Up next in 10
The Old Time Cowboy Cures that Saved Hundreds of Cowboys... and Bacon Grease is One of Them!
Mar 1, 2026
I've been a chuckwagon cook for over thirty years, and out on those remote ranches, I'm not just the cook - I'm the doctor, dentist, and psychologist too. In this episode, Shannon and I share some of our favorite cowboy cures: how a pre-1982 penny helps a spider bite, why bacon grease belongs in every first aid kit, and the hot toddy recipe that's been quieting coughs since the cattle drive days. These old-time remedies have worked for generations, and we've got the stories to prove it.
Disclaimer: We're not medical professionals - always consult a doctor for real medical concerns.
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Kent Rollins
Cowboy Cooking, Cast Iron, Outdoor Cooking, Grilling, Dutch Oven Cooking
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0:00
I can't. What is your favorite cooking
0:03
ingredient?
0:04
>> I'd have to say bacon
0:06
>> because you have a cowboy cure that
0:09
involves bacon grease, right? This one's
0:11
going to shock you guys.
0:17
[music]
0:17
>> Howdy. My name is Kent Rollins. I've
0:20
been a cowboy and a chuck wagon cook for
0:22
over 30 years, cooking for ranches
0:24
[music] all across America. You might
0:26
have seen me on the Food Network or
0:28
alongside my beautiful [music] wife
0:29
Shannon on our YouTube show where we
0:31
share cowboy cooking from the trail. But
0:33
now we're [music] going to take you
0:34
behind the scenes to real campfire
0:37
conversations. Join us as we share
0:39
humor, cowboy wisdom, and stories full
0:41
of history, [music] heart, faith, and of
0:44
course, a little fire. So grab you a cup
0:46
of coffee, pull up a chair, and welcome
0:49
to the podcast.
0:51
[music]
0:55
Hey, thank y'all so much for joining us
0:57
here on this podcast and we just
0:59
appreciate you taking time out of your
1:01
busy day to do so. Me and Shan just we
1:04
just this is the best thing ever to have
1:06
a podcast.
1:07
>> It's so nice to just sit and visit with
1:08
people.
1:09
>> Oh, it is. It is the best thing ever.
1:11
But something I think people might not
1:13
know about what's going on really out
1:15
there when you're a Chuck Wagon cook is
1:18
he ain't just a cook. He's a doctor, a
1:21
dentist, a psychologist. He has so many
1:24
things he has to do.
1:25
>> Well, and this goes back to the 1800s
1:28
cattle drives. So, the Chuck Winn wagon
1:31
is out there. They're going from Texas
1:34
to Kansas. They're moving cattle. Um,
1:36
long hours. And of course, you are in
1:39
the middle of nowhere. There's the
1:41
cowboys and the cook are on the wagon.
1:44
Yeah.
1:44
>> And so, there's no do, there's no
1:46
dentist. So what's what's happening? So
1:50
kind of explain to us what was the job
1:54
of the cook other than just cooking.
1:56
>> Well, when people always thought of a
1:59
chuck wagon cook, most of all, some old
2:01
grumpy old fell that can't cook worth
2:03
nothing. You know, he's just mean and
2:05
grappy all the time. Hey, they might
2:07
have been that way at one time and I've
2:09
been out there as long as seven weeks at
2:11
a time.
2:12
You can get a little grumpy, but I mean
2:15
I try to be cheerful every day cuz that
2:17
helps. First of all, you got cook got to
2:20
have some personality. You got to make
2:22
people feel welcome. That's the way I
2:24
look at it. But I guess beside the most
2:27
important thing of being a cook. The
2:29
second was can you care for the people
2:32
you're feeding? Not just by filling
2:33
their belly but also taking care of
2:35
their heart, their soul, and their
2:37
injuries. So, as a doctor, like what
2:40
kind of stuff do you think old Cookie
2:43
would have experienced back in the
2:45
1800s?
2:46
>> A lot of broke bones, a lot of bruises,
2:49
a lot of cuts and scrapes. Uh, you know,
2:52
but there was so many things that could
2:54
happen out there. Snake bite, spider
2:56
bite, near drowning, you know, drugged
2:59
by a horse, run over by thousands of
3:01
head of Longhorn cattle. Well, you know
3:03
what's kind of interesting is that even
3:05
though this happened in the 1800s, this
3:08
is still happening today. And that's
3:10
what we do when we're cooking on the
3:12
wagon. So, we're really experiencing the
3:16
same kind of injuries or ailments that
3:19
Cookie would have experienced back then,
3:22
especially if we go on these more remote
3:24
ranches.
3:24
>> Oh, yeah. Cuz I mean, you you may be 70
3:27
miles from the nearest town and the only
3:29
doctor they might have there might be a
3:30
vet clinic, you know. I love a vet
3:33
clinic.
3:33
>> Hey, don't knock that because sometimes
3:35
that's better care and less insurance
3:37
hassle.
3:38
>> That's right. It's something you have to
3:40
sort of get in your mind and I always
3:41
done it from when I first started. Even
3:43
when I was guiding hunters, I had some
3:45
type of first aid kit, something that I
3:47
could rely on. But there's so many old
3:51
cures and old things that you can use
3:54
that are readily accessible in the
3:56
kitchen, but also on the chuck wagon.
3:58
Well, and I want to say what's been so
4:00
interesting is that anytime we post a
4:04
video um whether it's long form or short
4:06
form on cowboy cures or oldtime
4:10
remedies, the videos go viral. It's
4:13
crazy because I think
4:15
>> what you've always said like keep it
4:16
simple like some of that
4:19
>> just going back to natural remedies
4:22
>> and especially for us on the wagon and
4:24
the cook back in the 1800s, you don't
4:27
have a lot to work with. So you got to
4:28
get creative, right?
