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AN ABSTRACT OF ThE ThESIS OF Timothy D. Trus sell for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology presented on December 9. 1996. Title: Frontier Military Medicine at Fort Hoskins, 1857-1865: An Archaeological and Historical Perspective. Abstract ap,prçed: Signature redacted for privacy. David Brauner Fort Hoskins, located in Kings Valley, Oregon, was a U.S. Army post established in 1856 and decommissioned in April 1865. In 1992, the site of Fort Hoskins went into the public trust as a Benton County Park. Developing an interpretive center for the park will necessitate ground disturbing activities on the site of the Fort Hoskins Infirmary. Accordingly, in 1993 and 1994, archaeological testing was conducted at this location to determine the potential impact such work will have on the archaeological resources associated with the Infirmary. This thesis examines military medicine at Fort Hoskins and provides a basis for comparison with other similar archaeological sites. American and military medicine during the Civil War period is discussed to provide a broad context within which to interpret operational practice and procedure at Fort Hoskins. Data on sick and wounded at Fort Hoskins is utilized to form a picture of the everyday life and health of soldiers at the post. The general and site specific contexts developed are used to analize the artifact assemblage and provides a valuable source of information regarding medical practice and potential distribution and location of further archaeological resources at Fort Hoskins. Frontier Military Medicine at Fort Hoskins, 1857-1865: An Archaeological and Historical Perspective By Timothy D. Trussell A THESIS Submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Presented December 9, 1996 Commencement June 1997 Master of Arts thesis of Timothy D. Trussell presented on December 9, 1996 APPROVED: Signature redacted for privacy. Major Professor, representing Applied Anthropology Signature redacted for privacy. 1] Chair dl Department of ifthropo1ogy Signature redacted for privacy. Dean of Gradte School I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request Signature redacted for privacy. Timothy D. Trussell, Author ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work would not have been possible without the efforts of many generous and talented individuals. The author would like to extend his appreciation to the following people for their assistance and contributions to this work: My wife Cindy for her patience and for the sacrifices she has made in support of this project; my parents David and Micke Trussell for their encouragement and enthusiasm; Dr. Paul Kopperman, Dr. Roberta Hall, and Mr. George Stankey for serving on my Graduate Committee and for their willingness to provide suggestions and direction; Dr. Louisa Silva for her assistance in understanding health and illness in the nineteenth century; Dr. William Hampton Adams for granting me access to his extensive collection of sources on military history and archaeology; Delight Stone for her countless hours of volunteer help, and for being a constant source of support and sanity; and my sincere gratitude to Dr. David Brauner, who has generously guided me through every phase of this project, and whose tutelage has provided the rarest of all acedemic opportunities- to study under the very best. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page INTRODUCTION 1 Focus of Study 1 Significance of Thesis 3 SITE LOCATION AND HISTORY 5 Site Description 5 Founding of Fort Hoskins 5 Post Hospital 7 AMERICAN MEDICINE, CIRCA 1860 13 The American Medical Profession 13 Medical Schools 16 Thomsonianism and Homeopathy 19 The Demise of Credentials Legislation 21 Medical Science 22 Conclusion 24 THE U.S. ARMY MEDICAL CORPS 25 History of the Medical Corps 25 Reformations during the Civil War 28 LIFE ON THE FRONTIER 30 Manifest Destiny and the Role of the Army 30 Soldiers! Life on the Frontier 32 Comparing Frontier and Battlefield Medicine 34 MEDICAL PERSONEL ON THE FRONTIER 38 Regular Army Surgeons 39 Volunteer Company Surgeons 42 Distinctions Between Surgeons 45 Hospital Stewards 48 Contract Surgeons 50 MEDICAL PERSONNEL AT FORT HOSKINS 53 The Regular Army Period 55 The Volunteer Period 61 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) CHAPTER Page HOSPITAL ROUTINE AND RESPONSIBILITIES 67 Daily Schedule 67 Medical Officers' Responsibilities 70 Hospital Stewards' Responsibilities 72 HEALTH AND ILLNESS AT FORT HOSKINS 76 Methodology 76 Regular Army Soldiers 78 Volunteer Company Soldiers 79 Life and Health at Fort Hoskins 82 Conclusions 90 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT FORT HOSKINS 94 Post Abandonment 94 Excavation Strategy and Methodology 94 Material Culture 100 Personal Items; Indulgence and Recreation 103 Domestic Items; Gustatory 106 Military Items; Apparel 109 Military Items; Armaments 110 Military Items; Medicine 114 Military