Journal Notes

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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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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

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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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.”

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

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Dr. Jenny Murphy flipped the collar up on the thick, gray coat she was wearing and tightened the grip she had on the medical bag in her lap. It was below freezing when she left Yankton, South Dakota, in November 1894, on her way to a homestead in Nebraska, and temperatures continued to plummet. An anxious farmer had burst into her office in the afternoon and pleaded with her to accompany him to his home to help his wife deliver their first child.

The man’s farm could only be reached by crossing the Missouri River. Dr. Murphy followed the expectant father to his canoe anchored at the river’s edge and climbed inside. The water was cold, and chunks of ice clung to the shoreline. The farmer pushed off from the bank and quickly paddled into the middle of the water. He avoided most of the chunks of ice pulled downstream with the strong current. Just before they reached the other side of the river, a massive hunk of ice slammed into the boat, and it overturned. The doctor and the farmer were dumped into the water. Still holding on to her medical bag, Dr. Murphy fought her way to the bank of the river and onto dry land.

The frazzled farmer also managed to get out of the water. He gave the doctor a moment to recover from the near-drowning experience before hurrying her along to his homestead. When the pair arrived at the farmhouse, Dr. Murphy’s clothes were still wet from the swim in the river. Peeling off her coat and apron, she rushed to the bedside of the farmer’s wife.

To find out if Dr. Murphy reached the patient in time read

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

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Woman Doctor demonstrates operation to class – 1883

Two well-dressed men with pistols holstered to their sides crossed the dusty thoroughfare of Herndon, Kansas. Through the wavering heat and stabbing glare of sunlight, Doctor Mary Canaga Rowland watched the pair check to make sure their six-shooters were loaded. “This office is about to get busy,” she said to herself as she watched the men square off against a couple of ranch hands standing in front of the telegraph office.

Mary couldn’t hear what the men were saying, but she could tell they were arguing. The quarrel quickly turned violent. One of the ranch hands reared back to throw a punch, but was stopped dead in his tracks by a bullet. The second ranch hand was just as quickly gunned down. The gunmen fled, firing their pistols in the air as they rode off. One of the injured men was carted off to the hotel and the other was delivered to Doctor Rowland.

The doctor’s patient was covered in blood and writhing in pain. Mary tore the faded blue shirt away from the wound so she could begin the examination. Once the saturated material was removed, she began soaking up the blood with strips of material. The bullet had gone through the man’s forearm and struck his suspender buckle, leaving an egg-sized lump just below his heart.

As Mary started dressing the piercing, the ranch hand pulled his arm away from her. “You’re a woman doctor,” he said incredulously. Mary stared down at him and offered a partial smile. “I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “Every man to his trade, but every woman to the washtub, right?” The ranch hand merely groaned. “I could just let you bleed to death,” Mary added. He could tell she was serious and didn’t resist as she gently lifted his injured arm onto a fresh sheet.

To learn more about Dr. Rowland and others like her read

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