4:29
>> That's right. That is right. You look
4:31
around at your surroundings and you
4:33
think there's not a road anywhere near
4:36
us. There's not telephone service most
4:39
of the time, which is a blessing for a
4:42
lot of it. I always thought, now if
4:44
something really bad happened to someone
4:46
here, how are we going to take care of
4:49
him and can we get them out of here? You
4:51
know, um we're the first line of
4:53
defense. We're like the emergency room,
4:56
you know. Uh that's where it's going to
4:58
happen. That's where it's going to come
4:59
to first and then we'll see what's
5:00
happened. We'll assess the diagnosis.
5:02
>> And you're tri your triaging.
5:04
>> Yeah. And I'm trained in stuff like
5:05
this, you know.
5:06
>> So, can you give us a little background
5:08
on your medical knowledge or
5:10
>> My medical knowledge? Well, uh my dad
5:13
was a about half veterinarian.
5:15
>> Okay.
5:16
>> My mother and my grandmother had all
5:17
these old recipes that they used on us
5:19
not just to feed us, but to also cure us
5:21
from ailments. And I remember so many of
5:24
the old men, we'd be in a Brandon pin or
5:25
we'd be somewhere and somebody say, "Oh,
5:27
I got old arthritis is acting up today,
5:30
you know, they'll be able to make it.
5:31
Well, you ought to try this and ought to
5:32
do this." You know, so if they work so
5:35
many years, even back in Cookie's time
5:37
in the 1870s, they still work today.
5:40
>> Now, you also mentioned that the cook
5:43
was the dentist, the doctor, and a
5:45
psychologist.
5:46
>> Yes, ma'am.
5:47
>> So, what does that mean for you on the
5:50
wagon today? Like what do you mean by
5:52
psychologist?
5:53
>> Well, I mean I could get out all my
5:55
diplomas, you know, and show people. It
5:57
wouldn't take long. First of all, when
5:59
you think about psychology, let's think
6:01
about it in this way. You're in a very
6:04
remote place, especially for some of the
6:07
younger guys that were out there, 18, 19
6:09
years old. uh they were away from
6:12
family, you know, so they're already
6:14
under a little bit of stress, you know,
6:16
about thinking, "Hey, I've never been on
6:18
this ranch. You know, this is some
6:20
really rough country. There ain't no
6:22
cell phone service out here." And I
6:24
remember, and you you know the young man
6:26
I'm talking about, Jesse, out there at
6:28
the bail. And we'd been in there about
6:30
two weeks. And he he was a very shy
6:33
young man. And he come in one day and I
6:35
said, "Jesse, what's troubling you?"
6:37
"Uh, nothing, Mr. Rollins." I said, 'Oh,
6:39
I I know people pretty well, Jesse. I
6:41
said, 'I know something is bothering
6:43
you.' I said, 'Uh, we feeding you
6:44
enough, ain't we?' He said, 'Oh, yeah. I
6:46
said, ' Best food I've ever had in my
6:47
life.' He got real quiet. He looked
6:50
around to see if anybody was listening
6:52
or watching. He said, "I miss home."
6:56
You know, and that's something that
6:57
maybe you don't think about as you're
6:59
get older in life and you've been doing
7:00
this forever and ever, you know, but I
7:03
looked at him and I said, "Jesse, it is
7:05
me and Shan's job to make this your home
7:08
while you're here. You're our family. We
7:11
will take care of you." I said, "So, if
7:13
you got something you need to talk about
7:15
or you got something you want to visit
7:16
about, holler at us because right now
7:20
we're your mom and dad out here. we're
7:22
your aunt and uncle. We're gonna take
7:23
care of you while you're here. So, you
7:26
instill that in their brain right off
7:28
the bat to let them know, hey, whatever
7:31
comes along, whatever happens, we're
7:33
here for you.
7:33
>> Well, and it's interesting. So, um,
7:35
everybody, I think when you think of
7:37
cowboy, it's like rough and gritty and
7:39
wild and all this adventure and it is
7:42
and it's very fun, but then, you know,
7:44
when it comes down to it, it's a lot of
7:46
time out in the remote. And so when we
7:50
are in C ranches like that, you really
7:52
do bond quickly and all these people
7:55
become family
7:57
>> um for you know that that time that
7:59
you're out on the wagon and the wagon
8:00
becomes such a
8:02
>> integral part of the ranch works in the
8:05
spring or the fall because that's where
8:07
everybody gathers. That's where again
8:08
you feel like home. We've cooked for I
8:10
think it
8:11
>> was on the Bell Ranch was the the
8:13
youngest crew that I've been around and
8:15
cooked for and it is different. You
8:17
know, you get these young guys out there
8:18
and they're super excited, but when you
8:20
get into week three and four, it gets
8:22
hard. And so food has always been a way
8:27
for us to connect, to make feel people
8:29
feel comfortable, and to bring home out
8:33
on a 400,000 acre ranch.
8:36
>> Yeah. You you got to create that
8:37
environment that people feel safe in,
8:39
that they feel comfortable in. And food
8:42
has brought people together forever, you
8:44
know. And I've been on them ranches
8:45
where it's been bitterly cold and fire
8:47
and food were the two things they look
8:49
for early in the morning, you know. So,
8:51
it's it's uh it's a gathering place,
8:55
it's a kitchen, it's a living room, uh
8:58
it's Sunday morning church, it's all of
9:00
it.
9:00
>> Well, and so I'm really excited to talk
9:02
about your cowboy cures because at first
9:04
I'm thinking can't really this is a
9:07
little bit of a BS, but I have been on
9:09
the receiving end. you doubting me?
