CAMP LIFE AT RIVER DUBOIS In this activity, students will learn about what it was like to live at Camp Du b o i s. T h e main focus will be on food and games, both important aspects of camp life. The students will be asked to illustrate a cookbook with 19th century recipes as well as sample the type of food the men ate at Camp Du b o i s. They will also participate in 19th century games that we re p l a yed in camp. Students will be able to: 1 ) Identify the types of food that we re eaten at Camp Du b o i s 2 ) Talk about what types of activities went on at Camp Du b o i s 3 ) Describe games that the men on the expedition played while in camp 4 ) Describe general camp life at River Du b o i s 1 ) Wo rksheets prov i d e d 2 ) Food that teacher can bring to class for the kids to try -beef jerk y -nuts (walnuts, pecans, haze l n u t s ) -hot chocolate (see recipe in recipe book at end of lesson plan) -berries (cranberries, raspberries, strawberries) - c o r n b read (see recipe in recipe book at end of lesson plan) 3 ) St y rofoam bowls or plates and cups for the food 4 ) Ma r b l e s 5 ) Dice (2) 6 ) Checkers (board and checkers pieces) 7 ) Popsicle sticks LEARNING STA N D A R D S : materials may be appropriate for Illinois Learning St a n d a rd s : 18.C.1, 18.A.2, 21.A.1a, 21.A.2a, 21.B.1, 21.B.2. Be f o re class begins, set up the game stations for the students. The directions for each game are provided at the end of the lesson plan. Station #1: Ma r b l e s ( No t e : In order to play the marbles game, there has to be a c i rcle drawn on the gro u n d. Teachers might want to have the students draw a c i rcle on asphalt or concrete with sidewalk chalk.) Station #2: Di c e Station #3: Draughts (No t e : Draughts is the 19th century name for Checkers) Station #4: Na t i ve American Stick Ga m e Make enough copies of the recipe book (end of lesson plan) for each student.
This activity will teach students about the types of food that we re eaten at Camp Du b o i s. A lot of the food was taken from native plants. Students can try food that is similar to what the men at the camp ate. Teachers might want to bring food in for the students to try (descriptions of each food item are provided at the end of the lesson plan). Some ideas are : 1 ) beef jerk y 2 ) nuts (native nuts include: walnuts, pecans, haze l n u t s ) 3 ) hot chocolate (see recipe at end of lesson plan) 4 ) berries (native berries include: cranberries, raspberries, strawberries) 5 ) c o r n b read (see recipe at end of lesson plan) Discussion Questions: 1 ) Would you want to eat what the men on the expedition ate? 2 ) How do you think they cooked their food? They built a fire from wood they gathered in order to cook their food 3 ) What foods do you think they used from nature? They used nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts) and berries (cranberries, raspberries, strawberri e s ). They also hunted local animals 4 ) How many pounds of meat do you think each man could eat a day? Each man could eat nine pounds of meat a day! 5 ) What do you think hardtack is? Ha rdtack is similar to a biscuit, but it is much hard e r. It is made from flour and water and baked over fire. T h e re is a recipe for hardtack included in the recipe book. The men at Camp Dubois passed some of their time by playing games. This encouraged the men to work as a team. Divide the class into four teams. Each team will spend time at each game station (descriptions and rules of games provided at end of lesson plan). Ha ve the students rotate eve ry ten minutes until they ve gotten to play all of the games. Station #1: Ma r b l e s Station #2: Di c e Station #3: Dr a u g h t s Station #4: Na t i ve American Stick Game Discussion questions: 1) Are these like the games you play today? Why are they similar? Why are they differe n t? 2 ) What was the most difficult game to play? W h y? 3 ) What was your favorite game? W h y? 4 ) What do you think their marbles we re made out of? The men s marbles we re made out of clay that was baked until it hard e n e d
