People affectionately called Dr. Susan Anderson "Doc Susie." And Doc Susie was the sole physician in Fraser, Colorado, for much of the first half of the 20th century. She treated all the residents in town and sometimes even a horse or cow, often walking through frigid cold temperatures and deep snow as she didn't own a horse or car to get to the patient's home. In return, patients usually paid Susan in firewood or food.
Susie was beloved and found much success in her practice in Fraser. Yet, becoming a doctor was not the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for her. In her youth, she wanted to be a telegraph operator. Her father encouraged his daughter to attend medical school, which she did at the University of Michigan. After graduating in 1897, she moved back home to Cripple Creek, Colorado, where she began working as a physician.
In Cripple Creek, her reputation as a physician grew, and she settled into a relationship and got engaged. But then, in 1900, her fiancé left her, and her brother passed away. Distraught, Susan left town and moved to Denver.
Life in Denver was challenging as she struggled to establish herself. With many physicians in the city and patients reluctant to see a woman, she soon moved again, this time to Greeley, Colorado, where she worked as a nurse for the next six years. Then, after a bout with tuberculosis, she moved to Fraser in 1907, a mountain town with a climate that people believed helped with recovery. It was there that Susie found her place. She settled down and was a physician to the community for almost fifty years until retiring in 1956.
Sources:
“Susan Anderson.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Anderson
“Susan Anderson, MD.” Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/susan-anderson-md/
“Susan “Doc Susy” Anderson – Frontier Physician.” Legends of America, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-drsusy/
That life should be made into a movie!