From the Cache: A Strange Experiment on Mackinac Island

The History Cache Podcast

From the cache! Until an all-new episode this October, please enjoy this recast on Dr. Beaumont's strange experiment on Mackinac Island.

In 1822 French Canadian Fur Trader Alexis St Martin was shot in the side at a distance of less than one meter. The experiments following his miraculous survival just may be the weirdest piece of history ever seen in the Straits of Mackinac.

The bullet wound left a hole in St Martin’s side giving Dr. William Beaumont the first ever access to a living human stomach. The doctor would tie pieces of food to a silk string and dangle them down into St Martin’s stomach in order to better understand the process of digestion. Nearly 250 experiments were performed over a decade.

Dr. Beaumont’s book on his experiments the paved the way for our understanding of the human gastric system and earned Beaumont the title as the "Father of Gastric Physiology."

St Martin lived his entire life with a bullet hole his side. He was buried in a secret location eight feet below ground with two feet of rocks on his coffin to deter grave robbers from stealing his corpse or his stomach, which was highly sought after when he died.

Come hear the true story of Dr. William Beaumont and Alexis St Martin in this extra strange episode of the History Cache Podcast.