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Cowboy Beans and Cast Iron Cornbread from the 1800s Cattle Drives
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Jul 9, 2025
Printable recipe below! Go back in history with us for classic beans and cornbread as it was cooked on the cattle drives. Visit Us for National Day of the Cowboy July 26, 2025: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/event/national-day-of-the-cowboy-2025/ Used in this video: Bertha wood stove https://shorturl.at/5fwEj Dutch oven lid lifter https://www.kentrollins.com/shop Comfort Food the Cowboy Way https://www.kentrollins.com/shop DJI Mic 2 https://amzn.to/4ewAHAw Cowboy Hat: Chazhatz.com For more suggested products seen in our videos click here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins ====================== Printable Recipe: https://kentrollins.com/cowboy-beans-and-skillet-cornbread/ ====================== Check out our BEST SELLING cookbooks. Get your copy here: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop
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0:00
[Music]
0:04
It's the days of open range. Picture
0:07
yourself horseback with a thousand head
0:09
of Longhorn cattle in front of you. Your
0:12
job to push these longhorns a thousand
0:14
miles from Texas to Kansas up to the
0:17
rail heads at Abalene. There are 15
0:19
cowboys, most the age of about 15 to 20,
0:22
and one old grumpy cook. But as the wind
0:25
kicks up across the prairie, you see a
0:28
thunderhead brewing in the west and a
0:30
crack of lightning hits in the distance.
0:32
There's an ominous rumble, but you don't
0:34
stop. Not yet.
0:38
[Music]
0:49
You know, cowboys lived awful lean out
0:51
here. There was just two meals a day if
0:53
you were lucky. And breakfast was way
0:56
before the morning light. And supper
0:58
sometime was way after the sun had set.
1:00
So breakfast was probably sourdough
1:03
biscuits and coffee. And some of them
1:04
cowboys had to mount up and ride up. So
1:06
a lot of them would just take that
1:08
biscuit, put in their pocket, get a swig
1:09
of coffee, mount up on that horse, and
1:11
head back out there to the herd. And
1:14
they were long days. They were. But hey,
1:16
them cowboys knew one thing they could
1:18
count on, and that was the cook. And as
1:20
the dust settled and the herd settled,
1:22
they'd look back towards camp and they
1:23
could see smoke just billowing up. They
1:26
knew it was getting close to supper
1:28
time. Now, Cookie was already back at
1:31
camp, hunched over a Dutch oven with the
1:33
fire crackling low. Now, there wasn't
1:35
fresh vegetables or meat, but one thing
1:37
that's on the menu tonight, beans and
1:40
cornbread. And the history behind them
1:42
beans, it stretches back thousands of
1:44
years. High in protein, full of fiber,
1:48
and dried. So they'd keep forever. Beans
1:50
were a staple going down the trail. And
1:52
they didn't just show up in the Old
1:54
West. Pinto beans go back a long way, 7
1:57
to 8,000 years to be exact. They were
1:59
first grown down in what's known as
2:01
southern Mexico and Guatemala. Part of
2:04
the planting system was called the three
2:06
sisters method. That's bean, corn, and
2:09
squash. Grown together to help nourish
2:11
the people. As time passed, those beans
2:14
spread north through the trade routes
2:15
through the migration and became a
2:17
staple for the native tribes across
2:19
what's now the US. The Cherokee, Navajo,
2:23
Hopi, and the Pueblo. They all grew and
2:26
cooked different kinds of beans and
2:27
stews and breads that fed the entire
2:29
communities. Then came the Spanish
2:31
explorers in the 1500s who brought even
2:34
more varieties like the black beans and
2:36
the pintos up into the southwest. And by
2:38
the time that cattle drives rolled
2:40
around, beans were everywhere. From
2:43
chuck wagons to army camps. Now, Cookie
2:46
had a lot of things in that chuck wagon.
2:48
I mean, he had Dutch ovens, lanterns,
2:50
crosscut saw, a pick, an axe, a shovel,
2:53
but also he had a lot of food items.
