Book Review: Doc Susie

Author: Virginia Cornell

Year: 1991

Doc Susie is the biography of Susan Anderson, who was a physician in the Fraser Valley of Colorado. If you have ever seen the TV show, Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman, then this story will be familiar to you. Many say that Doctor Quinn’s character was largely based on Doc Anderson.

The biography covers most of Doc Anderson’s life, from her childhood in Indiana through her elderly years in Fraser. Doc Anderson was born in Indiana. In some strange circumstances, Susan’s dad and mom divorced, resulting in Susan moving with her brother and father to Wichita. They homesteaded there, but heard the call of the gold rush and ended up in the mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. Susan was a fine student, and ended up going to school with her brother in the Midwest to eventually become a doctor. At the time, female doctors were not that rare. In the late 1800’s doctor’s wages were relatively poor and training was not nearly as detailed as it is today. In fact, about 25% of Susan’s medical class was female.

After medical school, Doc Susie returned to Cripple Creek. She established a practice there. She met a man, whom she became engaged to, but in a strange set of events, he left her just before the marriage. Records are not clear what happened, or who this man even was, but evidence suggests that Susan’s father had a hand in making this man leave. Shortly after, Susan’s brother John became sick with pneumonia and died. After so much devastation and with rising tensions between her and her father, Susan decided to leave Cripple Creek and began practicing medicine on the Front Range.

During her training to become a doctor, Susan had to spend hours and hours at hospitals, often working through the night. As a result, she developed tuberculosis. This condition worsened as she practiced medicine on the Front Range. Unfortunately, Susan was practicing as a nurse and not a doctor. The training for doctors had suddenly changed with developing technology and medicine. Female doctors were no longer common and Susan’s training seemed inadequate. Susan’s employers ran her ragged as a nurse. Finally, her tuberculosis became so bad she had to make a choice: leave to regain health or die.

Susan chose to move to Fraser Valley to heal herself. After resting for a long period of time, Susan began working at a store. Being a small town, rumors carried, and people knew that Susan had at one time been a doctor. But, Susan kept that part of her life a secret until one day a man came storming into the store, begging her to “save Dave”. Little did she know that her first patient, Dave, was actually a horse! Nevertheless, she saved the horse and people in the community began to call on her as a doctor. The book continues to cover, chapter by chapter, stories of Doc Anderson helping people and saving people’s lives throughout the Fraser Valley. Many times Doc Susie’s patients could barely even pay her money. Nevertheless, Doc Susie chose to save lives, and take from her patients only what they could give.

Doc Suzie had a huge impact on the community of Fraser, and in some instances the community showed their appreciation. In one specific case, the community came together to build her a house. The railroad bigwigs came by one day and informed Doc Susie that her house was on land owned by the railroad company. People from the community heard about this and helped Doc Susie obtain land. Another person donated a barn and lumberjacks disassembled the barn and reconstructed it on Doc Susie’s new piece of land.

The book covers details of what life was like in the Fraser Valley at the time. From the frigid climate to the lonely lumberjacks, historical details were detailed and well-researched by the author. In reading this book, skiers today will understand the origin of many of the names at the present day Winter Park ski area, since several of them are based on old railroad terms.

Perhaps the most interested details in the book was the evolution of the railroad itself and Doc Susie’s part in it. Doc Susie began living in Fraser when the railroad passed over the dangerous Rollin’s Pass. This pass was known to be treacherous, and sometimes trains could be delayed for days. Sometimes Doc had to use the railroad to escort patients to Denver for medical procedures she could not do herself. Doc Susie even became a railroad doctor for a short time. Eventually, Doc Susie became the county Coroner. During this time, the Moffat Tunnel was being built. This tunnel would allow trains to go under Rollins Pass, thus avoiding the Divide and treacherous conditions that come with it, allowing trains to be more reliable and timely. The railroad hired thousands of workers, many of which lived in a temporary community at the entrances of the tunnel. Accidents happened to the workers while building this tunnel and, as coroner, Doc Susie was responsible for investigating any deaths. In one particular case, 6 people died in one tragic explosion.

Fraser Valley residents debated what the building of the tunnel would do to the economy of the valley. Some thought the ease of transportation would help Fraser, others thought otherwise. Doc Susie was always of the mind that Moffat tunnel would be detrimental to Fraser. Railroad politics quickly became evident as the tunnel was being built. Opening ceremonies were happening on the East Portal, but most of the railroad workers lived on the West Portal, near Fraser. Fraser Valley residents protested, saying ceremonies should be on the West Portal, where the workers were located, not at the East Portal, just because it was closer to Denver. Freeman, the owner of the railroad at the time, wouldn’t budge. Finally, Doc Susie suggested that residents of Fraser could walk through the tunnel from the West to the East Portal. But, again Freeman declined permission- because he was secretly already running trains through the tunnel. In the mix, the two leading newspapers in Denver, the Post and the Rocky Mountain News, were having their own battle. Donations of the Post to the railroad gave them special privileges at the ceremonies which Fraser residents discovered and resented. Doc Susie wouldn’t let the feelings of the residents go hidden. When the ceremonial train passed through the opening of the West Portal, she held up a sign that said, “We built this tunnel, the Post didn’t”, captured by the photographers of the Rocky Mountain News and published the next day’s paper. Unfortunately, Doc Susie was right about Moffat tunnel- it did lead to the demise of Fraser until Berthoud Pass was paved and Winter Park became a popular ski destination.

