Expedition Notes Part 5: Supply Costs

Next up, I wanted to have a system for supply costs. The biggest among these are going to be rations. We already decided that expeditions would eat 1 unit of food per week per member. Now we want to answer: how much does that unit cost? And to what extent can hunting acquire those units?

From the Lewis and Clark expedition, we have a total of about $9,000 spent on supplies. A lot of that went to things other than food. If it were the full $9,000, we’re talking about $8 per month per expedition member. Given they bought other supplies, maybe 3-5 is more reasonable. But, they also hunted; it is hard to know the exact split between calories from hunting vs what they brought with them. If we say they brought a third of their food with them, then we are looking at a cost of something like 12 per month to feed an individual (assuming all food is bought). That sets the price of a ration, which feeds a person for a week, at 3.

That seems reasonable to me. If someone living a poor lifestyle were eating just trail rations, they’d spend 60% of their income on food. That’s reasonably close to other estimates I find. For example, a study of 187 families surveyed in England between 1787 and 1796, 75% of income was spent on food. Another in 1833 in Philadephia found a number of 60% for food. That’s close enough that I’m satisfied with the choice of 3 per ration.

Regarding water, I don’t want to get too fiddly. I’ll just say that you can take as much as you can carry if you have access to a water source. However, in some cases, such as by an oasis, you may need to negotiate for access.

(see https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/montana-outdoors/lc-series/lcinmt_4_hunting.pdf for a list of everything they killed)