2:55
There was flyer, there was sugar, there
2:57
was coffee, and dried beans. Now, dried
3:00
beans he either had in a sack, like a 50
3:02
lb sack, or maybe had a small wooden
3:05
barrel. They'd pour the bins in and then
3:07
just nail that lid down tight. But you
3:09
know, in our cookbook, Comfort Food the
3:11
Cowboy Way, we talked about a lot of
3:13
provisions that old cook took down the
3:16
trail. You know, on some of them longer
3:18
drives, there was might even been 1,700
3:21
lb of flyer. Now, he wouldn't carry that
3:23
all at once. He would stop at like the
3:25
Fleetwood store when he crossed the Red
3:27
River, and he would stock up again as he
3:29
went down the trail. But there's so many
3:30
things, cinnamon, vanilla, different
3:32
spices, dried chilies that he would
3:34
take. And when he was talking about salt
3:36
pork, a lot of times that would be
3:38
rolled up in a bed sheet and then put in
3:40
an old burlap bag cuz he could just
3:41
slice that salt pork out whether he was
3:43
putting it in beans or he was frying it
3:45
for bacon. Cookie on a normal trail
3:47
drive would probably have anywhere from
3:50
75 to 100 pounds of dried pinto beans. I
3:54
mean, these things will keep forever,
3:55
but folks, that is a lot of beans. If he
3:57
could have figured up a way to gas that
3:59
chuck wagon with that, he'd have had
4:00
power all the way down the trail. Now,
4:03
Cookie, when he had time, he would make
4:05
a dessert. But there wasn't a lot of
4:07
stuff growing down the trail where he
4:09
going to pick peaches or pick apricots,
4:11
but he'd take dried fruit, sometimes as
4:13
much as 300 lbs of dried fruit, and he'd
4:16
put it in that wagon and he could store
4:17
it. All you had to do was rehydrate it
4:19
to make you a cobbler or whatever he was
4:21
making. Now, if you're interested in
4:23
chuck wagons and what old cook might
4:24
have took down the trail, this book's
4:26
got you covered.
4:31
So, when we're talking about cowboy
4:33
beans, we're not just talking about
4:35
going down the trail. We're talking
4:37
about thousands of years of history and
4:40
how they were cooked and how people
4:41
survived on them. And guess what? We're
4:43
cooking them up for cowboys again today.
4:45
So, let's get that old bean potter
4:47
rolling.
4:50
[Music]
5:10
Well, got old Bertha fired up there a
5:13
little. We do. Now, I got these beans in
5:15
this pot and they already got water on
5:18
them. You can see that now we're at 7600
5:21
ft elevation. So I soak these beans
5:24
about 4 hours. Now being where we was in
5:27
Oklahoma at 1,800T, I never soaked no
5:29
beans. Bertha should just get the job
5:31
done about an hour and 20 minutes.
5:32
Elevation will affect what you cook in
5:35
so many different ways. But it keeps
5:37
bread from rising to its maximum height
5:39
and it keeps beans from getting done
5:41
when you'd like them to. I can remember
5:43
the first pot of beans that I ever
5:44
cooked so many years ago in the Hila
5:46
wilderness. I'm thinking I ain't never
5:48
soaked a bean. Took me 8 and a half
5:50
hours to get beans where I could eat
5:52
them. So, if you're in altitude, you'll
5:54
know what I'm talking about. Now, when
5:56
you're soaking beans, I especially out
5:58
here at this altitude, I like to go
6:00
about 4 hours. Now, I'll change the
6:02
water. And this is cold water, not hot.
6:04
I'll change it after about 2 hours.
6:06
Rinse them beans really well. Put them
6:08
back in there. Fill it back up with
6:10
water again. Now, if you're having to
6:11
soak beans and you're down there where
6:13
it's really hot or you really humid, you
6:15
put some ice in that water cuz beans can
6:18
sire oh so quickly. So, make sure that
6:20
you keep an eye on that as you go. Now,
6:22
Cookie going down the trail, he probably
6:24
had him an old bean pot he did or a
6:26
Dutch oven that had a good lid on it
6:28
sitting right in that wagon with him
6:30
when he's potting down that trail and
6:31
he'd be soaking them beans just going
6:33
down through there. They'd be bouncing
6:34
along. Might had a little dust in them.