9:11
>> I I was, but I have been on the
9:13
receiving end of several of these and I
9:16
can testify to them. Now, as Kent has
9:18
mentioned, you are not a medically
9:20
trained doctor.
9:21
>> No, ma'am.
9:22
>> So, these cures we're about to discuss,
9:24
use at your own discretion. And of
9:26
course, talk to your actual doctor if
9:28
things are serious. But we want to go
9:30
through some of our top
9:31
>> Wait just a minute.
9:32
>> What?
9:33
>> These cures have always worked. I'm not
9:35
trying to tell these people, "Oh, this
9:36
is witchcraft." You know, we got the
9:38
witch doctor cut a head off a prairie
9:40
dog running around in a circle for 30
9:41
minutes and then put it on his head.
9:43
This stuff works.
9:44
>> I'm just putting a little legal
9:46
disclaimer in there.
9:48
>> But we want to go through our top cowboy
9:51
cures to get you through any ailment.
9:53
>> That's right.
9:54
>> First up, and this one kind of blew my
9:56
mind and this was probably one of the
9:57
first. I was like, I don't know about
9:59
this one, Kent. This is how you tackle a
10:02
spider bite.
10:04
>> Spiders
10:05
are everywhere. They are everywhere
10:07
>> especially in a teepee
10:08
>> in in the spring and summer. You know,
10:11
you see them a little everywhere. I
10:12
don't pay them no mind much unless it's
10:14
you get to thinking about, well, that
10:16
was a stinging scorpion. Uh that's a
10:19
fiddle back. You know, that's a black
10:22
widow. And which I know spiders. I know
10:24
enough about that. I know what that is.
10:26
I know what that is. Some of them old
10:28
daddy long legs and them wood spiders.
10:30
They don't hurt you. They might bite
10:31
you, but they don't hurt you. But we had
10:35
come back from a ranch cooking
10:38
and you were in there on the couch and
10:42
you was looking at the arch of your
10:44
foot.
10:45
>> Mhm.
10:45
>> And I said, "What's going on there?"
10:47
"Well, I think I got a spider bite." And
10:50
it was most of the time if you had a bad
10:52
spider bite or you thought it was
10:54
poisonous, always learned this from my
10:56
mother, you take a felt tip pen and you
10:58
draw around the bite. That way you know
11:01
how much is it growing. If it keeps
11:04
growing outside that circle continually,
11:07
that was a poisonous spider that just
11:09
bit you. Know what I mean? Okay.
11:10
>> Because it's going to make a welp. It's
11:12
going to swell, but it's spreading. You
11:14
know, so I told her, I said, I can fix
11:17
that. And your words were
11:19
>> it's probably I don't know that we can
11:21
say it on the podcast.
11:23
>> What did I say?
11:24
>> You claimed it was BS.
11:25
>> Oh, okay. Yeah.
11:26
>> You know.
11:26
>> Yeah.
11:27
And I'm thinking, you got to trust me.
11:30
I've seen this work so many times
11:33
because
11:35
we we had watched it and this was the
11:37
second day. We' put the circle around.
11:39
>> It wasn't growing drastically, but it
11:41
was definitely it was a
11:42
>> and it was hot. It had some fever in it,
11:43
you know.
11:45
>> And a spider got to be really tough to
11:47
bite on them stinky feet of yours. I
11:49
mean, my gosh, it's a tough spider. But
11:53
I convinced her, we will fix this. And
11:56
it's pretty simple. Run out there to the
11:59
pickup and there was an old box in there
12:01
that I kept all the change in. Dig
12:03
around in it, scooting everything
12:04
around. Found a penny. Now, this penny
12:07
needs to be like 1957.
12:10
>> No. No. I We researched this and found
12:12
that 1982 or earlier works the best
12:16
because that's when they have more
12:18
copper in them. After that, they stopped
12:20
using
12:21
>> How many people you seen out there just
12:22
walking around wearing them copper
12:23
bracelets?
12:24
>> Oh, good point. Right. thick. You know,
12:26
Abraham Lincoln was not only a great
12:28
president, but he was also a doctor
12:30
because he's on that penny and he gonna
12:33
doctor that spider bite. Now, I told
12:35
her, "All we got to do put that penny
12:38
directly on the bite and we just put
12:41
some duct tape around it."
12:42
>> Yep.
12:43
>> I told her, I said, "In the morning,
12:44
it'll be gone
12:45
>> because the copper is going to pull out
12:47
the poison."
12:47
>> Yeah. So,
12:49
>> but then he told me though, make sure
12:51
you put Abe Lincoln's head facing down
12:53
so he can see what he's working with.
12:54
And that's when I knew like I don't know
12:56
if this is a legit cure.
12:58
>> It next morning what happened?
12:59
>> It was gone.
13:00
>> Yeah.
13:01
>> And it was flat and there was no fever
13:03
in it. So then
13:04
>> copper draws out poison.
13:06
>> That was a good one. That one I can
13:08
personally testify. But then the problem
13:09
was I was telling my sister this because
13:11
she had the same problem with a spider
13:13
bite and she said if I use a quarter
13:16
would it work faster?
13:18
>> Then I
13:19
>> sometimes you got to be smarter than
13:20
what you're missing.
13:20
>> Really the point of the copper. But
13:22
anyway, so that one for sure.
13:25
>> I've used it many times. Mosquito bites,
13:27
scorpions, anything like that, you know.
13:30
>> Although I will say something severe
13:33
like a brown recluse or a black widow,
13:37
don't recommend this method.
13:39
>> Why don't you go see a legit doctor?
13:41
Just saying. Now, one thing I always
13:44
think about is toothache.
