The First Snake Oil Salesman

Before Tiger King, there was the Rattlesnake King

Clark Stanley proclaimed himself the Rattlesnake King in 1897 in a self published pamphlet that detailed his journey from disgruntled cowboy to miracle medicine man. In his pamphlet, he describes how he spent years with the Hopi tribe learning their secrets, being bitten by dozens of rattlesnakes (with the scars to prove it) and developing a liniment that could cure nearly everything. The problem was, his cure was a fraud and his besmirched the good name of snake oil forevermore.

Real snake oil

The snake oil craze that swept the United States at the tail end of the 19th century was actually brought on by legitimate snake oil. Tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants began to pour into California in the early 1800s before trickling west to work on major construction projects. They brought their own local medicines and remedies with them.

By the end of the century, there were hundreds of eyewitness reports of Chinese workers using snake oil to ease their aches and pains and get them ready for another long day’s work. This brand of Chinese snake oil was supposedly the real deal. Made from Chinese water snake, the authentic snake oil had some mild restorative properties from the high concentration of omega-3 acids that came from the…