Ridiculous History: "CLASSIC: The Ridiculously Laxative-laden Journey of Lewis and Clark"

Podcast: Ridiculous History by iHeartPodcasts
Hosts: Ben Bowlin & Noel Brown
Date: August 30, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ben and Noel trace the bizarre and essential role of laxatives—specifically, Dr. Benjamin Rush's infamous "bilious pills"—on the historic Lewis and Clark Expedition. They explore how these mercury-laden pills affected the explorers’ health, how their residue in the ground literally helped archaeologists retrace the group’s route, and the less-glamorous realities of life on the American frontier. With their signature humorous banter, the hosts dig into medical misconceptions, the gritty details of 19th-century exploration, and the unexpected ways bodily functions enter the historical record.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction & Context: Toilets, Expeditions, and Bodily Perils

• The episode kicks off with tales of modern bathroom emergencies as a segue into "the untamed wilds" faced by Lewis and Clark—where finding a restroom was the least of their worries.
• Ben: "They were worried about their continents on the continent." (01:27)

2. Medical Prep for the Wild: Dr. Rush’s Bilious Pills

• Dr. Benjamin Rush supplied the expedition with his “bilious pills,” which were marketed as a remedy for various ills but contained a significant amount of mercury.
• Mercury, then widely used, was believed to "purge" the body, despite causing severe side effects.
• Ben’s faux-ad for the product:
  “If so, fret not good friends and neighbors. Dr. Benjamin Rush has discovered a brilliant, innovative solution to all your ills... bilious pills...” (05:31)
• Noel points out the problematic ingredient:
  “Yeah, there was a little bit of a PR spin there. Noel, what was that key ingredient that got left out?” (06:10)
  “I think it was mercury, Ben.” (06:16)

3. The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Myth vs. Messy Reality

• The journey began May 14, 1804, took 28 months, and miraculously only lost one member, Sergeant Charles Floyd, likely to a ruptured appendix ("bilious colic").
• The hosts debunk the sanitized version of the expedition, noting:
  • Severe dietary changes (including eating dog meat)
  • Widespread digestive distress

4. Explosive Effects: The Pills in Daily Life

• Dr. Rush recommended the pills for nearly any indication of sickness, especially constipation.
• Nicknamed "thunderbolts," the pills worked "fast and furiously," causing days of incapacitating purging.
• Noel: “They took so much of it that they would spend like an entire day... just purging. Spray and pray is what I like to call it.” (13:16)

Latrines and Camp Hygiene

• Mercury-laden excrement contaminated campsites. Proper procedure called for latrines to be dug far from camp (preferably ~100 yards), though Ben and Noel debate the practicality of this in wilderness.
• The duo joke about the ordeal:
  • Ben: “The groans of anguish, human misery and like cartoonish splattering sounds. Can you even imagine, Ben?” (14:44)
  • Ben: “I can. And it bothers me.” (14:51)

5. Archaeology by Poop: Mercury, Maps, and History

• Archaeologists later used mercury concentrations at suspected campsites to definitively trace the expedition’s route.
  • “For a long time, archaeologists were attempting to trace the exact path that Lewis and Clark took... This all changed when a vapor analysis verified this unusual amount of mercury there.” (21:14)
• The tell-tale mercury enabled new discoveries about the journey and its campsites.

6. Other Medical Uses: Mercury and Syphilis

• Beyond constipation, mercury was prescribed as a treatment for syphilis—another common affliction on the journey, due to unprotected sex with locals.
• Clark’s journal notes sexually transmitted infections:
  • “Their women were very fond of caressing our men... men were generally healthy except venereal complaints, which is very common amongst the natives here. The men catch it from them.” (25:09)
• The hosts critique the scapegoating of Native populations.

