Dealing With Being Sick In The Old West

Cowboys back in the day had an interesting way with words. If they were sick to their stomach, or feeling very ill, they would say they felt "Wamble-cropped."  And yes, if you give it some thought, saying you feel "Wamble-cropped" should cover it if you're feeling like death warmed over.

Depending on how sick someone felt is what determined how colorful the terms they used. It's really no different than today. Common terms today range from feeling like you're "Sick as a dog," feeling like you were "Hit by a bus," or "Feeling like crap." And yes, folks today can get pretty descriptive. Someone who is said might say they're "Wiped out," or "out of it," or how they're "Blowing chunks." And yes, I've always thought the term "Felling quizzy," was a bit feminine.

I've always appreciated the more manly honesty of using the term of "Lookin' to die" -- used by someone who felt so bad that they wasn't any other way of truly describing how bad they feel, there was no mistaking how bad the person feels.

As a quick sidestep here, I read that people in the 1800s would say they feel "Sick as a horse." Supposedly, it's an 1800s expression used to describe extreme physical discomfort. Frankly, I've never heard anyone say that. I have heard someone say they are "Healthy as a horse," but never "Sick as a horse." 

Of course, I'm sure a lot of folks have heard the term as "Sick as a dog." Believe it or not, that term goes back to 1705. That term supposedly came about because of horrible living conditions and squalor of the inner-cities. It was a term that most folks understood immediately. People back then associated animals with dirt and dangerous illnesses like the plague. 

A derogatory term for someone suffering from a chronic respiratory illness or tuberculosis (TB) was to call them a "Lunger." Of course, back in the Old West, people with TB were said to have "Consumption" or "Wasting Disease."

Consumption was actually the 1800s medical term for tuberculosis (TB). It described how the disease "consumed" patients from the inside out through severe weight loss and wasting away. It was the leading cause of death during the Old West. Before the discovery of antibiotics, doctors could do little to treat the disease with its chronic coughing, fevers, and bloody sputum.

About now, you may be asking yourself if there really was a term "Wamble-cropped." Well, believe it or not, "Wamble" is an old word meaning "to roll, wobble, or feel nauseated." 

The word "Crop" in this case comes from an older dialect word for "the stomach or craw." I found that history first recorded it's use in 1552 Europe. So, as for today, it is a rare, old-fashioned dialect term sometimes spelled "Wamble-cropt." But yes, it's real. And as for why American Cowboys used in in the 1800s, or how they got it? That's a mystery to me.

So what actually happened when a someone became ill in the Old West? 

Folks in the Old West relied on a mix of frontier resourcefulness, dangerous patent medicines, and home remedies, featuring common treatments like laudanum, whiskey, and pine pitch. And frankly speaking, we all have to admire their resourcefulness. Doctors, real Doctors, medical school trained Doctors, were actually rare and miles away, so folks used what they had on hand to treat injuries and sickness.

For cowboys on the trail, cowboys relied on the chuckwagon cook, home remedies, or rough frontier medicine to get well. The camp cook often doubled as a makeshift doctor and dentist, using basic supplies from the wagon's tool box. Cuts and bleeding were stopped with the help of a poultice. 

A poultice was made by mixing flour with wood ashes, add spider webs, some herbs, and gunpowder to form a paste. It was then spread on a cloth and applied to a wound to draw out infection, ease pain, and reduce swelling. 

A common household poultice used stale bread soaked in milk or hot water to make into a paste to draw heat and pus from infected sores. I find it pretty interesting that people used poultices for at least 5,000 years, and only stopped with the widespread introduction of modern antibiotics in the 1920s. Before that, it wasn't uncommon for a dirty cloths warm poultice to be reused. In many case, don't more harm than good. 

Of course, no one knew a lot about germs at the time. The modern biological meaning of the term "germ" (a harmful microscopic organism) came into use around 1871. While that was true, cowboys avoid risky river water, to avoid severe dysentery. Instead, cowboys drank huge amounts of hot boiled coffee. Boiling that river water helped, but who knows if they understand why plain watch would give you dysentery and yet boiled coffee wouldn't.

