Tru's Grits – American History and Grits History in Parallel
Introduction
Browsing through a college textbook on American History from 50 years ago, I searched in vain for any reference to a staple of both the native and immigrant populations in early American life: grits.
Of course, I failed to find any reference to grits at all. Its cousin, maize/corn, has gathered all of the accolades that were due to grits. And this usurper has itself been cast down into the pit of Genetic Modification. Over 90% of the corn crop is GMO. Animal feed is the #1 market and biofuel is the #2 market. We can only assume humans are #3.
Yes, there is some justice in the fact that corn as a food for humans is now a relatively smaller market.
The fate of corn may not ever have happened to grits because of the inherent goodness of grits. Had not the perverseness of large economic interests derailed one of the greatest natural gifts of nature, the Hearty American Grit Bush, we would see grits in its rightful place in the American food market.
Finding no reference to the Grit Bush in the history books that informs us of our best, there seemed to be a need to fill the gap. Any following reference to grits and the Grit Bush is to be taken with a grain of salt (pepper and butter are suggested, as well). Other historical references are accurate.
The earliest settlers in the short growing climate of New England found a land flourishing with wild grit bushes. These wild grit bushes were not nearly as productive as the tame grit bushes found in the niche Grit Boutique Farms of later America, but they were an important food source at the time.
The naturally long shelf life of grits allowed them to be stored for winter consumption, much as nuts have been stored by both animals and mankind since the dawn of civilization. This store of additional calories allowed the hunter/gatherer tribes of the region to sustain themselves through harsh winters.
As with the presence of grits in the original Thanksgiving story of the Indians and Pilgrims, grits have been written out of the history of early America.
The purpose of this manuscript is to restore the role of the Grit Bush to its rightful place in the nutritional history of America. We will see how grits played important roles in the development of early America, the history of grits paralleling the rise and fall of Americans and their nutrition.
Yes, the first indication of the decline of great nations is the deterioration in their standard diet. Perhaps in this study we will see the substantial role the lowly Grit Bush can play even in restoring the character and cuisine of modern America.
Early U.S. Grit History
With the help of the Birds and the Bees, the Grit Bush migrated from Central America through Mexico and into the Southwest by about 1000 A.D. Over the next 500 years, the Grit Bush continued its migration as far as the northeastern United States, almost to the Canadian border.
The differences in terrain and climate from the near tropical origin of the Grit Bush to the harsh seasonal environment of New England shows the adaptability of this unique plant. Modern American Grit Bushes bear almost no resemblance to their forefathers in Central America. Indeed, the original Grit Bushes are no longer even identified as part of the Great Grit tradition, having been reclassified for monetary gain as a totally different species in order to maintain the image of a uniquely “tropical plant.”
The hardiness of the wild Grit Bush was a life saver for early colonists. People wonder how the immigrants from England survived those first harsh winters before they had established farms and learned to adapt to hunting and fishing in their new wilderness. The scant harvest of the wild Grit Bush was a major factor in early survival in New England.
Colonists soon learned that the wild Grit Bush was easily tamed. Indeed, these wild sticks shorn of their produce looked like thorny brambles through the winter months, seeming hardly more alive than the fallen branches.
It was an imaginative young man named (Robert?) Wall who recognized the hidden potential of the wild American Grit Bush. (Note: He is reputed to have been one of the earliest arrivals of the Wall family, but of no relation to a man named Stony Wall, a self-absorbed commodities trader.)
Young Mr. Wall dug up several Grit Bushes and replanted them on the southern side of his home. Protected from the dry harsh north wind, and supplemented with water and mulch to sustain them throughout the year, these bushes flourished under Mr. Walls’ tender care.
Within five years, the Grit Bushes had not only multiplied, filling the entire acre of his garden, but they were producing an estimated 8 times the normal number of grits per bush.
Neighbors were amazed at Mr. Walls’ success and began copying his methods. The entire colony was soon benefitting from bounteous fields of Domesticated Grits.
The small thorns that once had been such a nuisance for picking wild grits disappeared. Blooms followed by beautifully formed mature grits multiplied. All of this was due to the loving attention given the bushes by these early colonists.
For those unfamiliar with the Grit Bush, there are filaments at the end of each stem that look somewhat like the bristles on shaving brushes. Each “bristle” produces a fully formed grit at its end. In the domesticated Grit Bush, the appearance of the bush in full head ready to be picked is very similar to branches with multiple shaving brushes complete with shaving lather. The soft white heads in a fully grown field give the appearance of a snow covered field. (A different image comes to mind for yellow grits.)
The harvesting of grits is simply a matter of gently pulling the closed hand over the bristles above an open harvesting bag.
In the wild, there are relatively few bristles, and each has small thorns. The domesticated Grit Bush has dozens of bristles and has no thorns. Grit harvests became painless and bountiful rather than producing bloody scratches for a scant harvest.
A brisk trade developed with the native inhabitants of New England. The natives traded game and salt for grits, a win/win as the natives traded what they gained easily for a product that the colonists gained easily. Both cultures flourished.
Unfortunately, the British recognized the threat of the American Grit to their staple, wheat. (They actually called all grain “corn,” which makes for massive confusion among historians. Fortunately, they did not consider grits as “corn,” in spite of grits’ genetic linkage to the maize plant.)
Afraid that export of this cheap product would undermine their own farmers in England, export of grit seed to England was prohibited and a heavy tax was placed on grit production in the colonies in 1742.
Assessors were appointed to monitor grit fields, estimate production, and to collect a levy in British coin from the grit farmers. Establishment of new grit fields was prohibited, and seeds could neither be bought nor sold.
The grit farmers were so dispersed and few in number that an organized resistance was futile. They submitted without a struggle. A few paid the tax for a while, but all eventually switched to alternative crops.
As the Grit Tax revenue fell, the rates of taxation were raised. This additional cost to the production of grits became so burdensome as to be intolerable except for the wealthiest of colonists. By 1750, grits had been reduced to a small part of the American diet, a luxury item that few could afford.
The Great Grit Transplantation
And this brings us the migration of the Grit Bush to the Deep South. This was less a migration than a “transplantation.”
