The History of American's Pinon Pine Nut Harvest

A Ranching Family History of Nevada Pinyon Pine Nut Harvest How this family harvested pine nuts	Harvesting Pinon Pine Nuts - California World War II	Traditional people passing pinyon harvest knowledge-
I grew up on a family ranch which had been in my family since the late 1800's. The ranch was originally purchased by my Great-Grandparents, who grew up in Virginia City after immigrating with my Great Grandfathers parents from Ireland. Living and growing in Virginia City was an adventure as told by my Grandfather and his ten siblings. One adventure was that of Pine nut hunting in the Pinon Pine Range which was abundant in the surrounding area and was then, their very backyard. My Great Grandparents would take my Grandfather and his siblings Pine nut hunting shortly after the first frost. The nut would be collected in burlap (gunne sacks), which were saved from grain. The sacks would be full of cones and then taken to local hot springs and submerged. The result was not only loose nuts to be harvested from the bottom of the bag but they were cooked as well!! The cones were saved and used at home for winter fires. When the family moved from Virginia City to the ranch at the base of Mount Rose, west of Virginia City, the Pine nut hunting was not as frequent as they had only horses and wagons, making the journey more difficult than when they hunted for nuts in their backyard as they did in Virginia City. They still managed however, during their trips to Virginia City for supplies, making the nuts even more of a treat as the trips were few and far between. As children, our parents, Grandparents and Great-Grandparents, (of which I grew up with seven elders), passed on their love for the Pinon Pine, their love and respect for the beautiful environment in which we lived and the love for the pine nuts themselves. Each year, my parents, sister and I gathered with my Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins for a day of hunting pine nuts. We looked forward to this EVERY year! As kids, we would actually gather the itty bitty nuts dropped by the Pine cones around our property just to have a taste! Naturally, these were far smaller and far less satisfying than the larger nuts we would soon gather, but it was enough to satisfy our craving for the time being until it was time for our annual harvest!! We would get bundled up, my Mom and Grandmothers would pack our lunches, hot chocolate and thermoses of coffee for themselves. We would save the sacks from our horses grain throughout the year for our trip. Off we went, loading up the trucks with giggling children and adults alike, off to Pinion Pine range up in the hills of Virginia City. By the end of the day, covered in sap and full of stories, we would load the bags (usually 8 or ten bags worth at least) and we would head to the Steamboat Hot Springs, at which time was public. We would drop the sacks in the hot springs, attached to bailing wire and once finished, head to my Grandmothers where we would separate the nuts and cones. The nuts would get placed into saved coffee cans and distributed amongst everyone. We would all have dinner together and enjoy the years first batch of nuts!! A treat to be sure!! I remember many a fall evening sitting with my Grandmother, watching Carol Burnett, eating nuts, one after the other as if obsessed!! One night my Grandfather came home and we had finished off a 1 pound can between the two of us..I was only about 7..he laughed and said "You TWO ate ALL of those nuts? I'm going to have to hide them if I hope to have any left for myself!!" As my own daughters grew, now 19 and 17, I passed on my love for pine nuts and shared what I could of our tradition, albeit different due to homes now overtaking the pinion pine area once hunted in my youth. I've taught them about Nevada history and the Important to Native Americans..that these nuts are an enjoyment for them to eat but were a means of survival to those that came before us. I learned this early through Nevada history in school, from my elders who impressed upon us to appreciate the environment as it's only due to the appreciation of those before us that we could enjoy it now. My eldest daughter is the most fanatical, being sure to have me seek out nuts at local stores in the fall, hiding and hording them all to herself! She doesn't like to share! In recent years, the nuts have become more and more scarce in the stores which led me to Goods from the Woods and I couldn't be more pleased to have found a source for incredible Pine nuts and more importantly, having found George and Penny Frazier, who are conservationists., having the same ideals with regard to the environment as myself and my family. My daughter, now in college and living on her own, ordered 10 pounds...all to herself!! I have now just recently moved back to a home located what is left of our ranch.. In the home I grew up in, across the street from my Grandmothers home where we shared so many wonderful memories and on the same lane as my Dad and two Uncles. I am surrounded by the mountains and pine trees, just about ten miles from the area where I hunted pine nuts as a child. I have introduced my husband and son to a life in the mountains and just recently, to pine nuts after ordering from Goods From The Woods. I knew it was time when I found my 7 year old son on my back deck...gathering and eating the pine nuts which fell from the cones of surrounding pine trees! What memories came back to me..here was my son, doing the same thing I did at his age, in the same house under the same pine trees. I ordered the nuts, roasted them and have another fan! Imagine his surprise when he saw how big the pine nuts were compared to those he had been snacking on from the pine trees! I only wish I could have shared with my children the hunting trips we once enjoyed as children but the range we hunted is not public and neither is the hot springs we used to cook them. I can share the memories with them though. Memories I will cherish for a lifetime, memories that are renewed each time the smell of the roasting nuts emanates through my home. My only remaining Grandparent passed away August 26Th of this year. Before he passed, one of the many stories we reminisced about was our pine nut trips. I thought I would be sharing my pine nuts with him at Thanksgiving this year as I have in years past but that will not be. As I sit in the home he helped to build, amongst the trees and land he loved so much and roast the last of my pine nuts, it will be with tremendous thanks for all that he instilled upon me and for the family surrounding me to share the day.	