Red Dead Redemption 2 Good, Honest, Snake Oil: Snake Oil and Quackery in the 19th Century US.
Good, Honest, Snake Oil, a name like an ad copy, is one of the side quests in Red Dead Redemption 2. Instead of being hunted, Arthur is the bounty hunter this time to take down a guy called Benedict Allbright near the Dakota River. This post will take you through the mission of catching the swindler and introduce historical stories about the miracle oil! 🪄
Good, Honest, Snake Oil mission walkthrough
Find Benedict Allbright near the cliff of the Dakota River
You can almost imagine a medicine stall owner by the side of the country road yelling out “Good, honest, snake oil! The magic solution for all your pain!” However, that’s not how you meet Benedict Allbright, the quack doctor. Open the map and you will find a bounty hunter sign at the sheriff’s office in Valentine Town. The sheriff will ask you to catch a guy who has been selling a “miracle” potion to people which has the risk of killing them instead.
It’s not hard to locate Allbright who is on the cliff right next to Dakota River. Yet, he won’t admit that he’s the doctor upon asking. Arthur tricks him into admitting his identity by pretending to buy a bottle of snake oil for his sick mother. Then you can choose if you want to save him from jumping into the river:
- If you pull him up from the cliff, Allbright will jump into the river later as he doesn’t want to get caught.
- If you don’t pull him up, Allbright will fall into the river directly.
No matter what you choose, you will end up chasing him in the river. The river rushes Allbright downstream pretty far. After a while, there will be a part of the river where the stream slows down. If you fail to save him by using the lasso, Allbright will struggle onto the bank later when the stream slows down. You can use a lasso on him after he saves himself and send him to the sheriff’s office.
Related: story of the Lily-May boy by the river in RDR2.
Miracle tonic from looting Benedict Allbright
You can loot Allbright and get a bottle of Miracle Tonic. Surprisingly, this miracle tonic is not toxic to drink at all. On the contrary, it will “fully restore Health, Stamina, and Dead Eye and Fortifies slightly”. It turns out that Benedict Allbright may not be lying when he claims that he can cure people!
Related: Do you know the historical figure for Black Belle in RDR2?
Benedict Allbright in jail
Upon returning to the sheriff’s office with Allbright, Arthur will put Allbright behind bars. Sheriff is surprised that you can bring him in so fast. Later, you can return to the office to visit Allbright. He claims that they’re going to hang him. However, the story later doesn’t reveal whether he’s hung or not.
What exactly is the snake oil that Allbright is selling? 💀
Chinese immigrants with their hometown snake oil
Chinese immigrants brought various local products to the US in the 19th century, and snake oil is one of them! In the 1800s, many Chinese workers came to the United States to build the Transcontinental Railroad. The majority of the workers were peasants from China and brought snake oil to the UK as their hometown medicines. Chinese water snake was the ingredient and reason why they called the medicine snake oil. (Gandhi, 3)
The rise of patent medicines and quackery
“Patent medicines” at that time enjoy the promising effects of curing all kinds of ailments, including “female complaints”. This type of tonic began to be related to snake oil and turned snake oil into a miracle tonic, according to Gandhi(3).
The rise of quackery was also the product of that time around the mid-19th century, as explained by Morton Tavel. (1) The patent medicines make use of the newspapers as a medium to spread the information about the miracle potion. The public in the US acquired some level of literacy as well. Combined with the encouragement of freedom of thought, all these made quackery extremely popular at that time. (Tavel, 1)
Benedict Allbright in “Good, Honest, Snake Oil” is the product of his time. Far from healing every ailment, his snake oil proves to be more lethal than helpful. According to the sheriff, his snake oil
“Killed more than Landon Ricketts without even pulling a trigger.”
Related: Explore more posts about the fun histories behind Red Dead Redemption 2!
Conclusion
Benedict Allbright is the perfect example of quackery in the 19th century US as the game reenacts the influence of snake oil and quackery at that time. The quack doctor sells magic potions in the name of curing all kinds of diseases. The newspaper helps the information on snake oil reach a wider audience. Except for the fact that maybe the snake oil is rich in omega-3, the best case would be that nothing happens after you gulp down the medicine. 😂 At least in Red Dead Redemption 2, the miracle tonic only works on Arthur to give him extra buff on health, stamina, and dead eye…
Reference
[1] Gandhi, Lakshmi. “A history of ‘snake oil salesmen.’.” NPR Code Switch (2013).
[2] Tavel, Morton. “Quackery in America: An Inglorious and Ongoing History.” Skeptic [Altadena, CA], vol. 23, no. 4, fall 2018, pp. 28+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A569823209/AONE?u=anon~b1bedda5&sid=googleScholar&xid=7f1c9685. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
