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Zusatztext “A grand-slam contribution to Western history. . . . Dary! one of our greatest historians! reminds us anew how health issues oftentimes determine history.” —Douglas Brinkley “Entertaining and informative. . . . Fast-paced and engaging! rich with colorful events and characters.” — The Washington Post “Dary knows this material cold! and his narrative accumulates authority and dignity as it rolls along. . . . The results are both a horror show and undeniably engrossing.” — New York Times Book Review “Masterly. . . . Enthralling. . . . Enlightening. . . . Dary is particularly effective at showing us the strengths and foibles of early American doctors.” — The Wall Street Journal “Impressive. . . . Entertaining. . . . Dary provides an overview not only of medicine but of society and a searching commentary on how the West evolved.” — North Florida Daily News “A deeply researched! anecdotal history. . . . [Dary is] a skilled storyteller.” — Publishers Weekly “An entertaining survey of the journey to American well-being.” — Kirkus “A wealth of historical discovery.” — Booklist “Colorful. . . . Rich. . . . Those wanting a light and engaging look at a little-explored field of Western lore will not be disappointed.” — Library Journal Informationen zum Autor David Dary Klappentext In this intriguing narrative, David Dary charts how American medicine has evolved since 1492, when New World settlers first began combining European remedies with the traditional practices of the native populations. It's a story filled with colorful characters, from quacks and con artists to heroic healers and ingenious medicine men, and Dary tells it with an engaging style and an eye for the telling detail. Dary also charts the evolution of American medicine from these trial-and-error roots to its contemporary high-tech, high-cost pharmaceutical and medical industry. Packed with fascinating facts about our medical past, Frontier Medicine is an engaging and illuminating history of how our modern medical system came into being.INDIAN MEDICINE Wisdom begins in wonder. —Socrates May is a delightful time to visit the Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma. The little bluestem, the big bluestem, switch, Indian, and grama grasses are green after their winter sleep, and the wildflowers display a variety of colors. Groves of post oak, blackjack, and eastern red cedar dot the landscape. Countless birds, including rare black-?capped vireos, search for nourishment. Everywhere there is a promise of nurture and it warms the soul, as do the warm and gentle breezes from the south. The Wichita Mountains are about 300 million years old, and among the oldest mountain ranges on earth. They consist of two rugged ranges of red granite reaching nearly 2,500 feet at the highest point. They run several miles east and west and enclose a natural prairie where buffalo, elk, prairie dogs, and other wildlife still roam in what is today the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While the Wichitas may lack the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, they are impressive islands projecting upward from a sea of rolling prairie. The Wichitas are rich in lore which includes legends of Indian battles and Spanish treasure. The Spanish penetrated the area in the 1600s, and French traders first traversed the region during the 1770s. Long before the first Europeans arrived, Indians found protection from their enemies in the Wichitas. They also found solace at what is called Medicine Bluff, located near the eastern edge of the mountains. The bluff rises three hundred feet above a creek whose waters were thought by Indians to have special qualities. Indians—Wichitas, Comanches, and Kiowas—most likely named the bluff in their native languages, ...
