Dr susan anderson colorado biography
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Not only did she regain her health, but she he practiced medicine from 1909 to 1956 in Grand County, a total of forty-seven years. The last two years of her life she was cared for in a rest home by the doctors for the Colorado General Hospital out of respect and love. A blizzard hit, blocking Corona Pass. Not long after construction began, she found herself treating numerous men who were injured during construction.
She died in Denver on April 16, 1960, and was buried in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2025.
Also see:
Elizabeth Blackwell – First Lady Doctor
Susan La Flesche Picotte – First Native Physician
Women in American History
Historic Women List
Influenza Pandemic of 1918
Colorado – The Centennial State
See Sources.
Doc Susie - Mountain Pioneer Woman Doctor
Susan Anderson was born on January 31, 1870, in Nevada Mills, Indiana.
Susan even saved a miner’s arm, after a male doctor had insisted it had to be amputated.
In 1900, Susan was engaged, but her fiancé left her at the altar.
Susie wanted to be buried beside her brother in Cripple Creek, but because of bad record keeping, no one could find his grave until later. Nevertheless, as a professional, she inspired the young girls of Fraser to pursue goals loftier than the drudgery their mothers endured.
Biography
Doc Susie: the True Story of a Country Physician in the Colorado Rockies by Virginia Cornell
By Mary Dodge Allen
Doc Susie was one the first women physicians in Colorado.
She often accompanied patients to Colorado General Hospital in Denver to admit them for treatment. Although William worked as a rancher, he had always wanted to be a doctor, and he was determined that one of his children would choose that career. After the boy’s surgery, Doc Susie stayed with him and then brought him home. At about the same time, the gold strike in Cripple Creek, Colorado, caught William Anderson’s attention, causing him to sell his homestead in Wichita and move the entire family to Anaconda, CO, which was about one mile south of Cripple Creek.
In 1900, Anderson’s younger brother died, her fiancé left her, and Susan decided to leave the mining camp.
Anderson moved to Denver but had a tough time securing patients as people were reluctant to see a woman doctor in those times, and many doctors were already established.
Shortly after Susan and John graduated from High School in 1891, Pa Anderson remarried and became very domineering, insisting that everything be exactly as he demanded.
Instead, she dressed in layers, wore high-hip boots, and trekked through deep snows and freezing temperatures to reach her patients.
Spanish Flu victim in 1918.
During the many years that “Doc Susie,” as she became known, practiced in the high mountains of Grand County, one of her busiest times was during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic.
While in this position, she met with the Tunnel Commission and confronted them, citing the poor working conditions and numerous worker accidents. During this time, she was also asked to become the Grand County Coroner, a position that enabled her to confront the Tunnel Commission regarding working conditions and accidents. Susan Anderson, circa 1900.
Unlike today’s physicians, Susan Anderson never became “rich” practicing her skills, as she was often paid in firewood, food, services, and other items that could be bartered.
In her 30's Susan contracted tubuculosis and came to the Fraser Valley in hopes of a cure in the clear mountain air. The passengers gave her the taxi fare to get from the depot to Colorado General Hospital. In 1893, Susan began attending the University of Michigan, and she graduated in 1897 as a licensed physician.
Susan Anderson at the family cabin, Cripple Creek, Colorado (Public Domain)
Susan moved back to the Cripple Creek mining camp to be near her family, and she set up her first practice.
Very rare for the time, Susan pursued an education in medicine and graduated from the University of Michigan and started practicing in the mining towns of the area. Heartbroken, Susan decided to leave Cripple Creek. While there, the four-year-old son had an appendicitis at- tack.