Diphtheria is a killer. Without appropriate
intervention, people who contract diphtheria die from strangling. An incredible
story about this dread disease involves William Bent.
Who was William Bent? In Colorado history, he is
revered as a hero. William Bent (1809-1869) began beaver trapping when he was
fifteen on the Arkansas river. He became a mediator between the white American
settlers and the Native Americans. He established a trading fort, Bent’s Fort,
in eastern Colorado on the Santa Fé Trail. Eventually 100 people worked for him
at the fort. In 1835 he married Mistanta, Owl Woman, the beautiful and gifted daughter
of White Thunder, a Cheyenne medicine man and chief. Soon William Bent became a
member of the Cheyenne tribe, the father of four children, and a sub-chief.
Having survived smallpox
in the 1830’s, William had diphtheria in the 1840’s, probably 1845. He couldn’t
talk or swallow. Breathing must have been difficult. Mistanta used a quill to
save his life. She jabbed it into
William’s swollen throat. Evidently the tube traveled behind the larynx and
arrived at the esophagus. She filled her mouth with broth and blew it into the
tube.
Then she called a medicine man named One Eye, who
examined William’s throat by depressing his tongue with a spoon handle. One Eye
stepped outside and collected sandburs (from weeds native to the west and
growing in sand) which had small barbs covering them. He fashioned a thread
from a sinew (animal tendon) and tied a knot in one end. After poking a hole
through the sandbur, he threaded the tendon into it and covered the bur with bone
marrow fat.
The medicine man inserted the greasy ball into William’s
throat, which was covered by the membrane of caused by diphtheria. The marrow
fat liquified, and One Eye pulled the bur out. Part of the dry hard membrane
broke loose and came out. One Eye repeated the process until all the matter was
removed. Not long afterwards, William Bent could eat soup.
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The above article is the original and intellectual
property of Mary Lou Cheatham. Use of any part of this document is not
permitted without expressed written consent of the author, and it may not be
copied without her written consent.
Sources:
(For reference. No material is quoted.)
Dary, David. Frontier Medicine (Vintage
International). Kindle Edition. Vintage, 2008.
King, Judy.
"William Bent." Colorado Encyclopedia, Peng, Jamie. "Mistanta (Owl Woman)." Colorado Encyclopedia, http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/mistanta-owl-woman.
William Bent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bent
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