A History of Missouri Cheese Making

From the beginning of the settlement of the land to become known as Missouri, history recounts the new settlers of the land bringing livestock from their Eastern homesteads. Many a traveler made it to the Mississippi River with a few chickens in a crate and a dairy cow in tow. The animals were probably thin and worn from their journeys. However, grazing on the rich native grasses of the new land would have soon resolved those concerns. At that time the early settlers would have had to rely on what they could gather or hunt, so the milk and eggs would have been an important source of nutrition to their growing families.

Missouri's terrain, comprised of river bottom lands, limestone hillsides, forests and meadows provided a blank pallet for the new settlers to grow their crops. The new inhabitants quickly found that some regions were well suited to growing grapes. The climate perfectly suited the growing of various fruits, as well, and many orchards soon came into being. Other portions of the new state, were known for gently rolling hills and open plains allowing for cultivated crops such as barley and wheat to be grown for harvest. The fertile river bottom lands proved to be some of the best farm ground money could buy with yields notably above average.

Diversification was not a term common used during the early days, though most farms were quite diverse, by accident rather than design. It was not a conscious endeavor but one of survival, as towns were scarce and money even less available. If needs could not be met on the farm, the need simply remained unmet until a suitable substitute could be found.

The typical homestead of the day would have included: Chickens of various breeds: The Rhode Island Red, Dominck and White Leghorn being common at that time; Pigs were a mainstay on the farm, one could expect to find Mulefoots, Gloucestershire and Herefords. Goats were not as popular but many homesteads kept one or two for milking. Dairy cows (Guernseys, Jersey and Brown Swiss) were a part of most farms with the milk being bartered, butter sold at the local general store or exchanged for goods.

Lack of refrigeration was a problem for food storage. Means of drying and later canning fruits and vegetables were crude and unpredictable at first. Meats were smoked or dried and generous amounts of seasonings used to disguise any off flavors. Wild game was plentiful and harvested frequently to quell the hunger of the region's growing population. In Winter, the meats were hung high in trees or shelters to keep the wild animals from consuming the stores. In the warm Summer months, the settlers had to rely on dried goods or fresh game. The idea of spring houses gained popularity as well as boxes lowered into the cool shaft of the newly dug wells. Of course, milk spoiled quickly if not chilled in one of these manners. Cheese making actually began as a way of preserving milk. When Bossy went dry, there would still be milk available in its dehydrated state, cheese.

Little is documented about cheese making in the earliest days of the state. By verbal history, clabbered milk cheese and a variety brought from the German immigrants, Kochkase and Schmearkase, were frequently made on the farms. Farmer cheese is easily prepared and thought to have been one of the early types of cheese in the area. The lack of aging facilities and refrigeration would have made a sizable production level difficult to maintain. In the early history, butter seems to have been more valuable than cheese, as creameries and depots were established to take the cream.

Documents obtained from the University of Missouri's Dairy Husbandry Seminar of 1922 states, "Creameries in Missouri were not established until long after the state had been settled and even then they were slow cling. In the early history of the state probably little if any butter was made other that what was needed to supply the family and a very limited local demand. The first market butter was made at the farm dairy and sold directly to the consumers."

Figures from the same report include data from 1875 with the Missouri Counties of Barton, Grundy, Holt, Nodaway and Randolph reporting butter production as follows:
Barton, 6000 pounds, average price per pound .15
Grundy, 5000 pounds, average price per pound .20
Holt, 100,000 pounds, average price per pound .25
Nodaway, 375,000, average price per pound .15
Randolph, 200,000. average price per pound .15

The assumption made was the probability of butter factories in the Holt, Nodaway, and Randolph counties though there is no documentation of such an enterprise recorded. There were no major populations in close proximity to these counties and little is known about how the butter may have been distributed to buyers

The first creamery, for the purpose of making cheese, was established in May of 1851. Located on a farm near Rome, New York. Jesse Williams was the owner and cheese maker. He is credited as the founder of commercial cheese making. Williams methods and equipment remain basic in the industry even today.

Missouri's first cheese plant is noted in Republic, Henry County, in 1865, "With 80 cows furnishing the milk." Another is listed in Chillicothe in 1875. However, a speakers at a farmer's institute meeting in 1883 spoke of 50 creameries in the state of Missouri. Research has shown that most of those were in the Northeastern portion of the state.

Even in those early days, the buyer had to beware as creamery promoters or creamery sharks are they were later known. Reportedly these "fast talkers" would come into towns considering a factory and promise the moon. The plants constructed cost the communities between $5,000-$10,000 but the value of the equipment was significantly less. In several instances, the communities could not support the exorbitant notes due on the equipment and were forced to allow the promoters to step back into the picture. This worked for several years, actually until about 1900, when this activity became known by the State Department of Agriculture. However, the many failed creameries was a "decided drawback to the development of the dairy industry in Missouri."

Additional problems stemmed from lack of a consistent milk supply. These small operations typically operated at a loss during the winter months when milk production was low or non existent. Other situation arose, such as improper handling of the milk which was fit for neither butter nor cheese and some dairymen skilled the cream before delivery, lowering the butterfat content, which made cheese making an uphill battle.