Homesteaders and the Medical Peril of Isolation

THE MEDICAL PERIL OF ISOLATION - AND THE RAGE OF SICKNESS THROUGH FAMILIES

HOMESTEADERS AND RURAL DWELLERS HAD POORER CHANCES OF SURVIVAL; EVEN MINOR COMPLAINTS BECAME KILLERS

     THE ANGLICAN CHURCH,  IN THE DIOCESE OF ALGOMA, INCLUDING MUSKOKA, HAD ONE OF THE MOST ADAPTABLE AND DIVERSIFIED MISSIONARIES / MINISTERS SERVING THE NEEDS OF ITS CITIZENRY. GOWAN GILLMOR WALKED THOUSANDS OF MILES THROUGH THE ROUGHEST TERRAIN, TENDING HIS FLOCK, WHETHER THEY WERE ANGLICAN OR NOT. ONE OF HIS MOST ENDEARING QUALITIES, IS THAT HE WOULD ACTUALLY MOVE INTO A "SICK" HOUSE, TO TEND TO THE ILL AND DYING. IT WAS HIS CLAIM, THAT HE WAS THERE TO KEEP DEATH OUT. IT WAS AT A TIME, IN THE LATE PIONEERING PERIOD, WHEN QUALIFIED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE WAS STILL DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN THROUGHOUT THE VAST RURAL AREAS OF THE REGION, WHERE DOCTORS WERE FORCED TO TRAVEL EXTENSIVELY, OVER DAYS, JUST TO TEND ONE OR TWO FAMILIES, OF MANY THAT WERE ILL, DUE TO EPIDEMICS.  GILLMOR, "THE TRAMP," AS HE WAS BETTER KNOWN, WAS REVERED BY THOSE OF ALL FAITHS, FOR THE COURAGEOUS WORK HE DID, NURSING FAMILIES BACK TO SECURE HEALTH. HE LOST SOME, BUT THE SIGHT OF THIS HIGH ENERGY IRISHMAN, HOVERING IN THE DOORWAY OF YOUR HOUSE, OFFERED GREAT ASSURANCE, THOSE SICK WOULD BE TENDED AS IF BY A QUALIFIED PHYSICIAN, WHILE ALSO ADMINISTERING TO THE RELIGIOUS NEEDS OF A FAMILY IN CRISIS. GOWAN GILLMOR, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, DIDN'T BELIEVE HE WAS DOING ANYTHING EXTRAORDINARY WHATSOEVER. WE KNOW DIFFERENTLY, AND HISTORIANS SEE HIM AS A PIONEER HERO IN OUR REGION OF ONTARIO.

     THERE IS AN INTERESTING STORY TOLD BY SHEA FAMILY HISTORIAN, BERT SHEA, IN ONE OF HIS REGIONAL HISTORIES, (UFFORD AND THREE MILE LAKE AREA, OF THE PRESENT TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES) ABOUT A HOMESTEAD WOMAN, LEFT ON HER OWN, IN THOSE EARLY YEARS OF THE FREE LAND GRANTS, WHO SUFFERED A SIGNIFICANT INJURY, WHILE CHOPPING WOOD FOR THE FIREPLACE. WITH THE MALE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD WORKING SOME DISTANCE AWAY, THE OLDER WOMAN HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO CHOP THE WOOD FOR THE DAILY FIRE, WHICH BY ITSELF, WAS A PRETTY AVERAGE CHORE, EVEN FOR SOMEONE HER AGE. SHE HAD WORKED AWAY FOR SOME TIME, BEFORE THE ACCIDENT THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY CLAIM HER LIFE. ANYBODY WHO HAS WORKED WITH AN AXE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BLADE SUDDENLY SHATTERS THE LOG, SENDING SPLINTERS FLYING IN THE AIR. MOST OF THE TIME, THEY FALL BY THE WAYSIDE. SOME TIMES, THEY BECOME DANGEROUSLY INTRUSIVE.

     ON ONE DOWNWARD ARC OF THE AXE, SINKING INTO THE END OF THE LOG PIECE, A JAGGED SHARD OF WOOD FLEW UP, AND STRUCK THE SOCKET OF HER EYE, SEVERELY DAMAGING HER EYEBALL. NOW IMAGINE THE PAIN, AND THE FACT SHE COULD NOT DISLODGE THE SHARP PIECE HERSELF, LET ALONE STOP THE BLEEDING. THERE WERE NO CLOSE NEIGHBORS AT THIS TIME, AND THE COMPROMISE OF ONE EYE, AFFECTED VISION IN THE OTHER, AS A NERVE HAD BEEN DAMAGED BY THE SHARP IMPACT. BASICALLY, THE OLD WOMAN SAT DOWN AND WAITED TO DIE. NOW EVEN IF THIS EVENT HAD OCCURRED IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND A DOCTOR HAD BEEN AVAILABLE TO TEND THE INJURED LADY IMMEDIATELY, THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT A WOUND THIS SERIOUS COULD HAVE BEEN LIFE-THREATENING REGARDLESS. THE SUFFERING HOWEVER, WOULD HAVE BEEN GREATLY RELIEVED SOONER, AND THE WOOD SHARD REMOVED QUICKLY AFTER THE ACCIDENT, IF SHE HAD BEEN CLOSER TO A PHYSICIAN.

     MEDICAL ASSISTANCE WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY IN THE HAMLETS AND VILLAGES, DURING THE FIRST THREE DECADES OF SETTLEMENT IN MUSKOKA, BUT THOSE IN THE ISOLATED, RURAL AREAS OF THE REGION, WERE MOST AT RISK; AND AT THE SAME TIME, WERE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO FARMSTEAD INJURY. CONSIDER THE LOGGERS WORKING IN ISOLATED CAMPS, WITHOUT ANY MEDICAL PROVISIONS, OTHER THAN BASIC SUPPLIES OF DISINFECTANTS, SPLINTS, AND BANDAGES. THEY LIVED AND WORKED IN A PERPETUAL STATE OF DIRE CONSEQUENCE, POTENTIALLY FATAL, IF THEY WERE BADLY INJURED, OR CONTRACTED A MAJOR ILLNESS, SUCH AS SCARLET FEVER, DYPTHERIA, SMALL POX, TUBERCULOSIS, OR EVEN THE INFLUENZA; WHICH PROVED DEADLY DURING SEVERAL MAJOR COUTRY-WIDE OUTBREAKS. EVEN MINOR ILLNESSES AND INFECTIONS, IN SOME CASES, CAUSED BY BACTERIA FROM THE SOIL, PENETRATING INTO OPEN WOUNDS ON THE HANDS AND FEET, WOULD CLAIM LIVES SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY. WHILE MANY ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES HAVE BEEN IMPROVED UPON, FOR RURAL DWELLERS, IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES, IT IS STILL MORE DIRE TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK IN THE RURAL CLIME, THAN HAVING ONE IN AN URBAN AREA, IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO A HOSPITAL OR MEDICAL CLINIC. SO IMAGINE HAVING A HEART ATTACK IN 1870. IT WAS TIME THEN, BASICALLY, TO PREPARE A GRAVE MARKER. GENERALLY, THE HEART ATTACK WASN'T DIAGNOSED, AND IF IT DIDN'T KILL THE INDIVIDUAL ON THE FIRST ROUND, IT WOULD, BEFORE LONG,  BE THE EVENTUAL CAUSE OF SUDDEN DEATH.

     SO WHAT BEGAN AS A REQUIREMENT OF THIS ISOLATED LIFE, WAS FOR HOMEMAKERS, PARENTS AND ELDERS, TO QUICKLY BECOME PIONEER NURSE PRACTITIONERS, IN ESSENCE, BECAUSE THEY WERE USUALLY THE FIRST RESPONDERS BY CIRCUMSTANCE. WHILE SOME OF THE REMEDIES AND CURES WERE BORROWED FROM THEIR INDIVIDUAL CULTURAL ROOTS, MUCH WAS LEARNED FROM THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE, WHO SHARED SOME OF THEIR REMEDIES WITH THOSE IN IMMEDIATE NEED. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE IS A STORY ABOUT A MUSKOKA LAKES MAN, WHO HAD SUFFERED A MAJOR BURN TO HIS STOMACH AREA, AND WAS BEING TRANSPORTED ACROSS LAKE ROSSEAU, TO PORT CARLING, AND THEN, IF HE SURVIVED THIS PART OF THE JOURNEY, HE WOULD BE TRAVERSED BY CANOE TO EITHER A DOCTOR IN BRACEBRIDGE, OR GRAVENHURST. NEAR PORT CARLING, HE WAS MET BY A FIRST NATIONS INDIVIDUAL, WHO, AFTER HEARING OF THE MEDICAL COMPLAINT OF THE PATIENT, IN TOW, OFFERED TO MAKE A POULTICE TO APPLY TO THE SERIOUS WOUND. THE NATURAL DRESSING WAS APPLIED TO THE BURNED FLESH, AND ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, THE INJURED MAN EXPERIENCED CONSIDERABLE RELIEF. IT IS NOW A RURAL LEGEND, BUT IT IS SAID THE WOUND BECAME MUCH LESS PAINFUL, AND SOON BEGAN TO HEAL AS A RESULT OF THE NATURAL TREATMENT HE'D RECEIVED. IT WAS THOUGHT BY HIS RESCUERS, THAT THE MAN WOULDN'T SURVIVE THE TRIP. HE DID, THANKS TO THIS INTERVENTION. THUS, WHATEVER THE NATURAL INGREDIENTS WERE, THAT THE PARTY WAS ABLE TO LEARN ABOUT, IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN RE-CREATED AT SETTLER'S HOMESTEADS, TO TREAT CERTAIN TYPES OF INJURIES THERE-AFTER. AS WELL, THERE WERE A LOT OF CULTURAL REMEDIES BROUGHT FROM EUROPE AND ADJUSTED TO THE PLANT AVAILABILITY IN OUR REGION.

     CONTAINED IN THE 1950 DOCUMENT, "FOLK-LORE OF WATERLOO COUNTRY," BY W.J. WINTEMBERG, FROM A LARGE COLLECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS, COMPILED FOR THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CANADA, THERE IS A SECTION ENTITLED "FOLK-MEDICINE AND METERIA MEDICA." ALTHOUGH THESE REMEDIES CAME FROM THIS SOUTH WEST AREA OF THE PROVINCE, EARLY IN THE 1800'S, MANY OF THE SAME NATURAL TREATMENTS AND MEDICAL LORE COULD BE FOUND, BEING REGULARLY AND FAITHFULLY EMPLOYED IN THE HOMESTEADS OF OUR DISTRICT AS WELL. HERE A FEW OF THE MOST INTERESTING TREATMENTS, GATHERED AND APPLIED BY THE HOME PRACTITIONER:

     ASTHMA: "BOIL THE LUNGS OF A FOX IN WATER AND DRINK THE LIQUID. OBVIOUSLY THE LUNG OF THE FOX WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE THAT ANIMAL CAN RUN LONG DISTANCES WITHOUT ITS POWERS OF RESPIRATION BECOMING IMPAIRED; AND, ASTHMA BEING A DISEASE THAT AFFECTS BREATHING, ONE CAN READILY UNDERSTAND WHY A FOX'S LUNG WAS CHOSEN AS A CURE."

     BEE STINGS:  "IF YOU CAN SUCCEED IN KILLING THE BEE THAT STINGS YOU, THE WOUND WILL NOT MORTIFY. MUD APPLIED TO A BEE STING WILL HELP ALLAY THE PAIN."

     BLOOD PURIFIER: "TEA MADE FROM THE LEAVES OF THE HEMLOCK SPRUCE IS USED AS A BLOOD PURIFIER."

     BOILS:  "COW EXCREMENT IS APPLIED TO A BOIL TO BRING IT TO A HEAD. THE INNER WHITE SKIN OF AN EGG IS USED FOR THE SAME PURPOSE."

     COLD CURES: "TEA MADE FROM THE FLOWERS OF THE MAYWEED IS USED FOR COLDS. A TEA MADE FROM THE LEAVES OF THE CATNIP IS USED FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. ANOTHER TEA MADE FROM THE BARK OF THE SPICE BUSH, AND THE TWIGS WERE CHEWED FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. A FAMILIAR COLD CURE WAS A TEA MADE FROM THE FLOWERS OF THE COMMON MULLEIN."

     COLIC: "IF BEFORE BREAKFAST, ON EASTER MORNING, YOU SUCK A RAW EGG THAT WAS LAID ON GOOD FRIDAY, IT WILL KEEP YOU FROM GETTING THE COLLIC THE REST OF THE YEAR (AMISH)."

