The "Foxfire" series of books was a collection of factual stories and experiences of the mountain people of rural North Carolina, not Northern California. There is a Foxfire museum in one of the little towns, I have been there and marveled at some of the old mountian ways. I bought the entire series of books and still have them. I think that certain types of charcoal could have been the ingredient pulled from their fires for their home made powders. The books also recounted the making of lye soap from the ashes of fires, extracting the lye by pouring water through the ashes. Very interesting books, but it's North Carolina.