13:47
>> You know, those come up out of nowhere
13:49
and they're miserable. Yeah. So, what do
13:52
you do? You have you come across that
13:53
and what do you do for that?
13:54
>> Yeah, you just knock them in the head
13:55
and drag them off out of camp. So, you
13:57
ain't got to listen. No, no, it's uh
14:00
I've used this on me and I've used it on
14:02
cowboys, too. And it's pretty simple,
14:05
you know. Uh uh I could pull a tooth,
14:08
but
14:08
>> Have you ever had to pull a tooth?
14:10
>> No, I've capped some, but I've never
14:11
pulled none. You know, I think you'd
14:13
have to either knock him in the head or
14:14
get him plenty drunk on whiskey to get
14:16
that done, you know. But this was told
14:19
to me by an old-timer so many years ago.
14:21
He said he got kicked in the face, you
14:24
know, broke a tooth out and it got hurt
14:26
and he didn't have time to go to the
14:27
doctor and then it got a cavity and then
14:29
it just got worse. And he told me, he
14:31
said, "But Kenn," he said, "I I remember
14:33
what my great grandma had told him."
14:35
Well, that would have had to been back
14:36
in the 1860s7s for this old fella. He
14:39
said, "Simple." He said, "You take a
14:41
brown paper sack, tear you off just to a
14:44
little square piece." He said, "Get you
14:47
a match. Strike it." He said, "Just let
14:50
it burn till it burns out." He said,
14:53
"Then
14:54
you just crumble it on that newspaper
14:57
right there. Just them ashes." He said,
14:59
"Then crumble you up a put that on
15:02
there." He said, "About three or four
15:04
drops of whiskey. Don't throw that
15:07
matchick away cuz we going to need it.
15:09
You wad this up. Make sure it's plenty
15:11
wet with that whiskey. Put it back there
15:14
on that tooth. Take that matchick that
15:16
you still have and tamp it in there.
15:19
Now, let's think about this for a
15:21
minute. Okay. Antiseptic
15:23
>> is the whiskey.
15:24
>> Yes. Pain.
15:26
>> Aspirin.
15:27
>> Antibiotic.
15:29
>> Oh, the charcoal or
15:30
>> Yeah, but what what what does a match
15:32
have in it that's got that charcoal
15:33
that's going to make it strike? That's
15:35
going to sulfur.
15:36
>> Oh.
15:37
>> So, it'll get you by. You're going to
15:39
have to repack it. You can't just think,
15:41
well, it's going to last a week. You
15:44
know, we do this two to three times a
15:46
week for somebody. And
15:49
>> if you if you don't have aspirin, you
15:51
can grind Tylenol, you know, something
15:53
like that. But
15:55
>> you learn to get by with what you got to
15:57
try to We may not cure it automatically,
15:59
but if you can make it bearable,
16:02
>> make it bearable until you can get to
16:05
town. Yeah.
16:05
>> And get it fixed. Well, that that
16:07
reminds me of a story that you always
16:08
tell about um who was it that broke
16:11
their tooth
16:12
>> and it was coal and you had to fix that.
16:14
>> He's out there in New Mexico. Uh he got
16:16
kicked in the front teeth right above
16:18
the gun line, you know, and it's like
16:19
9°. He's covered with blood right here
16:22
on comes in there, you know, and he
16:24
said, "Golly, Kenn," he said, "I got
16:26
kicked right there." He said, "Cold airs
16:29
like to wear me out." He said, "They
16:31
told me you could fix this." And I said,
16:33
"Well, I don't know if I can fix it, but
16:34
I think I can make it better." At that
16:36
time, it would have probably been my
16:37
first dental procedure.
16:38
>> Did you tell him that?
16:39
>> Not until, you know, he's 19 years old.
16:42
He don't need to know too much. And uh
16:44
so I sit him down there, cut me a green
16:46
stick, pine stick about like that.
16:48
Shoved it back there in his jaw. Cuz
16:50
that's the same thing you'd do if you
16:51
was working on a horse's teeth. You put
16:52
something in there to where you can't
16:54
bite it down, bite your finger off, you
16:56
know? I'm thinking of my health right
16:57
now. So I go over at that one drawer.
17:00
Every kitchen has a junk drawer in it,
17:02
right? You know where you got
17:03
everything,
17:03
>> right?
17:04
>> Go to digging through there. There they
17:05
are. Two tubes. They froze solid cuz
17:08
it's cold. Bring them over, put them in
17:10
some water on the old Bertha, let them
17:12
thaw out. So, pulled them up there by
17:14
the fire getting close. And I was
17:16
looking at them. I mean, there was a
17:19
little bit sticking out there enough you
17:20
could see, you know, tooth.
17:22
>> Yeah. Two of them, you know.
17:24
>> And um I told him, I said, "We need to
17:26
cap them teeth. That way when you're
17:29
breathing in that air, them nerves ain't
17:31
feeling it. And same thing a dentist
17:33
would have done, but he'd had more stuff
17:34
to work with, you know.
17:36
>> And a degree.
17:37
>> A degree. We had a degree. It was nine
17:39
degrees that morning. And uh so I take
17:42
them two tubes, put them on piece of
17:44
cardboard right there, and squish them
17:45
out, mix them up. JB Weld. Okay.
17:48
>> JB Weld. Now, okay. So, I'm not familiar
17:50
with JBL Weld. What is that? It is a
17:53
sort of like a cement glue that you mix
17:56
together that's going to make an
17:57
adhesive that's going to bond to
17:59
anything it sticks to.
18:00
>> So, it's like a quick fix weld of Okay,
18:03
gotcha.
