Journal Notes

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According to Kate: The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate, Love of Doc Holliday

As the reader of the journal knows, Mary Katherine Harony, a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, was the paramour of Doc Holliday. She figures in all the literature about Tombstone and the Earps. In the early books, especially, she lends herself to caricature. She is the perfect dancehall girl who is mostly known for going on what is frequently termed, “a monumental drunk,” and implicating Doc in an attempted stage robbery and murder. In short, she is a colorful subordinate character in the Tombstone saga. Author Chris Enss brings her to center stage in this first-book length biography.

Ms. Enss utilized a wide range of sources but primarily used Kate’s own recollections to put together his narrative. These include the Bork and Mazzanovich interviews as well as Kate’s handwritten notes compiled between 1935 and 1939. I was previously unaware of the last. Ms. Enss relates the story as Kate remembered it, inaccuracies, and all. The author rightly does not appoint herself as a corrector of historical errors. After all, what is interesting is Kate’s take on her past.

Devotees of the Tombstone story should find much in this book to interest them. Few pages pass without a new twist on an old story. For instance, to pluck on from the canon, when Doc saves Wyatt’s life in Dodge City, the leader of the rowdy cowboys is James Kenedy, the later killer of Dora Hand. Also, a new suspect in the killing of Johnny Ringo is brought forth. It is certainly one I have never heard before.

Needless to say, when one encounters nuggets of this variety an immediate flip-through to the endnotes follow. The notes in this book are specific and you will learn the source. You might quibble with the source, but it will be there. I learned from the notes that an Indiana newspaper, The Fort Wayne Sentinel, retold the story of Doc’s evisceration of Ed Bailey and Kate’s subsequent rescue of Holliday. This article appeared in November of 1896, so they probably got it from the San Francisco Examiner article of August 1896 by Wyatt Earp. It was interesting to see the story had a wider circulation that I previously thought. Incidentally, Kate ridiculed this legend.

This book contains many photographs. The ones of the principal characters are all familiar ones. There are some good pictures of the towns Kate and Doc lighted in as well as a map of Tombstone. The book reads well. Many times, I picked it up planning to read only ten pages but kept going. There have been many individual tales of outlaws, cowboys, and gamblers. Here now is one of the dancehall girl, and a famous one at that.

Garth Gould, Wild West History Association

To learn more about Kate Elder read According to Kate

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According to Kate: The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate, Love of Doc Holliday

“As a keen reader and student of western American history, it was a pleasure reading this book. Chris Enss has done a true service in documenting fact and debunking fiction in the many tales about “Big Nose Kate.” The book is able to vividly portray not only the life of Kate, but to put in the perspective of the often-difficult struggles of living in the new and expanding raw west of her times. It includes excellent descriptions of the various towns springing into existence with minimal social constraints during this dramatic time in our history. It is well worth adding to your library of western lore!”  Dave Vickery – Goodreads

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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

The difficult trek across the plains and deserts of the frontier, to Rocky Mountain destinations and beyond, was viewed by the first women physicians as just another obstacle to overcome on the way to achieving their goal. They wanted to practice medicine and believed they would have a chance to do that in the mining camps and cow towns in the West. Initial attempts to practice their profession sent shock waves through the deeply patriarchal society.

Doctor Elise Pfeiffer Stone was subjected to a barrage of ridicule and criticism after an article about her practice ran in the March 5, 1888, edition of a Nevada City, California newspaper. “Lady physician – Mrs. E. Stone, who is, we learn, a thoroughly educated and accomplished physician, has established herself in Selby Flat, and offers her services to the ladies of Nevada and vicinity.” A note left on the door of Doctor Stone’s office in response to her advertisement read, “It would be so nice if you weren’t here.”

To learn more about those brave ladies who studied medicine read

The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

A steady parade of distinguished, well-dressed men and women marched into a massive community center and joined the crowd already in the building making their ways from one elaborate exhibit to another.  The attendance at the annual Ohio Mechanics’ Institute Fair in Cincinnati on September 19, 1860, was overwhelming.  A small orchestra serenaded visitors as they wandered about examining displays of the various inventions and machinery that had received patents.  Creators shared details of their devices with patrons and explained how the items would be of benefit.  One of the presentations on dental mechanics, sponsored by Drs. Wardle and Doughty, featured an array of false teeth made by the dentists and one of their apprentices.

Several curious individuals inspected the objects, paying close attention to a set of teeth with a small placard sitting in front of it marked “Lot #45.”  Next to the placard was a silver medal and a note from a fair judge that read “although inferior to its competitors [the] item was the work of a student [and is] worthy of a high degree of commendation.”  Given the attitude society had about women in the medical profession at that time, the judges might not have been as complimentary if they’d known the teeth were made by Lucy Hobbs.