     CONSUMPTION: FOR CONSUMPTION EAT THE LEAF OF A MALE DANDELION FOR NINE SUCCESSIVE MORNINGS. A TEA MADE FROM THE FECES OF A BLACK HORSE WAS ONCE PRESCRIBED AS A CURE FOR PULMONARY TROUBLE."

     CURE FOR BAD TEMPER: "PASS THE CHILD HEAD FIRST THROUGH THE LEFT LEG OF ITS FATHER'S TROUSERS."

     DOG BITE: TAKE SOME OF THE HAIR OF THE DOG THAT BIT YOU AND PLACE THEM IN THE WOUND."

     DYSENTERY: "A TEA MADE FROM THE LEAVES OF THE CURLED DOCK IS USED AS A CURE. A TEA PREPARED FROM THE LEAVES OF THE KNOT-GRASS, WAS ALSO REGARDED AS A CURE. A TEA MADE FROM THE LEAVES OF THE PLAINTAIN-LEAVED, EVERLASTING, WAS USED FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. ANOTHER CURE WAS A TEA PREPARED FROM THE ROOTS OR THE LEAVES OF THE WILD RED RASPBERRY, THE BLACK RASPBERRY, AND THE HIGH BLACKBERRY. THE TEA, HOWEVER, MUST BE PREPARED IN A POT THAT HAS NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY USED."

     "DYSPEPSIA: "A TEA MADE FROM CHIPS OF IRON WOOD IS SAID TO BE A GOOD CURE FOR DYSPEPSIA. THE DECOCTION IS PREPARED FROM THE HEARTWOOD, A HANDFUL OF CHIPS BEING BOILED WITH TWO PINTS OF WATER, AND THE FLUID IS ALLOWED TO BOIL DOWN TO ONE PINT, WHICH IS THEN USED AS A TONIC."

     EARACHE:  "A POULTICE MADE FROM THE WOOD OF A BLACK SHEEP IS CONSIDERED A VERY EFFECTIVE CURE."

     FOR THE EYES:  "WEAR EARRINGS FOR SORE EYES. TAKE THE BLOOD OF A BAT AND BATHE YOUR EYES WITH IT AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE AS WELL IN THE DARK, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE DAYTIME. (DON'T USE RABID BAT) THE CALCAREOUS BODY FOUND IN THE COMMON FRESHWATER CRAYFISH, IS SUPPOSED TO BE USEFUL IN REMOVING FOREIGN SUBSTANCES FROM THE EYE."

     CURES FOR FITS: "GIVE THE BLOOD OF A BLACK HEN AS A DRINK TO THE PATIENT.  TO CURE A CHILD, THUS AFFLICTED, TAKE IT INTO THE WOODS, PLACE IT WITH ITS BACK AGAINST A TREE, AND BORE A HOLE INTO THE TREE ABOVE THE CHILD'S HEAD. THEY THEN CUT OFF SOME OF THE CHILD'S HAIR AND STUFF IT INTO THE HOLE, WHICH THEY THEN CLOSED WITH A WOODEN PLUG. IT WAS BELIEVED THAT AS THE CHILD GREW UP ABOVE THE HOLE, THE DISEASE DISAPPEARED. A PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN TOLD ME THAT IF A PERSON WHO WAS SUBJECT TO FITS, FOUND A HORSESHOE WITH THE NAILS STILL IN THE HOLES, HE WAS TO REMOVE THEM AND HAVE THEM MADE INTO RINGS. THESE, HE SAID, WOULD HAVE A SALUTARY EFFECT IF WORN BY THE AFFLICTED PERSON."

     FRECKLES: "TO KEEP A CHILD FROM GETTING FRECKLES RUB A LIVE GOSLING OVER ITS FACE. DEW RUBBED ON THE FACE BEFORE SUNRISE ON A MORNING DURING THE MONTH OF MAY, WILL REMOVE FRECKLES AND GIVE ONE A BEAUTIFUL COMPLEXION."

     CURE FOR GOITRE: " TO CURE GOITRE OR THICK NECK, WIND A BLACK RIBBON AROUND THE NECK THREE TIMES AND THEN PUT THE RIBBON INTO A COFFIN WITH A CORPSE BUT DO IT SECRETLY. RUB THE HAND OF THE CORPSE ON THE GOITRE. ANOTHER CURE WAS TO RUB A LIVE FROG ON IT, AND THEN BURY THE ANIMAL ALIVE, WITH ITS HEAD DOWNWARD. IT WAS BELIEVED THAT AS THE FROG DISAPPEARED THE GROWTH WOULD ALSO DISAPPEAR.