Radical youth from established middle class New England families fled South with their contraband plants to establish communes in the “unclaimed land” of Lower Alabama (L.A.).
(Editor’s note: This land was claimed by the natives living in L.A., but their law precluded ownership of land since the land was given by the Great Spirit for the good of all Human Beings. That the land was “unowned” was an incorrect understanding of the relationship between mankind and the land.)
The political landscape was as important as the physical landscape.
Lower Alabama was claimed by the French at this time. The government had been moved from Mobile to New Orleans some years before. Although Mobile remained important to the French in New Orleans, L.A. was viewed more as a cost than a benefit and defense was left to local militia.
L.A. lay between the Spanish in the panhandle of Florida to the east, and the French of Louisiana to the west. To the far north was the Tennessee Valley, an area already contested between the native tribes and settlers passing over the mountains from North Carolina.
The British invested in Georgia only as their prime defense against the Spaniards in Florida and had little interest in the “wild west” of Alabama.
The intense summers were hard on these refugees from the northern colonies. But being young and resilient, they adapted almost as well as the Grit Bushes.
Their first task was the establishment of the Grit Transplantations.
Unlike the traditional plantations in the South, these Grit Transplantations were based on Harmony with God, Harmony with Mankind, and Harmony with the Grit Bush. Like the legs of a three-legged stool, all three must be honored to create the atmosphere in which the Grit Bush could become its best self.
There were no slaves, and the wage earner was paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work.
In spite of this philosophy, establishing harmony with all Mankind seemed as though it may be the most difficult of the three legs.
The young colonists found themselves in hostile territory. The natives had been treated harshly by various Spanish and French explorers passing through their land.
The local tribes had developed a tough immigration policy, one essentially based on the word, “No.” Tense standoffs in the first close encounters between the new farmers and the old natives easily could have resulted in permanent hostilities.
Their experiences in New England had taught the newcomers how to coexist with the natives, not only peacefully, but also mutually profitably. They were able to apply the same technique in L.A., offering a stable flow of grits for game and fish.
The benefit to the Native Americans was enormous when compared with the experiences of tribes elsewhere. Settlers generally destroyed the livelihoods of these indigenous people. In areas where hunting grounds were ruined and nutritional and medicinal plants were destroyed, the Natives rightfully defended their lifestyle.
As in the early years of New England, L.A. became a model for harmonious relations. The wisdom of the new settlers could have changed the course of American history had their practices been widely reported and adopted.
Perhaps the leading family in L.A. was the Kennedy family (not to be confused with THE Kennedy’s).
When he arrived in L.A. in 1748 at about age 30, “Old Robert” Kennedy may have been the eldest of the incoming settlers. With a dominating sort of personality, he was the unofficial leader until the established colony decided on elected leadership. That position also fell easily into his hands.
After establishing harmony with the Creek leadership, his next act was to secure independence for the new settlement. In 1750 he proclaimed the area to be the Free State of Lower Alabama.
Since no other country was particularly interested in the area except to keep it from belonging to another country, no one other than the inhabitants really noticed. Regardless of whether the Spanish, French or British controlled Mobile, none were particularly interested in the inland area other than as a source of furs for trade.
During this time, the Creek tribe became economic allies of this one community of white immigrants, allowing them to build and flourish where the open plains met the forest woodlands. When the Spanish and French later sought to establish dominance over the area, the Natives and the New Englanders became military allies, as well.
While the French and Indian War (1756-1763) against the British New England settlements raged in the north, L.A. increasingly became a prosperous land of peaceful cooperation based on the expansion of land devoted to the Grit Bush, the source of prosperity.
Because the interrelationship of the natives and the settlers was so close and so complete, there were few needs from outside of their small corner of the world. For over a decade their civilizations flourished together in the obscurity of their remoteness from civilization.
This period of history was known as the Dawning Age of Grits. Grits were supreme in the Free State of L.A. and provided for every necessity due to the trade with the Creek tribe. Some viewed the Age as a harbinger of peace, a plan for spreading harmony far beyond the borders of L.A.
(Editor’s Note: The exclamation, “Dog-gone!” is a corruption of the original, “DAG-gone,” the abbreviation of the “Dawning Age of Grits – Gone!”
The Tragedy of 1762
Rumors of great wealth in the young Free State of L.A. reached the Spanish in Pensacola. They did not understand that the “wealth” of the Free State lay in the harmony established by the Grit Bush as the harbinger of peace and well-being. This is true wealth, but the Spanish envisioned precious metal at the end of the L.A. rainbow. They charged forward in the style of the Conquistadors.
Creek scouts spotted the Spanish Land Armada making its way northwest straight for the heart of L.A. and its capital at Grit Bush Crossroads. They reported the invasion just hours ahead of the invaders.
With the attention of the French and the British distracted by the war in the far north, the settlers in L.A. had no hope for a miraculous rescue from other sources. They must mount their own defense.
In a hastily called assembly, Old Robert warned of the armed force proceeded toward Grit Bush Crossroads. The settlers, now fully integrated into the land as Lower Alabamans, resolved to fight to maintain their independence at all costs. The Creek were their natural allies and were quite willing to join them against the invasion.
Old Robert called on his trusted friend, Adam Smith, a man with military experience, to defend against the Spanish attack.
The Adam Smith family (no, not THE Adam Smith family) had been among those who had benefitted from the local Grit Boom. Now well into his 60’s, Adam Smith and his son-in-law, Pat Bordelon (of French New Orleans ancestry) led the settlers in opposition to the Spanish invaders.
Although called The Battle of Grit Bush Corners, no record of the exact location of the ensuing battle has ever been discovered. Indeed, any reference to the battle is hard to find!
The Spanish strategy was to destroy the livelihood of the defenders. They burned every field of Grit Bushes they encountered as they marched through L.A. Unfortunately, their path led the Spanish past almost every grit field before they finally were stopped.
The Spanish force, better equipped and in greater number, was ultimately defeated when the settlers and their Creek allies ambushed the Spanish force. Crouched amidst the dense Grit Bush fields, they rose from all four corners of Grit Bush Corners and overwhelmed the surprised invaders.
