Living In The Shadow Of Death – Sheila M Rothman

The physician advised an entire change of climate … [and] finally approved of our con- templated trip across the plains in a ‘prairie schooner’ for . . . an out of door life was advocated as a cure for this disease. In my case, as in that of many others, my health was restored long before the end of our journey.”25 Oth- ers like Margaret Hereford gave positive reports on the benefits of an over- land voyage to California. “This must be a healthy climate,” she wrote to her mother-in-law, “or it may be that hard work agrees with me, for I do all my own washing and ironing….

So you see … I am blessed in that respect, for I regained my health and strength.”° As more and more invalids went West, the number of narratives prolifer- ated, and so did the belief that health would come to all who journeyed across the plains. In Mark Twain’s Roughing It, the anecdotes of rejuvena- tion achieved their ultimate acknowledgment, becoming the stuff of par- ody. “Three months of camp life on Lake Tahoe,” recounted Twain, “would restore an Egyptian mummy to his pristine vigor. … The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious.

And why shouldn’t it be?—it is the same the angels breathe.” Drawing on the anecdotes of others he declared: “I know a man who went there to die but he made a failure of it. He was a skeleton when he came and could barely stand…. Three months later he was sleeping out of doors regularly, eating all he could hold, three times a day, and chasing game over mountains three thousand feet high for recreation.

And he was a skeleton no longer, but weighed part of a ton. This is no fancy sketch but the truth. His disease was consump- tion. I confidently recommend his experience to other skeletons.” But Twain’s hyperbole paid full tribute to the myth—and the consumptive could well be forgiven for taking it quite literally.’

The fantasies of the West as a health-giving Eden shaped the approach of medical treatises, particularly those emanating from the West itself. ‘These texts appeared to give a scientific grounding to the fantasies, popularizing and legitimating them still further. In the process, an American brand of medicine emerged, distinct from the traditions of Europe and seemingly capable of curing consumption.

On Their Own: The Poor in Modern America (co-edited with David J. Rothman) Sources of the American Social Tradition (co-edited with David J. Rothman) Woman’s Proper Place: A History of Changing Ideals & Practices 1870 to the Present The Willowbrook Wars (co-authored with David J. Rothman) LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH Tuberculosis and the Social Experience of Illness in American History SHEILA M. ROTHMAN The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore and London Copyright © 1994 by BasicBooks, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Originally published in a hardcover edition by BasicBooks, 1994 Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition, 1995 This edition is published by arrangement with BasicBooks, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Oi Wee W2 Ole My ey See Sie Sis 8S oe ais SiG aM The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4319 The Johns Hopkins Press Ltd., London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data will be found at the end of this book.

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-8018-5186-6 (pbk.) For Micol As she begins a career dedicated to caring and healing CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction BRWN CONN 10 11 PART | THE INVALID EXPERIENCE: NEW ENGLAND MEN, 1810—60 THE DREADED DISEASE MANHOOD AND INVALIDISM Sl Ei) GPAOERSS Ui O}F EEA et BODY AND SOUL PART II THE FEMALE INVALID: THE NARRATIVE OF DEBORAH VINAL FISKE, 1806—44 COMING OF AGE DOMES DiC Dis Es DEBORAH AND HER DOCTORS INTENSIVE CARE PART III HEALTH SEEKERS IN THE WEST, 1840—90 COME.

WESTeAND LIVE DEES PE YeSiGLAN As) LIVING PROO® THE WESTERN NARRATIVE 13 26 45 57 Jap OS 116 A331 148 161 CONTENTS PART IV BECOMING A PATIENT, 1882-1940 12 -A DISEASE OF THE°MXSS®HS 179 13> “GONFINING FOR CURE 194 14 IN THE SHADOW OF THE SANATORIUM Lid 15 THE SANATORIUM NARRATIVE 226 Epilogue La Appendix 2923 Notes 259 Index 305 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I. THE COURSE OF RESEARCHING AND WRITING, I RECEIVED ASSISTANCE from a number of foundations and individuals and I am delighted to acknowledge their contributions.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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