Pioneer Doctor: The Story of a Woman's Work

This is the story of one woman's persistence and success against social norms that limited women's role in society in the western US during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Not only was this woman a doctor when there were very few women doctors, she also participated in the womens' suffrage movement in Montana and lived through many social changes in that state. As the only doctor in a frontier mining town she saw many hard situations and some of the most poignant stories are about her attempts to help and care for the town prostitutes. When the mining boom died in that area, she moved to Helena to open another medical practice and there she joined the sufferage movement. The book is written in a very readable narrative style and includes information from her personal records and interviews with personal friends and family.