Pioneer Physicians of Los Gatos By Gerald E. Trobough, MD Leon P. Fox Medical History Committee There were three notable pioneer physicians who assisted Los Gatos in becoming a thriving township in the mid 1800’s. Los Gatos had its beginnings when a flour mill was built on the Los Gatos Creek in 1851 by James Alexander Forbes. Forbes, a Welshman, was Vice-Counsel of the British Government and was living in Santa Clara during the gold rush. At the time, there was a great demand for flour to make bread for the miners in the gold fields. The Forbes Mill was the first building and business established in Los Gatos. Even though the mill was not very successful, it brought attention to the beautiful area at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains and attracted many settlers.
DR. WILLIAM S. MCMURTRY
The first physician to settle in the Los Gatos area was Dr. William S. McMurtry. Born in Kentucky in 1818, Dr. McMurtry took his medical training in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. As a young Medic, he enlisted in the army to fight in the Mexican War. When he found out his regiment was to participate as Infantry, he left the army and joined the Texas Rangers and fought in the Battle of Monterey. Dr. McMurtry was to begin a medical practice in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1848. That year gold was discovered in California and like many others he “caught the gold bug.” With a party of 30 men, he traveled through Mexico and arrived in San Francisco on May 24,1849. He immedi26 | THE BULLETIN | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017
Dr. Frank Knowles