Lucy Hobbs’ journey to the Ohio Mechanics’ Institute Fair forward to eventually making history was a long, arduous one.  Born in Franklin County, New York, on March 14, 1833, she was one of eleven children.  Her mother died when Lucy was ten years old.  Her father Benjamin remarried, but his second wife passed away shortly after their wedding.  Unable to raise his children and hold down a job, Benjamin sent the youngsters to his friends and family to care for them.  Lucy was sent to a residential school in New York called Franklin Academy.  She was an exceptional student and graduated in the top of her class in 1849 at the age of sixteen.

To learn more about how Lucy earned her dental degree 158 years ago today read

The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

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The national tour of

The Doctor Was a Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

starts on February 27 and goes through March 11

One of the first events will be on the Desert Belle.

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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicans on the Frontier

Wear a mask.

Live a clean, healthy life.

Keep the pores open—that is, bathe frequently.

Wash your hands before each meal.

Live in an abundance of fresh air—day and night.

Keep warm.

Get plenty of sleep.

Gargle frequently (and always after having been out) with a solution of salt in water. (Half teaspoon of salt to one glass—eight ounces—of water)

Report early symptoms to the doctor at once. Respect the quarantine regulations.

Avoid crowds. You can get the influenza only by being near someone who is infected.

Avoid persons who sneeze and cough.

Do not neglect your mask.

Do not disregard the advice of a specialist just because you do not under

Do not disregard the rights of a community—obey cheerfully the rules issued by the authorities.

Do not think you are entitled to special privileges.

Do not go near other people if you have a cold or fever—you may expose them to the influenza and death.

See the doctor.

Do not think it is impossible for you to get or transmit influenza.

Keep your hands out of your mouth.

Do not cough or sneeze in the open.

Do not use a public towel or drinking cup.

Do not visit the sick or handle articles from the sick room.

Don’t worry.

To learn more about treatments prescribed for a variety of ailments by some of the first women physicians on the frontier read The Doctor Was A Woman

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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

Women heading West with their families in the mid-1800s were responsible not only for preparing food and making it last through the journey but were also in charge of the overall healthcare for the others. Armed with herbal medicine kits and journals filled with remedies, women administered doses of juniper berries, garlic, and bitter roots to cure the ailing. These “granny remedies,” as they were called, were antidotes for a variety of illnesses from nausea to typhoid. There were a combination of superstition, religious beliefs, and advice passed down from generation to generation.

The following are a few of those “granny remedies” that explains why historians refer to this time period as the “Golden Age of Medical Quackery.”

The hot blood of chickens cures shingles.

Carry a horse chestnut to ward off rheumatism.

Sassafras tea thickens the blood.

The juice of a green walnut cures ringworms.

To remove warts, rub them with green walnuts, bacon rind, or chicken feet.

Mashed snails and earthworms in water are good for diphtheria.

Boiled pumpkin seed tea for stomach worms.

Use wood ashes or cobwebs to stop excessive bleeding.

Mashed cabbage for ulcers or cancer of the breast.

Owl broth cures whooping cough.

To learn more about granny remedies read

The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier

More than two dozen women dressed in high-collared, mutton-sleeved blouses and gray or black skirts, all members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, occupied the chairs around a conference room at the Woman’s Exponent newspaper office in the Salt Lake Valley in 1878. Most of the women were talking quietly among themselves; some were flipping through medical books and making sure they had paper and pencils. Others were studying an announcement in the morning edition of the publication. “Mrs. Romania B. Pratt, M.D., continues her interesting and instructive free lectures to the Ladies’ Medical Class every Friday afternoon,” the announcement read. “All ladies desirous of obtaining knowledge of the laws of life and how to preserve their health, and rear children, and how to determine the cases of illness should improve with these opportunities and not fail in punctuality.”

The eager, makeshift classroom of women turned its full attention to Dr. Pratt when she entered. The coal-haired instructor with dark eyes and a broad nose smiled at the students expecting to learn something about anatomy, physiology, and obstetrics from the first female doctor in Utah. As she took her place in front of the group, she couldn’t help but see herself reflected in the beginners. Five years prior to agreeing to act as a medical instructor, Romania had been encouraged to become a doctor by Mormon leader Brigham Young.

The plea for women to pursue the study of medicine had been issued from the pulpit in 1873. Romania answered the call not only because she was enthusiastic about learning but also because she had personally experienced death and wished she’d been able to intercede.

The death of a dear friend helped influence her decision to become a doctor. “I saw her lying on her bed, her life slowly ebbing away, and no one near knew how to ease her pain or prevent her death,” Dr. Pratt recalled in her memoirs. “It was a natural enough case, and a little knowledge might have saved her. Oh, how I longed to know something to do, and at that moment I solemnly vowed to myself never to be found in such a position again, and it was my aim ever afterward to arrange my life work that I might study the science which would relieve suffering, appease pain, and prevent death.”

To learn more about Dr. Pratt read

The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier