Juliaetta’s early wellness influencer: Dr. Robert Foster

The wellness industry is seemingly everywhere. Everyone wants to sell you diets, supplements, hormone therapies and cleanses to right your bodily “wrongs.” History shows us that these concepts are nothing new and that the 20th century saw its own versions of these wellness practices. Early medicine shows combined theater, entertainment, trickery and the promise of miracle cures — for a price. Later, medicine shows morphed into individual clinics. Juliaetta had its own wellness influencer in Dr. Robert Foster.

Dr. Foster and his wife, Nannie Nichols, moved from San Francisco to Juliaetta and established a medical practice there in 1903. Foster had previously studied medicine in Kentucky. He specialized in cancer treatments, although he claimed to treat a wide variety of ailments. The couple moved into a large home at the corner of Fourth and State streets, and Dr. Foster began practicing out of his home, establishing Foster’s Osteopathic Sanitarium. He later changed the name to the Foster School of Healing.

In 1908, Dr. Foster constructed the Stump Building at 215 Main Street to accommodate his growing practice. Around the same time, he also began teaching students in his methods. In addition to cancer treatments, Dr. Foster saw patients with issues related to the digestive and nervous systems, and skin disorders. Despite Dr. Foster’s legitimate certifications and training, he believed that people could heal themselves through mental suggestion, with magnetism, telepathy, natural foods and the power of intuition.

By this time, Dr. Foster seems to have moved away from western medicine, turning instead to osteopathy, suggestive therapeutics and medical electricity. He mixed his own salves and could even cure skin cancer without a knife. Stories abounded about how he could just look at someone and diagnose their ailment without even touching them.

Some criticized his “charlatan” practices and labeled him a “quack,” while other doctors called his methods unscientific, claiming Foster declared someone cancerous just to receive payment for treatment. Despite these criticisms, Dr. Foster’s methods seemed to have some success, and word spread, bringing people to Juliaetta seeking his cures.

Business in Juliaetta and the surrounding areas prospered. Foster also had the reputation of a philanthropist, and did not turn patients away who could not pay him. Regardless of his critics, people praised Foster for his generosity and positive effects on Juliaetta. Additionally, Foster was a devout Christian, which kept him “on the up and up” in Juliaetta’s eyes.

Dr. Foster and his family left Juliaetta in 1911, moving to Clarkston where he remained until his death in 1934. No one is certain why he moved, although some speculated it could have been due to strict state laws regulating medical practices. Others wondered if Foster’s broken leg obtained at the bank could have been due to an altercation, or maybe the larger population in Clarkston was more appealing to his business. Nobody knows for certain why the Fosters left, but after their departure, the praise seemingly vanished. The bitterness of his leaving lead to people labeling him a “drunk,” apathetic in regard to Juliaetta, and a phony.

Stories like these are fascinating because what we know about the individual in question and their methods are largely anecdotal. There’s no way to assess the success of Dr. Foster’s treatments, except from second-hand knowledge, which presents its own set of biases and issues. As we can see, when Dr. Foster’s practice was good for Juliaetta’s economy, he was praised and celebrated, but when he left, people were angry and bitter, spouting critiques.

Regardless of his public perception, Dr. Foster is interesting because it seemed like he really wanted to help people, and he did — at least at first — by combining western and alternative medicine. His story’s parallels with today’s wellness influencers can be seen from the start, when he would diagnose people simply by looking at them, for payment. We’ll never know how good a doctor Foster was, but he remains an interesting chapter in Juliaetta’s history.

Noble is the executive director of the Latah County Historical Society.