USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > Los Angeles from the mountains to the sea : with selected biography of actors and witnesses to the period of growth and achievement, Volume I > Part 23
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We find in the old records that the people who came with this expedition of 1769 became sorely afflicted with many maladies, chief among which was the terrible scourge of scurvy. Their lives were hard and their constant diet of salt meats made scurvy inevitable. And, night and day, through all those desperate months while they wrought to plant Chris- tianity and civilization on the soil of the strange new land to which they had come, it was Dr. Pedro Prat who had upon his devoted shoulders the heaviest burden to bear.
His scant supply of medicines that he had brought up with
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him in the ship from the peninsula soon ran out. But even this did not daunt him. He made a scientific study of the curative plants and herbs in the valleys and hills round about San Diego, and these he utilized, often with striking results, in the cure of the sick.
Like all great physicians, like all true doctors, Pedro Prat never gave a thought to himself while the cry of the sick was in his ears.
We read also in later of the old chronicles of other white physicians who came to California and made their headquar- ters in the various missions.
One hundred and twenty-five years ago there was in Cali- fornia a doctor whose name was Pablo Soler. There is ample testimony that he was a learned man and a great physician and surgeon. His name and fame still linger like a halo in the memory of the old times. He was renowned from one end of California to the other, and was a frequent visitor at the Mission of San Gabriel. He covered many miles of territory in his ministrations throughout all the places which now com- pose the great City of Los Angeles. It is said of him that he was constantly traveling up and down the King's Highway like a great white angel of mercy healing the sick. Nor were his services given wholly to those in high estate, the rich and the great. The poor Indians everywhere were also the bene- ficiaries of his skill and knowledge. Wherever Pablo Soler heard the cry of suffering, he went to that place, no matter how lowly the sufferer might be nor how great the hardship that he himself was forced to endure.
It is a fascinating subject indeed, this story of the pioneer doctors of California.
No doubt the early physicians found the mild, gentle cli- mate of California a great aid to them in the successful prac- tice of their profession. The vital and virulent diseases as- sumed milder forms in this climate, and, of course, it is not to be wondered at that in comparatively modern times-say, fifty years ago-by way of boosting Los Angeles, no doubt, we find a committee of the Los Angeles County Medical Asso- ciation furnishing the local Board of Trade with a very elab- orate disquisition on the benefits to be derived from the Los
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Angeles climate. This report was drafted and signed by Drs. J. P. Widney, H. S. Orme and George W. Lasher, and it is such a masterpiece that I feel it my duty to reproduce it in these pages, if for no other reason that our present denizens of this fortunate place may have the backing of sci- entific authority in whatever claims they may make concern- ing our climatic good fortune.
The report of the learned doctors bearing date of Novem- ber 7, 1874, reads as follows:
"The interest felt in the climatic features of this portion of California by people abroad and the heads of families es- pecially, is perhaps paramount to all others. By those who, from their extended knowledge acquired both by study and practical experience in travel, are best qualified to judge, the climate of Southern California is pronounced the best in the world and alike beneficial to those in health, the invalid and those liable to become victims of hereditary diseases.
"While the climate of the whole State has many features in common, as the wet and dry seasons, instead of the eastern winter and summer, and the prevalence during the summer or dry months, of the great northwest trade winds, sweeping steadily from the sea over the land, yet there are many points of divergence in different localities. This difference in cli- mate is especially marked between Northern and Southern California. The mountain ranges and the valleys of all the northern portion of the State have a generally northwesterly trend, leaving the country open to the harsh sweep of the north winds. In Southern California, however, the trend of both mountains and valleys is from east to west, and the high Sierra, like a wall, shelters the land from these cold northerly currents. The result is a climate much milder and more equa- ble than in the upper portion of the State. It might be sup- posed that the country lying in the same latitude as the Caro- linas would have some oppressive and debilitating summer heat. From this it is saved, however, by the tempered westerly trade wind, which daily blows inward to the land, bringing with it the coolness of the sea. There is a peculiar stimulus in this air coming in from the thousands of miles of salt water. One has to live by the sea to understand it. The key of the cli-
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mate lies in this, that it has a warm sun and cool air; hence the cool nights. One picks ripening figs and bananas grown in his own dooryard, and then goes to sleep under a blanket. The warm, yet not debilitating day furnishes one of the requi- sites in a climate for invalids. The cool, restful night, with its possibility of refreshing sleep, furnishes the other. The question is asked daily.in letters from the East what disease and what class of invalids may hope for benefit in coming to Southern California. In reply it might be stated :
ยท "1st. Persons of delicate constitution, either inherited or acquired, and who resist poorly the extremes either of heat or cold-persons who need a warm, equable, yet rather bracing climate.
