Chapter 6 Newly O'Brian, An Asset To Dodge

*Author's Note: Doc's only known Newly for a few years, so Newly hasn't met Patricia yet and the "Hanging of Newly O'Brian" hasn't taken place. Newly's chapter goes no further than season 15.

Kitty was the first one to meet Newly O'Brian. She met him on a stage heading back to Dodge City. She described him as a very friendly man. He told her he was from Pennsylvania traveling out west to Dodge City. Before the stagecoach took off, a man came at the last minute and sat very close to Kitty. Newly could tell Kitty was annoyed and defended her honor. Kitty told me she noticed Newly's medical bag and assumed he was a doctor. It seems plausible that she did, considering he carried a medical bag with his name on it. What was supposed to be a routine trip back to Dodge turned out to be anything but that.

Before heading back to Dodge City, the stagecoach was boarded by two men who planned to hijack the stagecoach and take it to save the brother of Pedro Manez, a gang leader. One of the men was the one that Newly defended Kitty from. The other rode up front as a shotgun rider. They hijacked that stagecoach because they too thought Newly was a doctor.

I really don't want to get into all of the details, but Manez wanted Newly to remove a bullet out of his brother. Newly wasn't a doctor, but fortunately he did have some medical training. He went to medical school for six months and had enough training to know the bullet was too deep to remove without medication, medication that Newly didn't have. You have to remember I wasn't there. I'm just telling this story from what I recall that was told to me. Newly and one of Manez's men, Turner, came to Dodge to find me to get the needed medicine.

While in Dodge, Newly was able to convince Turner to have a drink in the Long Branch. Newly and Turner broke up the Long Branch and Festus threw them in jail. So you see, Newly wasn't drunk. Newly needed to get help from the law and getting Turner so drunk, he could talk to someone without Turner finding out. His plan worked. Newly was able to let Festus know what was going on. Festus was leary about things at first. But when Newly mentioned Kitty Russell, Festus knew Newly was serious.

Festus rode out to the Caldwell place. Matt was there with me. We had an inkling that something was wrong. Festus could usually handle things in town while Matt was gone, especially if it was just going to be for a couple of hours. Festus explained that there was a man at the jail who said he and Kitty were in trouble. Hearing Kitty was in trouble was all that Matt had to hear. He immediately left with Festus. They returned to the jail and Newly explained as much as he could. From Newly's explanation, Festus figured Kitty and Newly had been taken to the Black Messa, mining country.

The three men came up with a plan. However, the plan couldn't be initiated until the next day. Matt put Newly back in jail so Turner wouldn't get suspicious. The next day rolls around, and the plan worked and Kitty, Newly, Matt, and Festus all made it to Dodge. Manez and most of his men ended up being killed.

If Newly was coming to Dodge, but he wasn't coming to be a doctor, then why was he coming? He wanted to start a career as a gunsmith. His talents working with guns and his desire to be a gunsmith came into play to help save both him and Kitty. You'd probably think that a place like Dodge City already had a gunsmith and Newly would be better off finding a job in another town. You'd be wrong. Dodge City was in need of a gunsmith. We were also in need of another doctor.

After Newly arrived in Dodge and was able to establish his gunsmith business, I sat down with Newly and we had a talk. I told him what Kitty had told me about his background in medicine. The first thing I did was to make sure Newly was aware that I knew how important it was for him to have a gunsmith business. Once I accomplished that, I wanted to convince Newly not to give up on medicine. Yes, a gunsmith in Dodge City was a pretty solid career at the time, but it might be a good idea to have an alternate plan to fall back on. To my surprise, not only did he agree, but he agreed to further his medical background.

One good thing about being your own boss is that you can determine your own hours. Newly did have business sense and knew it was important to have set hours. He wanted his customers to know when he would and wouldn't be at the shop. He decided to make Wednesdays the day that his shop was only open for half the day. The other half of the day he came to my office to keep his medical skills sharpened. I wasn't always able to make Wednesdays work for the two of us to work together. People didn't take that day off from being sick, getting injured or shot, or having babies.

As Newly has been working with me these last couple of years, I have realized he is a natural when it comes to medicine. He learns so quickly. Newly is not a licensed medical doctor, but I have no qualms having him help people if I am not available. I don't send him to do anything that requires surgery. Since he doesn't have a medical license, I can't do that. However, I strongly believe he has the skilled hands to be a surgeon. I came to that conclusion when I saw the sign he carved for his gunsmith business. It was very well done with fine detail. Perhaps some day he will perform minor surgeries.

