All,
I found something, not much but something. Here is the information I have so far regarding lighting in buffalo camps, plus a few other observations in general. Certainly this is not the end-all and further research will uncover more useful data, and I am sure there were variations between camps and even between regions/herds, but the below can provide some insights.
Getting a Stand by Miles Gilbert, pg 82 (info from W. Skelton Glenn)
“As the tallow [buffalo] was of an oily nature, it was equal to butter; it was used for lubricating our guns and we loaded our own shells, each shell had to be lubricated and it was used also for greasing wagons and also for lights in camp.”
How, exactly, buffalo tallow was employed in lighting is open to some conjecture regarding the method. Based on the above it follows that some form of betty lamp was employed, with a simple wick or piece of string off the edge of the vessel wicking the tallow out while burning. If not employing an outright ‘betty lamp’ then perhaps some facsimile of one was fashioned from a metal plate or some type of metal bowl, or perhaps a cut down tinned can, etc. This remains an open question.
Regarding the ‘need’ for light at night, it’s worth noting some implied information from the above and below as well as and other sources. The first thing to assume is that each hunter made his own bullets per the above, thus needing some form of light – I forward it was daylight and that is adressed a bit farther down in this post. However, when out a-hunting the buffalo hunters and skinners seemed to come back to camp after dark especially if they were successful in their business. So, with the exception of making cartridges, how did these guys function when generally ‘going to work’ before or at dawn and coming home after dark? One must look at the composition of buffalo camp personnel to get the gist of this. There were the hunter/s (shooters) of the buffalo and support staff, skinners/wagon guys and a fellow called a camp ‘rustler’. The hunter/s and skinners would go about during the daylight hours (out before dawn and come back after dark per the below). What is interesting is that, arguably, the need for light in camp was not critical for getting mundane, workaday things done as the ‘camp rustler’ was the camp’s cook, keeper and administrator. Here is a good reference on that point:
Getting a Stand by Miles Gilbert, pages 84 & 85 (info from W. Skelton Glenn)
pg 84 “There was also a camp rustler to each camp, and his business was to watch the camp and look after everything about the camp, and prepare the meals, early and late.”
pg 85 “He [camp rustler] also had to run bullets and look after the meat and tallow for the camp. As he did not get but one meal a day in daylight, he had a pot full of boiled tongues also extra bread cooked for the men’s lunch, for if buffalo were plentiful, they never got in until dark and after, and often two or three hours later in the night.”
There are interesting details of daily life of the hunters and their crews as stated by a couple of contemporaries, Geo. W. Brown and Henry H. Raymond (as detailed in various instances in Getting a Stand by Miles Gilbert), that mention sometimes frequent ‘down time’ for hunters for various reasons, from days when buffalo were thin and even including other part-time work they did for others. There seems to have been enough such time that allowed for hunters to take the equivalent of a day/s off. This inconsistent hunting schedule would imply that there was time in their schedule to load cartridges were daylight, not by the fire at night as these guys were not hunting seven days per week. Of course this supposition needs more research but from what I can see so far it is a very supportable argument based on cursory reading from several sources. Certainly interesting and supports negation of the need for light at night, and therefore of the ‘need’ for night time lighting at all as far reloading cartridges is considered.
So, that’s my contribution to camp lighting so far. I think that back in the day lighting at night might not have been too necessary to begin with and when it was required, the use of buffalo tallow (though not details on how it was used regarding lighting vessel type) is documentable per the above. My take on this is that the buffalo Camp of Mr Hunt and I will use only tallow lighting, and until further information becomes available will not use lanterns or candles. So at least next time we set up we can have some sort of light in camp as opposed to Hooten where, due to lack of documentation at that point, there was no light at night.
YMH&OS,
‘Monterrey’ J. Brass
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