18:04
>> And that kid, he's looking over at it
18:06
like I don't know if this old man knows
18:08
what he's talking about, you know? And
18:09
I'm stirring it up with that matchick
18:11
just as good as I can. I ain't got no
18:13
paintbrush, none of that. I didn't even
18:14
have a Q-tip at the time. That's what
18:16
really bothered me. But I take that
18:18
mastic, get me a knife, and I go to
18:20
beaten on it to flatten it out to where
18:21
it's like a brush. Okay.
18:23
>> Okay.
18:23
>> JB weld is red because it's gray. One's
18:27
white, one's black. You mix them
18:28
together, it turns gray.
18:29
>> Okay.
18:30
>> And then you just paint them on them
18:32
teeth. You just cap it. And I told him,
18:35
I said, "We got to let that dry for a
18:37
minute." Kept that stick back there in
18:38
his jaw.
18:40
About five minutes went by. I told him,
18:43
I said, "Take that out of there. Don't
18:44
be drinking no water. Don't drink no
18:46
alcohol. Let that stuff set up good.
18:49
>> He walked out from under the fly of the
18:51
wagon and he went [gasps]
18:53
and he turned around. He smiled with
18:55
them teeth gone. You could just see that
18:56
gray, you know, and he said, "My God, it
19:00
worked." He said, "It's not hurting."
19:02
>> Nice.
19:02
>> I said, "Good." I said, "But you got to
19:04
remember one thing." I said, "I'm not a
19:07
dentist. I'm not going to send you a
19:09
bill. You didn't have to wait in line,
19:11
and I don't take insurance." I said,
19:14
"We'll give you my phone number." I
19:16
said, "You let me know how you're doing
19:17
six, seven weeks down the road." I
19:19
should have never given him my phone
19:20
number.
19:21
>> Oh, why?
19:21
>> He called and he said, "You know, Kent,
19:24
I had to go to the dentist up there at
19:25
Albuquerque and uh he wasn't too proud
19:28
of you."
19:29
>> He said he couldn't hardly grind that
19:32
stuff off there.
19:33
>> Oh gosh.
19:33
>> He said they finally got them pulled
19:35
out. He said, "Now I got me some
19:36
implants." But he said he did tell me to
19:38
tell you this quick fix, great fix in a
19:42
short amount of time. You done some
19:44
good. But he said please don't go into
19:46
the dental business, you know. But
19:48
again,
19:51
60 miles from somewhere, you know,
19:54
>> and it wasn't life-threatening, but it
19:56
was sure painful.
19:57
>> Oh, yeah. It is is not pleasant.
20:00
>> Now, the next one we're going into is
20:02
probably a most requested by cowboys who
20:05
aren't even sick. Yeah.
20:07
>> And this would be your famous hot totty.
20:09
>> Yeah.
20:10
>> So, what does a hot totty cure and what
20:11
is your secret recipe?
20:14
>> Hot totty really is for just an old dry
20:17
hacking cough.
20:18
>> Okay.
20:19
>> You know, sure it's going to make you
20:20
sleep a little better maybe, but we had
20:23
this old fell in camp. He'd come up
20:24
there. He was partners with the guy that
20:27
was running the cattle on the ranch.
20:28
They had some stuff together.
20:30
and he come in at supper,
20:33
you know, and I'm thinking, be glad, you
20:36
know, when supper's over, he can get
20:37
over in his house and cough all he
20:38
wants. Well, he wasn't far enough away
20:40
from him. I could hear him all night,
20:41
you know. And then I'm I begin to feel a
20:44
little empathy for him, you know. So the
20:47
next morning he come in there and I
20:48
said, "U that cough is bad." He said, "I
20:51
hope he didn't keep you awake, Kent." I
20:52
said, "Well, we don't worry about that,
20:54
but I said, "We need to work on that
20:55
cough." I said, "It's pretty windy
20:57
today." I said, 'Most coughs are caused
20:59
like that, old dry hacking cough,
21:01
allergies, something like that, you
21:03
know. And so got over it and I told him,
21:06
I'm going to fix you hot totty. There's
21:08
always coffee on Bertha and especially
21:10
in the winter time. There's two pots up
21:12
there.
21:12
>> And Bertha is our good old trusty wood.
21:15
>> Oh yeah. And she was putting out some
21:16
rays of love that morning she was. So I
21:19
pour about I'd say a four of a cup of
21:21
coffee in that cup. And I go over there
21:25
and always keep available in the winter
21:28
time. I have lemons in a nice chest. Oh.
21:30
>> Because lemon not only is an antiseptic,
21:33
but it's good to clean cutting boards,
21:35
but it's also a great antibiotic.
21:38
>> Lemons are great. Yeah.
21:39
>> So, take one of them lemons, roll them
21:41
around their own chuck box a little,
21:43
squish all that juice in that coffee.
21:46
Honey, honey is great. Honey has so many
21:49
great properties for healing people. And
21:52
it's better if the honey is like local
21:54
to your area so your bees have the right
21:56
zip code. Uh they know what's happening.
21:59
>> Okay.
21:59
>> So put a little honey in there. Stir all
22:01
that up. Then whiskey.
22:03
>> Classic cowboy ingredient.
22:05
>> You if it's a four of a cup of coffee
22:07
and a little bit of the other stuff and
22:09
then rest is whiskey. Stir it up really
22:12
well. I usually sometimes if it's really
22:15
really cold, I'll put this back in a
22:17
little pot and heat it really well, you
22:19
know. But that old coffee was good and
22:21
hot. I give it to him. Uh he drank it
22:25
that day at lunch when he come in. There
22:27
was no coffin. There was no coffin at
22:30
night. But there was this that night.
