400 square miles, 1,200 patients, 1 doctor by Cora Leland

Women Who Built The West by Cora Leland 

Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte

Dr. La Flesche, daughter of Omaha Chief Iron Eye, is well-known.  Her father's unforgettable words were powerful.  He spoke carefully, as always, but especially when he returned to his people after the 1830 mandatory meeting of American Indian chiefs in Washington DC: "There's a flood coming soon and it's my advice that you prepare yourself immediately."

While he and Susan's mother, One Woman, taught their children carefully about their Native traditions and responsibilities, he included them in his advice.  They made sure their children were educated in tribal matters but also were highly educated.  For Susan, this meant attending the Hampton Institute -- more or less a boarding school, though for all nationalities and ethnic groups. She then went on to Pennsylvania Womens Medical College.  

Even the most powerful families in America sent their daughters for higher education, especially medical degrees, with care, for the backlash was fierce.  However Susan graduated a year early at the top of her class, declining a life of money to return to the Omaha tribe.  She was a full-time doctor, unlike her predecessors in that job.  She traveled the 400+ square miles to the 1,200 patients, night and day in all weather.Eventually she saved enough money to build and operate the first truly tribe owned medical hospital and took no government money for it.

Other important women included authors like E.M. Bower.  She was acclaimed for her realistic portrayal of the cowboy West, for she'd lived among them all her life.  Her books included The Eagle's Wing. For readers outside the West, what was every day to her was exotic.  Simply a logging camp or a horse-breaking, let alone a branding or dipping, was unbelievable.

Author BM Bower

Like many of us, the women writers of Western fiction or those who published  letters in say, the Atlantic Monthly like Elinor Pruitt Stewart, these authors didn't realize how earth-shattering their words were.  When they helped women realize that other places recognized womens' talents and allowed them civil rights, they began to think better of themselves and make changes for themselves.  Some even began to write.

I thank you for your attention and hope to return today.  Best wishes to you all from the busy frosty edge of the Great Plains.

Cora Leland Author