A little background on Dr. T.L. McCarty
One of the true life characters in The Last River is the Dodge City physician, Dr. Thomas L. McCarty. Here is a brief bio from the Dodge City Daily Globe written by Kathie Bell of the Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City....
"He arrived in 1872 and was Dodge City’s first civilian doctor.
Affectionately known as “T.L,” Dr. Thomas L. McCarty served Dodge City for almost 58 years becoming the oldest and most noted surgeon and physician in the old west. He was a chemist, or pharmacist, as well.
Soon after Dr. McCarty arrived in Dodge, his son Claude was born in December 1873. Claude was among the first recorded births in the area.
Dr. McCarty first practiced medicine in a store owned by Herman Fringer, and later opened the City Drug Store. Besides prescription drugs, the store sold a variety of patent medicines, perfumes, paints, sponges and Coca-Cola. When a prescription was needed, Dr. McCarty prepared the remedy using the contents of the bottles that lined the shelves of his store. The substances were ground and then rolled into pills, or made into an elixir.
As a medical doctor Thomas McCarty was among the most important persons in Dodge City. Much of Dr. McCarty’s time was spent tending to buffalo hunters, soldiers and gunshot victims. In emergencies, he traveled by horse and buggy, often many miles over rough terrain, to reach his patient. There were no nurses to help in treating the more complicated cases. Surgeries were often performed in a makeshift operating room, such as a kitchen table under the light of a kerosene lamp.
Dr. Thomas McCarty never gave up his “civilized” eastern ways. He shaved daily and, rejecting the western style of dress, wore a white collar and tie. A man of high ideals, he was courageous and had a tender regard for humanity. Though his style of dress and mannerisms were different, the people of Dodge City liked and respected him.
Dr. McCarty was very civic minded being a member of the first School Board. He was the first Ford County Coroner, a County Commissioner and Superintendent of Schools. McCarty was instrumental in starting Dodge City’s Union Church donating the land for it and signing the petition to get it started. He organized the first bicycle club in Dodge City.
Active in many business endeavors, McCarty was a stockholder in the toll bridge over the Arkansas River. He opened the McCarty Skating and Opera House on the 600 block of North Second Avenue. Dr. Thomas McCarty bought the first automobile in Dodge City.
Claude McCarty followed his father’s footsteps and became a medical doctor. In 1905, father and son opened Dodge City’s first hospital in a former hotel where together they practiced medicine. This partnership lasted until 1930 when Dr. Thomas McCarty died. His son, Dr. Claude McCarty, died in 1950."
Kathie Bell works at the Boot Hill Museum and is a history buff. Her column appears weekly in the Dodge City Daily Globe. She can be reached at 227-8188.
