we lived principally on the
flesh of this animal we were much more healthy and
more fleshy than we had been since we left buffalo
country...." Charles
Larpenteaur wrote
of nothing but dog to eat, which the squaws
cooked. Some of the group cried out "Mad Dog!
Mad Dog! sure enough, he did look like a mad dog;
his head sticking partly out of the kettle, with
his fine ivories, growling as it were, and the
scum was frothing about his teeth...." James
Clyman while
camped on the Sweetwater River in 1825 became
separated from his companions, he wrote
"after having killed two badgers, I skinned
and roasted them, making a suitable meal with
parched corn..." Thomas
Becknell
while on the Santa Fe Trail in 1821 wrote "I
killed one small prairie dog, roasted it, but
found it strong and unpalatable..." John
R. Bell,
on the Arkansas River in 1820, complained that
"Our hunters came in having killed a skunk,
which we must keep for our dinner tomorrow."
The next day "boiled the skunk, which tasted
skunkish enough..." Joe Meek had similar
remarks for eating polecats..." Osborn
Russell
reported that "beaver feeding on wild
parsnips were poisonous and those that ate of the
meat, within a few hours became sick at the
stomach and the whole system became
cramped..." Rev.
Samuel Parker
said "that while flesh of the beaver was
usable, the fore part is of a land animal while
the hind part is of the taste of fish
like..." Joseph
R. Walker
and his party considered all eggs edible
regardless of their age or condition, embryos well
deve- loped, and small birds only a few days old,
would be cut into small pieces and used in soup or
stews. The same group had a feast with Indians on
the Sierra Nevada range to find that "pounded
fish was really not fish but worms, which suddenly
was rejected by our stomachs when found
out..." Buck
G. Connor’s
journal stated that "ants and snakes when
cleaned and roasted were eaten with flour cakes
for evening meals while in the employment of the
Mexican Army...." and "was probably one
of the better meals available at the time" a
reporter for the hometown newspaper, the Phila.
Evening News wrote. Joe
Meek
wrote of the Indians of the Great Salt Lake area
pulverized grasshoppers which they mixed with a
jam of service-berries and dried in the sun to
form a "fruitcake". "Fried
grasshoppers, caterpillars, wood-boring beetles,
termites and spider bodies were disguised in
stews.." "Rattlesnake was occasionally
eaten by these people as a special treat.."
Nuts; hazel, walnut, pinion and acorn were
favorites of these travelers. William
Ashley’s
journal of May 28, 1824 records that "during
the last two days we have lived on fish we caught
with hooks and lines..." Hooks and lines were
often mentioned on lists of supplies by traders. John
C. Fremont,
Benjamin Kern and Jed Smith have written of eating
"mule meat, making minced boiled mule meat
pies for New Year’s treat... and mentioned that
the pies were very good..." These
early travelers made good use of any provisions
available showing great resource fullness for the
situation and location they were put into.
*
TALKING TURKEY Saw an
article in the local paper about "Talking
Turkey", how appropriate this close to the
Holiday’s to write about our American
Holiday’s and our American Bird.
RECIPES
*
Boiled Duck or Hare (colonies - 1812) Use a
good deal of water and skim it as often as
anything rises. Half an hour will boil them. Make
a gravy of sweet cream, butter, add flour, a
little parsley chopped small, salt and pepper, and
stew until done, and lay them in a dish and pour
the gravy over them. Mrs. Owen, New Lady’s Cook Book,1759 ________________________________
*
Roast Rabbit/Hare (18th-19th century) Rabbit
or hare was an esteemed dish in the 18th and 19th
century, so much so that cooks occasionally
doctored beef to try to make it taste like hare. After
casing (skinning & gutting) two rabbits,
skewer their heads with their mouths upon their
backs, stick their forelegs into their ribs,
skewer the hind legs doubled (this approved
position in which 19th century rabbits appeared at
the table); next make a stuffing for them of the
crumbs of half a loaf of bread, a little parsley,
sweet marjoram and thyme-all cut fine, salt,
pepper and nutmeg, with (4) ounces of butter, a
little good cream and (2) eggs; put it into their
bodies, and sew them up; dredge and baste them
well with lard; roast them about an hour. Serve
them up with butter and parsley. Chop the livers,
and lay them in lumps around the edge of the dish.