The victory was bittersweet, however, as casualties were high.
Both Adam Smith and Pat Bordelon were among the settlers killed. Strong winds blew flames from field to field so that almost every Grit Bush was damaged or destroyed.
Although his small nation had preserved its independence, Old Robert Kennedy felt that honor required him to retire from leadership. New blood and new ideas were needed to revive the devastated economy.
Who would lead the small republic? The position would fall to his lieutenant governor, but he was a careful man, well suited to handling the bureaucracy of government. He was a technician, the kind of man who made the wheels of government turn effortlessly, but he was not a leader. But perhaps a technician would be the best thing at this juncture, someone to put it all the pieces back together.
Robert decided what followed next was not his decision. The country had depended on God, its people, and the Grit Bush in the past. This was not the time to change the formula.
Tru's Grits
The hollow victory at Grit Bush Corners had left Trudy Smith Bordelon fatherless, a widow, and with three children to raise on her own. She now also had responsibility for her father’s estate.
The estate consisted of several hundred acres of prime farm land. Her father had named it “Tru Grits” in her honor. And now it was hers to manage. (Note on “True Grit:” The name of the book and film were changed slightly, and the storyline changed even more.)
“Tru,” as she was called, had no time for grieving with three young mouths to feed. She needed to step up to the task and take control of the resources left by her father and husband. If she did not assert her authority, “well-meaning men thinking only of her own good” would initiate legal action. They would “unburden” a woman from the stressful and masculine necessities of running a farm.
Now was the time for decisive action! She was ready! But what was she to do?
The grit fields were badly damaged, and the economy uncertain.
Lower Alabama was nominally under the French, but beyond the Gulf Coast town of Mobile, there was little evidence of the French. The ability of the Spanish to march through French territory to attack the Free State was evidence of this.
She knew that the first thing she must do was to restore the foundation of their wealth: the grit fields.
For the remainder of 1762 and into the following year, she urged all FSLA patriots to labor sunup to sundown on restoring the health of their Grit Bush economy.
She enlisted the help even of the youngest children, letting them get their hands into the soil and to feel the power of the earth.
She took in every traveler and unemployed person who would work for room and board.
And she taught them all how to work with the gifts of nature to increase the yield of the soil.
The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 had a major impact on coastal L.A. The French (and Catholics) lost possession of Mobile and Lower Alabama, and the area became British (and Protestant), at least in name.
Little actually changed for the rural areas distant from the coast. They felt as isolated as ever. But the positive effect for the grit farmers was that trade through the Port of Mobile became both easier and less expensive.
Tru Smith Bordelon saw the opportunity to be freed from the heavy labor placed on the people of the nation merely to survive. She sensed an opportunity to thrive!
THE economist Adam Smith did not publish his book, The Wealth of Nations, until early in 1776. But the economist Adam Smith and Tru’s father, Adam Smith, had held a long friendship with frequent correspondence.
As a result, she had listened for hours to her father and husband discuss the letters from Adam Smith in England containing the concepts that would become the heart of The Wealth of Nations.
She had learned well from her father, Adam Smith, what it takes to run a farm. From the economist, Adam Smith, she had learned about business. To combine them, she knew she must begin at the beginning.
Step 1 was to assess the situation:
The Big Boom - and Bust - of the Grit Market
The young couples who had brought Grit Bushes to L.A. more than a decade earlier had grown wealthy in terms of having their immediate needs for food and shelter satisfied. The simple needs of life had been met, and the rebellious nature of their youth had been satisfied with their independence. Their zeal for action had noticeably diminished as they had been drained by the rebuilding after the Spanish invasion.
But their iron tools and kitchenware now were old, rusted, and cracked by time and wear. Clothing was even worse, and style was nonexistent. Weapons had always been scarce, and the recent invasion revealed the need for more and better means of defense. They longed for more and better of the conveniences of modern life.
All of this fit well with Tru’s plan for the marketing of grits in the northern colonies.
Tru was mature in the ways of L.A., yet still familiar with the ways of New England, as were all of the first families. She initiated a plan for them to revive old relationships and begin trade.
By virtue of her strong conviction, Tru became the unofficial leader of the Free State, and the acting leader returned to his role as Bureaucrat-in-Chief under her guidance.
By this time, the British long since had removed all New England taxes and levies on grit production or trade since grits were no longer a threat to Britain’s domestic wheat crop. Nevertheless, grit farming had never revived once the farmers had reverted to conventional produce.
The Free State of Lower Alabama side of the trade deal was to provide a supply of grits. In return, they would receive American made iron farming tools, iron pots and pans, clothing from northern factories, and weapons.
Old Jack Kennedy contacted his cousin, “Old Joe” Kennedy, in Massachusetts. (THE Kennedy's? Who knows?) Old Joe became the focal point for what was to become Tru’s Great Grits Promotion. The Kennedy’s were set to do well on both ends of the trade.
Tru discovered she had a flair for marketing even before there was such a thing as marketing.
Life in L.A. was grand, in some ways better than in New England due to the lack of attention from British authorities.
The independent Free State of Lower Alabama was set on the path to a great expansion based on the grit trade. Prospects seemed limitless as sales of grits expanded well into 1773.
The Tea Act in May of 1773 was the first crack in the foundation of the L.A. Great Grits Campaign. The “Tea and Grits” concept began to falter as colonists drank less tea as a result of Britain’s heavy tea tax.
With the Boston Tea Party in December of 1773, the crack in the foundation became a gaping hole. This open defiance of Britain by boycotting her tea tarnished Tru’s Grits’ image badly due to the close association of Tru’s Grits with British tea.
The following year saw tensions between colonials and the British steadily escalate. Even in Mobile the authorities became cool toward the Free State of Lower Alabama, fearing their example might prod the seaboard colonies into asserting independence from Britain.
In 1775, the American Revolution closed the door on the path to grit market expansion as all trade with the Atlantic colonies was prohibited by a British blockade against the rebellious colonists.
In addition, British officials in Mobile now considered the Free State of L.A. as allies of the rebels. Trade through Mobile with any destination was banned.
