Black Draught

Dad tells this little gem on his Uncle Tobe when he was at a trading post on the reservation in Arizona.

In the early 1900’s, the traders were more than store keepers.  They took pawn, which was nearly always redeemed, and the trading posts served as a repository for handmade rugs, jewelry, pottery, baskets and often saddles and guns.  The traders also bought  handmade items and made a convenient sales venue for artists, many of whom lived in such remote places, no one would ever see their work otherwise.  They might also help get a car out of the mud, find a lost mule, take someone to the hospital…….or give out their own medical advice. 

A woman Tobe knew well came in one day to do some business.  When Tobe inquired about her husband, she told him he was not well.  “He just sits around and groans all day from pain.”  Tobe, placing what he believed was the right construction on his problem, gave her something he called “black draught” and told her to give it to him, that it would set him right in a day.

She returned the next day and told Tobe her husband was no better.  Tobe gave her another installment of the “black draught”.  She went home.

The next day, when she came in, Tobe asked after her husband.  “Oh, he’s worse than ever.  Just moans and groans.”  Tobe asked if she’d actually given him the black draught.  “Sure I did.  He been shitting all around the tree, but his leg’s still broken.”