"2nd. Persons inheriting consumption, but in whom the disease has not yet developed, or only to a slight degree. Many such persons seem to throw off the tendency and remain strong and well. Even if parents, coming with the disease, do not in the end recover, their children, growing up in this climate, have a strong chance in their favor of eliminating the inherited tendency entirely from their blood and casting off the family taint.
"3rd. Persons well advanced in consumption are often temporarily benefited. Such persons should think well, how- ever, before leaving the comforts of their own home and un- dertaking the fatigue of even a week of travel by railroad. It should not be done unless under the advice of the family physician, and if they do come they should be accompanied by friends. The despondency of loneliness and homesickness diminishes greatly the chance of benefit.
"4th. Persons suffering with bronchial troubles are often much benefited. Such cases, however, and indeed many others, too often make the mistake of remaining for weeks or months without seeking the advice of a physician as to the particular locality suited to their complaint. The varieties of climate in Southern California are many. Some portions of the county have nightly a heavy fog; other portions only a few miles away have no fog. Some sections are exposed to strong winds; others are sheltered. Some are low and damp; others high, warm and dry. Often persons go away disappointed,
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possibly worse, who, had they sought proper advice as to the especial locality suited to their complaint, might have received much benefit from their sojourn in the country. There are certain precautions, also rendered necessary for invalids by the coming on of the cool night air after the warm day, and by the cool breeze from the sea, which can only be learned by experience, which to an invalid is a costly teacher, or from the advice of a physician familiar with the climate and the peculiarities of the different localities.
"5th. Those coming from malarious sections of the coun- try, with systems depressed by the dregs of fever, are espe- cially benefited. It is a common custom with the people here to go down to various pleasant points upon the sea coast and camp out for weeks upon the beach, enjoying the surf bathing. There are also well furnished and well kept hotels at different localities by the sea. This seaside life is especially beneficial to persons suffering from the various forms of malarial poi- soning.
"6th. The open-air life which is here possible, and the great variety of fresh vegetable foods to be had at all seasons, help to break up the dyspeptic troubles which make life a bur- den to so many overworked men.
"7th. Many persons suffering from asthma have derived much benefit from the climate. The capricious character of the malady-no two persons suited to the same surroundings -make it difficult to give advice in most countries to the suf- ferer, because of the limited range of elevation and climatic differences from which to choose. Here, however, within a circle of a hundred and fifty miles one may find spots below the sea level, at the sea level, or with an elevation of 10,000 feet above it; spots with nightly a heavy fog, and spots that never know the presence of a fog; places swept by an almost constant breeze and others sheltered from all wind; the odors and gases of asphaltum and petroleum springs, or the air of the mountain pineries; the scent of the orange blossom, or the balsamic odor of the plants of the desert. Differences of elevation, which elsewhere one travels a thousand miles to find, here he finds within a radius of fifty miles.
"8th. Some cases of chronic rheumatism are benefited by
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the climate. Certain hot mineral springs and iron sulphur springs have gained quite a reputation in such affections. The climate of the coast line, however, has rather too much fog. Such cases do better in the portion of the country back from the sea and among the mountains. There are points along the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, as it crosses the Colorado Desert, where the hot, dry air, both night and day, and the warm springs for bathing, offer the very best climatic requisite for the relief of such affections.
"9th. Chronic kidney and bladder troubles find in the mild climate, with its possibility of constant outdoor life and the equable winter and summer temperature, the surroundings best suited to at least stay the course of the disease.
"10th. Cases of nervous prostration, and all the innu- merable train of tormenting ills that come to an overtaxed or deranged nervous system, may hope for relief by a residence in some one of the many pleasant spots that dot the land. The warm, clear day tempts to the outdoor life, and the cool night gives the refreshing sleep so needed in this class of maladies. Strangers speak almost invariably of the restful slumber of the night.
