Saltwater and Beaver Salve, apply liberaly

[Leifer]

Russel and White get jumped by Blackfeet and take some hits by their arrows. White's "tis but a fleshwound" and Russell's is a hit to the hip and a hit above the knee on the opposite leg. They try to meet up with the rest of their group but can only find the Canadian. They don't know where Elbridge is since "the Indians pursued them into the woods where they separated and he [the Canadian] saw him no more." So they leave marks and signs for him so that he can find them if he's still ok. While regrouping, Russell tends to his wounds. Previous to this he was either crawling on two hands and one foot or hobbling on two sticks that White had retrieved for him to use as crutches.

"...I had bathed my wounds in saltwater and made a salve of Beavers Oil and Castoreum which I applied to them This had eased the pain and drawn out the swelling in a great measure..."

A couple thoughts for consideration:
1. Did the salve help out all that much?
2. Was it more the saltwater that helped?
3. Was the salve essentially beaver bait?
4. I'm sure this was a much better course of action than to prescribe two tablets of Rush's Thunderbolts

Whatever the thoughts, it's an interesting account.

Leifer

[Rod]

Russel must have known that the salt water would help prevent infection, the rest sounds like it came right out of his baitbox. I've heard of worse things for salve (an old farmer's remedy starts with "find a fresh cow pie").

Rod