Tag Archives: range toilets

Too Much Change

2 Replies
Rosebud Indian Agency, courtesy South Dakota State Historical Society

Rosebud Indian Agency, courtesy South Dakota State Historical Society

The federal government had sought to integrate, or assimilate, Native Americans into the larger white culture for some time before the Canton Asylum opened. Policy-makers did not try to achieve this goal by meeting Native Americans halfway or by gradually introducing them to white values. Instead, their programs tended toward an immersion experience. Children were forced to attend boarding schools where staff tried to cut all ties to their previous cultural experience so they could more easily adopt the white way of life. Continue reading →

Water Closets

Leave a reply
An Old Outhouse, courtesy Library of Congress

An Old Outhouse, courtesy Library of Congress

Ordinary homes during the late 1800s and well into the 1900s had few conveniences (see last post); unlike homes today, a dedicated bathroom was a luxury. A largely rural population typically used an outhouse, which could be indifferently built at worst and an uncomfortable distance from the home at best. Continue reading →

New Century, Old Ways

Leave a reply
New York Street Scene, 1903

New York Street Scene, 1903

Life was difficult around the turn of the twentieth century. A simple scratch or sore throat that developed into strep could still cause death since there were no effective antibiotics, most homes had no indoor plumbing, and heating fuel was dirty and inconvenient.

Feeding Chickens in Montana, 1908

Feeding Chickens in Montana, 1908

Though most women no longer had to weave their own cloth, many were still cutting out patterns and sewing their family’s clothes.

 

Farming was labor-intensive, with a lot of human-power to supplement whatever farm animals were available for plowing, planting, and other tasks. Canning food for the winter was hot, exhausting, and seemingly endless when the crops came in and food had to be processed right away.

Farm House in Nebraska, 1903, courtesy Library of Congress

Farm House in Nebraska, 1903, courtesy Library of Congress

It is little wonder that the townspeople in Canton, South Dakota were so proud and impressed with the new Canton Asylum for Insane Indians,with its electric lights and indoor plumbing. (The asylum had range toilets; these flushed at intervals rather than after each individual use, but were still a great convenience.)

In an age when even very young children worked hard on farms or in dangerous factory and mining jobs, the public could feel gratified that an institution existed which could provide food, shelter, and medical care to people who were struggling to get through life.