6:36
Hey, them cowboys, they was ready to
6:38
eat. They didn't care what they had in
6:39
them. They just wanted some of them. And
6:41
he would have put most likely onion,
6:44
salt, pork, some dried chilies, whether
6:47
it be a cascale chili, chili dear ball
6:50
for a little heat, an ancho chili to
6:52
give it a little smoky flavor. And he
6:55
just get me a little salt, a little
6:57
pepper, cooked them beans as he went
6:58
along. Now, I cook beans a little
7:00
different than cookie does. Today, I'm
7:03
using some smoked ham hock.
7:06
White onion is my preference in beans
7:08
and I just quartered it up.
7:11
I have a cascave chili and a guilo
7:14
chili. So, took the seeds out of them,
7:17
crumbled them up a little. They're going
7:19
to give us some flavor there. And you're
7:22
probably thinking to yourself right now,
7:23
it' be a good time to add the salt,
7:25
pepper, and seasoning, everything. No,
7:26
it would not. We're going to let them
7:28
beans simmer there and come to a little
7:30
old boil before we ever add no seasoning
7:32
to them because I want to make sure that
7:34
everything's going well and I don't want
7:36
that seasoning to boil away. So, we'll
7:38
put them in there at the right time. It
7:40
makes a big difference when you're
7:41
cooking beans. You know, going down the
7:44
trail, there wasn't many different kinds
7:46
of cooks. There was Hispanic, there was
7:48
black, there was Irish, maybe some guys
7:50
that got out of the army that been
7:52
cooking there. But if it was of Mexican
7:54
influence, I guarantee you there's
7:56
probably going to be a lot of them dried
7:57
chilies in there, he's going to make
7:59
that stuff the way he grew up with it.
8:01
And that's the way even if you get like
8:03
army cooks got on that old chuck wagon,
8:05
they probably going to use some navy
8:07
beans or some limema beans, maybe add
8:09
some salt pork, but also little
8:11
different varieties of different
8:13
seasoning that were made from different
8:14
parts of the country. Cooks varied. So
8:16
did the taste.
8:28
[Music]
8:37
[Applause]
8:41
Now we brought these beans to a really
8:43
hard rolling bowl. Let them do that for
8:45
about 10 minutes. And then I just turn
8:47
them down to where they're just sort of
8:48
at a medium boil or a high simmer. And
8:51
folks, when you can put a spoon in there
8:53
and pull it up and the skin cracks on
8:56
that bean just a little, you know what
8:57
that bean is telling you? It's hot in
8:59
here. No, really, he's saying it is time
9:02
for you to add the rest of that
9:03
seasoning. Now, also keep you some water
9:06
on your burner or stove. Keep it hot
9:09
because when you have to add water to
9:12
these beans, you don't want it to be
9:13
cold water. You want it to be hot water.
9:16
Ain't no sense in shocking them and
9:17
think, "Hey, we're going to be boiling
9:18
along, swimming, doing the breaststroke,
9:20
and then you pour the cold water in
9:21
everything." And what happened to the
9:22
electric blanket? We be needing them
9:25
beans to stay at that bowl. But now it
9:27
is time to add these. Now, oh, Cookie
9:29
might not have had no fresh green
9:31
chilies where he's at, but if he was
9:33
coming out of New Mexico or it was an
9:34
old Mexican cook, I guarantee you he had
9:37
some. So, we're going to add a little in
9:38
here. I really like to put our mosquite
9:41
seasoning and beans cuz it's got some
9:43
ancho chili powder in it. There's not
9:45
heat. There's just smoke and flavor. And
9:47
we haven't added any kind of salt to
9:50
these as of yet. And I like to season
9:53
sort of lightly the first go around and
9:55
then right before they get done, I will
9:57
check them to see if they need some
9:59
more. Now, you seen me already add in
10:03
there the dried cilantro, the cumin, and
10:07
the smoked paprika. Now, we're going to
10:09
have a little original
10:12
and just go sort of on the light side
10:13
there. Remember, this is a pound of
10:15
beans. You don't think it's much, but
10:17
the way I used to figure a pound of
10:19
beans feed 10 cowboys. Let's give it a
10:21
stir. Get the lid back on it. But one
10:24
other thing that's happening here that I
10:25
think we need to address if we can is
10:30
them ham hocks is falling apart. Let me
10:34
move that. So we're going to trim that
10:36
meat off of them. Them bones have done
10:38
bulled that the good stuff in there and
10:41
we're going to save that.
