In the 19th century, tuberculosis was rampant. The disease attacked the lungs, and could ravage the body for years. TB was incurable at the time; patients either recovered or didn't. The only treatment was clean, dry, mountain air and pleasant surroundings. Sanitariums sprung up around the western US, and Colorado Springs was perfectly suited for tuberculosis patients due to its altitude, sunshine, moderate temperatures, and wide open spaces. The town began to lure TB patients soon after it was founded in 1871.
Tens of thousands of people went to Colorado Springs every year drawn by the lure of tuberculosis treatment. Once they checked into a sanatorium, patients were subjected to a range of bizarre treatment, such as forced feeding, mandatory bed rest, hypnotism, sunbathing and sleeping outside. The routine was torturous.
Each patient was forced to eat twice as much they wanted. A typical diet consisted of three large meals supplemented by raw eggs and several glasses of milk throughout the day. Some patients were fed laxatives to keep all that food moving. The idea was to rebuild the frail bodies of the patients wrecked by the disease. It was not uncommon for those who spent long months at the sanatorium to gain between 25 to 50 pounds.
Fresh air was considered the most vital of treatments, and for this purpose, nearly all sanatoriums had well-ventilated sleeping huts built in the style of teepees.
Those sleeping huts grew by the thousands, and some of them are still around. Read about Colorado Springs and the tuberculosis sufferers who fell in love with it at Amusing Planet.
(Image credit: Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum)