In the dead of night in 1894, a trembling, wide-eyed 13-year-old boy assisted with his first surgery–an experience that changed his life. Robert H. Wright attended medical school, then returned home to Hailey, Idaho, to marry Cynthia Beamer, his childhood sweetheart, and to practice in the frontier west–a choice that required both rugged courage and devoted compassion. Called to risk his own life on multiple occasions, he remained composed during a crisis, and his gentle confidence calmed traumatized victims. At times, he performed operations by lantern light and traveled by buggy, dog sled, or Studebaker to reach remote patients. In 1917, he led the rescue effort at the North Star mine avalanche disaster.
Eventually, the doctor welcomed a grandson, also named Robert Wright, who eagerly absorbed thrilling tales of a pioneer past. Yet despite their close relationship, the younger Wright sensed mysterious secrets and unspoken heartbreak, and he began to probe for the untold stories. In Rugged Mercy, he unravels and celebrates the lives of his beloved grandparents. Alternating between accounts of the doctor’s decades of medicine and his own memories of growing up in Hailey, the author provides an intimate glimpse of challenges faced by rural physicians in the first half of the 1900s, of significant events in the history and evolution of the Wood River Valley and Sun Valley resort, and of family life in a small Idaho community.
Innehållsförteckning
Contents
Preface
1. The First Victory: Hailey, Idaho, 18942. The Old Shyster’s Big Show: Hailey, Idaho, 1894
3. Getting the Office Ready: Hailey, Idaho, 1952
4. A Powerful Woman: Walker, Missouri, 1906
5. Twelve Minutes to Sun Valley: Hailey, Idaho, 1951
6. Sunshine Over Baldy: Sun Valley Hospital, 1948
7. The Placenta Previa Case: Hailey, Idaho, 1908
8. Ol’ Scotty: Hailey, Idaho, 1908
9. Trouble Down at Dot Allen’s: Hailey, Idaho, 1911
10. The Kilpatrick Ranch Case: Hailey, Idaho, 1912
11. A One-Way Ticket: San Antonio, Texas, 1952
12. The Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Epidemic: Squaw Tit Mountain, 1914
13. Indians: Hailey, Idaho, 1956
14. Rosie Tincup: Hailey, Idaho, 1916
15. The Seagull: Hailey, Idaho, 1958
16. The North Star Mine Tragedy: Hailey, Idaho, 1917
17. The Switch Engine Case and the Ghost of Black Jack Ketchum: Hailey, Idaho, 1918
18. At Aunt Lillie’s House: Bellevue, Idaho, 1956
19. Our Darling: Hailey, Idaho, 1919
20. The Count and the Little Girl: Hailey, Idaho, 1936
21. A Barren Wonderland: Hailey, Idaho, 1967
22. A Powerful Man: Hailey, Idaho, 1969
23. The Doctor’s Final Victory: Shoshone, Idaho, 1980
Notes
Om författaren
As a young boy, Robert Wright eagerly absorbed his grandfather’s exciting tales about medical practice on the frontier West. As a teenager, sitting with a typewriter on his lap, he had the foresight to grill his grandmother for details.A radio broadcasting opportunity at KIRO brought him to Seattle, and he is now senior vice president at a Seattle real estate investment firm.
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