Thus began the Great Grit Glut.
Grits piled up in colonists’ food pantries, on markets’ display shelves, and in farmers’ silos.
Mortgages backed by grit inventory were foreclosed as the grit collateral became worthless.
Speculation on the future price of grits caused a deep economic depression in the Free State.
Indeed, the Free State was burdened with a mountain of debt, chained to mountains of worthless grits. Economic freedom vanished, and political freedom must disappear soon, also.
For almost 5 years, the grit surplus brought down the standard of living in L.A. The hopes for a bright future were dashed, and the focus was on life from one day to the next.
But as the saying goes, “There are always grits: grits for breakfast, grits for lunch, and grits for dinner.”
Relations with the Creek tribe were almost destroyed as the colonists tried to force the natives to take more grits. The price of a pound of meat rose from 2 pounds of grits for a pound of meat to 47 pounds of grits for a single pound of meat. The peaceful tribe even threatened war if the farmers kept insisting that the tribe take more grits.
It was during this unrest of the Creek tribe that the Lower Alabamans added one of those interesting sayings that is not well understood today. Asserting they would do something in the future, they added, “…the good Lord willin’ and the Creek don’t rise.” They were, of course, referring to the Creek tribe “rising up” in war against them, not to the flood of a creek.
From Worse to Worst: Invasion
By 1780, the consensus was that things could not get any worse; they could only get better.
The Revolutionary War raged on, Mobile was still a closed port to the grit farmers of L.A., and stockpiles of grits were only slowly falling as farmers had shifted to other crops after The Great Grit Market Collapse of 1776. As in New England under heavy taxation a few decades before, it now looked like the Grit Bush in L.A. might disappear.
The colonists in L.A. were as full of grits as the natives. Grits were absent and quickly forgotten in the rest of the world, and here they were like a plague. “May a plague of grits be upon you,” was a popular curse.
Yes, it seemed that things could hardly get worse…but they did.
In 1780, Spain governed New Orleans and the eastern part of Louisiana. The Spanish governor in New Orleans saw the weakness of the British. He sent an army that seized control of Mobile, and the Free State of Lower Alabama came under nominal Spanish rule.
The Spanish remembered their defeat at Grit Bush Corners years before. They were not going to allow the Free State of L.A. to exist in what they considered their territory.
The Spanish force sent up from Mobile was so overwhelming that resistance by the Free State and their Creek allies was futile. Grit Bush Crossroads was burned to the ground, and all of the grit fields were burned, as well.
The Free State of L.A. remained in name only, an almost invisible shadow of its former self.
In spite of this, the framers of the U.S. Constitution almost created an additional right of freedom to the black population in the Free State of Lower Alabama. This was a stealth move on the part of Northern interests to provide a safe haven for escaped slaves. The amendment failed only because the territory was not yet under U.S. jurisdiction.
The Free State of Lower Alabama became the object of a congressional debate in 1820. In 1813, the U.S. had brought all of Lower Alabama into the U.S. borders, so the precedent of the Free State of Lower Alabama now had legal relevance.
The original document of the famous Missouri Compromise of 1820 included a stipulation that the area formerly known as the Free State of Lower Alabama retain its status as an area free of slavery. The symbolism of this area free of slavery in the Deep South was tremendous.
In 1833, a southern congressman checked the Missouri Compromise out of the Library of Congress. He returned a document three weeks later (a full week overdue!) and put the scroll back in the original location of the Compromise.
It was not until the Dred Scott Supreme Court case of 1857 that it was discovered the congressman had not returned the original Missouri Compromise document but a forgery. Dred Scott’s lawyer requested the original 1820 Missouri Compromise document to support one of his arguments. He discovered that the stipulation concerning the Free State of Lower Alabama had been removed.
And thus the Free State of Lower Alabama disappeared from history.
The Gritless Desert
The demise of the Free State of Lower Alabama was a blow to all of the state’s founders. Many drifted away to start a new gritless life (another oxymoron) some place new.
Trudy Smith Bordelon’s children were now in those years when each was discovering their individual identities separate from their parents. Each moved to the urban East Coast, abandoning the grit-centered lives of their parents.
Tru decided to go to her late husband’s home, New Orleans. There she became a regionally known chef as she introduced grits into some traditional Creole dishes as well as creating new Creole dishes using the wide ranging attributes of grits.
And, yes, all of her recipes now have been coopted by grains and particularly by rice.
Once adorning the covers of magazines promoting haute cuisine, Tru has disappeared along with her grits from the annals of gastronomy.
Corn replaced grits.
Yes, that sounds like an oxymoron, a self-contradictory statement, but that is what happened.
Emblematic of the erasure of grits and the disappearance of the Free State of Lower Alabama are recorded incidents such as The Battle of Burnt Corn Creek in 1813. This battle pitted U.S. armed forces against the Creek tribes, the former allies of the Free State of L.A. That this battle is commemorated in a corny name while the names of battles with gritty names are forgotten is an example of an extreme anti-grit bias.
There are other instances of subtle but flagrant partiality to corn interests:
Even rice replaced grits in the early Creole dishes.
What passes for grits in the modern world is a great example of how the flavor of life has been sacrificed to the demeaning, expedient, efficient, and lowest common denominator processes of industrialized food production.
The world has declined in its standards. Rather than to dream the impossible dream and to stretch to attain what seems beyond our grasp, we have relaxed into the dull stupor of fast food.
Let us again reach for the unreachable, strive for the unattainable, and imagine what is beyond our low reality. Let us again create an agriculture based on the three legged stool of love for God, love for our fellow humans, and love for the Grit Bush.
Then we will find the true gold at the end of the rainbow.
Continue to Choctaloosa County in 2021
Introduction
Browsing through a college textbook on American History from 50 years ago, I searched in vain for any reference to a staple of both the native and immigrant populations in early American life: grits.
Of course, I failed to find any reference to grits at all. Its cousin, maize/corn, has gathered all of the accolades that were due to grits. And this usurper has itself been cast down into the pit of Genetic Modification. Over 90% of the corn crop is GMO. Animal feed is the #1 market and biofuel is the #2 market. We can only assume humans are #3.
