“Doc Susie”

Remember the 1990s TV series, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman? (Joe Lando was such a hottie!) Read on to learn about the inspiration behind the character.

Four-year-old Susan Anderson recalled her mother and father, William and Mary, arguing.…a lot.

In 1874, William literally grabbed Susan and her younger brother, John, out of their mother’s arms at an Indiana rail depot, boarding a train west and settling in Kansas near their paternal grandparents. The couple divorced in 1875.

William’s dream was to be doctor and he vowed one of his children would pursue those goals. Susan wasn’t much interested in the womanly domestic duties her grandmother taught her and at first decided she wanted to be a telegraph operator, and so studied Morse code. All John was interested in was playing, roping and cowboy stuff. However, eventually, Susan did find interest in watching her father, a self-taught veterinarian, work on the farm animals.

An then, gold was discovered in Cripple Creek, Colorado in 1891.

Susan’s father, “Pa” Anderson, now remarried, got a bad case of gold fever, up and moving the family to Colorado. After high school, Susan decided to attend the University of Michigan to pursue a career in medicine. Very rare for a woman during that time period.

After graduation, Susan returned to Colorado to practice medicine in the mining towns, once saving a miner’s arm after a male doctor insisted it needed to be cut off.

1900 was a difficult year for Susan. Not only was she jilted by her fiancé, her brother John died as well. To escape the bad memories, Susan left Cripple Creek for Denver, but found making a living as a doctor especially competitive in the big city.

After contracting tuburculosis, she decided the dry air of the mountains would help her condition, and headed for the tiny mining town of Fraser, Colorado. When she felt better, she once again practiced medicine, and from then on was affectionately known as “Doc Susie”.

From skiing accidents to pneumonia and childbirth, Doc Susie treated it all. She hated cooking and housework, so didn’t mind at all when the poor townsfolk paid her with home-cooked meals.

She never owned a horse or car, but conveniently, her little shack was located next to the railroad. Not only did she care for the railroad workers, she would flag down a train at all hours, hitching a free ride to tend to a patient. Doc Susie was known to snowshoe, rent a sleigh, or hike to get to a patient in need. She never married but once said she had delivered so many children, she considered them all her own.

Once while delivering a baby, an older child in the home had an appendicitis attack. Doc Susie loaded him up onto a train bound for Denver, only to get caught in a raging blizzard. The men passengers had to shovel snow to get the train moving again. With no money to pay for taxi fare once arriving in Denver, Susie relied on the kindness of strangers to get her and her young patient to Colorado General Hospital, where the child made a full recovery.

Doc Susie cared for patients in the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, as well as illness and injuries arising from the treacherous construction of the Moffat Tunnel. Later, she took the position of County Coroner. She would practice medicine until she was 90 years old. Her last two years were spent at a rest home at Colorado General Hospital where she was cared for by those who loved and respected her.

Doc Susie desired to be buried next to her brother, John, in Cripple Creek’s Mt. Pisgah Cemetery. However, record-keeping wasn’t the best back then, and John’s grave wasn’t immediately found. So….Susan Anderson has two headstones. The second one was erected when John’s burial spot was finally located and Susan was then repositioned beside him.

Mt. Pisgah Cemetery is one of my favorite places to visit. Is that weird? I digress—I’m an absolute history nerd! When I worked at the Heritage Center in Cripple Creek, I frequented the cemetery on lunch breaks. It was peaceful. It took a bit of searching, but I eventually found both of Susan Anderson’s headstones.

Doc Susie’s biography remains one of my favorite reads. I gobble up all sorts of true stories set against adversity and harsh backdrops. I’m sure this isn’t the last one you’ll hear about.  

After reading her tale, inspiration struck like lightning, and so I based a character on Susan’s unique life. Thus, “Sarah’s Rescue: Legacy of McKenzie’s Mine Series” was born. Stay tuned for this steamy, adventurous historical romance coming soon!