The Pilot
* Episode Stats *
Cast *
Crew *
Quotes *
Trivia*
Messa's Review *
Part 1: Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn of Boston gets off to a rocky start when she opens a practice in Colorado. Part 2: Mike makes the difficult adjustment to life in Colorado.
"I was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 15,1833. My father was a physician of excellent repute, possessed of wit, charm and an amiable disposition. My mother was made of sterner stuff, though a fine homemaker and an authority on rose gardening.
I was the last of five children, the four before me all girls. My father, being a man of science, firmly believed that the odds would finally dictate the birth of a long-awaited son. He would be name Michael. I was named Michaela. My father nicknamed me Mike, and from the beginning, he allowed me greater freedom than my sisters.
He encouraged me to attend medical school, but none would admit women. I finally received my M.D. from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, a fine Quaker institution and the first of its kind. I joined my father's practice, and for seven years we worked side-by-side until...
My mother would say he spoiled me. I would say he gave me the freedom to be myself. My mother did not approve of any of this. She thought me headstrong and intemperate. And so I was.
I found an advertisement in the Globe for a town doctor in the Colorado Territory. I sent a telegram detailing my experience and qualifications. In less than a week, I received a return telegram, offering me the position. After careful consideration, I made up my mind to go West, where my services were needed, where my skills would be appreciated...where I might finally be accepted as a doctor.
It was ten days by train to St. Louis, then seven more by stagecoach over trails that consisted of nothing more than two ruts in the grass. Prairie forever.
But then, something appears on the horizon. Too small to make out, but growing larger on approach. Finally, it can be seen to be Indians, wearing skins and feathers, but no war colors. My father taught me that different customs, language or color of skin were not causes for prejudice or hostility. But as I saw real Indians for the first time, I could not reason with the knots in my stomach."