Items; Bureacratic 116 Conclusions 116 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 123 Historical Perspective 123 Archaeological Perspective 125 Suggestions for Further Research 126 BIBLIOGRAPHY 128 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 Coast Reservation 6 2.2 Fort Hoskins, from E.Y. Chase map of 1864 9 2.3 Interior Plan of Hospital 10 2.4 Enlarged view of Hospital from Chase Map 12 6.1 Regular Army Surgical Kit 40 6.2 Volunteer Surgeons in the Field, 1862 43 6.3 Hospital Steward in formal Uniform 49 6.4 Example of a Contract Surgeon, hired by the U.S. Army 51 8.1 Interior of Civil War Hospital 75 10.1 Frantz-Dunn house, Circa 1976 95 10.2 Frantz-Dunn house and Hospital Comparison 96 10.3 Frantz-Dunn House and Studwall of Hospital 98 10.4 Test Pit Configuration 99 10.5 Amber Bitters Bottles 104 10.6 Tobacco Pipes 105 10.7 Marbles 107 10.8 Ceramics 108 10.9 Epaulettes and Buttons 111 10.10 Ammunition 112 10.11 Hand Blown Green Bottle Glass 114 10.12 Medicine Bottles 115 10.13 Amber Umbrella Ink Bottle 117 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 3.1 Medical Schools Granting Degrees in the United States 17 7.1 Medical Personel at Fort Hoskins 54 7.2 Service Record, Assistant Surgeon Lewis Taylor 57 7.3 Service Record, Surgeon John Randolph 59 7.4 Service Record, Assistant Surgeon Horace Carpenter 61 8.1 Daily Schedules by Commander at Fort Hoskins 68 9.1 Sick and Wounded at Fort Hoskins, 1857-1865 81 9.2 Comparison of Major Categories of Disease at Fort Hoskins, 1857-1865, and the U.S. Army, 1849-1859 84 9.3 Health in the U.S. Army, 1849-1859 91 9.4 Comparison of Annual Mean Strength Affected at Fort Hoskins with the U.S. Army 92 10.1 Artifact Typology 102 10.2 Medical Supplies and Equipment at Fort Hoskins in 1859 118 FRONTIER MILITARY MEDICINE AT FORT HOSKINS, 1857-1865: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Focus of Study The focus of this study is the U.S. Army Infirmary which operated at Fort Hoskins, Oregon, from 1856 through 1865. Excavations were conducted at the site of the Infirmary during the 1993 and 1994 field seasons by Dr. David Brauner of Oregon State University. The purpose of these excavationswas to assess the potential impact of future ground-disturbing activity around the foundation of the Franz-Dunn house, which rests on the site of the Fort Hoskins infirmary. Results of these excavations showed that significant cultural material from the U.S. Army occupation of the sitewas present. However, the relatively small number of hospital specific artifacts found during this project raised questions about military medical practice and procedures of the time, and how they would affect the deposition and distribution of the artifact assemblage at the infirmary. Unfortunately, reports of archaeological excavations at similar western military posts revealed very little information pertaining either to hospital specific material culture, or to medical practice and procedure at these posts. Further research also indicated that while the role of the Army in the west has been thoroughly examined by historians, and medical practice on the eastern battlefields during the Civil War is also documented in great detail, very little research has been doneon military medicine of this era as typically practiced on the frontier. The primary goal of this thesis is to use archaeological data and documentary sources to examine military life and health at Fort Hoskins from 1856 to 1865, and to provide a 2 context for this study through an overview of frontier military medicine during this era. Methods used to accomplish this objective are; 1) extensive utilization of primary sources from Fort Hoskins to describe in detail the personnel, daily routine, duties and responsibilities, and medical practice and procedures at the post; 2) to examine the data on sick and wounded soldiers at the post and compare these statistics with the U.S. Army as a whole in order not only to illustrate health and disease at the post but also to gain insight into the patterns of life of the soldiers stationed there; and 3) to use these conclusions to examine the archaeological data from excavations at the infirmary from an integrated historical and archaeological perspective in order to understand the distribution, type, and frequency of material culture found at the infirmary site. This overview is also intended for use as a comparative tool for other archaeologists researching similar frontier military posts. Primary source materials utilized in this study are varied, and where possible, an emphasis was placed on the use of primary sources when discussing Fort Hoskins specifically. The Fort Hoskins Letterbook, Post Orders, Post Returns, and Medical Records are all National Archives documents referenced in this study. Although some of these collections, and specifically the Medical Records, are incomplete, they represent an excellent window into the daily existance of the soldiers at the post.