# Cumberland Pie



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Cumberland Flats is a 30-mile long stretch of sagebrush that parallels Highway 189 between Evanston and Kemmerer. Little Albert Creek splits the Flats; Oyster Ridge and the Bear River Divide frame it on the sides. The Cumberland is in the "checkerboard", part BLM, part private, and a little bit belongs to the State of Wyoming. You can count the number of fences in Cumberland Flats on one hand. And talk about multiple use; there's pipelines and coal mines, power plants and wind mills, springs and creeks, big game, small game, and waterfowl, numerous two-track roads, cattle and sheep. Literally thousands of antelope or deer can be on the Flats at any given time. In the fall it's not unusual to see swans, geese, even herons standing in the marsh nervously watching coyotes chasing prairie dogs about.

It's where I learned to hunt antelope. My kids and grandkids learned to shoot rifles and shotguns and bows there. Not a year goes by where sage grouse, waterfowl, rabbits and antelope off the Flats end up in our freezer.

Long gone are the four coal mines that thrived on the Cumberland Flats from the 1890s to about 1935. Today the foundations of homes, community buildings, and mining tipples are barely visible, consumed by creosote bush, sagebrush and time. A stone schoolhouse, a whorehouse (hotel), and livery stable are all that's left of the town of Cumberland. Head stones of pioneers born over 200 years ago can be found in the Cumberland Cemetery. It's not hard to find the mining community dumps and there's thousands of metal blasting powder cans rusting away in the sagebrush desert. If you know where to look you can just barely distinguish the outline of the old Cumberland baseball diamond and on a quiet day you can hear the voices of Irish, Italian, and German miners yelling on the ball field some 100 years ago.

see: http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/cumberland.html

When the hardy pioneers settled in the Cumberland Flats they brought with them potatoes, parsnips and rutabagas, and domestic sheep. Pronghorn antelope were everywhere and provided a welcome alternative to mutton. My guess is by the time they made the 1,000-mile journey to western Wyoming the potatoes were gone, replaced by longer-keeping parsnips and rutabagas. They also brought with them an old European recipe combining whatever starch and protein they could throw together called Shepherd's pie.

Shepherd's Pie is easy to make and it's a family favorite. I call one of my versions of Shepherd's Pie, "Cumberland Pie", made from antelope and parsnips:


*Ingredients*


3 - medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 
3 - medium parsnips, peeled and cubed 
1 12 oz can - evaporated milk 
3 tbsp - butter 
1 tsp - salt 
1/2 tsp - black pepper 
1 1/2 pound - wild game steaks, cubed 
1 tablespoon - olive oil 
1/4 cup - onion, chopped 
1 clove - garlic, minced
1 14 oz can - peas and carrots, drained
1 tbsp - fresh parsley, chopped


*Directions:*
*> *Place potatoes and parsnips in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. 
*> *Add the milk, butter, and salt; mash until smooth.
*> *In a skillet over medium heat, sauté onion and garlic in oil.
*> *Place cubed meat in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish; season with black pepper and then sprinkle with the sautéed onions and garlic:


 *> *Spread peas and carrots over the meat:


*> *Spread parsnip/potato mixture over the peas and carrots:


*> *Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 30 minutes or until golden brown:


 *> *Garnish with chopped parsley.

The next time you drive the highway from Evanston to Kemmerer, take a break, grab your camera, your binoculars perhaps, and spend a little time in the Cumberland. I recommend the end of May, first of June, when the Flats are lousy with wildflowers....wildflowers you don't see at 75 miles per hour.


----------



## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Throughout the sixties(1960's that is, I ain't that dam* old) we would make several trips each year through the Cumberland Flats on our way to fish the the mighty Green or New Fork river or catch huge Browns from Soda Lake. We always made it a point to stop and blast a few Pdogs since we had very few large colonies like that in Utah. In them days you might not see but two or three cars all the way through. What ever happened to that Friday night bucket of blood bar that was about halfway through? Still there? Never did go in 'cuase we was to young, but dad would sometimes stop in for a little libation if the weather was real hot.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> Throughout the sixties(1960's that is, I ain't that dam* old) we would make several trips each year through the Cumberland Flats on our way to fish the the mighty Green or New Fork river or catch huge Browns from Soda Lake. We always made it a point to stop and blast a few Pdogs since we had very few large colonies like that in Utah. In them days you might not see but two or three cars all the way through. What ever happened to that Friday night bucket of blood bar that was about halfway through? Still there? Never did go in 'cuase we was to young, but dad would sometimes stop in for a little libation if the weather was real hot.


The bar and motel are still there but have been shut down for years. I hear it was quite the place back in the 1960s and 70s when they were building or upgrading the Naughton Power plant. During the natural gas boom, 1978 - 1985, it was jumping. It was called "Bon Ricos" then. We had our company Christmas parties there a number of years.

The pdogs are still there, the browns in Soda Lake not so much.

.


----------



## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Yeah, it's a shame those Browns are all gone from Soda Lake. You know it's pretty good fishing when you cuss cause you got another one of those pound, pound and a half Brook Trout on your line. Anyway, lots a fond memory's from that part of the world.


----------



## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I fished Soda Lake back in '85....I forgot all about that until I read this post. We caught some [email protected] nice fish as I recall.>>O


----------



## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

The title to this thread reminded me of an old Utah Phillips bit called Moose Turd Pie. 

Drove through that area many times as a kid in the back seat a 1965 Buick pulling a 16' jet trailer. breathing second hand smoke from a tobacco pipe & wondering if we were there yet or how much further. It was horrible. Funny how you get older how you appreciate scenery and wide open vistas more. 

Goob you need your own cooking show!


----------

