Doc Susie

By Virginia Cornell

Life was hard, very hard, for the residents of Fraser, Colorado, according to Virginia Cornell’s biography of Doc Susie. Most of the year was extremely cold, and some peoples’ bodies never adjusted to the high altitude. Men were employed in low paying, dangerous lumber jobs or in higher paying, but even more dangerous work, digging out and constructing a tunnel to make faster passage west out of Denver on Moffat Road and across the Continental Divide. When finished, it replaced a treacherous railway route that connected Tolland to Fraser. Lives were lost through accidents and illnesses resulting from bad working conditions. The owners of the railroad and tunnel project were anxious to achieve success along with accompanying fame, prestige, and money, without regard for the people who did all the hard work and took the risks.

Doctors were needed in Fraser, but few wanted to stay long. Doc Susie moved there in 1907 as a cure for her own tuberculosis and to escape an unhappy home life. A petite lady, she had graduated from the University of Michigan. Despite being a woman doctor, she gradually earned the respect of the residents. She made a lot of “house calls,” often to the scene of an accident—deep woods or remote, snowy roads. Frequently, she answered pleas for help for sick patients in isolated areas of Grand County. When she arrived, she examined the patient and took charge, giving orders to the family members. She had a “no drug, no alcohol” policy which meant some painful treatments, but she did use ether for surgery. Going to the patient’s home gave Doc Susie the opportunity to teach the families, by word and by example, the importance of cleanliness so that a wound would not become infected or a disease spread. This spunky lady was not afraid to stand up to railroad bosses or any other man who challenged her personally or professionally.

Doc Susie would have enjoyed being a wife and mother, but those roles never worked out as possibilities for her. This book gives a good picture of what life was like in the Rockies during the first half of the 1900’s for both men and women. The information in the book is well-researched. The author brings Doc Susie’s tale to life in a well-written narrative style. She also includes reproductions of many period photos, including some of Doc Susie. The courageous Doc Susie and her friends are historical figures that I cared about as I envisioned their place in the development of Colorado and of the United States. 

Rating: 5/5

Category: Biography, Nonfiction

Publication:  1991—Manifest Publications

Memorable Lines:

Doc Susie looked into a sea of sincere blue eyes. She knew these men, knew their word was as good as money in the First National Bank in Denver, knew that trying to change their minds—well, some said it would have been easier for the Captain to turn the Titanic around before it hit the iceberg than to change a Swede’s mind. If these men said they were going to move a building, you might as well stand back because you might get hurt if you stood in the way.

Mountain life was so harsh; a woman’s waking hours had to be spent keeping the family fed, warm and clean. The same drudgeries awaited them week after week: boil the clothes on Monday and hang them on the line to be showered by cinders raining from the sky each time a train passed, iron on Tuesday, bake on Wednesday, mend on Thursday, split kindling, split kindling, split kindling. The only recognitions these drudges got for their efforts was to be yelled at if things didn’t get done.

Sometimes it seemed there were handsome, strong, beautiful men behind every tree. Unfortunately, the pastoral illusion vanished the moment these he-mountains opened their mouths. After an evening of trying to make conversation with some muscle-brain she found herself yearning for the stimulation of a good book. Sometimes she found herself attracted to raw masculinity; usually the man in question vanished from the scene very quickly, intimidated by her authoritative ways and superior education.