Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Good Old Days Were Tough Fair At Cataldo Mission Shows Off Pioneer-Era Skills, Including Painful Medical, Dental Tools

A century ago, an Army doctor’s kit included lancets, a hefty 16-inch knife and a “pain bullet” to bite on.

“You can actually see the teeth marks in this one,” said Spokane firefighter Mike Inman, a collector of antique military medical instruments.

His audience looked at the deformed chunk of lead and cringed.

“This is the ewwwww table,” he said later, laughing. “People come over, look, and go ‘Ewwwwww.”’

Inman was one of about 18 exhibitors Sunday at a pioneer-era skills fair at Old Mission State Park in Cataldo.

Some camped in teepees or Army tents, despite the old-fashioned hordes of mosquitoes. Park officials expected more than 2,000 visitors. The fair, now in its 15th year, is the park’s most popular one-day event.

Exhibitors included people combing wool, spinning yarn, making bead and feather jewelry, and providing a glimpse of what life was like more than a century ago. An old-time fiddler’s group played music.

“Our blacksmith got ill,” said park manager Bill Scudder. “Of course, 90 degrees out and sitting next to a hot forge, I’d be ill, too.”

One of the most popular spots was the military tent, with old rifles, canteens, cots and an Army saddle on display.

“Doctor’s office - no waiting,” said Inman, whose display included an old Bible, medical book and whiskey bottle.

“Whiskey and quinine was the medicine. The sergeant would take a swig and work on the patient,” he said.

Inman has collected about two-dozen medical implements, including bone saws, claw-ended bullet extractors, and a tool that looks like an L-shaped steel chisel. It was used for prying out a troubling tooth, Inman said.

“Glad I’m living now and not then,” said a woman, surveying the nasty implements.

Inman chuckled.

“In another hundred years, they’re going to sit there and be surprised we used radiation on cancer patients,” he said.

About 30 yards away, Carol SinClair of Athol was plucking feathers from a dried pheasant skin. She glues the feathers to leather, making colorful patterns. She gets the birds from hunters or roadkill.

“I try to make use of every feather,” she said. “It’s recycling.”

Nearby, Ronna Robertson of Moscow was weaving lace. On her lap sat a large pin cushion, with dozens of pins holding threads attached to wooden spools. She was working from a hand-colored chart so complex it resembled a circuit board.

“This was the way lace was made before machines made it,” said Robertson. “Typically, as an adult woman, you would do one pattern all your life. Because what mattered was speed.”

“It’s a little hypnotic,” said Robertson’s student, Donna Bergstrom, who was weaving a wedding garter.

“The wedding’s in March, and it’ll probably take me that long.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo