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M I N N E S O T A H I S T O R YA Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N EVOLUME 19 DEC EM BER, 1938 NUMBER 4

F R O N T I E R H O M E R E M E D I E SA N D S A N I T A T I O N ^

I N PIO N EER D A Y S most families had a few simple remediesfor ordin ary Ills. T h e remedies used for people and forlivestock and the ways In which they were administered varied so m ew ha t In different families and loca lities.Some of the more common remedies that were kept onhand whenever possible for emergencies were: skunk oil,which was rubbed on the chest In cases of severe colds thatsettled on the bronchial tubes; bloodroot, a weak decoction

of which was taken Internally to help ease off a persistent"cold on the lungs," often in connection with the oil treatm en t; ginger or cayenne pep per, which was taken for freshcolds, in hot water that had been sweetened and sometimesmixed v/Ith a little milk or vinegar; black pepper, which wasput Into hot water and used to "sett le the stomach" whenthat organ threatened to " turn wrong side out" ; rhubarbroot, senna leaves, and castor oU, which were used as laxatives or physics; camphor, opodeldoc, or a liniment made ofvinegar and salt, for sprains and bruises; and alum, whichwas powdered after heating and applied to sore Ups, coldsores, and the like. Pen nyro yal was ga the red wild on theprairie and was used by some In fever cases, if I remembercorrec tly. Sulphur and mo lasses and dand elion-root teaplayed an important part in the lives of most pioneers as^ T his article, l ike M r. Da vis ' recollections of " Some Fro ntier W or dsand Phrases," published ante, p. 241-246, is drawn from a manuscript vol

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3 7 0 L E R O Y G . D A V I S D E C .spring alterativ es. T he y were supplemented by greens the cooked leaves of mustard, dandelions, cowslips, and otherwild pla nts , and of beets from the ga rd en s. A fte r the longwinter, the "oldsters" Insisted, the blood was thick, torpid,and slow-moving, and It was their theory that this treatmentwould " thin tbe blood," as they said.

Boneset or thoroughwort and tansy grew in almost everyga rd en . A decoction of boneset leaves was expected tomake the patient sweat, and In certain cases It was also usedas a mild emetic. T an sy was used as an em m enagog ue.Wormwood, which was also grown in many gardens anddo ory ard s, was used as a vermifuge. W he n a m oth er sawher child's upper lip take on a slightly bluish-white tint, shesaid emphatically, "It 's worms," and acted accordingly.Sometimes wormwood was used as a tonic in bitters, a muchprized remedy with some, probably because, whatever elsewas put into the bottle. It was sure to contain a generouspr op or tio n of alcohol or whisky. To nics , such as tinctureof Iron, goldenseal, and wormwood, were given only whenthe pat ient was thought to be in a "run-down" condit ion,which was usually called "g en e ra l deb ility." I t was easy,however, to have the " run-down " feeling when one wanteda bo ttle of bitt ers . Pum pkin seeds we re considered a gooddiuretic, although a remedy of this kind was very rarelyprescribed.As an astringent in ordinary cases of diarrhea, blackberryjuice or brandy was used when at hand, but other simplesubstitutes were comm on. In pr ep ar in g tonics, the pioneersoften used sweet flag, which grew at the edges of thesloughs, and camomile, which was brought from the Eastand became common In the pas ture s. T h e latter was usedparticularly as a tonic for Infants, and It was also administere d for coughs and colds. U rin e, sweetened , functioned

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1938 F R O N T I E R H O M E R E M E D I E S 371cussedness In youngsters, the parents had a very effective,if crude, remedy called "s tr ap o il . " W hen children hadmeasles, they were kept In bed for a week at least and dopedwith cayenne pepper or ginger tea to "bring out the measles." Every newborn child had to take Its allotted portionof saffron tea to clear from Its skin the reddish tint or rash.A fat rind of fried salt pork was often given to very youngchildren to suck or chew when they were In a "run-down"condition and no other treatment seemed to be effective.

