Long before Matt Dillon, Chester and Miss Kitty wrapped their hands around a warm cup, coffee was a staple on the frontier. In 1849 while surveying a military route through the Southwest, Lt. William Whiting noted in his journal that coffee was “the great essential in prairie bill of fare.” It was said that many of the early Indian attacks on whites were motivated by a desire for coffee. The Lakota (Sioux) called the brew, “Kazuta Sapa,” or “black medicine.”
Folklore and Hol

True West May/June 2024