Doctoring in the Wild West
Very few wagon trains had a doctor. Oftentimes, they just packed a few home remedies and first aid supplies. The wagonmaster often served as the doctor. Sol Tetherow, a wagonmaster on the Oregon Trail, created cough syrups and other cures and these recipes are still on record. When people got sick, they were laid in the wagon on top of the supplies. The exposure and jostling often killed them, not the sickness. Cholera was the biggest problem and killed thousands on the trail. It was usually transmitted by drinking from stagnant pools on the way.
Mining camps were notorious for violence. Doctors spent much of their time patching up bullet wounds and amputating damaged limbs. They did this so often they learned a lot of anatomy. Sometimes they even had to remove pieces of firearms from the victim's body. Men were often injured in mines, falling down shafts, crushed by boulders, or burned by blasting powder. Others had accidents while drunk. Doctors also dealt with the fallen women who suffered sexually transmitted diseases, particularly syphillis. Various drugs were used for these type of infections. The women were also told to avoid going in and out of hot to cold environments and to dress warmly.
Colds and flu were also common in mining camps since men spent so much time exposed to cold water and then spent nights closely packed into saloons. Many were also treated for snake bite by injecting potassium permanganate into the washed wound. The doctor generally charged $2 for each mile into the countryside he had to ride, but would take less depending on the person's ability to pay.
On ranches, doctors tended many wounds that cowboys suffered by their horses. Broken legs, concussions, and dislocated shoulders were frequent. Some limbs were amputated with a meat saw and a butcher knife. Chloroform was used to put a man under. The doctor used carbolic acid to clean wounds. He took sutures with needles and threat just like modern times. He frequently treated hernias and kidney stones. In one interesting case, two doctors in eastern Oregon diagnosed a man with acute appendicitis. Neither of them had ever seen the surgery performed. It just so happened that a prisoner in a nearby jail had committed suicide. The doctors were allowed to use the cadaver to practice the appendectomy. The surgery was a success.
One famous doctor was George Goodfellow. He doctored up many of the characters
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