Alcohol and Opium in the Old West: Use, Abuse and Influence

261 Pages·2013·11.22 MB·English

by  Jeremy Agnew

Alcohol and Opium
in the Old West
ALSO BYJEREMY AGNEW
AND FROM MCFARLAND
The Old West in Fact and Film: History
Versus Hollywood(2012)
Entertainment in the Old West: Theater, Music,
Circuses, Medicine Shows, Prizefighting and
Other Popular Amusements(2011)
Medicine in the Old West: A History,
1850–1900(2010)
Alcohol and Opium
in the Old West
Use, Abuse and Influence
J A
EREMY GNEW
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Agnew, Jeremy.
Alcohol and opium in the Old West : use, abuse, and
influence / Jeremy Agnew.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-7629-9
♾
softcover : acid free paper
1. Alcoholism—West (U.S.)—History—19th century.
2. Opium abuse—West (U.S.)—History—19th century.
I. Title.
HV5235.U5.A46 2014
362.2920978'09034—dc23 2013036296
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2014 Jeremy Agnew. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: The Fountain Saloon in Cripple Creek, Colorado
(Glenn Kinnaman, Colorado and Western History Collection).
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
For Tom and Terri,
who still carry on the traditions
of the Old West
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Table of Contents
Preface 1
Timeline 5
One. The Demon Rum and Other Drinks of Choice 9
Two. The Convoluted History of Opium 32
Three. A Motley Mix of Indigenous Brews 44
Four. Medical Use of Opium and Alcohol 56
Five. “Those Heathen Chinee” 78
Six. Boozers, Users and Abusers 101
Seven. Saloons and Other Parlors of Iniquity 123
Eight. Opium Dens 145
Nine. The Horrors of Addiction 164
Ten. Inebriety 184
Eleven. The Pathway to Prohibition 203
Postscript 224
Appendix I. Apothecaries’ Weights and Measures 231
Appendix II. Common 19th Century Medicines 232
Chapter Notes 235
Bibliography 245
Index 249
vii
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Preface
Whether justified or not, one popular image of the Old West revolves
around gunfighters and frontier ruffians who drank constantly and whose
behavior was worsened by drink. Another popular image, one derived mostly
from motion pictures, is of the Western saloon populated with countless
barflies who apparently have nothing better to do all day but sit around and
drink while waiting for the inevitable gunfight between the villain and the
hero to break out. A third striking image of the Old West from Victorian
times is that of the opium den in an alley behind the red light district, a den
peopled with sinister-looking Chinese skulking around among rows of ema-
ciated dope fiends sprawled out on wooden cots in dark rooms filled with an
aromatic haze of opium smoke.1
What is the truth of these perceptions? None of these three images of
the Old West is totally accurate, though none of the three is totally inaccurate
either. Heavy drinking, smoking opium, and swigging laudanum were indeed
influences on mainstream life in the West in America during the last half of
the nineteenth century.
Ingesting various substances, such as alcohol and opium, has been a form
of social behavior throughout history. The production and consumption of
alcoholic beverages has long been a part of human society and alcohol has
been pervasive throughout history as Western civilization’s favorite beverage.
Like alcohol, opium was used in the Old West to provide an escape from real-
ity and alter the perception of how the user viewed the world. Though many
drugs have been popular throughout history for both medicinal and recre-
ational use, none has had the influence of opium and its derivatives. It pro-
vided some users with welcome relief from the loneliness and harshness of life
on the new frontier of the Old West and from the aches and pains that resulted
from everyday working conditions. Patent medicines containing large amounts
of both alcohol and opium were commonly found on the medicine shelf of
most homes and ranches in the early West.
Excessive use of alcohol has been blamed for many of the gunfights and
much of the violence that permeated the Old West. Opium was blamed for
1