Yes, there is some justice in the fact that corn as a food for humans is now a relatively smaller market.
The fate of corn may not ever have happened to grits because of the inherent goodness of grits. Had not the perverseness of large economic interests derailed one of the greatest natural gifts of nature, the Hearty American Grit Bush, we would see grits in its rightful place in the American food market.
Finding no reference to the Grit Bush in the history books that informs us of our best, there seemed to be a need to fill the gap. Any following reference to grits and the Grit Bush is to be taken with a grain of salt (pepper and butter are suggested, as well). Other historical references are accurate.
The earliest settlers in the short growing climate of New England found a land flourishing with wild grit bushes. These wild grit bushes were not nearly as productive as the tame grit bushes found in the niche Grit Boutique Farms of later America, but they were an important food source at the time.
The naturally long shelf life of grits allowed them to be stored for winter consumption, much as nuts have been stored by both animals and mankind since the dawn of civilization. This store of additional calories allowed the hunter/gatherer tribes of the region to sustain themselves through harsh winters.
As with the presence of grits in the original Thanksgiving story of the Indians and Pilgrims, grits have been written out of the history of early America.
The purpose of this manuscript is to restore the role of the Grit Bush to its rightful place in the nutritional history of America. We will see how grits played important roles in the development of early America, the history of grits paralleling the rise and fall of Americans and their nutrition.
Yes, the first indication of the decline of great nations is the deterioration in their standard diet. Perhaps in this study we will see the substantial role the lowly Grit Bush can play even in restoring the character and cuisine of modern America.
Early U.S. Grit History
With the help of the Birds and the Bees, the Grit Bush migrated from Central America through Mexico and into the Southwest by about 1000 A.D. Over the next 500 years, the Grit Bush continued its migration as far as the northeastern United States, almost to the Canadian border.
The differences in terrain and climate from the near tropical origin of the Grit Bush to the harsh seasonal environment of New England shows the adaptability of this unique plant. Modern American Grit Bushes bear almost no resemblance to their forefathers in Central America. Indeed, the original Grit Bushes are no longer even identified as part of the Great Grit tradition, having been reclassified for monetary gain as a totally different species in order to maintain the image of a uniquely “tropical plant.”
The hardiness of the wild Grit Bush was a life saver for early colonists. People wonder how the immigrants from England survived those first harsh winters before they had established farms and learned to adapt to hunting and fishing in their new wilderness. The scant harvest of the wild Grit Bush was a major factor in early survival in New England.
Colonists soon learned that the wild Grit Bush was easily tamed. Indeed, these wild sticks shorn of their produce looked like thorny brambles through the winter months, seeming hardly more alive than the fallen branches.
It was an imaginative young man named (Robert?) Wall who recognized the hidden potential of the wild American Grit Bush. (Note: He is reputed to have been one of the earliest arrivals of the Wall family, but of no relation to a man named Stony Wall, a self-absorbed commodities trader.)
Young Mr. Wall dug up several Grit Bushes and replanted them on the southern side of his home. Protected from the dry harsh north wind, and supplemented with water and mulch to sustain them throughout the year, these bushes flourished under Mr. Walls’ tender care.
Within five years, the Grit Bushes had not only multiplied, filling the entire acre of his garden, but they were producing an estimated 8 times the normal number of grits per bush.
Neighbors were amazed at Mr. Walls’ success and began copying his methods. The entire colony was soon benefitting from bounteous fields of Domesticated Grits.
The small thorns that once had been such a nuisance for picking wild grits disappeared. Blooms followed by beautifully formed mature grits multiplied. All of this was due to the loving attention given the bushes by these early colonists.
For those unfamiliar with the Grit Bush, there are filaments at the end of each stem that look somewhat like the bristles on shaving brushes. Each “bristle” produces a fully formed grit at its end. In the domesticated Grit Bush, the appearance of the bush in full head ready to be picked is very similar to branches with multiple shaving brushes complete with shaving lather. The soft white heads in a fully grown field give the appearance of a snow covered field. (A different image comes to mind for yellow grits.)
The harvesting of grits is simply a matter of gently pulling the closed hand over the bristles above an open harvesting bag.
In the wild, there are relatively few bristles, and each has small thorns. The domesticated Grit Bush has dozens of bristles and has no thorns. Grit harvests became painless and bountiful rather than producing bloody scratches for a scant harvest.
A brisk trade developed with the native inhabitants of New England. The natives traded game and salt for grits, a win/win as the natives traded what they gained easily for a product that the colonists gained easily. Both cultures flourished.
Unfortunately, the British recognized the threat of the American Grit to their staple, wheat. (They actually called all grain “corn,” which makes for massive confusion among historians. Fortunately, they did not consider grits as “corn,” in spite of grits’ genetic linkage to the maize plant.)
Afraid that export of this cheap product would undermine their own farmers in England, export of grit seed to England was prohibited and a heavy tax was placed on grit production in the colonies in 1742.
Assessors were appointed to monitor grit fields, estimate production, and to collect a levy in British coin from the grit farmers. Establishment of new grit fields was prohibited, and seeds could neither be bought nor sold.
The grit farmers were so dispersed and few in number that an organized resistance was futile. They submitted without a struggle. A few paid the tax for a while, but all eventually switched to alternative crops.
As the Grit Tax revenue fell, the rates of taxation were raised. This additional cost to the production of grits became so burdensome as to be intolerable except for the wealthiest of colonists. By 1750, grits had been reduced to a small part of the American diet, a luxury item that few could afford.
The Great Grit Transplantation
And this brings us the migration of the Grit Bush to the Deep South. This was less a migration than a “transplantation.”
Radical youth from established middle class New England families fled South with their contraband plants to establish communes in the “unclaimed land” of Lower Alabama (L.A.).
(Editor’s note: This land was claimed by the natives living in L.A., but their law precluded ownership of land since the land was given by the Great Spirit for the good of all Human Beings. That the land was “unowned” was an incorrect understanding of the relationship between mankind and the land.)
