Doc Susie

Doc Susie is the biography of Susan Anderson, who was a physician in the Fraser Valley of Colorado. If you have ever seen the TV show, Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman, then this story will be familiar to you. Many say that Doctor Quinn’s character was largely based on Doc Anderson.

The biography covers most of Doc Anderson’s life, from her childhood in Indiana through her elderly years in Fraser. Doc Anderson was born in Indiana. In some strange circumstances, Susan’s dad and mom divorced, resulting in Susan moving with her brother and father to Wichita. They homesteaded there, but heard the call of the gold rush and ended up in the mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. Susan was a fine student, and ended up going to school with her brother in the Midwest to eventually become a doctor. At the time, female doctors were not that rare. In the late 1800’s doctor’s wages were relatively poor and training was not nearly as detailed as it is today. In fact, about 25% of Susan’s medical class was female.

After medical school, Doc Susie returned to Cripple Creek. She established a practice there. She met a man, whom she became engaged to, but in a strange set of events, he left her just before the marriage. Records are not clear what happened, or who this man even was, but evidence suggests that Susan’s father had a hand in making this man leave. Shortly after, Susan’s brother John became sick with pneumonia and died. After so much devastation and with rising tensions between her and her father, Susan decided to leave Cripple Creek and began practicing medicine on the Front Range.

During her training to become a doctor, Susan had to spend hours and hours at hospitals, often working through the night. As a result, she developed tuberculosis. This condition worsened as she practiced medicine on the Front Range. Unfortunately, Susan was practicing as a nurse and not a doctor. The training for doctors had suddenly changed with developing technology and medicine. Female...