An early practitioner of "colonic therapy" and booster of yogurt turns out to have a link to the Stayton area and Santiam canyon. A century ago he got a funny blurb in the paper, a reprint of some press in Scientific American.
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| May 13th, 1923 |
Dr. O. Boto Schellberg had a book and treatments to promote. Colonic Therapy in the Treatment of Disease came out that same year.
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| Colonic Therapy, 1923 |
It was interesting to see yogurt talked about - albeit in somewhat medicalized and roundabout terms, not so much as tasty food, but as medicine.
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| The cultures in yogurt |
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| "culture-milk" = yogurt |
America's interest in yogurt and its bacteria had apparently started with Elie Metchnikoff's 1908 book, The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies, and then with treatments at the Kellogg sanitarium.
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The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies, 1908 |
So maybe even before the Kesey family and Nancy's, before the health food fads of the second half of the 20th century, there was an Oregon link to popularizing yogurt.
The "Schellberg Apparatus" itself can be seen here. At the moment it is hard to say whether it belongs more in the history of alternative medicine or if it is more solidly in the lineage of modern medicine. The piece in the paper stressed the lower invasiveness and lack of incision for the tubing and treatment.
Locally in 1917 Daniel Fry started to advertise for his drug store the "J. B. L. Cascade," an "internal bath" and improvement on the enema.
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| March 1st, 1917 |
Cleaning out the back end of things was increasingly popular as a part of that era's wellness culture.
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| Shellburg Falls Pamphlet |
The name "Schellberg" seems to have been flexibly spelled with variants on Sch/Sh and on burg/berg. There is a small chance there are two distinct families, but some basic checking suggests the name's spelling was not stable and it refers to one single family.
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| "Shellburg" - August 6th, 1896 |
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| Stayton Mail, October 28th, 1904 |
The "ranch near Mehama" is nearly certain to be the area of the
recreation area and trail system. (I could not find any reference to the
State purchasing the land, however. By the early 1960s there are clear
references to it in timber sales and a proposal for a 4-H camp. Maybe something will turn up later.)
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| "Schellberg" - Nov. 13th, 1927 |
The family had roots in the Stayton area and many are buried there.
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| Oregonian, Oct. 16th, 1911 |
With road closures and recovery from the Beachie Creek Fire still in process and Shellburg Falls periodically in the news, perhaps the history of the Schellberg family and homestead deserves more attention.
See at Findagrave also:
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