Medicine on the Expedition

Choke Cherry

Picture
Lewis's knowledge of herbal medicine paid off occasionally during the expedition. Whil ehe had left the main party to search for the Great Falls, Lewis did not have the party's medical supplies available to him. While exploring, he had a high fever and violent intestinal pains. He gathered branches of a choke cherry bush, removed the poisonous leaves, and cut the twigs into two inch pieces. Lewis boiled the twogs in what and made a black decoction with a bitter taste. He drank two pints of the decoction and was able to have "a comfortbale and refreshing nights rest" later that night. Showing just how effective it was, Lewis set out on a twenty-seven mile hike the next day.

Medical Equipment

Picture
Medical equipment was very limited on the expedition; they had what they set out with unless they would trade with Indians. Medical equipment such as lancets, used for blood letting by penetrating a vein and having a stragetically placed bowl collect the blood,  and syringes and clysters to treat venereal diseases, particulary dealing with mercury. The journals of Lewis and Clark do not say if dental equipment was used or if a tourniquet, a device used to compress arteries leading to a certain area to stop bleeding or blood flow,  was used.

Medical Supplies Taken

Picture
Preparing for the expedition was very challenging for Lewis; he needed to buy all the essentials for an expedition such as firearms, and enough supplies to last for a indefinite amount of time and indefinite amount of men. In the spring of 1803, Lewis was in Philadelphia buying goods and supplies such as camping gear, dry goods, linens, presents to give to the Indians, and scientific instruments. Lewis alone spent $90.60 on medical supplies, which is worth $1,278.67 today! One third of the total cost was spent on fifteen pounds of Cinchona bark (pictured right) which contains quinine, a effective treatment for malaria. Laudanum was also bought, which is used as a pain killer and sleeping aid. The rest of the medical items were laxatives or a medicine that would make you purge through vomiting. Lewis also took over 600 pills from Dr. Rush called "Thunderclaps" to use as a poweful and explosive purgative. Spices and flavorings such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and clover were bought to add flavor to the terrible taste of the medicine.

The Mosquito and Malaria

Picture
On the expedition, Lewis and Clark were not aware that mosquitos carried disease. However, Dr. Benjamin Rush believed malaria was caused by bad air from swamps, where mosquitos lived, but he never drew the conclusion. While Lewis was in Philadelphia in 1803, he bought many items to combat mosquitos. Lewis bought mosquito curtains, and catgut and tallow mixed with hog's lard to use as a insect repellent. At this time, malaria was the most common disease in America. The symptoms included three stages In the cold stage, the victim had a fever with rigo and extreme cold. In the next stage, the hot stage, the fever can rise to over 105 degrees, bringing an intense headache. In the final stage, the victim experiences extreme sweating that can last up to two hours, which decreases the victim's temperature back to normal. However, malaria can affect the vivtim throughout his or her lifetime. A common cure on the expedition was to take one of Rush's pills to get rid of the symptoms. Quinine was also used, which is found in Cinchoa bark, to interfer with the reproduction and growth of the malaria causing cells in the red blood cells.

Rheumatism

Picture
Rheumatism was major problem for the men during the winters. Rheumatism caused sorness adn stiffness of the muscles and joints which made doing everyday jobs more difficult. Clark was greatly affected by rheumatism throughout the journey and even left his neck immobile for a period of time one night. The common treatment for rheumatism was to wrap a hot stone in flannel and place it on the affected spot to give temporary ease to the area.

Accidents and Injuries

Picture
Boating
Boating accidents were mentioned frequently in the member's journals.Some of the men could not even swim, but nobody drowned during the expedition. One of the most serious accidents happened on April 13, 1805 when a boat holding medicine, instruments, merchandise, Sacagawea and her child, and three men who could not swim tipped and lost control. Precious articles were floating away, yet Sacagawea remained calm and retrieved the floating items.


Falls

Picture
Many member sof the expedition suffered serious falls in the rugged mountainous terrian, fortunately none of them fatal. Lewis experienced many falls in which could of ended in death. Within a few days of his departure from a winter camp near St. Louis, he was examining Indian photos while standing on rocks above a three hundred foot drop above the Missouri River. He slipped and fell from the rock but stopped himself after falling twenty feet. In June 1805  in the Rockies, Lewis fell off of a slippery rock but reached a place of safety.