(serves 4-6). Harpers Barzaar Magazine,1853 Note: a
rabbit and a hare are different, according to
Harpers Magazine, a rabbit being raised and a hare
being wild. Wild hares in some areas are reported
to have a disease and may be harmful if eaten.
Harpers’ 1853. ________________________________
*
Bear Hams (Indian Wars) Bear
meat is best roasted and may be treated the same
as pork, cooking twenty minutes to every pound.
Prepare the hams in the usual manner by rubbing
them with common salt and draining them; Take (1)
ounce of saltpeter, half a pound of coarse sugar
and the same quantity of salt; rub it well into
the ham, and in three days pour a pint of vinegar
over it. A fine foreign flavor may also be given
to the bear hams by pouring old strong beer over
them and burning juniper wood while they are
drying; molasses, juniper berries and
highly-flavored herbs, such as basil, sage,
bay-leaves and thyme mingled together, and the
hams well rubbed with it, using only a sufficient
quantity of salt to assist in the cure, will
afford an agreeable variety. Mrs. Roper, Phila Cook Book,1886 ________________________________
*
Venison Steaks Take
nice size steaks from the neck or haunch while
having your griddle well buttered, and fire clear
and hot (cook in a hot frying pan). Lay steaks on
the bars and boil rapidly, turning often not to
lose or a drop of juice. They will take three or
four minutes longer than fine beef steaks. Have a
chafing dish, a pinch of salt, a little pepper, a
tablespoon of currant -jelly for every pound, and
a glass of wine for every (4) pounds. This should
be liquid, and warmed by boiling water under a
dish, heat in a saucepan. Lay each steak in the
mixture and turn over twice. Cover closely and let
all heat together, with fresh hot water underneath
-serve in an ordinary dish, covered. Mrs. Webster, The Improved Housewife,1854 ________________________________
*
Lenape Pemmican (makes 1 1/2 lbs) (5) oz.
of chipped beef, (1) 6 1/2 oz. of roasted peanuts,
(1) cup of seedless raisins, (1) 8 oz. bar of beef
suet, make a quick trail lunch / high energy. Dry
beef on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes @ 140 degree
oven, chop nuts and raisins up into small pieces,
melt suet in a large skillet - low heat. Combine
dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (beef cut in
1/4" shreds), add melted suet - mix
thoroughly. Spread mixture in half inch layer in
shallow pan, refrigerate until the layer is hard
and then slice into squares. Wrapped in foil, bars
stay clean and fresh, will keep for a year in
freezer. This
was rewritten in the 1930’s for use in a hunting
camp in Pennsylvania, the original 1840’s recipe
has been lost in the passage of time. L N Conner, Jr., Milroy, Pa. 1937 ________________________________
*
Boiled Fish (colonies) Take
the nicer fish, more simply it should be prepared.
A long , narrow fish skillet with a rack is the
best to boil fish in, but even a deep frying pan
and a cheesecloth sling, which lets you remove the
fish from the water without breaking, will do.
