Big River Emporium
1800 To The Year
2000
The Santa Fe Trail was established
as a trade route to the west in 1821. A young Ben Jack Larado started
his career as a cook's helper on his first cattle drive along that Santa
Fe Trail. His first visit to the Big River Emporium in 1835 at the age
of 16 was fascinating to the young cook. The store was located on the
south bank of the Canadian River between Raton and Cimarron, New Mexico.
The elevation there was approximately 3881 feet.
The Big River Emporium housed a two-room
hotel, a saloon, mercantile store and post office. This was a favorite
stop for wagon trains, trail drives, and stagecoaches. It was also the
place where the mountain men, gold miners and prospectors, could catch
up on the news, send and receive mail via Pony Express or the Overland
Stage. There they could also pick up much needed supplies, have a bath
and maybe have a little touch of whiskey. Many a cowboy rode the Santa
Fe Trail and when they became weary, searched for a decent place to rest
and stock up on supplies. Ben Jack was such a cowboy.
Ben Jack Larado was probably one of the
orneriest gourmet cooks in the West. The 20-yard circle around the
chuckwagon was his territory. He mastered the business end of the
chuckwagon mixing and tasting all his recipes from sourdough biscuits
to his mustard sauces "as he would call
them." He was known to hide his secret recipes in tin cans and glass
jars under big flat rocks along the famous Santa Fe Trail. Born in
1819, he became a full time "Cookie" on the cattle trails. After a few
years at the age of 19, he established himself as quite a gourmet cook.
The farmers and ranchers along the trails looked forward to the cattle
drives when Ben Jack was doing the cooking on the chuckwagon. They would
bring their families from miles around in covered wagons just to sit
down to an evening of Ben Jack's gourmet meals.
Another young cowboy with connections to
the Big River Emporium was Effrem Eligia Henry. At the young age of 14
he was cutting his teeth along the cattle trails as a drover on his
first cattle drive. Effrem took over the business end of the chuckwagon
and became a full fledge "Cookie" at the age of 26.
Effrem and Ben first met at the Big River Emporium
in the summer of 1851. They were both in the saloon having a drink at
the bar when they struck up a conversation about cooking, recipes, trail
drives, women and whiskey. That meeting would lead to a long and
prosperous friendship between the two trail cooks. The years and trails
had taken a toll on both Ben Jack and Effrem Eligia. The completion of
the railroad in 1880 brought an end to the glory days of cattle drives
and commerce along the Santa Fe Trail. The Big River Emporium, along
with so many other merchants, stage depots, and yes, towns, were forced
to close, setting the stage for the end of an era. That same year Ben
Jack Larado decided to leave the trails that he loved so much. Still in
his prime, but tired of the long cattle drives, he opened a fine
restaurant across the street from the Grand Hotel in the mile high city
of Denver. "The Cast Iron
Kettle" was its
name."
During the days of the gold rush, my Great Great Grandaddy Effrem Eligia
Henry was also known in the finer circles of gourmet cooks, and was
employed by Ben Jack as his head cook for many years. Effrem Eligia
outlived Ben Jack by 13 years and was the only one to ever know all of
Ben Jack's recipes and the secrets to preparing them.
Ben Jack has long since rode down that trail to the big round up in the
sky leaving his restaurant and recipes to Effrem Eligia to use as he saw
fit. Over the past generations the recipes have been handed down and
kept secret by my family. In 1981, we started manufacturing some of
Ben's original mustard recipes. They now come to you in their fullest
Wild West palate-pleasing flavors, fresh from our own kitchen here at
the Rockin L-H Asparagus Farms. We are very proud of them and take pride
in producing them for you to enjoy. Some 114 years later,
though nearly 600 miles apart, we have re-established the Big River
Emporium again on the south bank of the Canadian River and just 12 miles
north of the old Santa Fe/Fort Smith Trail here in Oklahoma. (Ironic
isn't it!)
It is also
noteworthy that Effrem Eligia Henry's Great Great Grandson also knows
the business end of a chuckwagon. Lee Henry, his sidekick Biscuit Bob,
with their chuckwagon, have won many awards. The latest two awards
include winning first place in the Pawnee Bill's Chuckwagon Cook Off
Contest in 1999. They also won top honors for the most historically
correct chuckwagon at the contest. The award in this category, presented
by the Oklahoma Historical Society, was a gold pocket watch.
Our visitors can enjoy a
hands on experience with the business-end of a real chuckwagon, see the
handcrafted miniature design of the original Big River Emporium, taste
all of Ben Jack Larado's gourmet food products and join us for a drink
of sarsasparilla from the Million Dollar Bar in our saloon. You will be
invited to sign the guest register at the mock hotel desk. Enjoy a peek
into the past at a kitchen much like Ben and Effrem must have used in
their restaurant. While visiting your favorite gourmet food shops,
remember to ask for Ben Jack Larado's fine products. When you're in the
vicinity of Stidham, Oklahoma, here is a cordial invitation to stop by
the Big River Emporium for a visit.
Effrem Eligia Henry's Great
Great Grandson
Lee Henry
Proprietor aka "Cookie"
SEND US AN
EMAIL