Once the students have had a chance to try all of the games, have them work on illustrating their recipe books (included at end of lesson plan). The recipes are prov i d e d. T h e students can illustrate their cookbooks in the space provided and put it together when they re f i n i s h e d. All of the recipes included are from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON CAMP RIVER DUBOIS A rt i s t : R i c h a rd Gu t h ri e As interpreted by the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site, Ha rt f o rd, Illinois, Captain C l a rk and his men built Camp River Dubois in the winter of 1803-04. The detachment a r r i ved December 12, 1803 and started clearing land and building the cabins. Next they made a road through the woods to the prairie. They spent 154 days (5 months) training, gathering and packing supplies. The camp was a place where the men pre p a red for the expedition and learned military discipline. After two weeks the cabins, or huts as Clark calls them, we re occupied. The cabins we re sparsely furnished. Most of the furniture they had was crudely made. Each of the four enlisted men s barracks was 18 feet by 10 feet. Each slept about 12 men in ve ry close quart e r s. The cabins we re made from logs; the spaces between the logs we re chinked with split wood. A mixture of clay and natural fiber sealed the cracks. A crude fireplace provided them an o p p o rtunity to keep warm and cook. Some of the recipes they may have used are included in this activity. The main cabin in the center of the camp was larger than the others. It was divided into three rooms. The first room was a station for those men on guard duty, it was nearest the gate. The middle room was the officer s quarters. The third was a supply room for locking up i m p o rtant items. The men on the Lewis and Clark expedition worked hard all day. At night they wanted to relax. During their off-duty time, they played camp games like the ones included in this a c t i v i t y. They departed Camp River Dubois on May 14, 1804.
I N F O R M ATION ON FOOD FOR S T U D E N TS TO SAMPLE Je rky can be made from a variety of different meats including buffalo and elk. Men enjoyed jerky for its smoky, salty flavo r. It tasted this way, because it was pre p a red by being heavily salted and smoked over an open fire. This was a good camp food, because it lasted a long time. Walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts we re all eaten by the men at Camp Du b o i s. T h e s e nuts are all native to Illinois, and the men may have picked the nuts from the trees and eaten them on the spot! Your nuts are shelled, but the men would have had to crack their nuts open with a rock or a hammer. The men would have enjoyed this on a cold winter s day. They cooked their hot chocolate over an open flame. Cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries are all native to Il l i n o i s. Camp Dubois may have picked these berries locally and eaten them as a tre a t. used in a lot of desserts in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The men at Berries we re Men on the Lewis and Clark expedition traded with the Na t i ve Americans for c o r n b re a d. Na t i ve Americans developed this food from ground corn, and sometimes included berries or currants in the bre a d. It tastes good with butter and honey. The daily ration for a soldier was 18 ounces of bread, 1 4 pound of beef or 3 4 pound of p o rk, and a gill (pronounced jill ) of spirits. Oc c a s i o n a l l y, other items such as corn meal, beans, sugar, dried vegetables, lard, tea and coffee would be ava i l a b l e. For eve ry 100 rations, each soldier would also get 2 quarts of salt, 4 quarts of vinegar, 4 pounds of soap and 1 1 2 pounds of candles. They used the vinegar to pre vent scurv y, a vitamin C deficiency. The men at Camp River Dubois supplemented their rations with fresh meat, fish, berries and ro o t s. The middle meal of the day was called dinner, and it was the biggest. Breakfast and supper we re largely leftovers from dinner.
