The Red Desert and Healing Herbs

Posted on May 28, 2026 by Leslie

Last year in June I went on a field trip with John Mionczynski to the Red Desert. John is a well-known biologist and expert botanist on medicinal plants. He probably knows the Red Desert better than anyone, having lived nearby for most of his life and explored it deeply. I’d been previously to the Red Desert for a one day exploration. The Red Desert is the most isolated and remote desert in North America. It’s home to wintering elk and pronghorn, petroglyphs, Oregon Trail wagon ruts, vast pristine sand dunes and unique badlands made of petrified turtle shells and petrified wood. There’s no cell coverage, no electric or phone lines, with a pristine quiet that takes you back in time with a glimpse of what life was like in pre-settler days.

John explains petroglyphs in the Red Desert

Some of the varied topography of the Red Desert

But that’s not what this post is about. The trip was organized by Benjamin Clark, owner of American Wilderness Botanicals out of Lander, Wyoming. During the weekend trip I had a chance to talk with John about what plant medicine might be useful for me since I had breast cancer a few years back. After going through chemo etc. I had decided not to take the drugs that suppress one’s estrogen production, drugs that have a lot of side effects and are recommended for up to 10 years after treatment. Instead I was consulting with a naturopathic doctor who gave me quercetin supplements. John recommended I harvest and dry fireweed, taking it as a daily tea. Fireweed it turns out is not only high in quercetin but also in oenothein B. John told me that elders in native local cultures used fireweed tea as a daily general tonic.

Fireweed in bloom. Best to harvest when in bloom. Discard stems after drying

Since the ’88 fires came down into our area, we have an abundance of fireweed. I spoke with Benjamin who was looking for a supply for his essential oil production and we made a date for him to come up for a harvest. In addition to fireweed, Ben was able to procure Artemisia frigida, Fringed Sage. I harvested about 6 large bundles, hung them to dry, then took the leaves off and discarded the stems. The tea is very pleasant. Six bundles have lasted me a year, until my next harvest this summer.

Ben told me how he distills the fireweed:

“I loaded the still this morning and am soaking the fireweed in cold water today.I’ll be distilling the fireweed either tonight or tomorrow morning. I steam disinfected the still prior to loading the fireweed”

“This Fireweed is so good and the aroma is so sweet with a lot of depth.”

In the fall I drove to Lander to visit Benjamins distillation set up in person and help him harvest osha root. We went up Towgotee pass and harvested Lodgepole Pine boughs for a hydrosol along with the osha root.

I knew that at one point John had cured himself of Lyme disease using herbs. Somehow his successful treatment was shared on the internet and now Ben is shipping herbs and the lyme treatment protocol throughout the United States. This includes Osha and Fringed Sage taken in a specific order.

I’m looking forward to gathering and drying fireweed this summer for another year of tea and health.