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Text originally published in 1929 under the same title.
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Publishers Note
Although in most cases we have retained the Authors original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern readers benefit.
We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.
A FRONTIER DOCTOR
BY
HENRY F. HOYT
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
FRANK B. KELLOGG
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the Old-Timers of the Panhandle and to my comrades of the Spanish-American War and the Filipino Insurrection.
PREFACE
IF you decide to go any further than this preface, you will soon perceive that my cards are all on the table face up. In my recital of experiences and adventures of my pioneering days, I have stuck to the truth. I have tried to demonstrate that a young man can travel along the different highwaysand by-waysof life surrounded by all kinds of temptations, yet, if he has will power, a sense of right and wrong, and does not forget the early teaching of his parents, he will, in the vast majority of cases, come out all right.
In preparing this work I have received, from friends and well-wishers, different suggestions and advice as to just how it should be featured, in this day and generation , in order to please and satisfy the public. A number advise, that unless it be well freckled with divorces, scandals, and sex complexessomething that will fairly scorch the coversI am simply throwing away my time. I am still a little old-fashioned, so most of those topics will be conspicuous by their absence.
There are others, however, to whom I shall be ever grateful for their kind and timely advice, encouragement, and help. I feel under especial obligations, and herewith express my sincere thanks, to Leva Margaret Handy, Walter Noble Burns, Maurice G. Fulton, William S. Hart, J. Evetts Haley, the late Charles A. Siringo, E. A. Brininstool, William J. Chisum, Dr. and Mrs. James W. Yard and Colonel George A. Skinner, Medical Corps, U.S.A.
HENRY F. HOYT
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
June, 1929
ILLUSTRATIONS
HENRY F. HOYT, 1929 Photograph by Warren M. Sargent Studios, Long Beach, Cal.
HENRY F. HOYT, 1876
JOHN CHISUM, CATTLE KING OF NEW MEXICO By courtesy of his nephew William J. Chisum, of Los Angeles
JOHN CHISUMS HOME RANCH, PECOS VALLEY, N.M. By courtesy of Mr. William J, Chisum
OUTLAW BILL MOORE, MANAGER OF THE LX RANCH From Charles A. Siringos Riata and Spurs
GROUP OF TEXAS PANHANDLERS IN 1884 W. S. Mabry; Frank James; C. B. Vivian, first county and district clerk of Oldham County, Texas; Ike P. Ryland; James H. East, sheriff of Oldham County in 1884; James E. McMasters, first county judge of Oldham County, witness to bill of sale of Billy the Kid to Dr. Hoyt; Patrick Garrett, the killer of Billy the Kid. Photograph furnished by Mr. East
WILLIAM H. BONNEY, alias BILLY THE KID By courtesy of Mr. E. A. Brininstool
BILL OF SALE GIVEN BY BILLY THE KID TO DR. HOYT TO ESTABLISH HIS OWNERSHIP OF A HORSE
C. B. (CAFE) WILLINGHAM AND JACK RYAN By courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. James W. Yard, of Long Beach, Cal.
JESSE JAMES By courtesy of Mr. Roberto Love, author of The Rise and Fall of Jesse James
FRANK JAMES By courtesy of Mr. Love
COLE YOUNGER By courtesy of Mr. Love
LETTER FROM GOVERNOR LEW WALLACE TO BILLY THE KID From the original owned by Mr. Lew Wallace, Jr. Copy furnished by courtesy of Mr. Maurice G. Fulton, of Roswell, N.M.
BILLY THE KIDS REPLY TO GOVERNOR WALLACE From the original owned by Mr. Lew Wallace, Jr. Copy furnished by courtesy of Mr. Maurice G. Fulton
GENERAL FREDERICK D. GRANT AND STAFF AT CHICKAMAUGA PARK, JUNE, 1898
GENERAL ROYAL T. FRANK AND STAFF AT ANNISTON, ALABAMA, SEPTEMBEROCTOBER, 1898
GENERAL ARTHUR MACARTHUR AND STAFF AT MALOLOS Photograph taken by the Signal Corps of United States Volunteers after the capture of Malolos, March 31, 1899, in front of the ruins of General Aguinaldos palace and on the spot where Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Philippine Republic
CERTIFICATE OF AWARD TO HENRY F. HOYT OF A SILVER STAR FOR GALLANTRY IN ACTION
FILIPINO SOCIETY LADIES IN THEIR NATIONAL COSTUME Photograph presented to Dr. Hoyt in Manila in 1899
A GROUP OF IGORROTE WARRIORS FROM NORTHERN LUZON
HENRY F. HOYT, MAJOR AND CHIEF SURGEON, U.S.V., 1902
INTRODUCTION
THIS delightful book is the result of the variety of Dr. Henry F. Hoyts occupations in different localities of the country during a long life, his capacity for registering what he saw and heard, and his ability to discern the relative value of incidents and events.
It has been my privilege to know Dr. Hoyt for many years; he has served as my family physician, and we have enjoyed together in days gone by hunting and fishing excursions and other pleasurable relaxations of which I retain pleasant memories. I am, therefore, very glad to introduce him to the reading public, and to bespeak for his book that favorable consideration which I am confident it merits.
Dr. Hoyt was born on a farm near St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1854, and was educated at country and city schools and the Minnesota State University. His first employment was in 1872 as a rodman in the survey of the railway between Glyndon and St. Vincent, Minnesota. In 1873 he was with an astronomical party in the survey of the boundary between the United States and Canada. This party was escorted by two troops of General Custers cavalry which during the survey had several engagements with Indians. In 1874 he took up the study of medicine in the office of a St. Paul doctor. In 1875 he was an interne for one year in the Church (now St. Lukes) Hospital in St. Paul. In 1876 he was a student at the Rush Medical School at Chicago. To earn his way through college he practiced medicine at Dead wood, Territory of Dakota, during the summer of 1877. In the fall of that year he went to the Panhandle district of Texas, and is said to have been the first physician to practice medicine in that district. The country, however, was sparsely settled, and, finding his means depleted, he engaged himself as a cowboy. He made friends with Billy the Kid, who gave him the horse on which he left for New Mexico in October, 1878. He found no opening there for a doctor and he was soon again short of funds. He helped, however, to survey the new town of Las Vegas. Later he became the assistant postmaster at Las Vegas.
