Author Henry R. Schoolcraft locates a Missouri frontier town inhabited by just two families, the Holts and the Fishers. Schoolcraft negotiated with them to get help crossing the frontier and recorded details of their humble means. They primarily ate meat-and-corn soup and spent many mornings patching their shoes, according to a digital history from The University of Richmond.

Photo credit: State Historical Society of Missouri. https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/schoolcraft-henry/