Not Stampedes, Not Showdowns — This Illness Was The Leading Cause Of Death For Cowboys

The Old West wasn't solely gruesome because of the stampedes or the showdowns. For many, the scariest aspect of being alive at the time was the prospect of catching consumption, or as we know it today, tuberculosis. According to PBS, one in seven people that have ever lived had died of tuberculosis by the time the 19th century rolled around. Moreover, OldWest cites data from Harvard Library estimating that 90% of people living in North America in the 1800s had contracted tuberculosis, and 80% of them died. 

To this day, tuberculosis remains one of the top 10 causes of death in the world. Mayo Clinic writes that tuberculosis is a serious disease that primarily interferes with lung functioning. In the modern day, we know that the disease spreads when an infected person disperses the germs in the air. However, back in the 1800s, people believed that tuberculosis spread through the "atmosphere," per a 2023 article published in the American Clinical and Climatological Association. According to the Old West, in the 1800s, the disease spread fast among families because numerous people were living in close quarters. 

The spread of the disease in those days was only worsened because the symptoms took quite some time to appear and families didn't understand it was tuberculosis until it was too late. For many, the symptoms started with a dry cough that became bloody as the disease progressed. Soon enough, they started experiencing drastic weight loss, fevers, loss of appetite, and exhaustion. Since doctors in those days were under the impression that the disease was caused by atmospheric conditions, they told patients to try "The Cure," which arguably didn't do much for the cause.

So, how is tuberculosis treated? The CDC notes that the modern-day treatment plan requires a months-long medicinal course that tackles active and inactive forms of the disease. But due to limited scientific advancements and lack of knowledge about the disease in the 1800s, there wasn't exactly a medicinal treatment plan for the condition. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, one of the primary treatment options for those affected by consumption was confinement in one of the sanitariums located on the outskirts of cities; the idea was that the disease spread in cities because of unsanitary conditions. 

At the sanitarium, patients relied on a combination of sunlight and fresh air to treat the disease. Old West notes that "The Cure," as this treatment method was called in those days, naturally didn't do much for the patients, and the disease was incurable at the time. The only real benefit to these sanitariums was that people with tuberculosis got to breathe the clean countryside air instead of the polluted air from cities. 

Although sunlight didn't serve as a cure for tuberculosis, the UV rays could help kill the germs that caused the condition and thus minimize the risk of transmission to the sanitarium staff. It's also worth noting that one of the most well-known figures from the Old West, Doc Holliday, was also once a patient at a sanitarium. Holliday's mother contracted the disease, died of it, and likely transmitted it to him. Holliday would pass away due to tuberculosis at the age of 36. Thankfully, time has enabled us to better explain tuberculosis, its causes and its symptoms and come up with treatments.