The political landscape was as important as the physical landscape.
Lower Alabama was claimed by the French at this time. The government had been moved from Mobile to New Orleans some years before. Although Mobile remained important to the French in New Orleans, L.A. was viewed more as a cost than a benefit and defense was left to local militia.
L.A. lay between the Spanish in the panhandle of Florida to the east, and the French of Louisiana to the west. To the far north was the Tennessee Valley, an area already contested between the native tribes and settlers passing over the mountains from North Carolina.
The British invested in Georgia only as their prime defense against the Spaniards in Florida and had little interest in the “wild west” of Alabama.
The intense summers were hard on these refugees from the northern colonies. But being young and resilient, they adapted almost as well as the Grit Bushes.
Their first task was the establishment of the Grit Transplantations.
Unlike the traditional plantations in the South, these Grit Transplantations were based on Harmony with God, Harmony with Mankind, and Harmony with the Grit Bush. Like the legs of a three-legged stool, all three must be honored to create the atmosphere in which the Grit Bush could become its best self.
There were no slaves, and the wage earner was paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work.
In spite of this philosophy, establishing harmony with all Mankind seemed as though it may be the most difficult of the three legs.
The young colonists found themselves in hostile territory. The natives had been treated harshly by various Spanish and French explorers passing through their land.
The local tribes had developed a tough immigration policy, one essentially based on the word, “No.” Tense standoffs in the first close encounters between the new farmers and the old natives easily could have resulted in permanent hostilities.
Their experiences in New England had taught the newcomers how to coexist with the natives, not only peacefully, but also mutually profitably. They were able to apply the same technique in L.A., offering a stable flow of grits for game and fish.
The benefit to the Native Americans was enormous when compared with the experiences of tribes elsewhere. Settlers generally destroyed the livelihoods of these indigenous people. In areas where hunting grounds were ruined and nutritional and medicinal plants were destroyed, the Natives rightfully defended their lifestyle.
As in the early years of New England, L.A. became a model for harmonious relations. The wisdom of the new settlers could have changed the course of American history had their practices been widely reported and adopted.
Perhaps the leading family in L.A. was the Kennedy family (not to be confused with THE Kennedy’s).
When he arrived in L.A. in 1748 at about age 30, “Old Robert” Kennedy may have been the eldest of the incoming settlers. With a dominating sort of personality, he was the unofficial leader until the established colony decided on elected leadership. That position also fell easily into his hands.
After establishing harmony with the Creek leadership, his next act was to secure independence for the new settlement. In 1750 he proclaimed the area to be the Free State of Lower Alabama.
Since no other country was particularly interested in the area except to keep it from belonging to another country, no one other than the inhabitants really noticed. Regardless of whether the Spanish, French or British controlled Mobile, none were particularly interested in the inland area other than as a source of furs for trade.
During this time, the Creek tribe became economic allies of this one community of white immigrants, allowing them to build and flourish where the open plains met the forest woodlands. When the Spanish and French later sought to establish dominance over the area, the Natives and the New Englanders became military allies, as well.
While the French and Indian War (1756-1763) against the British New England settlements raged in the north, L.A. increasingly became a prosperous land of peaceful cooperation based on the expansion of land devoted to the Grit Bush, the source of prosperity.
Because the interrelationship of the natives and the settlers was so close and so complete, there were few needs from outside of their small corner of the world. For over a decade their civilizations flourished together in the obscurity of their remoteness from civilization.
This period of history was known as the Dawning Age of Grits. Grits were supreme in the Free State of L.A. and provided for every necessity due to the trade with the Creek tribe. Some viewed the Age as a harbinger of peace, a plan for spreading harmony far beyond the borders of L.A.
(Editor’s Note: The exclamation, “Dog-gone!” is a corruption of the original, “DAG-gone,” the abbreviation of the “Dawning Age of Grits – Gone!”
The Tragedy of 1762
Rumors of great wealth in the young Free State of L.A. reached the Spanish in Pensacola. They did not understand that the “wealth” of the Free State lay in the harmony established by the Grit Bush as the harbinger of peace and well-being. This is true wealth, but the Spanish envisioned precious metal at the end of the L.A. rainbow. They charged forward in the style of the Conquistadors.
Creek scouts spotted the Spanish Land Armada making its way northwest straight for the heart of L.A. and its capital at Grit Bush Crossroads. They reported the invasion just hours ahead of the invaders.
With the attention of the French and the British distracted by the war in the far north, the settlers in L.A. had no hope for a miraculous rescue from other sources. They must mount their own defense.
In a hastily called assembly, Old Robert warned of the armed force proceeded toward Grit Bush Crossroads. The settlers, now fully integrated into the land as Lower Alabamans, resolved to fight to maintain their independence at all costs. The Creek were their natural allies and were quite willing to join them against the invasion.
Old Robert called on his trusted friend, Adam Smith, a man with military experience, to defend against the Spanish attack.
The Adam Smith family (no, not THE Adam Smith family) had been among those who had benefitted from the local Grit Boom. Now well into his 60’s, Adam Smith and his son-in-law, Pat Bordelon (of French New Orleans ancestry) led the settlers in opposition to the Spanish invaders.
Although called The Battle of Grit Bush Corners, no record of the exact location of the ensuing battle has ever been discovered. Indeed, any reference to the battle is hard to find!
The Spanish strategy was to destroy the livelihood of the defenders. They burned every field of Grit Bushes they encountered as they marched through L.A. Unfortunately, their path led the Spanish past almost every grit field before they finally were stopped.
The Spanish force, better equipped and in greater number, was ultimately defeated when the settlers and their Creek allies ambushed the Spanish force. Crouched amidst the dense Grit Bush fields, they rose from all four corners of Grit Bush Corners and overwhelmed the surprised invaders.
The victory was bittersweet, however, as casualties were high.
Both Adam Smith and Pat Bordelon were among the settlers killed. Strong winds blew flames from field to field so that almost every Grit Bush was damaged or destroyed.
Although his small nation had preserved its independence, Old Robert Kennedy felt that honor required him to retire from leadership. New blood and new ideas were needed to revive the devastated economy.