Teething in Infants caused considerable worry in everyfamily. Excessive dro olin g, long spells of frettin g, po or digestion, and loss of appetite and weight were the mostnoticeable sym ptoms. D roolin g was perh aps the first warning. T h e child was at once furnished w ith a bib and somethin g to bite on, such as a ring of ivory or rubbe r. H arn es slines often were equip ped with genuine Ivory ring s. In theabsence of suitable rings, any kitchen utensil the child couldhandle without danger to Itself was pressed into service.Careful feeding, a lot of mothering, and the occasional useof a soothing syrup or other medicines that were calculatedto keep the baby's system In good condition, usually broughtthe l i t tle shavers thro ugh all righ t. T h e fact tha t mostmothers nursed their Infants for two or more years alsomay have helped. Te ething was fatal only when some complication set In, and that very rarely happened.Grownups also had trouble with teeth, and often decayingteeth, "jumping toothache," abscesses, and the like becamevery real and serious afflictions. A nd the re w ere few dentists in the land in pioneer days. D oc tors in the rem otetowns extracted teeth with what would now, perhaps, beconside red crude forceps. It was not often, how ever, th atthe sufferer could or wo uld go to a do cto r. T o ease thepain caused by an exposed nerve, a tiny wad of cotton was

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3 7 2 L E R O Y G . D A V I S D E C .on the cheek, if It was swollen. Som etimes these tre atm en tsseemed to bring relief, often not.Affected teeth were often allowed gradually to decay untilonly the roots remained for a doctor to dig out, if given theop po rtun ity. Suffering during the Inte rm ittent spells of painwas borne with more or less fortitude, according to the disposition of the pa tien t. A fter the railway towns attaine da size sufficient to support doctors, the extraction of teethbecame an Important Item In an ordinary doctor's practice,especiaUy If he hap pen ed to be skillful. T h en a pa tien twhose tooth was so affected that it caused severe pain andswelling of the cheek went to the nearest doctor and had It"y an ke d ou t," as he said. T he re was no thou ght of fil lingthe too th . Som etimes, too , teeth were pulled by some member of the family with a shoemaker's or carpenter's pincers.

Vaccination was practiced and most people had faith init. But, w ith th e difficulty of ge tting la rg e families to doctors and the scarcity of vaccine, many pioneers went withoutthis pro tectio n. O ften one or two m em bers of a familywere vaccinated by the nearest physician and, after the vaccine had "worked" well, the others In the family were vaccinated with matter from scabs on the arms of tbe first toreceive the tre atm en t. Such op eratio ns w ere usually performed by the father or some grown-up member of thefamily. I t was not tho ug ht perfectly safe to use the vaccine from one family on members of another, because of thepossibility of passing on some Impurity in the blood.

Cuts and other open wounds were allowed and even encouraged to bleed freely for a short time, and were thenwrapped "In the blood," as was said, with strips of cleancloth, muslin or some other white cloth being preferred.Usually the wrapping was left on the wound at least untUtbe healing process was well started, unless some evidence

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1938 F R O N T I E R H O M E R E M E D I E S 3 7 3wound had need of cleansing, it was given a thorough washing with boiled water, if handy, and then allowed to bleed alittle before w rap pin g. T h e bleeding was supposed to remove all poisonous and foreign matter from the wound andthus prevent the open blood vessels from carrying impuritiesInto the blood strea m . If Infection developed, stro ng healing and drawing salves were applied, and sometimes salerat us was used. T hi s would bring about healing, aftersu pp ura tion set In, when oth er remed ies failed.

Burns that did not bUster were treated with whateversoo thing ointment or salve was at ha nd . It was rubbedover the surface of the burn or scald and the affected partswe re then w rap pe d w ith a clean cloth. Sometimes camp horor sweet oil was applied, and if the burn was not too severethe healing process was left to na tur e. W he n blisters developed, healing ointment was applied as quickly as possibleand the wou nd was carefully ban dag ed. Such trea tm en tsusually sufficed, but if healing seemed to be too slow, orsuppuration set In, redressing, often with stronger salves orsaleratus, followed.Carbuncles and boils were treated with poultices, whichwere often made of dried bread, crumbled, softened, andwell m ixed w ith sw eet m ilk. Som etimes, Into this was mixeda little white of egg, crushed boiled onion, corn meal, orw hea t bra n. T h e pow dered leaves of some herb tha t wasthought to have a drawing quality or would be likely to helpsoften the skin, or the soft, sticky substance obtained bysoaking or boiling the Inner bark of tbe red elm tree, knownas " slippery elm," also often was added to the poultice mixt u re . Of course all these things were never used at once.The mass was applied hot and was expected to keep the affected part soft and moist and to have a drawing effect, thushelping nature to eliminate the poison or whatever was caus

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3 7 4 L E R O Y G . D A V I S D E C .results . W h en a felon dev elop ed, the end of the affectedfinger was tightly bound with several thicknesses of muslinor some other thin cloth that had been cut into narrowstrips. The finger was then pounded with a carpenter 'sor shoemaker's hammer, while the groaning of the patientm ade the entire family unc om fortable . A fter this a poultice was applied. Such heroic tre atm en t was credited withhasten ing th e " coming to a head " of the abscess.

