The Old Frontier with Grandma Elizabeth Blancett

Hi Family,

This blogging thing has taken me hours to figure out and not sure I am there yet! I intend to have 2 blogs, one for the Koontz side and one for the O'Hair side. So this is totally a work in progress! Maybe some of you that have thought of blogging can see this old grandma working her brains to figure it out and you might get brave as well.

Recently Vern and I were in Denver, Colorado and found in one of the libraries there  a bit more about the Blancett's from Truman Blancetts old west writings. Many of his stories have been published in local Colorado papers of the time. Below is a story about Elizabeth Blancett.

Koontz's-- How are we related to Elizabeth Blancett?

                                                       Paul Koontz (and his siblings)
                                                       Elbert Lyle Koontz
                                                       Samuel Elbert Koontz  was married to Belle Blancett.
                                                        Moses Blancett
                                                       Josiah Blancett---whose wife was Elizabeth (Harris) Blancett                                                                                       
                                                 

I have so many stories and pictures to share about the Koontz side and those that are related to my mom's side the O'Hair's--- that is coming in a different blog but this right now is a work in progress.

Did you know that our Grandmother Elizabeth Blancett had worked closely with the Indians they---

 "had come to consider mother a great "medicine squaw," since she was virtually their only doctor when they were injured or sick. When something went wrong with a papoose they would bring the child to her. In most cases a chunk of cooked meat was all that we required.

A very amusing thing happened in connection with mother's services as "medicine squaw." A squaw came to her with a lame back and at the time turpentine was anybody's medicine. Freighters carried it for lame oxen and horses. It was a universally used cure-all for every illness from tick bite to the sting of a rattler.

Mother couldn't see very well, but she found the turpentine bottle, had the squaw stoop before the fire, applied the liquid quite freely and rubbed it in vigorously. Suddenly the squaw launched into a series of acrobatics, urged on by the effects of the massage, and almost wrecked our cabin before making her escape, leaving mother wondering what could have been wrong with the application.

I considered that the rubbing had been very effective, judging from the gymnastic performance.  The cure, at least, was instantaneous. In any event we suffered a nice falling off in the number of Indians who applied for first aid thereafter. We never learned just what was wrong with the turpentine."

Written by Elizabeth's son Truman. 

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OR WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN OUR FAMILY HISTORY. I DO HAVE A PICTURE OF JOSIAH AND ELIZABETH TO SHARE WHEN I FIGURE OUT HOW TO ADD:)