Crazy Water

Book excerpt: Mineral Wells, Stoval Hot Wells, Marlin, Glen Rose, Sour Lake, Indian Hot Springs, Wizard Wells -- there were dozens of places all over the state where heavily mineralized water lay beneath the soil. In pioneer days, the news often set off a land rush, with wagons flocking to the medicinal founts of "miracle" healing. Before the discovery of antibiotics -- and sometimes afterward - drinking and bathing in mineral waters were an important part of health care for many Texans. In a lively look at resorts large and small and the men who ran them, from quack doctors and elixir pitchmen to legitimate businessmen and physicians, Crazy Water takes readers from one end of the state to the other, listening to testimonials, reading amazing descriptions, marveling at the gulibility of the afflicted and the inventiveness of the healers.