    HEADACHE:  A DECOCTION MADE FROM THE LEAVES OF THE COMMON SPEEDWELL IS USED FOR A HEADACHE."

    HICCOUGH: "WHEN ANYONE HICCOUGHS IT IS CUSTOMARY TO SAY, 'YOU HAVE STOLEN SOMETHING.' THIS IT IS BELIEVED, WILL STOP IT, BY FRIGHTENING THE PERSON AND MAKING HIM FORGET TO HICCOUGH."

    HYDROPHOBIA: "TEA MADE FROM THE LEAVES OF A COMMON CHICKWEED IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PREVENTATIVE OF HYDROPHOBIA."

    INFLAMMATION: "TO CURE INFLAMMATION OF THE FINGER, DIP THE FINGER THREE TIMES INTO HOT WATER."

    CURES FOR JAUNDICE: "EAT ALL THE CARROTS YOU CAN."

    LUMBAGO:  "A CURE FOR LUMBAGO IS TO LIE ON THE FLOOR, FACE DOWNWARDS, AND HAVE YOUR WIFE TREAD ON THE AFFLICTED PART."

    RHEUMATISM CURES: "CARRY A HORSE CHESTNUT IN THE POCKET. A SALVE MADE OF EARTHWORMS WAS USED AS A CURE. THE SKIN OF A WHITE WEASEL WORN ABOUT THE PERSON IS REGARDED AS A PREVENTATIVE. IT IS CLAIMED THAT A PERSON MAY TRANSFER A DISEASE TO SOME ANIMAL BY HAVING THE ANIMAL SLEEP WITH HIM OR CONSTANTLY NEAR HIM. THE COMMON GUINEA PIG WAS KEPT BY SOME FOR THE PURPOSE OF CURING RHEUMATISM, AND IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THE DISEASE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE ANIMAL BY FONDLING IT."

    CURE FOR RUPTURE: "TAKE THE HAND OF A CORPSE AND PRESS THE THUMB ON THE RUPTURE AND IT WILL BE CURED."

    FOR SORE MOUTH: "BLACKSMITH'S FORGE WATER IS USED AS A WASH FOR SORE MOUTH."

    FOR SORE THROAT:  "TAKE THE SOCK OFF YOUR LEFT FOOT, TURN IT INSIDE OUT, AND WEAR IT AROUND YOUR NECK. IT IS SAID THE CURE WILL BE MORE EFFECTUAL IF THE SOCK IS RED."

    CURES FOR SIDE-STITCH: "SPIT ON A PEBBLE AND THROW IT OVER YOUR SHOULDER, AND THEN WALK AWAY WITHOUT LOOKING BACK AT IT. ANOTHER CURE IS TO OVERTURN A STONE, AND SPIT INTO THE CAVITY IN THE SOIL CAUSED BY ITS REMOVAL, AND THEN REPLACE THE STONE."

    STOPPING THE FLOW OF BLOOD: "TO STOP NOSE-BLEEDING PUT A KEY ON THE BACK OF THE PERSON'S NECK, THE COLDNESS OF THE METAL SOMETIMES PRODUCING THE DESIRED EFFECT. ANOTHER METHOD IS TO TIE A STRING OF RED YARN ROUND ONE OF YOUR FINGERS, USUALLY THE LITTLE FINGER. PRODUCING THE DESIRED EFFECTS. COBWEBS ARE USED AS A STYPTIC OF FLESH CUTS OR WOUNDS."

    TOOTHACHE CURES: "PUT A PIECE OF GARLIC IN THE EAR ON THE SAME SIDE AS THE ACHING TOOTH. THE WHITE LIMY PARTICLES IN HEN'S FECES WERE SOMETIMES USED. ONE WAS PLACED IN THE HOLLOW OF THE ACHING TOOTH. CUT OFF A BUNCH OF YOUR HAIR AND PLACE IT WITH A CORPSE IN A COFFIN. THIS MUST BE DONE SECRETLY. A BONE FROM A PIG'S SKULL CALLED 'BRAIN TOOTH,' IS CARRIED IN THE POCKET AS A PREVENTATIVE. IT IS ALSO WORN SUSPENDED AROUND A CHILD'S NECK TO ASSIST IN TEETHING."