I’ve been watching old western TV shows, Wagon Train, Maverick and Shenandoah lately.
Why do these guys drink coffee at night right before they go to sleep on a saddle blanket on rocky ground?
Since this is a question about behavior in TV shows rather than real life, let’s move it to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
When did the relationship between caffeine and alertness become apparent?
The cowboys may be using coffee diluted with chicory (which was often used to make the coffee supply last longer) - and chicory doesn’t have caffeine, so the “coffee” they were drinking would not be as prone to keeping them up as our coffee is.
Not everyone has trouble sleeping after coffee. That’s probably especially true if you just worked 14 hours on the ranch.
To keep warm? There was nothing else to drink with their meals (except maybe sage tea)? They probably finished things off with a couple of shots of whiskey anyway? :dubious: 
They worked literally from sunup to sundown, so I imagine they were pretty beat by the time they finished supper. I doubt a cup or two of Joe was enough to keep them from falling asleep when they were done. Nor do I think pebbles under the blankets were enough to disturb their slumber. I’d be more worried about losing heat to the ground; I suspect saddle blankets and such were pretty good insulation.
The thing that always got me was when the Lone Ranger and Tonto called it a night, they never removed their accoutrements—not the boots, the mask, the gunbelts, the bandannas, nothin’. And they would always wake up fresh as daisies—didn’t even wash their hands and faces, or disappear into the brush to take a leak. All they ever did was put a fresh pot of brew over the campfire.
Because Moxie wasn’t invented until 1876, and wasn’t bottled until 1884. Because you’re a fool if you drink spring or stream water without boiling it, and if you’re thirsty, you’re not going to wait, and you’re not going to drink hot flavorless water. also, there’sthis
Maybe they had to sit up with cattle at night. You know in case of rustlers and coyotes. Them varmints.
Boy, I couldn’t live like that! :mad:
I think it was when an Arab goatherd noticed his flock went hyperactive after they’d gobbled some berries off a coffee plant.
If you’ve never had these, they taste vaguely like cherries (yes, humans can eat them), and green coffee beans are their pits.
The story is probably apocryphal, but other stories about the discovery of coffee all have to do with it being invigorating. These stories supposedly take place in the 9th century or so. However, the first definite record of coffee drinking is in the 15th century by Sufi mystics, who used it to stay awake during their devotions. Whatever the case, it’s clear that coffee was used as a stimulant from the start.
To answer the question in the OP: You can’t depend on TV shows to reflect reality, but to the extent that cowboys did drink coffee before turning in it was because they worked so hard that it wouldn’t be likely to keep them up.
We are talking television here. 
I imagine in the old west is was often safer to boil water before drinking it.
Back when I was a cowboy (1870 - 1878) the strain and celibacy of the saddle during the long days were indeed exhausting. Even after a sufficient repast of snake-n-beans the best of us would still be wired and sleep could often come with a struggle. Between dehydration and ever-increasing fatigue it would have been madness to imbibe coffee or liquor, except sparingly at breakfast as a tonic to chase away sleep and stand down the army of divers aches and racing memories. However, quietly observing the sunset through the steam of a strong brew of chamomile, to the symphony of resonant & reedy cattle song mingling with the bittersweet chirps of the ever present and invisible coyotes, ensured a rapid plummet into the depths of somnambulistic bliss.
Thank you for that link, TKoS; it expanded greatly what I know about Arbuckle’s coffee. I had wondered for years why the stuff was mentioned so prominently in journals and histories of the west, then I found out they had patents wound around the preservation process involving a wash in egg whites and sugar before packaging. It was the only way to keep roasted beans fresh before vacuum cans were feasible and the alternative of roasting beans in a skillet over a camp fire was a royal PITA.
A few years ago when I was at Hubbell’s trading post in Ganado I found a roaster in Tucson had revived the Ariosa brand. I don’t think they still do the egg-wash part but they pack a peppermint stick in the package. It’s pretty good stuff but at $17 a pound it oughta be.
Out in the wilderness, that could be dangerous.
Well, if you’re asking why they do it on old TV shows it’s to create atmosphere or so the actors have something to do while their conversation is providing exposition or advancing the plot. Also, 1) it’s almost certainly not real coffee, and 2) to save money, they may have be filming “day for night” and no one is actually going to go to sleep right after shooting the scene.
If you read “Hardtack and Coffee” about what Union soldiers ate & drank in the Civil War, you will see that yes, they drank coffee all day, if they could get it.
Many crumbled up their hardtack into their coffee.
War is hell.
You use your tongue prettier than a 20 dollar whore!