10:44
Put that one back in there. But you can
10:46
see how that good hog meat has just fell
10:49
off there when it falls apart like
10:50
there. And let's just
10:53
pull it apart. Whatever you want to do,
10:55
careful. It is hot. And then we can put
10:57
it all back in there here in a minute
11:00
because that's going to make sure that
11:02
you think, "Whoa, I'm getting a little
11:03
bite of ham in every bite.
11:08
[Music]
11:16
Well, see me shred that ham up, throw
11:18
her back in there. But also, I'm going
11:20
to put some jalapenos in mine. I added
11:22
some green chili cuz I like that flavor
11:24
that comes out of the Hatch Valley
11:25
there. I do. But I want my beans to have
11:27
a little bite. Now, if you don't want to
11:29
put them in there, that's all right. But
11:30
Cookie and Old Cowboys would dre you
11:32
did. I don't seed them. I don't do
11:35
nothing. I just slice them one way,
11:37
slice them another, and then I just go
11:40
to cutting them in there. Now, this is
11:42
another one of them deals that can be
11:43
dangerous and hazardous to your health.
11:45
Don't scratch your butt or your eyes or
11:47
pick your nose after you've done this
11:48
till you washed your hands at least 12
11:50
times.
11:54
[Music]
11:55
Water level is down just a little. So,
11:57
we're going to add a little to it.
12:01
Not drowned. We're not ever going to put
12:03
it up to here. And if you ever think you
12:05
got too much water in there, when you
12:07
put that lid back on there, just crack
12:08
it. Some of that moisture will escape.
12:10
But we need to get these back to a boil.
12:12
They probably need to cook about another
12:14
45 minutes to an hour to get good and
12:15
tender and it'll be time to make some
12:17
cornbread.
12:22
[Music]
12:27
Now you see me cooking on this old box I
12:29
call Bertha. Now old Cookie probably
12:31
didn't have one of these. He didn't. He
12:33
probably just had him a little hole dug
12:34
over there. What we call a pot rack or
12:36
two rods he drove in the ground, run
12:39
another one across there. Just had
12:40
hooks. That way his fire pit was big
12:43
enough he could hang his coffee, hang
12:44
his bean pot over her. He still had
12:46
coals that he could dig out if he was
12:48
baking bread or making biscuits. Now my
12:50
stove, old Bertha. Hey, good folks at
12:53
Hasty Bake fix me up. They did. She's
12:55
347 lbs hunk of burning love. And I do
12:57
love her in the winter time, but this
12:59
time of year, she'll make you a hair
13:00
fall off your legs. But the fire is
13:03
contained all the way throughout, and
13:04
that really helps. It is a controlled
13:06
box of heat without any knobs and it's
13:08
only got one speed and that is high. You
13:11
know what went perfectly with a big old
13:12
pot of beans cookie head cooking going
13:14
down the trail? Cornbread. But not only
13:17
back in cowboy days, it's still going on
13:19
today. Ain't nothing better than some
13:21
good old cast iron cornbread. Long
13:24
before there were wagons rolling or
13:26
herds moving north, Native American
13:28
tribes across North and Central America
13:31
were growing and grinding corn. It
13:34
wasn't just food. It was sacred. They
13:36
used it for porridge, flatbreads, and
13:39
cakes. Tribes like the Cherokee,
13:41
Chickasaw, and the Creek made what they
13:44
called ash cakes or Johnny cakes. Just
13:46
ground cornmeal mixed with water and a
13:49
little salt patted flat and cooked right
13:51
there on the hot rocks or sometimes
13:54
buried in the ashes of the fire. There
13:56
was no baking powder or baking soda.
13:58
Just simple, hearty survival food. And
14:01
that style of cooking, well, the
14:03
settlers caught on quick. Out on the
14:05
frontier, wheat flour was expensive and
14:07
hard to come by. But cornmeal, you could
14:10
grow it, grind it, and store it easy. By
14:13
the 17 and 1800s, cornbread had become a
14:16
staple across the South. Versatile,
14:20
filling, and cheap to make. Folks came
14:22
up with all kinds of ways to make it.
