Montana history is full of fascinating people, including Elizabeth Mundy. Elizabeth grew up enslaved on a southern plantation. She fled the plantation in 1863 and was hired by Libbie Custer, the wife of General George Armstrong Custer, as a cook. She worked for the Custer family until 1875 when she left their service to live in Bozeman and Helena. While in Bozeman she worked as a cook for one of our infamous red-light Madams, Lizzie Woods. Her descendants still live in Montana and her recipes have been passed down. Here is her recipe for vegetable soup, give it a try and let us know what you think!
“1 quart of stock, 1 quart of boiling water, 1 cup each of chopped onion, carrots and celery, ½ cup each of chopped turnip, parsnip and cabbage, 1 cup strained tomatoes, 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley, 1 teaspoonful sugar, 1 teaspoonful salt and 1 teaspoonful of pepper. Use all or as many varieties of vegetables as you wish, or if you have only a few, add macaroni, rice or barley. Fry the onions and carrots. Then add all the ingredients, except seasoning. Serve without straining. Always add sugar to all mixed vegetable soups.”
The Extreme History Project 
Most interesting. There was a similar lady who lived near Fort Maginnis, Maiden and Yogo in central Montana who was a cook, a babysitter and ran a successful laundry. I would have loved to have met these ladies.