Whiskey was everywhere, and used for everything. Doctors on the trail or in small towns often performed rapid amputations or sutured wounds using horsehair sterilized in whiskey. In the absence of medical-grade supplies that we have today, high-proof alcohol was used as a disinfectant for wounds or as a sedative for pain. And yes, whiskey was mixed with red peppers to create a tonic to fight stomach trouble. It was the same as how folks would boil onion into a syrup, or make up sassafras tea for those with colds and coughs.

Old West pioneers and cowboys treated sickness using hot toddies, onion poultices, and whiskey. They relied on kitchen staples and local herbs to fight off fevers, coughs, and injuries. 

The Hot Toddy was a very common drink in the day. It was a  mix of hot coffee or water, honey, lemon juice, and a shot of whiskey to soothe coughing. Onion Poultices were steamed, warm onions wrapped in a cloth and placed on the chest to draw out lung congestion. Sometime goose grease was rubbed onto the chest with a bit of turpentine to break up a bad cough.

Willow Bark was often used by pioneers who chewed on willow bark or brewed it into tea to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation. Raw Potatoes were used for burns. Scrapings of raw potato were occasionally bound to minor burns to provide a cooling sensation. The use of Castor Oil was a common remedy for constipation and various stomach ailments. Plants, such as red root or wild cherry bark, were steeped into teas to manage symptoms of chills and fevers. 

Of course, Old home remedies for common sicknesses like colds and coughs included chicken soup, hot tea with honey and lemon, and steam inhalation. These traditional treatments helped soothe irritated throats, ease congestion, and keep the body hydrated while it fights off illness. They still do.

Ginger tea helps calm an upset stomach and reduces mild nausea. Gargling with saltwater fixes a sore throat. Breathe in steam from hot water over a bowl to clear stuffy nasal passages. Apply a menthol ointment to the chest or under the nose to open airways. And yes, eating cheese to stop diarrhea is an old-time cure.

As with today, back in the Old West, minor ailments were simply sweated out on horseback, as stopping a cattle drive was rarely an option. As for options, Frontier medicine relied on using some harsh options. That included using mercury-based calomel or heavy doses of turpentine to force illnesses out of the body.

Passing A Kidney Stone In The Old West

So now, let's talk about something that I've experienced lately. Let's talk about what happened with someone in the Old West is passing a kidney stone. It's something that put me in bed with a great deal of pain.

Passing a kidney stone causes severe sharp pain in the back or side, groin pain,  burning urination, and blood in the urine. The severe pain in your back or ribs can come in waves. The pain spreads and there is the strong, frequent need to pee. There is definitely pain and burning when you pee. You urine looks red, brown, cloudy, and is bad-smelling. You're sick to your stomach, throwing up, you have the chills and cold sweats. 

To me, it's pain so bad that you cannot sit still or find a comfortable spot. I hate the fever and the chills, the blood in your urine, and the burning. I know that instead of me taking medication, that I have the option of going to a VA Emergency Room and they have the technology to go after the stone and break it up. 

Passing a kidney stone in the Old West meant having to deal with excruciating pain, being in unmitigated agony, and knowing that you have no options other then relying on Whiskey for pain.  Frontier whiskey was heavily used as a primitive sedative to dull the blinding pain, though it often worsened dehydration. 

Folks in the Old West faced severe renal colic without modern pain relievers, antibiotics, or safe surgical options. And only had to let nature take it's course with a natural passage. Cowboys and pioneers alike, all suffered waves of agonizing back and flank pain radiating to the groin, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and bloody urine. Most sufferers simply had to wait weeks for the stone to move on its own, confined to a bed or cot while enduring the raw torture of the blockage. If a large stone caused a complete urinary obstruction or severe infection, it frequently led to sepsis, kidney failure, or death.

Kidney Surgery In The Old West Was a Death Sentence

Lacking the pharmaceuticals that we have today, people relied on heavy hydration and herbal teas made from local plants intended to soothe or act as diuretics. 

But to go after a kidney stone meant cutting a body open. In those days, they simply didn't have the technology to control the bleeding and infections. Sure, in the East, at the medical schools, under perfect conditions, there were those willing to cut someone open for a stone (lithotomy).  

But in the reality of the American frontier, such a surgery was a death sentence. It's true. Because of blood loss, shock, and fatal post-operative infections before antisepsis, open surgery for urinary stones was a death sentence. 

Tom Correa

I wrote the above post still half-dead. So yes, you have my apologies if my rambling is less coherent than usual. Have a great day!