In an 1897 issue of Forest and Stream, lumber baron William Mershon recounted a hunting trip he had taken with friends near Saginaw and describes his famous woods’ stew. Starting it prior to leaving camp at noon, he included onions, potatoes, salt pork, turnips, a rabbit, and fox squirrel and set it to slowly simmer until the time of the evening meal. When he served the stew, Mershon described its savory smell and noted that his friends went back for additional servings before returning to the campfire to tell stories and relax. Though woods’ stew fell out of culinary fashion, the practice of gathering outside to eat and socialize lives on in picnics and fish fries.