Who would lead the small republic? The position would fall to his lieutenant governor, but he was a careful man, well suited to handling the bureaucracy of government. He was a technician, the kind of man who made the wheels of government turn effortlessly, but he was not a leader. But perhaps a technician would be the best thing at this juncture, someone to put it all the pieces back together.
Robert decided what followed next was not his decision. The country had depended on God, its people, and the Grit Bush in the past. This was not the time to change the formula.
Tru's Grits
The hollow victory at Grit Bush Corners had left Trudy Smith Bordelon fatherless, a widow, and with three children to raise on her own. She now also had responsibility for her father’s estate.
The estate consisted of several hundred acres of prime farm land. Her father had named it “Tru Grits” in her honor. And now it was hers to manage. (Note on “True Grit:” The name of the book and film were changed slightly, and the storyline changed even more.)
“Tru,” as she was called, had no time for grieving with three young mouths to feed. She needed to step up to the task and take control of the resources left by her father and husband. If she did not assert her authority, “well-meaning men thinking only of her own good” would initiate legal action. They would “unburden” a woman from the stressful and masculine necessities of running a farm.
Now was the time for decisive action! She was ready! But what was she to do?
The grit fields were badly damaged, and the economy uncertain.
Lower Alabama was nominally under the French, but beyond the Gulf Coast town of Mobile, there was little evidence of the French. The ability of the Spanish to march through French territory to attack the Free State was evidence of this.
She knew that the first thing she must do was to restore the foundation of their wealth: the grit fields.
For the remainder of 1762 and into the following year, she urged all FSLA patriots to labor sunup to sundown on restoring the health of their Grit Bush economy.
She enlisted the help even of the youngest children, letting them get their hands into the soil and to feel the power of the earth.
She took in every traveler and unemployed person who would work for room and board.
And she taught them all how to work with the gifts of nature to increase the yield of the soil.
The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 had a major impact on coastal L.A. The French (and Catholics) lost possession of Mobile and Lower Alabama, and the area became British (and Protestant), at least in name.
Little actually changed for the rural areas distant from the coast. They felt as isolated as ever. But the positive effect for the grit farmers was that trade through the Port of Mobile became both easier and less expensive.
Tru Smith Bordelon saw the opportunity to be freed from the heavy labor placed on the people of the nation merely to survive. She sensed an opportunity to thrive!
THE economist Adam Smith did not publish his book, The Wealth of Nations, until early in 1776. But the economist Adam Smith and Tru’s father, Adam Smith, had held a long friendship with frequent correspondence.
As a result, she had listened for hours to her father and husband discuss the letters from Adam Smith in England containing the concepts that would become the heart of The Wealth of Nations.
She had learned well from her father, Adam Smith, what it takes to run a farm. From the economist, Adam Smith, she had learned about business. To combine them, she knew she must begin at the beginning.
Step 1 was to assess the situation:
- The British now controlled access to the Gulf of Mexico through Mobile, and were considered as allies;
- Trade with the outer world was necessary and now possible;
- Grit production was returning, and this year there would be a slight surplus if all went well;
- The Grit Bush had become almost extinct in New England due to the years of heavy taxation, so there must be unfulfilled demand for grits;
- Grits: the young country would either have to grow them; prepare them for market; transport them; or market them - or they could also do some combination of those steps.
The Big Boom - and Bust - of the Grit Market
The young couples who had brought Grit Bushes to L.A. more than a decade earlier had grown wealthy in terms of having their immediate needs for food and shelter satisfied. The simple needs of life had been met, and the rebellious nature of their youth had been satisfied with their independence. Their zeal for action had noticeably diminished as they had been drained by the rebuilding after the Spanish invasion.
But their iron tools and kitchenware now were old, rusted, and cracked by time and wear. Clothing was even worse, and style was nonexistent. Weapons had always been scarce, and the recent invasion revealed the need for more and better means of defense. They longed for more and better of the conveniences of modern life.
All of this fit well with Tru’s plan for the marketing of grits in the northern colonies.
Tru was mature in the ways of L.A., yet still familiar with the ways of New England, as were all of the first families. She initiated a plan for them to revive old relationships and begin trade.
By virtue of her strong conviction, Tru became the unofficial leader of the Free State, and the acting leader returned to his role as Bureaucrat-in-Chief under her guidance.
By this time, the British long since had removed all New England taxes and levies on grit production or trade since grits were no longer a threat to Britain’s domestic wheat crop. Nevertheless, grit farming had never revived once the farmers had reverted to conventional produce.
The Free State of Lower Alabama side of the trade deal was to provide a supply of grits. In return, they would receive American made iron farming tools, iron pots and pans, clothing from northern factories, and weapons.
Old Jack Kennedy contacted his cousin, “Old Joe” Kennedy, in Massachusetts. (THE Kennedy's? Who knows?) Old Joe became the focal point for what was to become Tru’s Great Grits Promotion. The Kennedy’s were set to do well on both ends of the trade.
Tru discovered she had a flair for marketing even before there was such a thing as marketing.
- A “Tea and Grits” campaign in Boston pubs initiated the reintroduction of grits into daily life in the north in 1767.
- Grit Chowder showed great potential in 1768.
- And grits as a nutritional additive to thicken stews and pot pies was begun in 1770.
Life in L.A. was grand, in some ways better than in New England due to the lack of attention from British authorities.
The independent Free State of Lower Alabama was set on the path to a great expansion based on the grit trade. Prospects seemed limitless as sales of grits expanded well into 1773.
The Tea Act in May of 1773 was the first crack in the foundation of the L.A. Great Grits Campaign. The “Tea and Grits” concept began to falter as colonists drank less tea as a result of Britain’s heavy tea tax.
With the Boston Tea Party in December of 1773, the crack in the foundation became a gaping hole. This open defiance of Britain by boycotting her tea tarnished Tru’s Grits’ image badly due to the close association of Tru’s Grits with British tea.
The following year saw tensions between colonials and the British steadily escalate. Even in Mobile the authorities became cool toward the Free State of Lower Alabama, fearing their example might prod the seaboard colonies into asserting independence from Britain.