"In conclusion, there are a number of facts which have an important bearing upon the subject of Southern California as a health resort, and yet are not in themselves directly ques- tions of disease. Among these may be mentioned exemption from the epidemics of yellow fever, which visit the Gulf States; ease of access, the country being tapped in all direc- tions by branches of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is an agricultural and business center, with business openings for a largely increased population. It is the educational center of a large scope of territory, with its institutions of learning solidly established. It is well supplied with churches, and offers all the advantages of the best society. Food is abun- dant, varied and cheap, so that the expense of living is not great. And finally, it is not across the ocean or upon some foreign shore, where the invalid is an alien or a stranger, but within our own land, under our own flag, and among our own people."
We feel that great credit should be given these physicians
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who framed this very able, scientific document. And we are reproducing it fully in this book for the reason that it is im- portant, and that it is just as true now as it was the day it was written. After all, sunshine is a great doctor and climate is great medicine if it be kindly climate. Certainly these devoted physicians who set forth with such patience and dis- cernment the climate of Los Angeles rendered the whole world a valuable service.
It may be that in these times the climate of Los Angeles is more celebrated. Surely it is far better known than it was a half century ago. We all know, at any rate, that wise phy- sicians in the East and in the northern latitudes of our country habitually send their patients to Southern California.
Los Angeles lies between God's two great sanitariums, the desert and the sea. Countless thousands who have come here sick both in body and in mind have found health and hap- piness.
Wherefore, the medicine men being now as always really the chief men of any community, it will be interesting to see what there is to know about them as far as Los Angeles is concerned.
Mr. H. D. Barrows of Los Angeles, whose contributions to the Southern California Historical Society have been so valuable, gives the following interesting account of some old papers, particularly a fee table of the year 1850, with remarks on some of the Los Angeles physicians of the period, whom he personally knew :
"In turning over to the Historical Society the accompany- ing brief historical document, (which I lately received from Ex-Sheriff Wm. R. Rowland,) containing the signatures of four early physicians of Los Angeles, I have thought that some account of two of the signers whom I knew quite well, would be of interest to the members of our society.
"The document referred to, which Ex-Sheriff Rowland found among old papers of the Sheriff's office, was a public notice or 'Aviso' of the scale of charges (in Spanish) by the doctors of that period, (January, 1850) for their professional services, as follows :
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AVISO.
"A la junta de la Facultad de Medicos de Los Angeles, Enero 14th, 1850, la seguienta lista de precios era adoptado: Art. 1. Por una pre- scripcion en la of- ficina $ 5.00 Art. 2. Por una visita en la ciudad de dia ... 5.00
Art. 3. Por una visita en la ciudad de noche 10.00
Art. 4. Por una visita en el campo par cada legua 5.00
Art. 4. For a visit in the country, for each league 5.00
Art. 5. Por una San- gria
5.00
Art. 6. Por cada apli- cacion de Ventoses ... 10.00
Firmamos nuestros nom-
bres al antecedente : (Firnados.)
CHAS. R. CULLEN. A. I. BLACKBURN. J. W. DODGE.
CHAS. R. CULLEN.
A. I. BLACKBURN.
WM. B. OSBOURN.
J. W. DODGE.
GUILLERMO B. OSBOURN.
(Translation)
NOTICE
At a meeting of the Medical Faculty of Los Angeles, Jan- uary 14, 1850, the following list of prices was adopted : Art. 1. For an office prescription .... .$ 5.00 Art. 2. For a day visit within the city. 5.00
Art. 3. For a night visit within the city. .... . 10.00
Art. 5. For bleeding. . 5.00
Art. 6. For cupping ... 10.00 We subscribe our names to the foregoing : (Signers)
"Dr. Guillermo B. Osbourn, one of the signers, who was a native of New York, came to California in 1847 in Col. Ste- venson's regiment. He established the first drug store in Los Angeles in 1850, which was succeeded in '51 by that of Mc- Farland and Downey. Daguerreotypes were first taken in Los Angeles by Dr. Osbourn and Moses Searles, on Aug. 9, 1851. In fact Dr. Osbourn's versatility was something re- markable. It is not easy to recount all the official positions he filled, or the numerous important public functions he per- formed. In those early days immediately after the change of government, by means of his rare intellectual ability, to- Vol. 1-18
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gether with his knowledge of the Spanish language, he made himself a very useful citizen in various capacities.