Start the fish in cold water, with salt and
vinegar in it, or in cold court bouillon. Bring it
slowly to a boil and simmer gently until just
done, 8 to 10 minutes to the pound. Serve hot,
with lemon wedges or a tart sauce. Mrs.North,Home Cook Book,1721 ________________________________
*
Fish Moultee (Rev. War & War of 1812) Take
any nice fish,(roll it in) egg, bread crumb and
fry it with a little turmeric and butter, after
cutting it to a nice fillet. Scrape half a fresh
coconut, take the milk from it (or soak dried
coconut a couple of hours in a little warm water,
then use the water), cut some green gringer, green
chilies in slices, boil them with the coconut milk
and a little water. Add the fish and let stew
until the sauce is slightly thickened. Send to the
table with rice. Col.John Johnson,N.England Gazzett,1782 ________________________________
*
Fry Fish (Civil War) Pvt. S. B. Boyer, Union Army,
Ohio, 1866 Fillets
of fish may be rolled in corn meal, dredged in
flour, dipped first in beaten egg and then in fine
bread crumbs, or fried plain. Small fish or small
pieces of fish may be dipped in batter and deep
fried. For deep frying, the fat should be
moderately hot; for sautéing, the pan should be
hot but not smoking. Lay the fish in and fry it
according to size and thickness, about 10 minutes
per pound. Turn it only once. Serve it with slices
of lemon. PARCHED
CORN - Lanney Ratcliff Some
folks use a skillet and grease, but you can just
buy Korn Nuts at 7-11 if that will suit you.
Traditionally dry corn was cooked by throwing
kernels in hot ashes for a while. I use a
sheet cake pan ( a glorified cookie sheet, if you
ask me) and place a single layer of dried corn
kernels in it and place it in a 350 degree oven.
After a few minutes you will hear the corn
"popping". The corn doesn't make
popcorn, rather it "snaps and cracks"
and will turn a light brown color. Remove from the
oven and cool. The corn can be eaten as is and
will store pretty much eternally. Or the corn can
be crushed to powder (a blender or food processor
works well for this, or use a metate or a mortar
& pestle) to make pinole, also known as rock
hominy and other names. A small handful consumed
with the help of a big drink of water or eating a
large pellet made by mixing a handful of pinole
with a little water will stick to your ribs better
than you can imagine. Some folks season or flavor
the pinole with salt or sugar and, sometimes,
cinnamon. Suit yourself here, but remember that
salt tends to draw moisture. Buy
your corn from a health food store or a VERY well
stocked grocery store. Feed store corn might have
additives that you may not want to eat and seed
corn will almost certainly have some additives,
including pesticides and fungicides and God knows
what other "cides". The health food
store will possibly have blue corn or
"Indian" corn. Even better. Remember
this; plain pinole is bland to the highest degree.
It can be counted on to feed you but it is best
relegated to "iron ration" status. A
steady diet of the stuff will soon have you eating
tree bark. ________________________________ PARCHED
CORN - Roger Lahti' This is
how I do it. And remember I use hard Indian corn.
Sweet corn works too but it hardly needs
sweetening as I later explain. Start out with dry
kernels rubbed off the cob not cut off. I like
to use a cast iron skillet but I also have a
popcorn popper that swirls the kernels around on a
hot "plate" under a clear bowl/lid and
it works well too. Any thing like the above will
work. Use
fairly high heat but watch out for scorching,
gives the finished product a very bad taste. In a
skillet, cover the bottom with a layer or two of
kernels and no oil if you want it to keep without
going rancid. Stir constantly to keep from
scorching and to continually expose all sides of
the kernels. Listen and watch for the snapping and
splitting open of the kernels. When you don't hear
those sounds or see the kernels splitting open
anymore you are done. You can
do the salt brine wash at this point and turn the
parched kernels out onto a plate, etc. or you can
turn the heat down and while they are still hot
add some brown sugar, maple sugar or molasses to
the skillet to coat the kernels with a bit of
sweetness. A quarter cup of brown sugar to a batch
of kernels in a 10" skillet is about right.
Continue to stir the mess until the sugar melts
and sticks to the kernels. Turn the mess out onto
a plate to cool. Sugar coated parched corn usually
doesn't last long after everyone finds out you
have it but it does draw moisture and thus doesn't
make for a very good trail food in moist weather.
Anything you don't understand just let me know. I
remain...... ________________________________________________ Until next time, we leave as friends and followers of
those that went before us.
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