Fleece

[crockett]

I have read a couple of accounts about the "fleece" on a buffalo. William Hamilton in "My 60 years on the Plains" describes it as follows: page-33: "It (depouille) is a fat substance that lies along the backbone, next to the hide,running from the shoulder blade to the last rib, and is about as thick as one's hand or finger. It is from 7" to 11" broad tapering to a feather edge on the lower side. It will weigh from 5 to 11 pounds. This substance is dipped into hot grease for half a minute then hung inside a lodge to dry and smoke for 12 hours. It will keep indefinitely."
For those of you that have shot buffalo, could you tell us a little more about this item? Thanks.

 

[Claude Mathis]

There are a lot of references to it, but not much more info than what you've already posted.

Along the top of the hump was a layer of fatty tissue. This was known by the French name of depouille. It was about two inches thick and weighed from two to eleven pounds depending on the animal it was taken from. The Blackfoot dipped it in hot grease and suspended it from high up in their lodge where it became smoked and would keep indefinitely. It was also sometimes used as a sort of bread, with jerky between slices.

 

[crockett]

From what I had read before I thought it was just a slab of pure fat but if if was smoked, etc then the consistency had to be a little different, maybe sort of akin to tripe/stomach. I was just wondering exactly what it was like.