Rural American Medicine

By the mid-1800’s, many people were becoming skeptical of doctors and had lost faith in the medical profession as it was in those times. This led to the popular “Alternative Medicine” theory that Americans could treat themselves and bypass the medical profession completely.

Homeopathy was a popular movement in the 1830’s that could be practiced by anyone in their own home. It was started by a German physician, Samuel Hahnemann, who believed that treating illnesses with small doses of drugs that brought on similar symptoms as those of the original illness would somehow provide relief for the patient. This theory gained popularity simply due to the fact that the more popular heroic methods, like bleeding and purging, debilitated the patient sometimes to their death, while the “Homeopathic” method did little harm. Soon, Homeopathic “kits” were being sold over the counter, or by mail-order; a “must-have” for every pioneer home.

By the late 1800’s, many rural folks had come to rely on “home-grown” remedies. These remedies (healing teas, herbs and poultices) were handed down from generation to generation and for the less serious medical needs, didn’t seem to hurt and sometimes helped.

While some of these remedies were pure folly, many are still in use to this day. Digitalis from the Fox-Glove plant (for the heart) being one of the most important.

Many pioneer homes contained books like: “Our Home Doctor” or “Gunn’s New Domestic Physician”. Topics in these books ranged from “Hot baths vs. Cold Baths” to “Early Rising” and “The Dread of Death”. Advertisements began to run frequently in local newspapers, proclaiming “cures” for everything from dysentery to baldness to “women’s troubles”. These advertisements were prominent in local newspapers, and can still be found today if you look closely. Claims of better health, younger looks, glowing skin, and more energy, could be yours if only you would try this product!

A Few Early Cures

Quinine- Extracted from cinchona bark, used mostly in the treatment of malaria.

Laudanum- Made from opium, mainly used for pain-killing.

Aconite- Made from the dried root of the monkshood; used to reduce fever, kill pain, and as a sedative.

Corn Smut- A fungus found on corn, used for stimulating contractions in childbirth.

Oil of Whelpes- Used to cure gunshot wounds.

Onions tied to the wrist-Supposed to lower fevers.

Camphor dripped on lumps of sugar-Suck on this and it will ease a sore throat.

Sassafras, Catnip, Horehound, Pennyroyal-Brewed into teas and used for coughs and colds.

White and Black willow leaves and bark-Made into teas to treat fever.

Pine needles-Cooked and used for toothaches.

White pine pitch-Used as a salve for sores and wounds.

Many people believed that “going somewhere else” would cure them of their aches and pains. If they lived high in the mountains, they would travel to the lowlands, or vice-versa. Many would spend summers near the ocean or lake, thinking the “air” was different there. Dryer climate would cure asthma or breathing problems. People traveled great distances to “healing mineral springs” such as the ones found in Hot Springs Arkansas.

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