G A M E S Marble games we re popular in the 19th century. Marbles used to be made out of clay that was hardened after being fire d. Now, marbles are made out of glass. Men might have p l a yed marble games while they we re in camp. It was a good way to pass the time while they we re away from their families. Learn how to play this marble game called Ringer. I N S T RUCTIONS FOR RINGER 1 ) Begin by drawing a circle on the ground that is fairly big. 2 ) Each player puts an equal amount of marbles into the circ l e. Each player also keeps a marble to s h o o t with. 3 ) Draw a shooting line that is about eight feet away. 4 ) Each player takes a turn rolling their s h o o t e r marble from the shooting line tow a rd the c i rc l e. 5 ) The player whose marble lands closest to the center gets to go first. The next closest goes second, and so on. 6 ) The first player s h o o t s his/her marble from the shooting line tow a rds the circle and tries to knock one of the marbles out of the circ l e. If (s)he succeeds in knocking the marble out, (s)he c a p t u re s that marble and can continue to play by shooting from where ver his/her marble stopped. If (s)he does not succeed in knocking the marble out, it is the next person s t u r n. 7 ) Continue play until all of the marbles are out of the circ l e. 8 ) The winner is the player who has captured the most marbles.
G A M E S Dice we re used in many different games during the 19th century. Men often used dice for gambling in thecamps. Their dice we re carved from wood. We use dice today in our g a m e s. Learn how to play this dice game called Ha z a rd. 1 ) Two dice are used for this game. 2 ) One person rolls the dice. I N S T RUCTIONS FOR HAZA R D 3 ) If (s)he rolls a 2, 3, or 12, (s)he loses his/her turn, and the person on the left goes next. 4 ) If (s)he rolls any other number, (s)he gets to keep rolling until (s)he rolls the same number as the first roll, OR rolls a 7. If (s)he rolls the same number as the first role, (s)he wins that round and gets to start again with step 2. But, if (s)he rolls a 7, the turn is ove r, and the next person ro l l s. 5 ) Eve ryone gets a chance to ro l l. 6 ) W h o e ver wins the most rounds wins the game.
G A M E S Draughts is the 19th century name for Checkers. The rules are the same as our contemporary C h e c k e r s g a m e. Instead of a hard game board, the men would have carried a game board made out of cloth. This made it easier to travel with. The game was originally created in Fr a n c e during the 12th century. Learn how to play Dr a u g h t s. I N S T RUCTIONS FOR DRAU G H TS 1. This game is usually played with two people. Divide your group into two teams. Wo rk together to play the game. 2. Each team gets 12 pieces. One gets the light pieces, and one gets the dark pieces. 3. Line the pieces up on either side of the board. Use only the black squares from the first t h ree row s. 4. Each team takes turns alternately to move the pieces. The team with the dark pieces m oves first. 5. The team may only move the pieces diagonally and forw a rd one space. 6. A piece c a p t u re s the opponent s piece by jumping over it diagonally if the landing square d o e s n t have a piece on it. 7. If a piece can c a p t u re the opponent s piece, it must do so. 8. When a piece reaches the other side of the board, it becomes a Qu e e n or a King. T h e opposing team must use one of their captured pieces to place on top of the Qu e e n or King 9. The Qu e e n or King may capture pieces by moving diagonally both forw a rd and backw a rd. 1 0. The game is over when there are no moves left. 1 1. The team with the most c a p t u re d checkers wins!
G A M E S Na t i ve American groups from the Southern Illinois area enjoyed playing games as we l l. The men at Camp Dubois may have learned how to play some of the games the Na t i ve Americans playe d. This game is a simplified version of a Na t i ve American Stick Ga m e. T h e y w o u l d n t have used popsicle sticks. They would have used sticks they found in nature. L e a r n h ow to play the Na t i ve American Stick Ga m e. I N S T RUCTIONS FOR THE NATIVE AMERICAN STICK GAME 1. Each person in your group will have a chance to try this game. 2. One person begins by using one popsicle stick. 3. Place the popsicle stick on the top of your hand (not the palm). 4. Toss it in the air and try to catch it. 5. If you catch it, move up to two popsicle sticks and do the same thing. 6. Keep adding popsicle sticks until you can t catch them all. When you drop one or more popsicle sticks, your turn is ove r. 7. Each person in the group keep track of how many popsicle sticks (s)he was able to catch. 8. The person who caught the most popsicle sticks win.