22:33
Every cowboy that come through that
22:34
door. And I'm I said, "No, you ain't
22:36
getting no hot toddy. You don't need one
22:38
of them." You know,
22:39
>> but there's there's so much you can do
22:42
with the ingredients you have on hand.
22:44
Yeah. You know, for for the same dry
22:46
hacking cough, there were so many times
22:48
that I would just take a white onion,
22:50
cut it in half, quarter it, throw it in
22:52
a pot, fill water right above it, garlic
22:55
cloves, uh little bit of cinnamon, let
22:58
it boil till the onion nearly falls
23:00
apart.
23:00
>> Okay?
23:01
>> And then you just let it cool a minute,
23:03
put your head over that, put a cup towel
23:04
over your head, and you breathe that in
23:06
for about 15 minutes. Just deep, slow
23:09
breathing. Uh it's good for sinus
23:11
infections, it's good for coughs. Uh
23:13
>> you've used that a lot.
23:14
>> Oh yeah, I've seen it work so many
23:16
times.
23:17
>> Um onions are another great ingredient
23:19
especially when you were growing up. A
23:21
pus.
23:21
>> Yeah.
23:22
>> Um did you do that on your feet?
23:24
>> You could do it on your feet or anything
23:26
that was really sore, you know, like you
23:28
have bruises somewhere, put an onion.
23:30
But you could put an onion in a sock,
23:34
put it on, you know, your feet stunk
23:36
anyway most time, you know, for our our
23:39
line of work. But the onion would be
23:41
black the next morning. Now you take
23:43
that same onion, you cut it in half. You
23:45
lay it out there in a just a bowl in
23:48
your bedroom and just let it sit. It
23:50
will eventually turn black from the
23:52
things that it is collecting. And I
23:55
haven't researched this fully, but a lot
23:57
of old women would tell me we keep one
23:59
in our bedroom all the times in the
24:01
winter because it helps with mold,
24:04
mildew.
24:05
>> Hey K, what is your favorite cooking
24:07
ingredient?
24:10
I'd have to say bacon.
24:12
>> Great answer because this one's going to
24:14
shock you guys because you have a cowboy
24:17
cure that involves bacon grease, right?
24:21
>> Yeah. Or just bacon fat.
24:22
>> Okay. So, what is it?
24:24
>> And this is old-timers used this way
24:26
back in the Civil War. You know, this
24:28
has been been around a long time. I'm
24:30
surprised the medical people in the
24:32
world today don't have bacon in a first
24:34
aid kit because it would work wonders.
24:36
It would. But uh had an old fell come
24:39
into camp, good friend of mine, and uh
24:42
he sort of put it off a day or two. But
24:44
I noticed one day when he come in, his
24:45
old elbow was all bloody, you know, and
24:48
uh he come in that night at suffering.
24:51
He said, "Boy, Kenn," he said, "I jobbed
24:53
an old mosqu thorn way up in there." And
24:56
some of them old mosqu thorns, you've
24:57
seen them, you know, they three or four
24:59
inches.
24:59
>> Yeah. They got a little poison in them,
25:01
you know.
25:02
>> Yeah.
25:02
>> And it went through
25:05
We'll get medical on you. Okay. right
25:07
below the electronon process. That is a
25:09
bone in your elbow and you can feel it
25:12
right in here and it just you couldn't
25:15
even see it. It had broke. He tried to
25:17
get it with a pocket knife to see your
25:18
own elbow.
25:19
>> Kept breaking. Yeah.
25:20
>> And it's broke off under there and that
25:22
thing is I mean it's swollen. He said
25:24
you're going to have to get that out for
25:25
me. And I at the time and I did carry
25:30
ace promisine which is a drug that we
25:33
used on cattle or horses to numb pain.
25:36
You give them something like if you was
25:38
going to do a C-section on a cow or
25:40
something like that. And he said, "Ah,
25:42
just go ahead, Ken. I don't need none of
25:44
that." Well, I told him, I said, "As
25:47
swollen as that is right now, Tom," I
25:50
said, "We're just going to put a pus on
25:52
it tonight and let it go to work." I
25:55
said, "We're going to soften that thing
25:57
up." Most of you would be thinking,
25:58
"We'll just cover that up with Neosporin
26:00
and a band-aid to make it soft to where
26:02
you can get it."
26:03
>> This is beyond the band-aid point,
26:04
though, right?
26:05
>> Oh, yes.
26:06
>> And uh so I went over at the ice chest,
26:09
pulled out a package of bacon. There's
26:11
always a fatty end, you know, and I just
26:13
cut off about four pieces right there,
26:15
just old solid white fat.
26:18
And I just laid it on there, taped it
26:21
up, then covered it with a cloth. Tom
26:25
said, "Is that bacon fat?" I said,
26:28
"Yeah." He said, "I ain't going to let
26:31
the dog sleep with me tonight." I said,
26:33
"No, it'd probably be better that he
26:34
sleep outside." So the next morning when
26:37
he come in there, I said, "How your
26:38
arm?" He said, "I think it does actually
26:41
feel a little better."
26:42
>> So we took it off and the swelling had
26:45
went down a little bit. It was so much
26:47
softer in there
26:48
>> and I could see just a little. Now I do
26:52
have a really good scalpel. I do have me
26:54
a really good pair of forceps. And I
26:56
told him, I said, "We're going to dab a
26:58
little alcohol on there," which was pure
27:00
alcohol. Then we were we were
27:01
sophisticated and we cleaned it. And
27:04
he's just sitting there with that lid on
27:06
the chuck. I mean, just with his arm on
27:08
the chuck box lid, which is the table
27:09
that folds down from the chuckway.
27:11
>> This was your working surface.
