In 1883, Jack Guthrie was sleeping in s tent near Stephenville when he was bitten by a skunk. After the skunk was killed, a madstone was applied to the animal and was declared to have hydrophobia (rabies). Madstones were applied to the bites of suspect animals and the length of time it stuck to the wound was meaningful in some way. A madstone could be many things, most often it was a hard piece of undigested hair or some other matter from a horse or a cow’s stomach. Stephenville Empire