Dutch oven history

A Dutch oven is a thick-walled iron (usually cast iron) cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. It is commonly referred to as a 'camp oven' in the Australian bush, and a cocotte in French, and is similar to the South African potjie. (An Australian 'Bedourie oven' is made of steel rather than cast-iron, so that it is more suitable for carrying by packhorses.)

History
Cast metal vessels were used for cooking in Europe at least as early as the late Seventh Century. Metal pots and kettles were among Columbus’s supplies when he journeyed to the Americas in 1492. The Mayflower also carried cast metal cooking vessels when the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts in 1620. (John Ragsdale, Dutch Ovens Chronicled 1-3 (1991))

Early European History
During the late 1600s the Dutch system of producing these cast metal cooking vessels was more advanced than the English system. The Dutch used dry sand to make their molds, giving their pots a smoother surface. Consequently, metal cooking vessels produced in Holland were imported into Britain. In 1704, an Englishman named Abraham Darby decided to go to Holland to observe the Dutch system for making these cooking vessels. Four years later, back in England, Darby patented a casting procedure similar to the Dutch process and began to produce cast metal cooking vessels for Britain and her new American Colonies. It is possible that because Darby’s patent was based upon his research into the Dutch foundry system that the cooking vessels he produced came to be referred to as “Dutch” ovens. Other researchers believe that this term may have come from the itinerant Dutch traders who sold cooking vessels out of their wagons as they traveled from town to town and door to door. Maybe both accounts are true. In any event, the term “Dutch oven” has endured for over 300 years. (Dutch Ovens Chronicled 3-4)

American History
Over time, the Dutch oven used in the American Colonies began to change. The pot became shallower and legs were added to hold the oven above the coals. A flange was added to the lid to keep the coals on the lid and out of the food. There is an unauthenticated legend that this lid flange was invented by Paul Revere. (Dutch Ovens Chronicled 11-14)

The cast-iron cookware was loved by colonists and settlers because of its versatility and durability. It could be used for boiling, baking, stews, frying, roasting, and just about any other use. The ovens were so valuable that wills in the 18th and 19th centuries frequently spelled out the desired inheritor of the cast iron cookware. For example, Mary Washington (mother of President George Washington) specified in her will, dated 20 May 1788, that one-half of her "iron kitchen furniture" should go to her grandson, Fielding Lewis, and the other half to Betty Carter, a granddaughter. Several Dutch Ovens were among Mary's "iron kitchen furniture." (Dutch Ovens Chronicled 28)

When the young American country began to spread westward across the North American continent, so did the Dutch oven. A Dutch oven was among the gear Lewis and Clark carried when they explored the great American Northwest in 1804-1806. The pioneers who settled the American West also took along their Dutch ovens. In fact, a statue raised to honor the Mormon handcart companies who entered Utah’s Salt Lake Valley in the 1850s proudly displays a Dutch oven hanging from the front of the handcart.

Mountain men exploring the great American frontier used Dutch ovens into the late 1800s. Dutch oven cooking was also prominent among those who took part in the western cattle drives that lasted from the mid-1800s into the early 1900s. (Dutch Ovens Chronicled 33-54)