"When, as often happened in that period, an acquaintance with Spanish was a necessity, he often acted as Deputy Sheriff. In 1853 he was appointed Postmaster of this city by President Buchanan. In 1855 he projected the first artesian well in Southern California, at the foot of the hills not very far from the present junction of First Street and Broadway. It reached a depth of about 800 feet in June, 1856, being still in blue clay, when it was abandoned for want of funds.
"In 1852 fruit grafts of improved varieties had been in- troduced by Mayor J. G. Nichols. In 1855 Dr. Osbourn im- ported from Rochester a grand collection of roses and other choice shrubbery as well as many varieties of the best Ameri- can fruit trees, which up to that time were almost unknown here. He was the first, too, in October, 1854, to ship East, fresh Los Angeles grapes, which were exhibited and com- manded admiration at a meeting of the business committee of the New York Agricultural Society at Albany. And it is worthy of mention in this connection, that as late as Novem- ber, 1856, when Matthew Keller sent a like specimen, it was almost doubted at the U. S. Patent Office 'if such products were common in California.'
"Henry Osbourn, a son of the doctor by his first wife, was for years and until recently, an interpreter in our local courts. He lost his life through an accident not very long ago.
"Dr. Osbourn's second wife, who was a native Californian, is, I believe, still living in this city.
"Dr. Osbourn with all his versatility, was not always over- scrupulous as to the means he sometimes employed in carrying out his schemes. He once recounted to me, without even a semblance of self reproach, how he took an active part on a certain occasion in a political contest. Sometime in the early '50s, when an election was on for a State Senator, and San Bernardino was a part of Los Angeles County, he was exceed- ingly anxious to carry the precinct of Agua Mansa, which was mostly settled by Mexicans, who knew very little or no Eng- lish. So he went to the Padre who had more influence in his parish than any other person, and used his most suave meth-
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ods of electioneering with the Padre in behalf of his candi- ' date; and then to clinch the matter, he asked the Padre to pray for the repose of the soul of his mother-who was then alive and well in New York State. And on the next feast day the wily doctor was on hand at the church and on his knees, joining the Padre and his flock, in praying for the re- pose of his mother's soul. He added with just a shade of ex- ultation, that his candidate was elected.
"Drs. Blackburn and Dodge, two other signers of the ao- companying document, I was not acquainted with.
"Dr. Chas. R. Cullen I knew intimately, as he was my room mate for a considerable portion of the time, from my arrival in Los Angeles in 1854, till he left for his home in Virginia in the latter part of '56.
"Dr. Cullen was a native of Virginia and a graduate of Brown University. He and his brother John came to Cali- fornia soon after the discovery of the mines. The doctor was a cultivated and genial gentleman whom all who made his ac- quaintance could not help liking. The Spanish speaking por- tion of our community were especially attached to him, both as a sympathetic friend and as a physician; and for years after he went away I remember that if his name was men- tioned in the presence of those native Californians who had made his acquaintance, they would invariably manifest pleas- ure at the recall of his memory and would exclaim: 'Ay Don Carlos ! donde esta el?' or, 'Que buen hombre era !' or similar expressions of kindly feelings towards him.
"When the San Francisco Bulletin was established, Mr. C. O. Gerberding (father of several persons of that name in Cal- ifornia, and also, I believe, of Mrs. Senator Bard), was the business manager, and James King of William was the brave and accomplished editor. Mr. Gerberding and Dr. Cullen had been old friends in Richmond before they came to California; and as the management of the paper desired to have a perma- nent resident correspondent at Los Angeles they entered into an engagement with Dr. Cullen to fill that position, pay- ing him at the rate of ten dollars a column. Late in Novem- ber, '56, Dr. Cullen concluded to return East, and stopping on his way at San Francisco, it appears he recommended me,
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without my knowledge, as his successor as correspondent of the Bulletin; and accordingly he wrote me at their request, asking me to keep up the correspondence, on the same terms, etc., which I did for several years thereafter, writing gen- erally by each semimonthly steamer, giving a general resume of current events in Southern California.