While Newly has been in Dodge these last few years, he's been involved in a few incidents. There have been some minor incidents and some major ones.

Newly hadn't been in Dodge for too long when he rescued this hill girl, Mary Florene. He rescued her from a life with her half-brothers, Roland and Elbert. They were an uncivilized pair. Newly met Mary when she tried to take his horse while he was out hunting. If that's not unfortunate enough, Newly was taken by the brothers and held captive. Mary set Newly free, as long as he took her to Dodge with him. He agreed.

I remember the morning Newly brought Mary into town. I was standing outside my office with Matt and Festus and saw Newly riding his horse with a young lady in front of him. Of course that scene drew the attention of the townsfolk. Newly was having a hard time explaining what he was doing with Mary. He did explain things further in the Long Branch. Kitty suggested Mary get a job. Doc told Newly that Jonas was looking for help, and Newly went to speak with Jonas. Newly was able to get Mary a job with Jonas. You would think everything was all fine and dandy. It wasn't.

Mary's half brothers realized she was gone and found her in Dodge. They learned that Mary got a job at Jonas' store and wanted her to rob the place for them. She did help them, but regretted it. Jonas ended up being shot. Don't worry. He survived. Everything turned out. The brothers were thrown in jail to pay their time for what they did.

Let's see. What else has Newly been involved in? Well, the most recent one was when Kitty, Sam, Louie, and I were held hostage by a group of men. I was tricked in coming over. A man came and said Sam was hurt. I heard that and immediately followed the man to the Long Branch. They were looking for Matt. Why am I telling you this? Did it even have anything to do with Newly? The whole situation didn't have anything to do with Newly. The men had no idea who he was. That would turn out to be a good thing.

I don't want to dwell on that long night in the Long Branch. Watching Louie suffer and beg for a drink was heart wrenching. I know Kitty and Sam felt the same way. They wanted Louie to crawl on the floor for a drink. I tried to stop it, but was threatened with a gun. Louie crawled, but then did something that shocked all of us. He refused the drink.

After all the chaos that took place, Matt arrived and like he always does, he took care of things. I didn't even realize Newly was there until after I heard Matt tell Newly to lock one of the men up. It was later when Newly and I were in my office that I learned that he was the one that rode out to get Matt and bring him back to Dodge.

Newly has been gaining trust from the citizens in Dodge and has also become an asset to this town. I gain more and more trust in him to take care of medical ordeals. Talking with Matt, I know he has gained trust in Newly as well. Matt wouldn't have any objections in Newly keeping an eye on things while Matt's out of town. He shouldn't, considering he decided to use Newly as a deputy.

I am proud of the man Newly has become. He seems to be able to succeed with the tasks that have been given to him. There's another area that I hope he's able to succeed in. That's settling down with a woman and having a life with her. So far there haven't been too many women in his life while he's been in Dodge. There was Mary Florene and most recently a blind girl named Susan Hurley. Both of these women came into Newly's life in an unexpected way. They both turned out to be decent women, but they weren't the right ones for Newly. I do hope that when he does find that special woman, he makes the right choice and doesn't let her get away. A man like Newly deserves that kind of happiness.

I can hear footsteps coming up the steps. I better put this journal away. My friends have no idea that I've been keeping it. Will I ever share it with them? I can't answer that right now. I'm certain I won't share it with them anytime soon. The footsteps are heavy, no doubt belonging to Matt.

"Hey, Doc," said Matt. "How 'bout a drink at the Long Branch? Kitty, Newly, and Festus are over there."

"By golly Matt, a nice cold beer sounds refreshing," Doc answered.

"Your eyes look tired, Doc," Matt observed. "Have ya been filling your sugar pills all day?"

Doc saw the smile on Matt's face and knew Matt was teasing him. "For your information Marshal, I've been working on some paperwork."

"Sounds pretty boring to me," said Matt. "You definitely need to come to the Long Branch for a drink."

Doc followed Matt to the Long Branch. When the two of them walked through the batwing doors, Doc saw Kitty, Newly, and Festus sitting at their usual table. These people were not only his friends, but his family. He thought about the journal up in the desk in his office and the memories these people have offered him so far. Doc hoped that the people sitting at the table would be able to offer him more memories, memories he could add to the journal in his office.

The End