Pioneer women used cream to make butter. They put milk in big, low pans or dishes. When the cream came to the top it was skimmed off. When they had enough cream they put it into a churn.

There were many different kinds of churns. Some were like little wooden barrels. They had handles that made them go around. Some had paddles that turned inside a wooden tub. Others were like a little barrel on rockers. Most churns were tall wooden or crockery jars with a cover that had a hole in it. The hole was for the dasher. That was a stick about as big as a broomstick with two little pieces of wood that crossed at the bottom. When the dasher was moved up and down through the hole in the cover, it splashed the cream. After a while little bits of butter began to float around in the churn.

Sometimes the butter would not come. Perhaps the cream was too fresh or too cold. The arms of the person who was churning got very tired.

After the butter began to come it was churned more slowly. Then the dasher was taken out of the churn. All the little lumps of butter were scooped out and put into a big wooden bowl with very cold water. They were washed over and over and squeezed with a wooden paddle until no more milk would wash out. Then the butter was salted. It was kneaded with the wooden paddle until the salt was all mixed with the butter.

After that the butter was put into a butter mold. The butter mold was made of wood. The loose bottom had a handle. When the handle was pushed the round bottom pushed the butter out of the mold. The bottom of every butter mold had a picture carved in it. Sometimes it was an acorn or a swan or a strawberry. When the butter came out of the mold it had a picture on top.

Other pioneers made a smooth round pat of butter on a plate with the butter paddle. They used a carved butter print to press a picture on the top of the butter.

Boys and girls liked to drink the buttermilk that was left in the churn.