Louis Lamour Book Reviews

Quackery was a famously profitable industry throughout the 18th and 19th centuries throughout the United States as well as Europe and other parts of the world.  Even today in the 20th century many untried supplements and herbal remedies continue to be sold with varying levels of success at natural and organic markets throughout the country and around the world.

Among the most famous is Dr. Godbold’s Vegetable Balsam of Life which was purported to cure consumption, asthma, coughs and the common cold.   Louis L’amour did his research and makes use of the fame of quackery in Hanging Woman Creek.  The cattle rustler Tom Gatty specifically asks for Dr. Godbold’s Vegetable Balsam of Life on one occaision, refusing to settle for Gardner’s Horse Linament.

Ann Bronte took Dr. Godbold’s Vegetable Balsam, but to no avail.  In the end she perished.  It appears that the balsam did little help the fictional Tom Gatty either.

How much of modern supplements and home remedies are legacies of quackery?  How many really work?  Which discoveries of modern medicine wait just around the corner?