A Smelly Swamp
Local legend has it that when Ole Rosendahl went to claim a homestead near Sand Creek township, only a single 80 acre tract of land was left. Supposedly the land was covered with smelly, swampy mud, and no one thought the property had any practical use. Nonetheless, Rosendahl claimed the land and began to build a home on the property.
As Rosendahl remembers it, sometime around 1900 a peddler was crossing his land and got stuck in the mud. He noticed the pungent, sulfurous smell and began to congratulate Ole on his good fortune! The peddler knew of sulfur-mud spas that were taking off in Germany, and thought Rosendahl was sitting on a metaphorical gold mine in his smelly mud.
At the time, sulfur was thought to treat skin irritation, allergies, arthritis, infection and more. Rosendahl contacted the University of Minnesota about the correct way of “cooking” his sulfurous mud, and soon began a business, giving curative mud baths in his kitchen.
The Landscape of Scott County
Footprint of Lake Agassiz
It is no surprise to geologists that Rosendahl found his goldmine of mud. During the last ice age, the land that is now Scott County was covered in glaciers. Twelve thousand years ago, as the glaciers began to retreat, the melt-water formed a massive body named Lake Agassiz. This lake covered large portions of what is now North Dakota and Minnesota, and almost the entire province of Manitoba.
Lake Agassiz was held in place by glacial dams. When the force of the water became too great, it broke through and rushed southwards at a rapid place, forming huge floods and glacial rivers that chiseled through the landscape before them. One of these, Glacial River Warren, carved the path that the Minnesota River flows through today.
Glacial River Warren, superimposed over the path that the Minnesota River travels today.
This glaciation and flooding had a profound effect on the landscape of Scott County. Rushing waters carved out the river bluffs, while glacial pressures left behind compacted fertile soil. The waters also forced themselves through cracks in the bedrock, forming the seeps and springs and muddy peat that became the mineral spas of the future.
Mudbaden is Born
Ole Rosendahl’s first known treatment was given to Ernie Morrell for his ringworm. Morrell claimed to feel much improved after his mud bath and word soon began to spread. In 1906, Rosendahl purchased a large local house and had it moved to his land to create his spa. On December 27, 1906 an ad appeared in the Jordan Independent stating “Mr. Rosendahl assuming ready for patients”
An article accompanying the ad described the mud spa thusly:
“The large sanitorium which Ole Rosendahl is having erected at the site of his sulfur springs here is assuming a finished aspect, being in fact partially completed. The main part was 26×50 feet in dimensions, two stories in height and there is an addition nearly as large. A considerable portion of the sanatorium is now finished and Mr Rosendahl will soon be ready to receive and care for his patients. It is his plan to have hot water heat and electric lights in the building. He reports wonderful cures, especially of rheumatism. A recent case was that of a Minneapolis physician who became so badly crippled with inflammatory rheumatism that he couldn’t come out to Mr. Rosendahl’s, so the latter sent him some of the mud and water from the sulfur springs, believing that its use would put the man of medicine sufficiently on his feat to make the trip to the healing waters of Jordan. But lo and behold! The application of the mud and the use of the water at his own home so cured the doctor that he found it unnecessary to come at all and he immediately resumed his medical practice.”
The wording of this article is important. The late 1800’s and early 1900’s were a golden age of so-called “patent medicines”. Miracle cures in pill, powder, and mud form filled the pages of newspapers, and little legislation existed to curb spurious claims. Just before Mudbanden opened, a law has passed attempting to protect the public. It was no longer legal to make false medical claims in advertising. It was, however, perfectly legal to advertise our cures in the form of “reports” and testimonials.
Regardless, Rosendahl’s spa continued to grow. By 1908 the business had become too big for Ole Rosendahl to handle on his own. He passed management on to his sons, O.J. and Ben Rosendahl. The boys also brought in a medical staff, Dr. T.M. Larsen, and Dr. W.H. Philips. Dr. Larsen was a chiropractor from Denmark, was an “expert masseur”. He was slick, sales-minded, and charismatic, and threw himself wholeheartedly into promotion. With this new team, the customer base of the spa increased rapidly. The Rosendahl Sulphur Springs was officially incorporated in 1909 with capital stock of $50,000.
Learn more about the continued growth of Mudbaden next week!
Written by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager