MEDICINE AT FORT LARAMIE

                            1849 1890
Fort Laramie, located in what is now the southeastern corner of Wyoming, existed as a military installation from that time It was one of the most important and largest of the Oregon Trail posts.(written by Ritchie M. Burkes)
       

 Ritchie M. Burkes is the wife of 1st. Lt. Glenn R. Burkes,
CM 70,now stationed at Fort Rucker, Ala. Mrs. Burkes graduated in
 American history from the U. of California at Davie in 1967, having
been a student of Dr. W. Terrentine Jackson. She expects to finish her
M.A. theisis on the Frontier Army Surgeon at the University
Of Wyoming during the next year.

  The post surgeon was always one of the best sources of information on
life at a frontier post, and Fort Laramie's surgeons' records are a bonanza. It is a rare entry that pertains to wounds received during Indian encounters.
Indeed, even gunshot wounds were just as often the result of brawls or
accidents on post as of Indian skirmishes. The main duties  of the frontier surgeon were in the treatment of less glamorous disorders.

A century ago, the hospital administration at Fort Laramie was the first under the guidance of Acting Assistant Surgeon James S. Purcell (probably a civilian contract surgeon), followed by Assistant Surgeon J. Basil Girard (1st. lieutenant who was in turn succeeded by Surgeon Frank Meacham (captain). The following entries  give some  insights into the normal duties of these frontier practiconers.

On 24 March, Surgeon Purcell delivered a baby girl. This in itself was not unusual: in the first three months of 1869 he delivered seven babies, including one set of twins. The 24 March birth was different from most in that, as he wrote in a masterpiece of under statment “it was accomplished” after a tedious labor of thirty two hours.
Surgeon Girard took command of the post hospital 28 April. He wrote in May that he had bee

(the Periodical No, 5, Council on Abandoned Military Posts, July)

Captain Meacham was post surgeon when, in September, road repair detail from the Fourth Infantry was attacked by ndians near Laramie Peak. Pvt. Peter Berick was killed, and Vt. Joseph Axgar had his left femur broken.

 On 2 December, mail party was surprised by Indians and Pvt. Herbert Erne, Iso of the Fourth Infantry, was shot through the left hip.4 Tie total number of combat casualties for 1869:

A much more common type of death was drowning, reezing, or dying in a payday brawl. Common, too, was the rouble Surgeon Girard had with his suppUes. His 12 June ntry in the record revealed the following situation:

The medical stores asked for by the Requisition of April 1 St arrived yesterday and the boxes were opened and the condition of the Stores examined into today. EveryŽthing seems to be in pretty good quality and condition, but quite a discrepancy exists between the articles asked for and those actually received. Some articles not needed and not required for, principally Hospital Stores have been sent in large quantities, while some medicine required in large amounts have been cut down so low as to be utterly in^ sufficient. This seems to be the practice of the Medical Purveyor at St. Louis in regard to all the Posts where I have been stationed and proved a serious annoyance to Surgeons, obliging them often to procure Medicine at Citizens drug stores, where the imperfect and insufficient supplies furŽnished by the Medical Purveyor have been exhausted.
The aihnents most frequently treated are seen in the une and July entries by Girardi

(30 June) This month has been comparatively a healthy one. Although the morning sick report showed an average of fifteen patients every day, still most cases were only slight affections. Rheumatism and Bronchitis prevailed as usual in spring time, cuts, bruises, sprains and wars making up most of the remainder.

The July sick call fell to 10 or 12 patients daily. The following entry was made on 30 July:
The prevailing diseases.. are ..rheumatism and Veneral affections besides which the usual proportion of bruises and minor troubles there met with. Rheumatism, cuts, bruises, pneumonia, and problems with supplies occupied the frontier Army surgeon of a century ago. Wounds of war, small-scale epidemics, or unusual medical experiences are often given extra space in the records. Except for an occasional combat wound, the surgeons at Fort Laramie had medical duties similar to their civilian counterparts. The frontier Army surgeon was literally a general practicioner in uniform.

                                          N otes
1.All quotations are from copies of the Records of the Office of the Adjutant General, Medical History of Posts, Fort Laramie. Transcribed from the microfilm at Fort Laramie National Historic Site by Marilyn R. Brittenham and David L. Hieb, 1951. The records are missing for 1880-1882. These are daily journal entries, not the regular monthly reports.

2.The medical records show that 1869 was a typical year at Fort Laramie.
3.There are seven heart-related deaths on the Deaths at Post Register (1867-1889). Though this Register is incomplete, and includes civilian deaths, heart disease ranks high as a cause of death.
4.Meacham goes into grea

t detail as to the extent of Pvt. Erne's wound and the resulting treatment. He sent the SurŽgeon General a full account of same.
5.About 3% of the garrison.
6.The entry of 29 July 1870 reads as follows:
Paymaster Gibson arrived this morning and paid the troops in the afternoon. As a necessary consequence the number of patients in the Hospital was at once increased; with nothing however more serious than a broken rib or two, several sprains and bruises with a few scalp wounds, not all however requiring admittance to Hospital, complete the list of payday casualties.

7.The deaths at post Register hsts pneumonia as the leading cause of death at Ft. Laramie. Drowning ranks second.

Fort Laramie, located in what is now the southeastern corner of Wyoming, existed as a military installation from 1849 to 1890. It was one of the  most important and largest of the Oregon Trail posts.

      The post surgeon was always one of the best sources of information on
life at a frontier post, and Fort Laramie's surgeons' records are a bonanza. It
is a rare entry that perŽtains to wounds received during Indian encounters.
Indeed, even gunshot wounds were just as often the result of brawls or
accidents on post as of Indian skirmishes. The main duties  of the frontier surgeon were in the treatment of less glamorous disorders.

A century ago, the hospital administration at Fort Laramie was the first under the guidance of Acting Assistant Surgeon James S. Purcell (probably a civilian contract surgeon), followed by Assistant Surgeon J. Basil Girard (1st. lieutenant who was in turn succeeded by Surgeon Frank Meacham (captain). The following entries  give some  insights into the normal duties of these frontier practiconers.
On 24 March, Surgeon Purcell delivered a baby girl. This in itself was not unusual: in the first three months of 1869 he delivered seven babies, including one set of twins. The 24 March birth was different from most in that, as he wrote in a masterpiece of under statment “it was accomplished” after a tedious labor of thirty two hours.
Surgeon Girard took command of the post hospital 28 April. He wrote in May that he had been surprised!


 

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