Virginia Cornell, the author of Doc Susie, did her homework when researching materials for this book. Not only did she research Doc Susie’s character, but she also researched daily life in the Fraser Valley at the time as well as how medicine was practiced, especially in a rural community. Doc Susie is a good read, especially for those familiar with the Winter Park / Fraser area.

See other Recommended Books

Movie of the Month: Blizzard of Ahhhs

Director: Greg Stump

Year: 1988

Where can I find it? Netflix, Amazon.com, www.gregstumpproducations.com

It’s funny how your perception of movies changes over time. I rented Blizzard of Ahhh’s from Nextflix recently and watched it for the first time in about 15 years. The skiing that I remembered to be so incredible in the movie now seemed tame by today’s standards. Still, the movie sits in a special place in my heart and had a huge effect on my generation of skiers.

One of the first things that struck me in the movie was Greg Stump’s reference (as a narrator) to Dick Barrymore, creator of Last of the Ski Bums. I did not remember this reference before, probably because in middle school and high school I had no I idea who he was. Stump states that Dick Barrymore’s movies provided inspiration to him as both a skier and a movie-maker, taking viewers to far away lands that most skiers at the time only dreamed of. Since I grew up idolizing the movie and characters in Blizzard of Ahhhs, I suppose that it makes sense that I would like Last of the Ski Bums.

Stump’s recurring theme in Blizzard of Ahhhs is the growing restrictions of ski areas. He makes it clear that ski resorts were making filming difficult by not providing reasonable access to good terrain. Scott Schmidt, he points out, was not “endorsed” by ski areas at the time because his skiing was so extreme. The ski areas simply did not want to endorse the kind of skiing, like Schmidt’s, that was so risky. In retrospect, these restrictions at the ski areas caused the trend of ski movies today- almost entirely filmed in the backcountry or with heli-drops in Alaska. But, in 1988 backcountry skiing was not prolific. So, Stump and his crew travel to Chamonix to film the majority of the film, where there are far fewer rules, thus avoiding American lawsuits.

Before filming in Chamonix, Stump did film in two American ski areas: Telluride and Squaw Valley. In Telluride, we meet a few local characters, like Scott Kennett and his famous dog Zudnik, for which a trick is now named. We also meet “Rasta Stevie” who was voted to the town council. Rasta man provides a monologue about how he was among the few who were fighting to keep Telluride’s soul alive, trying to prevent it from becoming another Vail or Sun Valley. At Squaw Valley we are introduced to Scott Schmidt- the prime bad-ass skier of the time. He is to go film with Stump in Chamonix and Stump is looking for a partner for him. Three skiers show up for the “audition”: Tom Day, Mike Slattery, and Glen Plake. Glen Plake dominates the field and is sent to Chamonix with Schmidt.

Blizzard of Ahhhs was Plake’s “coming out” movie. Plake was constantly filmed by Stump as a no-fear punk, with his giant mohawk as a symbol of his individualism. When he wore the helmet camera, his hair stuck out the front of his helmet- a constant reminder that he wanted to be noticed. Well, noticed he was. Plake constantly took big risks, often one-upping Schmidt’s skiing, adding an interesting twist to the plot. Overnight, Stump made Plake famous.

Watching the skiing in Blizzard of Ahhhs is interesting. Today’s ski movies always make snow look perfect. There’s always powder, the snow is always soft, and sometimes the slope is so steep and soft that you see the classic “slough”. But in the ‘80’s, movies largely stuck to filming in-bounds at ski areas. So, scenes were shot in all kinds of conditions. In this movie, there is very little powder, but here is a lot of hard-packed and wind-packed chunky goodness. Nevertheless, the skiers in the movie made the conditions look effortless, even on “skinny skis”. Although the terrain they chose was less extreme than today’s standards, the skills of these skiers cannot go unnoticed.

In filming these skiers, Stump set a precedent that is still followed in today’s ski movies. Stump filmed the skiers pushing themselves out of their comfort zone- skiing steep couloirs, rappelling into start zones, dodging crevasses, and hucking huge cliffs. Stump’s cinematography catches these skiers perfectly at the height of their risk-taking and his influence can be seen in many ski movies today.

The closing scene is the climax of the movie. I remember it well, even from 15 years ago. While at Les Grands Montets, Schmidt sees a steep couloir and decides he wants to ski it. As a narrator, Stump says “I wanted nothing to do with it.” But, Schmidt goes anyway, falling and losing his ski part way down the couloir. His ski stops at the top of a hidden crevasse. Just as you think the segment is over, Plake takes over. He cannot be outdone, so he decides to ski the couloir as well. Plake enters the couloir aggressively, but things can turn quickly on a steep slope. Plake catches an edge and goes rag-dolling down the rest of the couloir. The hidden crevasse located at the bottom of the couloir adds to the growing anxiety as Plake continues to tumble down the mountain. When he does get to the crevasse, he somersaults over it.

Blizzard of Ahhhs is a ski movie classic. Arguably Stump’s greatest film, it’s influence can be still seen in ski movies today. There is no doubt about the powerful impact Blizzard of Ahhhs had on an entire generation of skiers. It fed our souls and inspired us to seek out new amazing places, to find our own Blizzard of Ahhhs!

Update: Greg Stump is currently working on a new movie called Legend of Ahhhs. He hope to show it at the upcoming Sundance festival. You can read more about it at www.gregstumpproducations.com