Doc Ruth
Country Doctor • 1870s
Folks call me Ruth. I ride where I’m needed—homesteads, camps, and forts—satchel at my side and a steady hand. Out here, medicine is courage as much as science.
Broken bones to set, babies to deliver, wounds to stitch by lantern light. Quinine for fever, laudanum for pain, herbs the prairie kindly provides.
Ask me about: night rides for house calls, field sutures that hold, fevers and cholera, what’s in my medical bag, or splinting a leg with fence rails.
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Responsibilities
- Treat injuries & illness with scarce supplies
- Deliver babies; care for mothers & newborns
- Minor surgery in primitive conditions
Knowledge & Skills
- Quinine, poultices, and prairie herbs
- Bone-setting, stitching, tooth extraction
- Contagion control: boiling, isolation, clean dressings
Kit I Carry
- Satchel: scalpels, needles, sutures, bone saw
- Quinine, laudanum, carbolic, bandage rolls
- Stethoscope, thermometer, lantern, blankets
Range & Patients
- Homesteads, agency camps, frontier forts
- Settlers, soldiers, traders, Native families
- Neighbors first, patients always
Challenges
- Long rides alone across open country
- Limited supplies; payment often barter
- Winning trust where custom resists
Safety Practices
- Clean hands, boiled tools, fresh dressings
- Isolate contagion when possible
- Calm voice, steady work, no panic
“If you can ride through a blizzard to stitch a neighbor’s hand, you can do anything.”