For many miners, the report of 34-year-old Dr. Anthony J. Lanza came a “day late and a dollar short.” Near the beginning of the last century, this...
The Misery of Mining in the Old West
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Dr. Jim Kornberg
The Death of Chief Crazy Horse
“He has killed me now,” were the reported words of Crazy Horse, one of the greatest chiefs of the Sioux Nations, just after he was bayoneted at...
Watch Those Splinters!
The old rancher carefully studied the index finger of his left hand where he had sustained a deep splinter four days earlier. He knew that his...
Survival in the Cold Old West
A combination of history and legend tells us that near midnight, on the eve of Christmas day 1866, a man appeared on horseback outside the...
The Fastest Killer in the Old West
In August 1873, Dr. J.B. Van Velson, city physician for Yankton, capital of Dakota Territory, reported upon the arrival of some Russian emigrants...
Serpents – Lethal Enemies?
“The first thing...should be to draw a cord tightly around the leg or arm...a short distance above the place bitten....Internally, give the patient...
Hope In a Bottle
“Step right up and git yur bottle of Dr. Jim’s Miracle Tonic. It’s only 50 cents, folks, and will change your life forever!” Suddenly, a stooped...
Medical Desperation
Who knows the number of times that pioneers, cowboys, military men and others in the Old West suffered from afflictions of one sort or another that...
That Cowboy Stench
Having worked in the emergency room as a young physician throughout the 1970s, I learned the difference between human “sweat” and “stench,” as these...
What’s in the Bag?
Colorado Territory, February 1874. Fictional frontier doctor Elijah Baines sat quietly at the bedside of his 64-year-old female patient Sarah, who...
Food Poisoning in the Old West
While watching our favorite Western movie or TV characters eat a sumptuous meal at the local boarding house, café or sitting around the old...
The Great Race of Mercy
The place was Nome, Alaska. Dr. Curtis Welch waited anxiously for his prayers to be answered in the early morning hours of February 2, 1925....