In 1775, the American Revolution closed the door on the path to grit market expansion as all trade with the Atlantic colonies was prohibited by a British blockade against the rebellious colonists.
In addition, British officials in Mobile now considered the Free State of L.A. as allies of the rebels. Trade through Mobile with any destination was banned.
Thus began the Great Grit Glut.
Grits piled up in colonists’ food pantries, on markets’ display shelves, and in farmers’ silos.
Mortgages backed by grit inventory were foreclosed as the grit collateral became worthless.
Speculation on the future price of grits caused a deep economic depression in the Free State.
Indeed, the Free State was burdened with a mountain of debt, chained to mountains of worthless grits. Economic freedom vanished, and political freedom must disappear soon, also.
For almost 5 years, the grit surplus brought down the standard of living in L.A. The hopes for a bright future were dashed, and the focus was on life from one day to the next.
But as the saying goes, “There are always grits: grits for breakfast, grits for lunch, and grits for dinner.”
Relations with the Creek tribe were almost destroyed as the colonists tried to force the natives to take more grits. The price of a pound of meat rose from 2 pounds of grits for a pound of meat to 47 pounds of grits for a single pound of meat. The peaceful tribe even threatened war if the farmers kept insisting that the tribe take more grits.
It was during this unrest of the Creek tribe that the Lower Alabamans added one of those interesting sayings that is not well understood today. Asserting they would do something in the future, they added, “…the good Lord willin’ and the Creek don’t rise.” They were, of course, referring to the Creek tribe “rising up” in war against them, not to the flood of a creek.
From Worse to Worst: Invasion
By 1780, the consensus was that things could not get any worse; they could only get better.
The Revolutionary War raged on, Mobile was still a closed port to the grit farmers of L.A., and stockpiles of grits were only slowly falling as farmers had shifted to other crops after The Great Grit Market Collapse of 1776. As in New England under heavy taxation a few decades before, it now looked like the Grit Bush in L.A. might disappear.
The colonists in L.A. were as full of grits as the natives. Grits were absent and quickly forgotten in the rest of the world, and here they were like a plague. “May a plague of grits be upon you,” was a popular curse.
Yes, it seemed that things could hardly get worse…but they did.
In 1780, Spain governed New Orleans and the eastern part of Louisiana. The Spanish governor in New Orleans saw the weakness of the British. He sent an army that seized control of Mobile, and the Free State of Lower Alabama came under nominal Spanish rule.
The Spanish remembered their defeat at Grit Bush Corners years before. They were not going to allow the Free State of L.A. to exist in what they considered their territory.
The Spanish force sent up from Mobile was so overwhelming that resistance by the Free State and their Creek allies was futile. Grit Bush Crossroads was burned to the ground, and all of the grit fields were burned, as well.
The Free State of L.A. remained in name only, an almost invisible shadow of its former self.
In spite of this, the framers of the U.S. Constitution almost created an additional right of freedom to the black population in the Free State of Lower Alabama. This was a stealth move on the part of Northern interests to provide a safe haven for escaped slaves. The amendment failed only because the territory was not yet under U.S. jurisdiction.
The Free State of Lower Alabama became the object of a congressional debate in 1820. In 1813, the U.S. had brought all of Lower Alabama into the U.S. borders, so the precedent of the Free State of Lower Alabama now had legal relevance.
The original document of the famous Missouri Compromise of 1820 included a stipulation that the area formerly known as the Free State of Lower Alabama retain its status as an area free of slavery. The symbolism of this area free of slavery in the Deep South was tremendous.
In 1833, a southern congressman checked the Missouri Compromise out of the Library of Congress. He returned a document three weeks later (a full week overdue!) and put the scroll back in the original location of the Compromise.
It was not until the Dred Scott Supreme Court case of 1857 that it was discovered the congressman had not returned the original Missouri Compromise document but a forgery. Dred Scott’s lawyer requested the original 1820 Missouri Compromise document to support one of his arguments. He discovered that the stipulation concerning the Free State of Lower Alabama had been removed.
And thus the Free State of Lower Alabama disappeared from history.
The Gritless Desert
The demise of the Free State of Lower Alabama was a blow to all of the state’s founders. Many drifted away to start a new gritless life (another oxymoron) some place new.
Trudy Smith Bordelon’s children were now in those years when each was discovering their individual identities separate from their parents. Each moved to the urban East Coast, abandoning the grit-centered lives of their parents.
Tru decided to go to her late husband’s home, New Orleans. There she became a regionally known chef as she introduced grits into some traditional Creole dishes as well as creating new Creole dishes using the wide ranging attributes of grits.
And, yes, all of her recipes now have been coopted by grains and particularly by rice.
Once adorning the covers of magazines promoting haute cuisine, Tru has disappeared along with her grits from the annals of gastronomy.
Corn replaced grits.
Yes, that sounds like an oxymoron, a self-contradictory statement, but that is what happened.
Emblematic of the erasure of grits and the disappearance of the Free State of Lower Alabama are recorded incidents such as The Battle of Burnt Corn Creek in 1813. This battle pitted U.S. armed forces against the Creek tribes, the former allies of the Free State of L.A. That this battle is commemorated in a corny name while the names of battles with gritty names are forgotten is an example of an extreme anti-grit bias.
There are other instances of subtle but flagrant partiality to corn interests:
- Indian corn but no Indian grits
- Corn flakes but no grit flakes
- Corn chowder replaced grit chowder
Even rice replaced grits in the early Creole dishes.
What passes for grits in the modern world is a great example of how the flavor of life has been sacrificed to the demeaning, expedient, efficient, and lowest common denominator processes of industrialized food production.
The world has declined in its standards. Rather than to dream the impossible dream and to stretch to attain what seems beyond our grasp, we have relaxed into the dull stupor of fast food.
Let us again reach for the unreachable, strive for the unattainable, and imagine what is beyond our low reality. Let us again create an agriculture based on the three legged stool of love for God, love for our fellow humans, and love for the Grit Bush.
Then we will find the true gold at the end of the rainbow.
Continue to Choctaloosa County in 2021
