Medicine in old Fort Smith: struggles with mud and quacks.

Dr. J. G. Eberle's efforts to pave the streets of Fort Smith are illustrative of the challenges facing Arkansas in the nineteenth century. Development of sewers, drains, and a safe water supply helped control epidemics of malaria, yellow fever, cholera, and other forms of dysentery. During this time the medical profession struggled to establish professional standards before the great reforms of medical education took hold in the twentieth century. The military hospital of the Civil War was a precursor of the role hospitals would play in bringing higher standards of care to their communities.