Frontier Tonsillectomy:

Our great grandmother( Allie Lucretia Williams Leverton English) 
was a supporting player in this true story!

From Bennett Family History
The Windswept Land p. 84

“Alex Barclay was a nephew of one of the heavy stockholders in the LX.  He was sent out from Scotland to cure his alcoholism.  He worked on the ranch.    

One winter Dad and Alex were camped on Sand Creek, (not far from where grandmother Allie Lucretia Leverton English and grandpap H. C. English lived).  The cowboys could kill LX beef so they helped out the English a lot with fresh meat.  One time Alex had tonsillitis and was about to choke.  Dad went over to Mrs. English and she gave him a stick of caustic.  When he got back to camp, he sat on Alex’ chest, put the caustic in a split stick and rimmed out his tonsils.  He said they smoked, but Alex could not get away.  He was never bothered with tonsillitis again!”

. . .submitted by Charlie Bennett.

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[NOTE:]  Alex Barkley must have overcome his alcohol problems and become a good citizen because later in the history we read about his wedding to a local girl and his name is found on a list of voters along with Grandpa R. A. Spurlock and Uncle George Leverton , lists of taxpayers, etc.

This story also shows the cooperation between the big ranchers and the smaller ranchers.  The lonely cowboy assigned to a remote line camp was glad for the company of the small rancher and was often welcomed with some good home cooking.