27:13
>> And he's just sitting there with it
27:14
propped up there like that. And I make
27:16
me a little bitty cut. He don't flinch.
27:18
He don't moan. He don't groan. He don't
27:20
do nothing. And I can see that splinter.
27:23
I can see the head of that old mosqu
27:25
thorn. So I get them forceps and I reach
27:28
in there far as I can. Tom never moves a
27:31
muscle. And I get a hole.
27:34
I was shocked, folks, at how big this
27:36
thing was.
27:37
>> Did you get it on the first try?
27:39
>> Because I knew if I broke it off again,
27:40
we'd just have to keep repeating this
27:42
process. So I got hold of it with them
27:45
for it. It was probably I'd say that
27:48
long.
27:48
>> How long? Like about
27:49
>> I'd say an inch. good edge. Okay. But it
27:52
was, you know, this thick where it broke
27:53
off straight from the bridge. We could
27:55
have just taped that up, you know,
27:58
>> but I told Tom, I said, "It'd be a good
28:00
time to practice a little sewing."
28:04
>> That's what anybody likes to hear. Yeah.
28:06
>> When they're at the doctor's practice.
28:08
>> He said, "How big is it?" And I said,
28:09
"Well, tell you what, we'll just put
28:12
some butterfly bandages on." But I told
28:14
him I said to you many years ago and
28:16
there was an old man told me this that a
28:18
cook on the wagon sewed up a guy that
28:22
had got cut by an old barbwire fence
28:25
where he just run plum through a horse
28:27
and just run through it and just laid
28:29
that open right here something
28:31
>> like his whole forearm was open
28:33
>> and he cleaned it and he sewed it up.
28:36
>> You know what he used for three horseair
28:38
that was soaked in whiskey.
28:40
>> Oh
28:41
>> that way it's antibiotic now.
28:43
>> Okay. When I sew today, if I have to sew
28:45
somebody up, I just use wax dental
28:47
thread, you know. I I'll just It ties
28:51
easy. It stays tight. And uh
28:53
>> So when what? Tell me exact like expand
28:56
on this dental floss sewing. When did
28:59
you have to do this?
29:00
>> Well, I I have sewed a few folks up in
29:03
Have you really?
29:03
>> Yeah. But it just be like places on top
29:06
the skin or maybe on the side of a foot.
29:08
>> And you used like a regular needle?
29:10
>> No. No. I got a good I mean, my dad
29:12
worked at the vet clinic. Remember, I'm
29:14
stocked. I It's not one of them big old
29:17
hook carpet needles that's this long.
29:18
You know, you run it through one leg and
29:20
hit the other leg.
29:21
>> It's It's tiny.
29:22
>> And sure, you use
29:25
>> anything like an ambisol, anything like
29:27
that's going to deaden skin just a
29:28
little, take ice to it, you know?
29:30
>> Okay.
29:31
>> And it doesn't have to be that deep.
29:33
And, you know, and just come across
29:35
through the other side of the skin.
29:38
>> Pull it. Pull it again three times. Then
29:42
it's every one of one stitch, two
29:45
stitch, three stitch, four stitch.
29:46
>> That's so interesting about the the
29:48
horseair. Again, like use what you have
29:50
on hand.
29:51
>> And back then, even in, you know, 1870s
29:53
and 80s, you were on a cattle drive and
29:55
you went through a town, there might not
29:56
even be a doctor in town, you know, and
29:59
these places didn't have nobody.
30:00
>> No. Everybody kind of had to have a
30:02
little medical experience back then. Um,
30:05
which it's so funny because you've
30:07
mentioned the vet hospital or using um
30:12
horse hair or um different horse or
30:16
cattle medicine.
30:17
>> Yeah.
30:17
>> Um and one that I've always found really
30:21
interesting was horse linament.
30:24
>> Yes. And everybody in the kind of cowboy
30:28
ranch agricultural world will swear by
30:31
using some sort of a horse linament for
30:34
aches and pains or um
30:37
>> you don't cook with it.
30:38
>> You don't cook with it. But what's so
30:39
funny too is if you look on the bottle,
30:41
some of them will say don't use on
30:44
humans. And I always think well that's
30:46
exactly what you want to do cuz you know
30:47
it's going to work. Then
30:49
>> there is horse linament that you use on
30:51
raceh horses. any kind of horse you got,
30:53
you know, sore muscles, tendons,
30:55
something like that.
30:56
>> There's one that you found somewhat I
30:59
mean, you you've used hormon
31:01
forever. I mean, and especially you've
31:03
always said um when you were rodeoing
31:06
really hard. Yeah.
31:07
>> You used one. Um but recently you came
31:09
across one that we did a video on. It
31:12
kind of went viral. And then also we've
31:15
had a ton of people comment to us.
31:17
They're like, "We tried this and my
31:19
arthritis in my hands is nearly gone."
31:21
Or, "My back was hurting. I fell and I
31:25
put this on it and I'm shocked about
31:27
it." So, um, it's called Vetricin. Um,
31:31
and this one actually is is good because
31:33
horse and riders.
31:34
>> Horse and rider. So, now we're we're
31:36
technically safe. But what So, what is
31:38
it doing and why is it different than
31:39
like an icy hot? Well, I think first of
31:43
all, they put so much stuff in the ones
31:44
for human consumption, not eating, but
31:47
doctrine wise, uh, that they've done
31:49
away with some of the better properties
31:51
in there that's going to work. You know,
31:53
there's there's probably some capsin in
31:55
these that's going to give you the heat,
31:56
but there's also some stuff in there,
31:58
menthol and everything else that's going
31:59
to help with a cooling process after
32:02
that. And what we're trying to do is
32:04
reduce inflammation, you know, okay,
32:06
>> and help relieve a little pain. Now the
32:10
two I've used for years and absorbing
32:13
Jr. was one of the first come out many
32:15
years ago as a horse linament, you know,
32:18
but also used on people uh was beagle
32:22
oil, but it when I first started using
32:24
it, when I was rodeoing, riding bulls so
32:26
much, pulled a lot of muscles, get run
32:28
over, thrashed, uh a guy told me that
32:31
rodeoed with me, he said, "You take a
32:33
half a cup of that, pour it in hot bath
32:35
water, so hot you can't understand it."