Foot Injuries

Picture
Foot injruies were very common during the trip. The rough terrain and prickly pear cacti all posed as problems for the Corps of Discovery. Lewis refers to the pirckly pears as "extremely troublesome." The men were going through many pairs of moccasins from the long marches and challenging terrain, but they soon learned to put a double sole onto the moccasins. The member that was affected the most was Seaman, Lewis's dog. Seaman walked with the Corps of Discovery, but wearing moccasins was not an option for him. The Corps faced the problems of this plant throughout there exploration of the Great Plains and Clark said that it "forms one of the beauties as well as the greatest pests of the plains." In present day Montana while traveling overland around the Great Falls, the men's shoes were very thin and they had problems warding off the sharp spines of the cacti. It took the explorers eleven days to carry boats and supplies over a 10 mile hike because of the cacti. While camping at the west coast, the Corps even sewed 338 pair of new moccasins in one winter because of the cold and cacti. Most of the members complained of their feet an dlegs being very sore. Lewis followed Rush's suggestion to wash their feet in cold water to counteract the soreness and the treatment worked.

Cuts and Lacerations

Picture
The men of the expedition used knives, axes, and other sharp objects. John Potts badly cut his leg and Lewis had difficultly stopping the bleeding until applying pressure. Lewis had sown the cut and after four days, the cut was still inflamed and swollen, but Lewis applied roots and leaves of wild ginger whcih brought great relief to Potts.

Horses

Picture
Horses were essential parts of the expedition as a source of transportation and sometimes even a source of food. Some men had accidents while riding a horse. George Gibson fell off of his horse while mounting it and had a snag penetrate two inches into his thigh. Gibson had great complains of pain in his knee, hip, and thigh. Lewis hunted for some wild ginger for  apoltice for Gibson's wound. Gibson resumed walking after two weeks. Lewis also had a accident on a horse when in the Bitter Root Mountains, his horse slipped and fell. Lewis was thrown backwards off of the horse and slid forty feet down a slope before stopping himself.

Gunshot Injury

Picture
On August 11, 1806, the only gunshot of the whole expedition occured. While Lewis was hunting elk with Peter Cruzatte, he was shot in the left thigh adn the ball brushed the back of his right thigh and it bled considerably. Luckily, it did not strike the femur or the femoral artery. Cruzatte was nersighted and tried to blame the wound on an attack by Indians, but he soon confessed and said it was "not his intention." Almost a month later on Spetember 9th, Clark wrote in his journal that Lewis had fully recovered from his wounds and could walk normally and partially run. Howveer, Lewis wrote that the "parts were still tender."

Weather

Picture
Many men on the expedition suffered frostbite from the extremely cold temperatires of the winter. Int he winter of 1804-05, the temperatures at one point dipped 45 degrees below zero. Frostbite was a major problem at Fort Mandan and men had frostbitten feet and even a frostbitten ear. Clark led fifteen men on a buffalo hunt and Lewis wrote "several men returned a little frost bit, one of the men with his feet bady frost bit and my servants [York] feet also frosted. On January 10, 1805, an Indian boy even came to the camp after being out all night with only a buffalo robe on and no fire. His feet were frosted and Lewis had to amputate the boy's toes from one foot about two weeks later. Rain was also a problem and wrok was harder to do when the cold and rain combined. Patrick Gass noted that there was only twleve days without rain from November 4, 1805, to March 25, 1806. Rheumatic pains were a result of the cold, wet weather. While near the Yellowstone River, wind was blowing sand which made visibility limited and it was in all of their supplies so that the Corps had to "eat, drink, and breath it." Irritated, red eyes were a symptom of the blowing sand.

Animals and Insects

Picture
Animals were essential parts of the expedition: horses were used for transportation and food, and deer, elk, rabbit, prairie dogs, beaver, wild turkeys, and buffalo were hunted for food. However, they posed as a dangerous threat for the Corps. Buffalo, wolves, bears, and rattlesnakes were very dangerous threats. A wolf bit a sleeping member of the expedition, a buffalo charged through camp, a member stepped on a rattlesnake, and a memeber woke up to a rattle snake coiled next to him. Grizzly bears were the most dangerous though, They were the hardest to kill because they had to be brought down with multiple shots and it took minutes to reload the gun. Hugh McNeal even shot a bear in the lungs and it chased him a mile and a half before collapsing. Insects wee also a major problem because of their bites, diseases, and troublesomeness. Fleas were acquired from the Indians and were very hard to get rid of because each memeber usually only had one or two pairs of clothes.

Nutrition

Picture
When the Corps hunted for meat, they ususally saved some the amount to use at a later time so they could have the best balanced diet they could possibly have. The members usually ate portbale soup and brought 193 pounds of it along with them. The men had an uncertain and unbalanced diet that was made up of a lot of protein and meat such as dog, deer, elk, and buffalo. Berries and other wild fruits were mixed in their diet. To feed the men the group had to catch a buffalo, elk and a bear, or 4 deer each day. Each man could eat up to nine pounds of meat per day. When hunting was very successful, they would dry the meat and use it for a later use. Moreover, the the jerked meat was infected with bacteria and was a source of intestinal problems.