I came to California in 1943 onboard a combination passenger and troop train headed from Chicago to California with a lot of soldiers onboard (remember it was World War II time). It was a 4-day trip by train and I brought pine nuts with me as a snack on the train. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, I used to go with friends and family from Burbank over the old Grapevine Road (Grapevine) (now called Highway 5) up to the Frazier Park/Lebec area of Southern California, then west 10 or 15 miles to a rural mountain area with a Pinyon Pine forest. We usually went around October, bringing a couple of blankets to put under the Pinyon Pine Trees. We then shook the trees very hard and the nuts fell onto the blankets. We gathered them up and took bags full back to our family and friends to share. I started trying to grow Pinyon Pine Trees myself from seeds and found the best way to germinate pine nuts seedlings was to take each seed and rub it with sandpaper to take away a little of the protective shell coating to make the shell porous, then soak the seeds for 24 hours in water. We then planted them in a potting mix in a small pot. After they germinated, I grew them in pots for a year or two and then I would plant the seedlings in the ground or give them as presents to friends, telling them that if they took good care of the resulting trees then the trees would take care of them in their old age by providing wonderful Pinyon Pine Nuts. I am 75 now, on a limited income, and cannot afford to drive to Frazier Park or anywhere else now. Over the years I have bought pine nuts from China, Italy, Nevada, and California, and even some from Mexico. I would like to taste again those wonderful pine nuts and be able to teach others how to grow Pinyon Pine Trees to help replace the rapidly disappearing Pinyon Pine Forest and recapture what was once a sustainable food source for ancient people living off the land. I was surprised to see your last name as Frazier which is apparently a coincidence that I did not know about regarding the location of the Pinyon Pine Forest west of Frazier Park, California. This prompted me to check on the internet about the current status of that forest and I was very surprised to see pictures of devastation of the forest from huge fires that have occurred in recent years in that area. This makes it even more important that people replace Pinyon Pine forests wherever they are able to. These forests were important to the Chumash Indians. Nearby 8,831-foot high peak Mount Pinos, "Iwihinmu" in the Chumash language, was considered by the Chumash Indians to be the center of the world ("Liyikshup"), the point where everything in life was in balance. Mt. Pinos was not only the highest summit within the region occupied by the Chumash Indians who lived in the area. The Pinyon Pine forest between Frazier Park and Mt. Pinos to the west historically was an important source of food from the pine nuts for the Chumash Indians in their historic past.	There is a story By DAVID OLSON The Press-Enterprise http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_pinon13.3f75feb.html This was a beautiful story about the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians pinon harvest. I like this part," "If we don't have them pick piñones and show them who they are, and their history, and how their culture is unique and different, I don't know if your sovereignty is there," ******************************************************************** Natural History Story of the Pinon Pine Tree in California Dr. Reese Halter wrote an article for the Santa Monica daily news, http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2009-08-24-61385.113116_Tenacious_pinyon_woodlands.html It tells the story of just how amazing the pinyon forest is, in terms of its evolution and ability to change. ****************************************************************** A short story of bad science and the American Pine Nut Lands Things change slowly in the desert - it is one of the reasons, I came to love the pinyons - just one of the reasons. There is no moisture, no soil nutrients, yet, the trees produce these wonderful fruit, the pine nut. In the early history of public lands, the soil conservation service divided land into two categories, the land with commercial lumber (forests) and everything else (range). The land with timber (forests) was to managed for lumber, the other (range - this includes the pinyon non-forests)was managed for grazing. All lands were classified by the industrial use, forest or non-forest. The pinyon (not forests - because they don't produce lumber) was given to the BLM, who trained young people to manage range. Massive destruction and "deforestation" occurred as these people went about creating range. Poor science was used to justify tax monies to create this deforestation. It is a very sad story to tell. I only tell the story every now and again. Read More You can cut a pinyon tree for Christmas $5.00 permit but not harvest pine nuts in Carson City... where is the sense?

