When Mountain Men roamed the Hills ...

[dogtag]

Mountain Men the likes of Jim Bridger, Jeramiah Johnson
and others would drink from Rivers, pools, wherever
and whenever they were thirsty, apparently with no ill effects.
I doubt they filtered it or went to the trouble of boiling it first.
Things were clean back then it seems. I guess swallowing
bugs and little Fish was not something they worried about..
I don't think I'd drink from today's rivers. If I did I'm guessing
my funeral would be held the next day.

[Allen]

I've been in the woods a few times when younger, came across water bubbling out of the ground or a fast moving creek or small stream. When the water was clear and cold enough I had no problem drinking a little just to see what it taste like.

I don't like water on a whole but the few times I sampled this the water was good and sweet.

[Art]

Those people had a different immune system than we do. If you survived to adulthood back then and your immune system fully developed you could tolerate stuff that would put us in the hospital in a week of exposure to that lifestyle.

Waterborne bacteria and protozoans can be lethal. Typhoid nearly killed my mother who was essentially living a 19th century existence on a ranch in southeast Texas until 1924. Look at graveyards back then and you'll be surprised at the number of dead kids. Today we say that parents are not supposed to outlive their children, back then if a couple had 3-6 children they expected to lose at least one in childhood. Where the water is matters too. In the south the water is warmer and therefore more "fertile" which means there are more bugs in it. Colder climates have safer water and, as Allen knows, springs are the safest and the colder the water the better. I was out in the woods at about 14, got really thirsty and took a drink from what looked like a clear stream and came down within an hour and a half with an awful case of "the runs." I was better after 36 hours and I remember mom saying "you're lucky you didn't get the amoeba," that is amoebic dysentery in which case you could be sick for a very long time and there were folks who didn't survive. The colder clearer water in the mountains was safer but not completely.

When I went to Korea which was, in the rural areas, still pretty 19th century in the 1960s we were told we would all probably come down with something the first month or so and most of us did, nothing serious but something. I had nasty sores break out on the back of my neck. The medics took care of it in a few days. After that I was fine.

Oh, speaking of typhoid, cholera, dysentery and all that jazz, always make sure your latrine is downstream from your well or the spot you're going to drink from in that stream , but a lot of you guys know that.

[Allen]

I was out in the woods at about 14, got really thirsty and took a drink from what looked like a clear stream and came down within an hour and a half with an awful case of "the runs." I was better after 36 hours and I remember mom saying "you're lucky you didn't get the amoeba," that is amoebic dysentery in which case you could be sick for a very long time and there were folks who didn't survive. The colder clearer water in the mountains was safer but not completely.

Years ago the wife and I were traveling around and stopped in at Ruby Falls in TN. This is a waterfall inside of a mountain. The tour guide girl said whatever you do don't reach out and drink the water it's full of magnesium. She said one tourist did that and didn't make it to the bathroom (think "milk of magnesia"). I wonder if this is what could have happened to you since it wasn't an amoeba?

[Art]

Years ago the wife and I were traveling around and stopped in at Ruby Falls in TN. This is a waterfall inside of a mountain. The tour guide girl said whatever you do don't reach out and drink the water it's full of magnesium. She said one tourist did that and didn't make it to the bathroom (think "milk of magnesia"). I wonder if this is what could have happened to you since it wasn't an amoeba?

Could be a chemical like magnesium, I couldn't say for sure. There are several waterborne bugs that can also cause what my old daddy called "the flying G.I.s." It could have been one of them too, among them are various forms of E. Coli and Salmonella. Whatever it was I can tell you it was no fun.

[dryheat]

Milk of Magnesia. Haven't that in a while. I try to keep the runs down to about three times a year. Call me Homer: woohoo, there was a box of shimp that was marked down to $3.75. It had lemon pepper.
The little guys pulled out of the shell really easy. What happened next? Early morning runs. It was over by noon. I'm not sure it had anything to do with the shimp, I might do another test. There's a few left. I like shrimp.
Two stories:
Hiking in the Superstition mtns. east of Phx. It was spring, just about the time that nitwits (well, OK, untrained young) decide to climp mtns. The lady at the post was concerned about my one canteen of water. Yeah, yeah, I'm OK. Hike in picked up my friends and we hiked out. Ran out of water fast. BUT, it was spring and back then we had good rains and a little snow. I filled my canteen from a outset of water in the middle of the trail. I didn't get sick. When did I get sick? When we were hiking and I ran out of water near a cattle patch. I had some G.I. tabs that were supposed to neutralize bad stuff. I filled my canteen and put the tabs in. But, I didn't wait fifteen minutes, but drank it immediately. Bad idea.
The sickest I ever got? Good ol, Mexico. Mexico isn't poison, but some places and resturarants are. I swear, I am a little dumb sometimes. Don't eat food from a Mexican buffet with tin Foll covers. I called it dysentery. The was nothing left for days. I went to the doctor. Nothing reported. I was good a couple days later. Yup, it's a kind of training.
Oh, and pepto bismol seems to help sometimes. Imodium AD is a life saver. My brother came out to visit and somehow got a little bug. He said he was a little runny. He was getting on the plane back to Alaska the next day. Now he isn't a pill taker, but I convinced him to take some Imodium AD. You don't want to have a bowel problem on the plane.

[Major Tom]

In Vietnam, eating Vietnamese food always gave the guys the 'quick trot' to the latrine!

[RED]

Mountain Men the likes of Jim Bridger, Jeramiah Johnson
and others would drink from Rivers, pools, wherever
and whenever they were thirsty, apparently with no ill effects.
I doubt they filtered it or went to the trouble of boiling it first.
Things were clean back then it seems. I guess swallowing
bugs and little Fish was not something they worried about..
I don't think I'd drink from today's rivers. If I did I'm guessing
my funeral would be held the next day.

Back in the late 1940s, we lived in the Rangers House in very rural Cass, AR. There was no indoor plumbing and our water ran out of a pipe that had been buried in the spring. We lived there for 4 years and no problems with water. Fast Forward? The houses are gone and there is a big warning danger sign on the spring. It seems the springs water flows over tons of bat poo!

[Allen]

Back in the late 1940s, we lived in the Rangers House in very rural Cass, AR. There was no indoor plumbing and our water ran out of a pipe that had been buried in the spring. We lived there for 4 years and no problems with water. Fast Forward? The houses are gone and there is a big warning danger sign on the spring. It seems the springs water flows over tons of bat poo!

Now we know what messed up Bruce Wayne's mind.

[S.A. Boggs]

Now we know what messed up Bruce Wayne's mind.

OH!
Sam

[dryheat]

Bat sh*t crazy.

[dogtag]

I got dysentery while in the Army in Egypt.
It wasn't pleasant. All the guys got sick to some extent,
but then you were immune.

[Oyaji]

For 7th Fleet sailors making portcalls in the Philippines, getting the San Miguel sheits is a fairly common digestive tract malady. It can also be exacerbated by the consumption of baluts and monkey meat on a stick.

[Vern Humphrey]

I was backpacking through Saint Anthony's Wilderness in Pennsylvania. It was very dry. At one camp area there was a note, "There is a flowing spring about 150 yards down this way. It's good water, as I'm still alive this morning."