GOLD RUSH QUACKS

© Craig MacDonald

When a miner became ill after drinking water from the Yuba River, a doctor said to put hot pancakes on his stomach. It relieved the pain but nearly blistered his skin.

Finding sound medical advice during the Gold Rush wasn't easy because well over half of the doctors may have been imposters, according to some medical historians.

"In the Gold Rush, there were far more imposters and quacks than competent doctors," confirmed the California Medical Association.

"In no country is there a greater proportion of unscrupulous and murderous pretenders to be unmasked…." editorialized "The California State Medical Journal" in 1856. It was impossible to distinguish the trained physician from the untrained poser.

"The money to be made in medicine attracted hordes of quacks in the goldfields," wrote Historian George Groh. "A man's credentials were as good as his bluff. One prominent physician turned out to be an escaped convict, another a horsethief!"

"As far as accepting gold dust for pretended medical science, it was like poker. Anyone could take a hand and the sky was the limit. They practiced and prospered throughout the Sierra," noted Historian Henry Harris, MD.

Often the patient not only didn't get healed by the treatment but the only thing that disappeared was his money and the doctor. Some outraged victims of quacks complained that "MD" stood for "Money Down."

Dr. Pierre Garnier, a French physician for a European mining company, complained about the total lack of medical regulations in the Gold Rush. "Americans give the title ‘Doctor' to anyone who desires to be so called. When a miner is ill, he goes to the first person with the title of ‘Doctor,' never requiring further credentials. There are no medical associations here."

Sierra miners needed doctors mainly to treat Mountain Fever or ague (chills), pleurisy and broken bones. Malaria, diarrhea and scurvy were also common problems.

Treatments usually cost from $16 to $150 or more per visit, depending on circumstances.

In the 1850s, "near" or "quasi" doctors were increasingly frequent sights in mining camps and cities as they rushed to claim their share of the "gold." Dr. Garnier estimated that of the 200 "doctors" in San Francisco, only 30 were genuine.

"When one of the quackeries is inoculated into a community, nothing can arrest its spread," wrote Daniel Drake, MD, who campaigned against imposters in medicine.

One obnoxious Placerville quack (Dr. Hullings) was reportedly "too drunk to feel a pulse, much less perform an operation." Hullings detested legitimate physicians and tore up the medical school diploma of a new doctor in town named Willis. A Willis friend, who witnessed the incident, knocked Hullings down and fatally shot the phony in a duel shortly thereafter. Ironically, Dr. Willis' first official act was to sign the death certificate for Hullings!

Another quack held consultations in his Grass Valley bar, handing out medicine at the same counter where he poured whiskey.

A Dr. Bourne, who traveled from camp to camp, used "electro-chemical" baths to treat Mountain Fever, jaundice and sexual disorders.

One Sonora "medicine" man had a patient with lice, lay on an ant hill, letting the ants eat the lice.

Yet another vagabond lured miners in to hear a lecture on "Wasting Manhood" (Venereal Disease, Impotence and the like). For a $10 fee, you not only got to hear the lecture but have a urine sample analyzed. At the lecture's conclusion, you usually received the horrifying news that the analysis uncovered a disease which could be eradicated by a $500 "treatment."

One practitioner gave his clients opium no matter what their medical problem.

(There also were quack dentists. Many miners had bad teeth and prices were extravagant to get them fixed. "The Sacramento Bee" reported George Smiley sued a quack for $10,000 because the "dentist" allegedly "broke his two front teeth, rendering his voice husky and injuring his business as an auctioneer.")

Things got so nasty that qualified medical professionals and citizens, who had been burned by quackery, pushed for regulations and the formation of medical societies.

The Sacramento Medical Society was founded in 1855 to, among other things, "protect regular practitioners and the public from innovations and malpractice of uneducated pretenders…."

The California State Medical Society was established in 1856 to set medical standards as "it was impossible to distinguish the trained physician from the self-styled healer." (Later, the California Medical Association became prominent.)

Nevada and California passed Medical Practice Acts to protect citizens and the legitimate physician. Some of these physicians from the Gold Rush became nationally-known. Two (Drs. R.B. Cole and Thomas Logour) ended up Presidents of the American Medical Association.

"The Golden State" has been known for its leadership in medical research and training ever since.

(Craig MacDonald's great-grandmother came to California in a covered wagon during the Gold Rush. Two other relatives came as a miner and gambler. He has spoken before the Conference of California Historical Societies and been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.)