SPOKANE, Wash. — What if we told you that a recipe nearly 200 years old has bakers around the world scrambling to get their hands on it. That is exactly what the 1847 Oregon Trail sourdough starter has done.
It just so happens that a Spokane County woman has found herself at the center of it all.
Artisan baker and sourdough preservationist Stacie Kearney explained what a sourdough starter is very succinctly. “Sourdough starter itself is really just flour and water,” she said.
Kearney who owns Lucky Lady Bread Company explained the significance of the 1847 Oregon Trail starter. She said, “This sourdough starter went over the Oregon trail in 1847 with Basque sheep farmers and Carl Griffith’s family.” The Griffith family is the original giver of the sourdough starter.
In 2024, Stacie is one of two people keeping the legacy alive that dates back to the 19th century. She said, “That is part of the magic of bread.”
Inside her home bakery, she possesses the key to fresh loaves of bread that will be baked across the country. She said it was during the pandemic that she became really interested in joining the society.
Before he passed away, Carl Griffith would share and mail out his long-lasting family starter with anyone who was interested, a responsibility Stacie has now walked into.
Earlier this year, the Oregon Trail starter went viral on TikTok which has kept Stacie very busy. She said, “It has been every day since January 20th. That was the first big box I received.”
All you have to do is go to carlsfriends.net, read the instructions, send a letter and a few weeks later you’ll get everything you need for those beautiful carbs. “Breaking bread is a phrase for a reason because we connect. There’s tradition behind it, there’s community behind it, and for me, that’s what attracted me to baking bread in the first place,” said Kearney.
She said her favorite part about this starter experience is slowing down and filling thousands of empty envelopes for people excited to learn. “It’s kind of like I’m giving you the seed to start your own starter and it’s perpetual, it never dies. As long as you feed it, it will make you bread for the rest of your life.”
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