14:24
There was spoon bread, which was sort of
14:26
soft and custard-like. ho cakes fried
14:29
right in a pan or even in a shovel over
14:31
a fire and of course that classic
14:34
skillet cornbread baked in hot cast
14:37
iron. They'd mix buttermilk, bacon
14:39
grease or lard to keep it moist. And you
14:42
always wanted that crispy edge that only
14:44
a seasoned skillet could give you. Now
14:46
back in the cattle drive days in the
14:48
1870s, 1880s, cookie always had a sack
14:51
of cornmeal. Now you've seen them old
14:53
fly sacks from long ago that held flour.
14:55
Cornmeal came the same way. And Cookie
14:57
could just open that old cloth sack, dip
14:59
him out some of that cornmeal, put it in
15:01
there with a little lard, maybe them had
15:04
him some canned milk, add what he wanted
15:05
to to it. But he always cooked it in a
15:08
hot Dutch oven to give it that golden
15:10
brown crispy crust around the edge. And
15:12
we're doing the same thing today.
15:15
[Music]
15:37
[Applause]
15:56
Well, the beans are sitting over there
15:57
simmering. I added me a half a stick of
15:59
butter to them. Put the lid back on.
16:01
Just let them go mind their own business
16:02
there on Alberta. Now it is time to
16:04
whoop up some cornbread. The yellow gold
16:07
cowboys love so much they did. But
16:10
Cookie might have fixed it a little
16:11
different than I'm going to fix it cuz
16:13
he probably fixed a lot of hot water
16:15
cornbread. Now really all that was with
16:17
cornmeal, maybe a little large, some hot
16:19
water, mix it together. You could fry
16:22
that stuff in a cast iron skillet right
16:24
there. Hey, we even did a video on corn
16:26
dodgers to where we fried it in a
16:28
shovel. We did. But I'm going to start
16:30
with yellow cornmeal,
16:34
some flour,
16:37
and some baking powder.
16:40
Give that a good mixing. For the wet,
16:43
I'm going to use me some buttermilk.
16:44
Cookie probably made hot water
16:46
cornbread, unless he had some canned
16:48
milk, but I like buttermilk and
16:50
cornbread. I think it really goes well
16:52
together.
16:54
We're going to use about a cup and a
16:56
fourth, maybe a little more.
17:01
And to that one cackle berry.
17:06
Do they have eggs on the trail?
17:08
Only if he passed by a chicken. Or maybe
17:11
he's seen a nest of some turkey eggs. Or
17:14
maybe so did he climb up and get some
17:16
eggs out of a nest. But I don't figure
17:18
he packed many eggs on trail. Now we're
17:20
going to add a little baking soda. And
17:22
the reason we do this in a separate
17:23
bowl. Baking soda and buttermilk sort of
17:26
get a reaction going. And I like to get
17:28
them over here and let them do their own
17:29
thing before we put it in the cornmeal
17:31
and flour.
17:35
So, we're gonna stir that up. So, we're
17:38
just going to pour this in there.
17:44
And I always went more by consistency on
17:48
cornbread than I did measurements.
17:51
Remember that bacon we chopped up? In it
17:54
goes. We also have a four of a cup of
17:58
bacon grease. Recipes be saying
18:00
something like use oil. No, use bacon
18:03
grease. Since we're in New Mexico and I
18:05
love it so, and we're going to add a
18:07
little green chilies. So, I'm just going
18:09
to use a spoon this time. Get them
18:12
sprinkled around in there.
18:20
Well, them beans is minding their own
18:22
business. Now, you remember that little
18:24
old 10-in oven that we had that bacon in
18:26
that we fried up? Reserve a little dab
18:28
of that grease. And I'm just going to
18:30
show you. You just want about that much
18:31
in there. But swirl it around in that
18:34
pan. Make sure them edges is coated. And
18:36
that thing is hot cuz you want to
18:38
preheat. If you're putting it in the
18:40
oven, you got to preheat that skillet
18:42
just for a little bit to where when you
18:44
pour this in there and you go to cook
18:45
it, that crust is so good and crispy on
18:48
the bottom. So, in we go.