I grew up on a family ranch which had been in my family since the late 1800's. The ranch was originally purchased by my Great-Grandparents, who grew up in Virginia City after immigrating with my Great Grandfathers parents from Ireland. Living and growing in Virginia City was an adventure as told by my Grandfather and his ten siblings. One adventure was that of Pine nut hunting in the Pinon Pine Range which was abundant in the surrounding area and was then, their very backyard.

My Great Grandparents would take my Grandfather and his siblings Pine nut hunting shortly after the first frost. The nut would be collected in burlap (gunne sacks), which were saved from grain. The sacks would be full of cones and then taken to local hot springs and submerged. The result was not only loose nuts to be harvested from the bottom of the bag but they were cooked as well!! The cones were saved and used at home for winter fires.

When the family moved from Virginia City to the ranch at the base of Mount Rose, west of Virginia City, the Pine nut hunting was not as frequent as they had only horses and wagons, making the journey more difficult than when they hunted for nuts in their backyard as they did in Virginia City. They still managed however, during their trips to Virginia City for supplies, making the nuts even more of a treat as the trips were few and far between.

As children, our parents, Grandparents and Great-Grandparents, (of which I grew up with seven elders), passed on their love for the Pinon Pine, their love and respect for the beautiful environment in which we lived and the love for the pine nuts themselves. Each year, my parents, sister and I gathered with my Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins for a day of hunting pine nuts.

We looked forward to this EVERY year! As kids, we would actually gather the itty bitty nuts dropped by the Pine cones around our property just to have a taste! Naturally, these were far smaller and far less satisfying than the larger nuts we would soon gather, but it was enough to satisfy our craving for the time being until it was time for our annual harvest!! We would get bundled up, my Mom and Grandmothers would pack our lunches, hot chocolate and thermoses of coffee for themselves. We would save the sacks from our horses grain throughout the year for our trip. Off we went, loading up the trucks with giggling children and adults alike, off to Pinion Pine range up in the hills of Virginia City. By the end of the day, covered in sap and full of stories, we would load the bags (usually 8 or ten bags worth at least) and we would head to the Steamboat Hot Springs, at which time was public. We would drop the sacks in the hot springs, attached to bailing wire and once finished, head to my Grandmothers where we would separate the nuts and cones. The nuts would get placed into saved coffee cans and distributed amongst everyone. We would all have dinner together and enjoy the years first batch of nuts!! A treat to be sure!! I remember many a fall evening sitting with my Grandmother, watching Carol Burnett, eating nuts, one after the other as if obsessed!! One night my Grandfather came home and we had finished off a 1 pound can between the two of us..I was only about 7..he laughed and said "You TWO ate ALL of those nuts? I'm going to have to hide them if I hope to have any left for myself!!"
As my own daughters grew, now 19 and 17, I passed on my love for pine nuts and shared what I could of our tradition, albeit different due to homes now overtaking the pinion pine area once hunted in my youth. I've taught them about Nevada history and the Important to Native Americans..that these nuts are an enjoyment for them to eat but were a means of survival to those that came before us. I learned this early through Nevada history in school, from my elders who impressed upon us to appreciate the environment as it's only due to the appreciation of those before us that we could enjoy it now. My eldest daughter is the most fanatical, being sure to have me seek out nuts at local stores in the fall, hiding and hording them all to herself! She doesn't like to share! In recent years, the nuts have become more and more scarce in the stores which led me to Goods from the Woods and I couldn't be more pleased to have found a source for incredible Pine nuts and more importantly, having found George and Penny Frazier, who are conservationists., having the same ideals with regard to the environment as myself and my family. My daughter, now in college and living on her own, ordered 10 pounds...all to herself!!
I have now just recently moved back to a home located what is left of our ranch.. In the home I grew up in, across the street from my Grandmothers home where we shared so many wonderful memories and on the same lane as my Dad and two Uncles. I am surrounded by the mountains and pine trees, just about ten miles from the area where I hunted pine nuts as a child. I have introduced my husband and son to a life in the mountains and just recently, to pine nuts after ordering from Goods From The Woods. I knew it was time when I found my 7 year old son on my back deck...gathering and eating the pine nuts which fell from the cones of surrounding pine trees! What memories came back to me..here was my son, doing the same thing I did at his age, in the same house under the same pine trees. I ordered the nuts, roasted them and have another fan! Imagine his surprise when he saw how big the pine nuts were compared to those he had been snacking on from the pine trees! I only wish I could have shared with my children the hunting trips we once enjoyed as children but the range we hunted is not public and neither is the hot springs we used to cook them. I can share the memories with them though. Memories I will cherish for a lifetime, memories that are renewed each time the smell of the roasting nuts emanates through my home.
My only remaining Grandparent passed away August 26Th of this year. Before he passed, one of the many stories we reminisced about was our pine nut trips. I thought I would be sharing my pine nuts with him at Thanksgiving this year as I have in years past but that will not be. As I sit in the home he helped to build, amongst the trees and land he loved so much and roast the last of my pine nuts, it will be with tremendous thanks for all that he instilled upon me and for the family surrounding me to share the day.