Miller offers an insight into everyday life on the Plains with this scene of a Shoshone man preparing a meal. Resting on his knees and stooped over his task, the man slices what appears to be rib meat, perhaps buffalo hump or side ribs, which, according to Miller, were the “most glorious of all mountain morsels.” (Ross, 4) Miller extolled buffalo meat throughout his notes, writing in another instance, “We suppose that no traveler who makes the journey to Oregon ever forgets afterwards the delicious flavor of the Bos or Hump rib,—it is probably superior to all meats whatsoever.” (Ross, 173)
