The Mine

A little background history

(Please note that although this, my version of the history of Denver, is basically correct, some of the timing may be a little distorted, as is the distance between Denver and Leadville, but it is necessary for the story to function. I hope it doesn't spoil your enjoyment)

In 1858 gold was discovered in the Colorado territory, at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The influx of people hoping to make it rich brought about the development of a mining settlement, Auraria, along the east bank of the South Platte River. Auraria boasted saloons, gambling halls and other entertainment that attracted the miners and separated them from their hard earned money.

A land speculator, General William Larimer staked out a claim on a hill overlooking the river from the opposite bank. He divided it into parcels of land, planning to sell them to merchants and miners. His hope was to make this a major city for people moving west to settle. He called this city Denver after a Kansas territorial governor. Then gold was discovered in nearby Central city. Consequently people left Denver in search of wealth, but they returned because of the pleasant climate of Denver compared with the harsh winters of the mountains.

The city still had a stormy history to face. To begin with the town's folk had to defend their city against an attack by a Texas Confederate army hoping to get their hands on some gold. Then in 1863 a great fire destroyed much of the business district. This was followed by a period of rapid re-development, building with brick instead of wood and widening the main streets. The following year a flood destroyed a good part of the city once again. Never the less it continued to grow and develop as a typical western town of the time. In 1863 the western union railroad came to town.

Denver developed quite a cultural environment for music and theater, with the Apollo Hall opening in 1859, and the Denver Theatre in 1864.

In 1876 Denver became the State capital when Colorado officially joined the Union.

In the 1870's, silver was discovered in sand deposits in Leadville, a mining town lying a little to the west of Denver. As it's name suggests it was famous for lead mining. So started the Colorado Silver Boom. Silver could not be mined directly like gold, but required a chemical process using potentially harmful elements like cyanide and mercury to extract it from the rock and sand.

During this same time period, medical knowledge and practice were changing. Many ideas were coming to the New World from Europe and some of the institutions of learning on the east coast. The vast majority of physicians of the era were men. Not many women aspired to the profession, and of those that did, only a very few were accepted into the medical schools of the time.

Doctors began to set up their own 'hospitals' and clinics in townships and in the countryside. Some were large buildings with beds, operating rooms and several doctors on staff. Others were little more than roadside shacks. These institutions had a variety of driving forces behind them. Sometimes the founding physician felt that it would bring him more patients and thus improve his financial standing – sadly this hardly ever happened. Personal fame was another reason, somewhere to leave a name that might show up in the history books for generations to come. There were many physicians, of course, who created these so called 'proprietary hospitals' out of altruistic ideals, wanting to bring better medicine to more people.

Prologue

Denver June 1875

Dr. G L Harrington sat at the brand new desk he had ordered all the way from Philadelphia about three months before.

His dream was about to be reality. It had taken almost 2 years to get his clinic off the ground. The fire, which had burned much of Denver's business district in January of 1873, had brought rapid redevelopment of the area. All the main streets were widened and new buildings were built of brick instead of wood.

He had been lucky enough to purchase a prime parcel of real estate overlooking the South Platt River, a perfect location for his clinic. It was to be a modern facility with doctor's offices, about twelve beds and four state of the art operating rooms. Patients could travel to one location and receive the latest and best care from doctors of different specialties familiar with the latest drugs and techniques.

Now he needed to get word out about his soon to be opened Harrington Clinic. George Harrington himself was getting a reputation as a knowledgeable spinal surgeon. He knew this gave him an advantage over several similar institutions that had failed. He planned a grand opening seminar in order to attract experienced doctors to occupy his new offices, and other doctors to send patients to them. To this end he arranged for specialists and researches from several of the top universities to come and lecture at the seminar. He had demonstrations of the latest surgical techniques arranged and vendors from pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies were bringing samples of their wares. Of course there would be social events, tours and generally plenty of entertainment to attract many participants,

The brochures and invitations were already at the printers. Now he was making a list of all the physicians in surrounding states and territories that he thought might be persuaded to send patients to his facility. Maybe he could attract some of those famous physicians from back east to come and take up residence here.

This had to be a great success. He had several financial backers depending on it, as well as a good size debt of his own.

Chapter 1

The morning was already hot as Doc made his way down the boardwalk to the post office. He collected a small pile of mail and proceeded across the street to Delmonicos. In the far corner of the establishment he saw the Marshal and Chester both surrounded by several plates of food. He pulled up a chair to join them.

'Did you folks see fit to leave a little sustenance for a poor, hard working physician?" he asked, regarding the amount of food already on the table.

'Oh Joe," he called as the waiter approached. "I'll have a coffee and my usual, that is if there is any food left in the kitchen after these two have finished."

He started to open his mail while he waited for his food to arrive.

"Well would you ever?" he exclaimed reading the contents of one envelope.

"What's up?" Matt enquired between mouthfuls.

"There's going to be a big medical seminar in Denver. Dr. George Harrington is opening himself a brand new clinic. I knew him during the war you know. He was just a young man recently out of medical school then. According to this brochure, there are going to be lectures, demonstrations, vendors with the latest equipment and tours of his new facility. There are also quite a few sociables. Sounds like a big event."

"Why don't you plan to go Doc? It'll do you good to get away from Dodge for a while. You might meet some people you know, and of course there's always the chance you might learn a little something." Matt was grinning at Doc, trying to needle him a little. Chester was laughing at the joke.

"When is this going to take place?"

"It says here September 17th through 26th."

"Well that gives you time to arrange things Doc. Maybe you could talk Kitty in to going with you. I know she would like a chance to visit Denver and do some shopping."

"I'll think about it."

In several cities, on both the east and west coasts and in many small towns in between, physicians, surgeons and researchers were reading the same notice with interest. Within a month Dr. Harrington had received over two hundred acceptances to his invitation. This was going to be bigger than even he had imagined.