7. Sacagawea, Dogs, and Discipline

• The expedition’s cuisine included various unpalatable meats, notably dog.
• Whiskey was highly prized; stealing it led to harsh punishment—“50 stripes on the back with a cat o’ nine tails.” (26:44)

8. Legacy and Deaths: Myth, Downfall, and Mental Health

• Despite their fame now, Lewis and Clark’s achievements went underappreciated for decades.
  • “It only became popular relatively recently, like 50 years ago or so.” (32:53)
• Meriwether Lewis’s death was likely by suicide, with evidence of long-term depression, substance abuse, and stress over publishing his journals.
  • Noel shares Jefferson’s words:
    “Governor Lewis had from an early life been subject to hypochondriac affections...” (33:36)
  • His ghastly, prolonged demise (via failed suicide attempts) is described in detail. (35:01)

9. Mammoths, Megafauna, and Comics

• Thomas Jefferson hoped the expedition would turn up living mammoths or other giant beasts (“megalonyx”).
• The comic Manifest Destiny is recommended for a fantastical take on the journey:
  • “In this story... the expedition does run into megafauna... But they also keep finding these structures that look like the Gateway Arch...” (39:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "They were worried about their continents on the continent." – Ben (01:27)
• “Thunderbolts, yeah. It sounds like some kind of like truck stop speed, doesn’t it?” – Noel (11:08)
• "Spray and pray is what I like to call it." – Noel (13:16)
• "You could call it a pile of human excrement in a hole in the ground situation." – Noel (20:26)
• “There was so much mercury running through these poor guy's bodies that the mercury stayed in the ground… like an unusual, cartoonish, I'll say it, disgusting amount of mercury.” – Ben (21:05)
• “Syphilis and mercury poisoning. I would imagine by the end of this journey these dudes were not well, right? Mentally.” – Noel (25:00)
• On punishment for whiskey theft: “He got 50 stripes on the back with a cat o’ nine tails or some such, you know, bullwhip.” – Ben (26:44)
• “Growing up here in the States, when you hear about the Lewis and Clark expedition, you just hear the bare bones and … sometimes it’s a little romanticized… we skip over a lot of the nitty gritty details. The epidemic of syphilis, the epidemic of diarrhea, the mercury in the ground everywhere, the dog eating…” – Ben (27:01)
• On Lewis's suicide: “So he did it again, and that didn’t quite take either. So he decided to go to sleep. He went to sleep and he woke up not dead. And then he apparently ran out into the hallway and said, quote, ‘Give me some water and heal my wounds.’” – Noel (35:01)
• “One of the big things [Jefferson] was super excited about them finding on this expedition was like giant animals.” – Noel (38:05)
• Comic recs: “We highly recommend [Manifest Destiny]. I’m so glad you mentioned this on air… I was rereading it last night.” – Ben (39:15)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–01:30 – Opening banter, segue into expeditionary bathroom woes
• 05:31 – Intro to Dr. Rush’s bilious pills (mock 1800s ad)
• 06:10–06:16 – Mercury as key ingredient revealed
• 07:52–09:42 – Basic expedition timeline, scurvy, and preparation
• 10:26–13:36 – Pills, side effects (mercury, thunderbolts), camp hygiene
• 19:12–21:14 – Mercury in the ground and archaeological significance
• 23:09–25:51 – Mercury’s dual use: constipation and syphilis, transmission on the trail
• 32:53–34:39 – Shifting public appreciation, Lewis's depression and tragic death
• 38:05–39:33 – Jefferson’s hopes for megafauna, Manifest Destiny comic rec

Tone, Language, and Style

Ben and Noel infuse irreverent humor alongside candid historical analysis, not shying from bodily topics or the messier realities of "exploration." The exchanges are relaxed, with playful jabs at each other and the idiosyncrasies of 19th-century medicine and ambition, punctuated with the type of wry, anachronistic asides fans love.

Final Thoughts

The episode leaves listeners with a fuller understanding of what exploration actually looked (and smelled) like, highlighting science’s hilarious, disgusting, and serendipitous role in uncovering the literal path of Lewis and Clark. Plus, listeners get a nudge toward fantastic comics and a reminder not to mess with mercury—or, perhaps, the heroic myths of American history.

Comic Recommendations from the Episode:

• Manifest Destiny (Image Comics)
• The Black Monday Murders
• Locke and Key (by Joe Hill)

“Does it bother you? Casey?” “Yeah, I'd say that bothers me. It's been Casey on the case. It is decided: it's an unpleasant thing to be around.” – (15:04-15:13)