32:37
And he said, "Soak for about 20, 30
32:39
minutes." He said, uh, it be even though
32:42
you ain't got a whirlpool tub, you'll
32:44
feel like you just been through a really
32:45
good one.
32:46
>> And it did work.
32:47
>> Oh, may make you weak in a way. You
32:49
know, it just relaxes all your muscles.
32:51
Don't go to sleep in there and get it in
32:52
your ears. You know, you don't walk good
32:54
for a couple years. But, uh, it's the
32:58
veterin I found out too really works
33:00
well. But I can remember a kid coming
33:03
into camp. One of the first times we was
33:05
at the bolo crouton, had some broke ribs
33:07
from a horse wreck, you know. Yeah.
33:09
>> Had a little beagle oil and there's not
33:11
a lot you can do for a broke rib. You
33:14
know, sure you don't want it to puncture
33:15
a lung, something like that. They used
33:17
to say, "Well, we're going to wrap
33:18
them." No, you can't wrap them. It'll
33:19
cause pneumonia, you know.
33:21
>> Oh,
33:21
>> but to get some of the swelling and the
33:24
pain that he was really dealing with
33:25
from them ribs, we take that beal and
33:28
rub on there really well, let it dry
33:31
just a minute, and then we wrap his
33:33
torso here with saran wrap, which is
33:36
going to make it sweat. But I told him,
33:38
I said, "We can't leave this on any
33:40
longer than 30 minutes where it'll
33:41
blister the snot out every
33:42
>> Well, and that's So with the Beagle oil,
33:45
that's great for like the water because
33:46
it's a really thin Yeah.
33:48
>> consistency. And the Vetricin is more
33:51
like a gel.
33:52
>> Yeah.
33:52
>> Um that you can put on topically. So
33:54
that really works. Like I said,
33:56
>> I use it every day.
33:57
>> Do you really?
33:57
>> Oh, yeah. Every day. I'm all for the old
33:59
cures, the old remedies. You know, I
34:02
think mother nature has provided so many
34:04
of them for us. I'm not a doctor. I'm
34:06
not a dentist. I'm a pretty good
34:08
psychologist.
34:08
>> You know what I think we've kind of
34:10
ended up doing too is not relying on our
34:13
bodies to fix the situation. Like just
34:16
let your body do its thing. However, the
34:18
body needs a little help sometimes. We
34:21
don't want to disrupt the the process
34:23
and we don't want to give it too much
34:24
shock, but just a little bit of a
34:26
natural boost. Yeah.
34:28
>> And I think that's kind of what why
34:29
these work. We're using mother nature.
34:32
we're using like tried and trueue for
34:35
some of these maybe hundreds I don't
34:37
know thousand years. Um so those are the
34:40
things that have been tested and and
34:42
work.
34:42
>> Yeah. I mean I'm surprised every time we
34:44
like you said we do one for YouTube the
34:47
people that will even have more oldtime
34:50
cures. You know
34:51
>> that's what I would love to know. If
34:52
anybody wants to comment, please let us
34:54
know. Is there an old time cure or
34:57
natural remedy that you have used that
34:59
have had success with? because we always
35:01
love sharing this type of content. So,
35:03
please let us know.
35:04
>> You know, Shen was we take care of each
35:06
other, me and you, and even when we're
35:08
on a ranch, we take care of what's
35:10
around us,
35:11
>> right?
35:11
>> You know, not only the people, but
35:14
really the country in which we're in
35:15
>> and the livestock
35:16
>> and the livestock. Look around wherever
35:18
you're at today and know that that
35:21
person sitting beside you or that person
35:23
across person across from you on a bus
35:25
or maybe you're on a subway. I don't
35:27
know. But think about if something
35:31
happens, I need to look out for that
35:32
guy. Let's have each other's back and
35:36
always give them a pat on the back at a
35:38
boy, but have their heart too. That's
35:40
what's going to count. Take care of
35:42
them.
35:42
>> And just some simple cowboy cures can
35:44
get you through life.
35:45
>> Get us through. bring us together and an
35:48
easy way for us to take care of one
35:49
another.
35:49
>> Yep.
35:50
>> We hope you all enjoyed this podcast.
35:53
Kent, I love hearing all the little
35:55
behind the scenes stories.
35:56
>> Thank you, sweetheart.
35:57
>> Um, we are going to keep these stories
35:59
rolling every week. So, be sure to join
36:01
us on YouTube. You can see us here
36:03
talking in our studio, but take us with
36:05
you on your favorite podcast platform.
36:07
We're on Apple. We're on Spotify.
36:10
Anywhere that you find a podcast, we're
36:12
with you. Join us weekly. And uh we
36:15
[music] can't wait to hear some more
36:16
stories as we go.
36:17
>> It'll be a good time every day. I
36:19
promise you. Remember, life is simple.
36:22
Don't [music] complicate it with
36:23
anything else. And a big thank you to
36:25
all the servicemen and women and all the
36:27
veterans that have been out there
36:28
keeping us free, keeping us safe. We
36:30
commend you all. Y'all take care of us
36:32
and we're going to take care of y'all.
36:35
[music]
36:44
Pioneer.
#People & Society