b'PRESENTED BY DID YOU KNOW, IN THE OLD WEST.By Lee Anderson, Old West Living Historian, Award Winning Author, and Old School HorsemanLee Anderson and his horse, Concho, are well known around the state doing presentations in schools, corporate events,and civic events. Learn more about them and his book on his website. historicaloldwest.orgU ndertaking was 3rd generation localcreated a thriving business out of what once a career thatundertaker whosewas just a job that was sort of thrust on them APRIL came intosideline was unwillingly because no one else was available. being when towns were created. Travelinga furniture store.It was still a sad, morbid business, but finally, at pioneers buried their family members nearleast a profitable business.9 the place of their death and then continuedPreserving theNext month we\'ll take a look at some of the thon their waythere just wasn\'t time tobodies was relatively stay and mourn the death of a loved one.new technology in theVictorian-era medical practices that provided 2022 Pioneers left the east and headed west as1800s according tothe undertakers with a considerable amount quickly as possible to avoid snowstorms.Wild West Tech\'sof their business. They also buried the dead quickly because,"Grim Reaper." in the early to mid-1800s thereThe bodies were was no known way of preservingfirst soaked in arsenic bodies, and the human bodyor alcohol. There are rapidly decays.stories of family members who were preserved in a The job of the town undertakerbarrel of whiskey until they wasn\'t easy, and I\'m certain it iscould be properly buried. still a difficult, painful task to this day. In the days of the Old West,The discovery of however, many towns didn\'t haveformaldehyde in 1859 by a an undertaker. Most undertakersRussian chemist, Aleksandr were furniture makers or doctorsButlerov, made the business of doing double duty. You didn\'t often findbeing an undertaker far more a sign for an undertaker\'s business. Theprofitable. By postponing the decayThere are stories of family townsfolk would simply turn to someoneof the body, families could wait who already had the tools and woodlonger to bury the deceased untilmembers who were preserved in available to make their coffins. That wasother family members arrived to say still not uncommon in the late 1940s andtheir last farewell. This opened newa barrel of whiskey until they early 1950s. In the small Iowa town whereopportunities for elaborate (and more I grew up, Merrill Sundburg was theprofitable) funerals. Formaldehydecould be properly buried.Buriding RARE Lander Blue Squash403 N. Florence St., Casa Grande, AZ 85122 14K Gold & Turq. SquashBlossom SetSOLD $100,000 (520) 426-7702 SOLD $15,000WesternTradingPost.comBUY, SELL, TRADE, or AUCTION How can we help you?Oleg Stravrowsky Painting Certified Lander Turq. Collection SOLD $18,500 Shipwreck Silver Ingot SOLD $150,000SOLD $30,000Everett Bowman Rodeo Arena High Condition Henry Rifle Engraved Henry Rifleevent starts 7pm | Gates open @ 5:30 SOLD $35,000 SOLD $40,000Upcoming Auctions: April 9th, May 14th and June 18th@lazykheart ArizonaRealCountry.com April 2022 9'