In 1905, author Harriet Keeler wrote about the inner bark of the slippery elm tree: “It is thick, fragrant, mucilaginous, demulcent, and nutritious. The water in which the bark has been soaked is a grateful drink for one suffering from affections of the throat and lungs.” Nutritious and medicinal, slippery elm is native to the eastern half of North America. At Valley Forge, George Washington's hungry troops survived on it for weeks; they also dressed wounds with it. Slippery elm is a gentle cure