Chapter 1 "Let Me Introduce Myself"

Author's Note: I have no idea where Doc originally came from. I thought it was from out east. In my story he comes from Philadelphia.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Doctor Galen Adams. I am a surgeon and a practitioner Most people that know me call me Doc or Doc Adams. I have been in Dodge City for fifteen years now. I came here from out east, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to be exact. I studied medicine at Harvard. They have some of the finest medical schools in the country. You may be wondering if I'm from out east, then how did I end up in Dodge City. There are big cities out east with plenty of sick people that need doctors. That may be true, but there are also plenty of doctors. I wanted to go to a place where I was needed, a place where I could have my own practice. I knew doctors were needed out west. They were specifically needed out in the prairie towns, towns that were trying to establish themselves.

It was the summer of 1865 when I made my journey to Dodge City, Kansas. The Civil War ended a few months ago. Several days after the war ended, President Lincoln was assassinated. Andrew Johnson took over as President of the United States. I could've traveled out to Dodge City sooner, but the war prevented that. Now that the war was over, I felt that it was safe to travel. I had to take a stagecoach to Dodge City. They didn't have trains out here at the time I decided to come west. There were many days of travel. I would stop and stay at hotels for a day or two. That did prolong my trip, but that didn't matter. It wasn't like Dodge City was expecting me. They didn't even know I was coming. I was going there in the hopes they needed a doctor.

After twenty-three days of traveling, I arrived in Dodge City, Kansas. It was a far cry from Philadelphia, Boston, or any other city out east. I was used to cobblestone streets and brick buildings. The streets in Dodge City were dry, dusty, dirty and the buildings were all wood. I was used to the hustle and bustle of people in a big city. In Dodge City, there were people walking around, but a fraction of what I was used to seeing. I started questioning my decision to come here. However, if doctors were needed out here, then this is where I was going to be.

With my suitcase in hand, I started walking up and down the street that people call Front Street. I didn't know the name of the street when I first came here. It's the main street of Dodge. My main reason for walking up and down Front Street was to see if I could find any offices belonging to a doctor. To my relief, I didn't. By the looks of it, Dodge City needed a doctor, and I was going to be that doctor.

I would need a place to have my practice. I would also need a place to stay. There was a hotel, the Dodge House, down the street. It seemed to be the only hotel in town. I didn't have much choice. That's where I would stay. I walked over to the hotel and went inside. I must admit I was surprised at how nice it actually looked inside. You couldn't compare it to the hotels out east, but it was still a fine looking hotel.

I walked up to the front desk and told the clerk that I needed a room. He asked me how long I planned on staying. I told him I was a doctor and I wanted to start a practice out here, and that I would need a room until I had a place of my own. I had no idea how long that would be. When I told him I was a doctor, his eyes seemed to light up. He said they were in desperate need of a doctor. The one they had decided to leave. He couldn't handle being a prairie doctor. I asked the clerk where the former doctor's office was. The hotel clerk walked me outside and pointed to a building down the street, with a for sale sign on it. He informed me that the bank owned that building, and I would have to speak with them, if I was interested in buying it. We walked back into the hotel.

I still needed a room. I wasn't sure if or when I would be able to buy that building. I rented a room for a week. The hotel clerk gave me the key to my hotel room. I climbed the steps to my room and put my suitcase on the bed. My next task was to go to the bank to discuss getting a loan to purchase that building to start my practice.

I walked into the bank and asked the teller whom I would speak to in regards to getting a loan. He pointed to an office. Mr. Botkin's name was painted on the window. I made my way to his office and knocked on the door. After telling me to come in, I entered. I introduced myself and told him the reason I was there. He was leery at first about giving me a loan. However, I was able to convince him to do so. Now I had a loan to buy the building to start my practice. (By the way, I paid off that loan a while ago.) Mr. Botkins gave me the keys to my new building and we signed all the necessary papers.

I left the bank and went over to my new office. It was at the top of a flight of stairs, not the ideal place to have a doctor's office, but I've learned to adjust. Truth be told, I kind of like having my office upstairs. I like to come out on the landing and look over the town. When I opened the door to my new office, I was pleased with what I saw. The last doctor that was here kept the place neat and tidy. Things needed to be dusted off, but other than that the room was in fine condition. After exploring the building I bought, I could see there were three rooms. There was a main front room where I would do my doctoring and surgeries. In the back were two other rooms. I would use one room as a recovery room for my patients and the other room as my personal room.

I rented a hotel room for a week. I didn't want to tell them I no longer needed the room for that long. I'm sure they appreciated the business. I used the week I rented the hotel room to get my office ready. I'm actually glad I rented the hotel room for a week.

While I was preparing my office, word spread that I was a doctor who was starting a practice. They even heard that I was a surgeon. Most people were grateful that I was there. Although, some did make bets on how long I would last. I wonder if anyone has ever collected on that bet.

I arrived in Dodge City during the daytime. It seemed like a quiet little prairie town. I had heard that Dodge City had a reputation for being a ruthless, lawless, wicked little cowtown. I didn't see that when I stepped off that stagecoach. Things changed as soon as the sun went down. At night Dodge City lived up to its reputation. My office had only been open a week, when I treated my first gunshot. It was a shoulder wound, nothing too serious. In addition to the gunshot wounds, I did treat people with common ailments.

Dodge City was a town with no law and order. Treating patients, you learn things. It came to my knowledge that Dodge did have a sheriff that tried to give the town some law and order. The people described him as a man small in stature. He wasn't too intimidating and no one took him seriously. Instead of him running the town. The town ran him. They ran him right out of Dodge.

The brick building, the only one in Dodge, housed the sheriff's office and the jail. It currently sat empty. Rumor had it that the government knew that Dodge City was in need of a lawman. They had heard about the former sheriff and decided Dodge needed more than just a sheriff. The government was going to send out a U.S. Marshal. From what I had heard, this man had experience in the law, but this was his first time being a U.S. Marshal. I really didn't know anything else about him, except that his name was Matt Dillon.

TBC