18:56
It's time to get that off there. I got
18:58
the coals ready. It is time to bake some
19:01
cornbread cuz I am been hungry all day.
19:04
Probably as hungry as them cowboys been
19:05
trailering them steers for a week. So,
19:07
we'll get the lid on it, get us a
19:10
trivet, and go to cooking.
19:15
[Music]
19:30
[Music]
19:40
Well, got me that Dutch oven there. Set
19:42
it on about a 5-in tall trivet. Coals
19:46
around the outside edge, pretty tight
19:48
there, right in line with really the
19:50
bottom of that Dutch oven. And then
19:51
pretty heavy coals on top because we're
19:53
going to cook this pretty hot because we
19:55
want to get that good crust on the
19:56
bottom. Now I'm using hardwood lump
19:59
today. That's mosquite and oak from the
20:00
good smokes smoky wood. But cookie you
20:03
know he going down the trail he
20:05
gathering up wood if he sees some. But
20:06
if they're camping in a bare spot you
20:08
know what he might have cooked with a
20:10
lot of times buffalo chips or cow chips.
20:13
Now they will get hot but if he had wood
20:16
he would have used it.
20:34
I really need y'all's help. There's a
20:35
big debate going on. It even goes on at
20:37
our house. How do you like your
20:40
cornbread? You've seen me fix it today
20:42
with buttermilk, green chilies, bacon.
20:45
But what people want to add sugar to it,
20:49
honey to it, molasses to it. They want
20:51
to make it like a cake. It's cornbread.
20:53
It is not a cake. Shan likes it so
20:56
sweet. It feels like we're eating
20:57
dessert. So, I need y'all to comment
20:59
below. What is the proper way to cook
21:02
cornbread? Savory or sweet.
21:13
[Music]
21:24
Heat. Heat.
21:26
[Music]
21:42
Old Cookie might not have got to eat
21:44
till after every cowboy was done, but
21:46
me, I got my crew laying in here. So,
21:49
I'm going to go ahead and just have me a
21:50
bite of these beans. I've been waiting
21:51
on them for about 4 hours.
21:59
[Music]
22:02
Whoop them meals in the butt. Get her on
22:04
down the trail and fix them beans cuz oh
22:06
my gosh they are good.
22:08
Now do you think Cookie would have had a
22:09
happy dance?
22:11
I really do. Sadly been out there four
22:13
or five weeks ain't had a bath wind and
22:15
dirt been blowing every day and he'd go
22:17
over there find that old creek under a
22:19
cottonwood tree and them long handles.
22:20
He'll do a little shuffle while he's
22:21
going thinking it's Saturday night. And
22:23
folks I need y'all to do me a favor if
22:25
you would. Poor Favore please, you know,
22:28
give us a thumbs up, a like, hit that
22:30
button. helps our channel grow. But
22:31
also, if you're not subscribed, please
22:33
do and share the video with all your
22:36
friends and neighbors. But share the
22:37
food, too. But it is with great pride,
22:40
honor, and privilege that I tip my hat
22:42
to all the servicemen and women and all
22:44
the veterans that have kept that old
22:45
flag of flying over camp. I commend you
22:47
all. But get in here. Come on. Quickly,
22:50
closely. I am f to give you what?
22:54
A great big hug for them beans take
22:56
effect. God bless you each and every
22:58
one. and I'll see you down the beans and
22:59
cornbread trail.
23:04
Hey folks, quick announcement. You know,
23:06
National Day of the Cowboy is coming up.
23:08
It is. And I'd like for you to join me
23:10
in Oklahoma City National Cowboy and
23:13
Western Heritage Museum. For more
23:15
information, you can check on their
23:16
website. We'd love to see you there.
23:19
Right now, settle down here and let's
23:20
have a little story time. If y'all would
23:22
have been going down the trail with Old
23:24
Cookie, do y'all think y'all could have
23:25
caught a rabbit and brought it into
23:26
camp? Probably not, huh? There's Dooker.
23:29
Some cornbread. Miji, some cornbread.
23:32
Hey, right up here. Good boy. Woo! Woo!
23:36
There's yours.
23:38
And we'll just see how far this will go.
23:40
Here we go. Everybody had some.
23:44
Tails is wagon.
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