"Before I had any connection with the paper the as- sassination of James King of William had given the paper much prominence, and it had already become the leading jour- nal of the Pacific Coast. It was very ably edited, ostensibly by a brother of James King of William, but in reality by Mr. James Nisbet, a Scotchman, one of the most industrions and the finest literary journalists whom I ever had any ac- quaintance with.
"In 1857 I made a trip East, and I went to Richmond to visit Dr. Cullen. Dr. Charley Cullen was then located and practicing his profession near Hanover Court House, a very few years afterwards the locality of terrific fighting in the Civil War.
"In after years I kept up a more or less intermittent cor- respondence with the doctor, till his death several years ago.
"Dr. Cullen was a thoroughly conscientious man and a religious man-in which he differed widely from Dr. Os- bourn, whose only church affiliation, so far as I knew, was that serio-comic episode at 'Agua Mansa.'
"When the late Dr. J. C. Fletcher came to Los Angeles, Dr. Cullen wrote me asking me to hunt him up, which I did, and found him to be a very cultivated and widely-traveled gentleman.
"Dr. Cullen and Dr. Fletcher were classmates and grad- uates of Brown University."
And in an interesting account of pioneer physicians of Los Angeles by the same writer, most interesting sketches of Drs. John Marsh, Richard S. Den and John S. Griffin are given, as follows:
The first three educated physicians who practiced their profession in Los Angeles for longer or shorter periods, of whom we have any record, were:
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Dr. John Marsh, who came here in January, 1836;
Dr. Richard S. Den, who arrived in California in 1843;
Dr. John S. Griffin, assistant surgeon, U. S. A., who ar- rived in 1846.
A brief account of each of these trained physicians and surgeons ought to be of interest to the present generation.
Doctor Marsh was a native of Massachusetts, and a grad- uate of Harvard College and also of its medical school. He came to Los Angeles by way of Santa Fe. In the archives of this city, Translations, Vol. 2, p. 113 (session of the Ayunta- miento or Town Council, of 18th February, 1836), the follow- ing record is found : * A petition from a foreigner, Don Juan Marchet (John Marsh; the sound of sh at the ending of a word is un- known in the Spanish tongue), a native of the United States of the North, was read. He asks that this illustrious Ayun- tamiento consider him as having appeared, he declaring his intention of locating in this city, and also that he is a phy- sician and surgeon. The Ill. Ayuntamiento decided, in con- formity with the law of April 14, 1828, as follows: Record and forward the certified copy, reminding said Marchet (Marsh) that he cannot practice surgery until he has ob- tained permission from the Ayuntamiento." * *
(Min- utes of this meeting were signed :) "Manuel Requena, Pres .; Tiburcio Tapia, Rafael Guirado, Basilio Valdez, Jose Ma. Herrera, Abel Stearns, Narcisco Botello."
At page 117 of archives (session of 25th February, 1836) this minute occurs : A petition from Mr. Juan Marchet (Marsh) asking to be permitted to practice his pro- fession, was read. The Ill. Body decided to give him per- misison to practice his profession, as he has submitted for inspection his diploma, which was found to be correct, and also for the reason that he would be very useful to the com- munity."
His diploma being in Latin, it is said that, as no one could be found in Los Angeles who understood that language, the document had to be sent to San Gabriel for the mission priest to translate, and which, as noted, was found correct.
He entered upon the practice of his profession, but as
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money was an almost unknown quantity in the old pueblo, he had to take his fees in horses, cattle and hides, a currency exceedingly inconvenient to carry around. So, early in 1837, he abandoned the practice of medicine, quitted Los Angeles, and went north to find a cattle range. Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, at the time the letter was written, contained two houses. He located on the Rancho Los Medanos, near Monte Diablo, where he lived until he was murdered by a Mexican in 1856. A letter written by him descriptive of California, and published in a Missouri paper in 1840, was instrumental in causing the organization in the spring of 1841 of the first immigrant train that crossed the plains to California.
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