Usually the mother was the family doctor and only rarelywas outside help called In, except In cases of accouchement.Then a regular physician was sent for. If one was withinreach, and two or three experienced neighbor women alwayscame In.

Among the names of diseases commonly heard on thefrontier, but seldom. If ever, heard now, were congestion ofthe lungs, lung fever, inflammation of the lungs, and consumption. T he la t ter might be "ga l lop ing consumption,""quick consumption," or " l ing ering consumption." Th ete rms "quick" and "ga l loping" were appl ied to cases tha tdeveloped very fast and ended ordinarily In from three tosix m on ths . Lin ger ing cases ord ina rily lasted fourteenyears , it was said. Inflam m ation of the bow els Includedw ha t Is now called appendicitis, pe rfo rat ion of tbe bowels,and all other serious disturbances In the abdominal cavity th at develope d dan gero us inflamm ation. Summ er complaint was a form of diarrhea that occurred In hot summerw ea the r. An y disturbance of the liver was described asliver complaint, and most cases of prolonged Indigestionw ere called dys pep sia. Sinus Infection was kno w n only asa cold In the he ad and w as tr ea te d as such. If the coldbecame chronic. It was called catarrh, and the treatmentthat was considered most effective was a general toning upof the pa tien t's system. N eu ral gia of the face was often

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1938 F R O N T I E R H O M E R E M E D I E S 3 7 5diseases of ho rses and ca ttle . Some of the remed ies heused w ere logical eno ugh . A cow or " critter" was saidto have " lost its cud," however, when the local horse doctordid not know w ha t was w ron g with it. In such cases, a wetdishrag was balled up and pushed down the sick animal'sth roa t .

Living conditions were practically the same in all thesmall frontier houses, whether they were built of logs, sod,or lum ber. Lack of room to turn aroun d, as the womensaid, was the g re a t difficulty. In the crude dweUings ofone, two, or, rarely, four rooms, there was Httle opportunityfor ven tilation in cold or storm y w ea the r. U sua lly the airthat came in when the outside door was opened was aboutall the fresh air th at ente red. Ev en then, when the youngsters went In or out, almost without fail someone wouldexclaim in no gentle tones: "Shut the door ye Uttle tike an'do n't slam It! " Sometimes he would add, " W e can't heatall ou tdo or s." U nd er frontier conditions, sanitation as wenow understand the term was impossible.Very little bathing was done In the small frontier housesduring the cold winter m onths . In w arm w eather, the rivers, lakes, and sometimes the clear water sloughs served forw ha t bath ing was done by the men folks. T h e practice ofbathing was by no means universal even in summer, as wasevidenced by the atmosphere in the small schoolrooms.Cleanliness about the house, then as now, depended largely on the disposition and hea lth of the housek eeper. M os tof the homes were kept fairly clean, some of them remark-.ibly so, conditions considered. H om em ad e soap, har d andsoft, was used, the hard soap being cut Into big oblong cakes.All wood surfaces, Including chairs and tables, were scrubbedtho rou gh ly and often, and kep t practically w hite. T h epa inte d surface of a kitchen chair sea t soon became w hite

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3 7 6 L E R O Y G. D A V I S DEC.not because of the fear of germs. It would seem that agesof experience taught people many things that the germchasers were to learn with infinite labor and concentratedthought scores of years later.

A m o n g the greatest enemies with which housekeepers hadto deal In summer were flies, and from these pests there wasno mechanical protection. In fly time there was a continualfight. On e m etho d was to " s h e w " the flies out and closethe doors and windows when possible. On very cool mornings they could be swept from the walls and burned, and att imes they were kept moving by waving a leafy branch overthe table during mealtime, especially when there was company for dinner.Pe rhaps the most difficult of situations In connection withliving In small houses on the sparsely settled prairie camewhen a settler, already "put to It" for sleeping room forhis own family, was obliged to furnish shelter for travelersduring storms or for relatives who came to visit from a distance. This was always done without sign of disinclinationor reluctance to accommodate . After all It was a simplemat te r . A place on tbe floor was cleared. It was sweptclean, and blankets or robes or both, as supplies warranted,were spread over a space wide enough to accommodate theextras, who bunked down with most of their clothes on side by side men, women, and children, as occasion andmodesty seemed to dictate. If youngsters were restless, orthe women embarrassed, such incidental things were bornewith as unavoidable Inconveniences of frontier life and onenever heard the government blamed for any of these hardships. Indeed, as I remember It, the average family gloriedIn Its ability to meet and overcome any difficulties and un-toward conditions that the raw new country had to offer.LEROY G. DAVIS

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