Snake Oil salesman andquot;Dr. Balthazarandquot; will be stopping by the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center Aug. 15-18 to convince visitors to purchase a bottle of his cure all miracle elixir.

Presentations are scheduled daily at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. in the Leo Adler Theater located inside the Center.

Mike Follin, an education interpreter with Ohio Historical Society in Cincinnati, created the character of a 19th century frontier patent medicine salesman to help modern Americans understand this unusual aspect of frontier history and an earlier era in health care.

According to a center press release, patent medicine salesmen traveled to small towns and settlements and provided an entertaining show, shared gossip and national news, introduced new popular cultural trends to remote areas, and dispensed medical advice.

Patent medicine companies developed cure-all elixirs that offered hope to frontier settlers who had no access to professional medical care and no health insurance.

Follin interprets several frontier characters in his work. The Dr. Balathazar character recreates the rapid fire patter and entertaining techniques that attracted early American country folk to attend a sales talk and purchase what usually turned out to be useless tonics.

The patent medicine salesman would leave town before customers could demand a refund.

Follin opens and closes his 40-minute programs with modern viewpoints and facts about this early industry and frontier life, but when he assumes his frontier character, audiences find themselves transported back in time, and often become part of the good doctor’s sales spiel.

The Interpretive Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, is located five miles east of Baker City on Highway 86.

The Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission for adults is $8, seniors are $4.50 and children 15 and younger are free. Federal passes are accepted.

Visit www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/ for more information about the Center, or call 523-1843 for updates on programs and events.