Dr. Michael Beshoer: More than a physician

Carl E. Bartecchi, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine

Editor's note: CMS member Carl E. Bartecchi, MD, has written a fascinating essay on one of the most prominent physicians of the Wild West. Michael Beshoar, MD, practiced medicine in Trinidad, Colo., in the latter half of the 19th century, and was in many ways ahead of his time. He was devoted to staying on the forefront of medical technology, improving community health, and educating both doctors and laypersons on best health practices. He also almost certainly crossed paths with some of the most famous figures of the time, such as Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. Please enjoy the excerpt below from Dr. Bartecchi’s essay, and visit cms.org to read it in full.

Who would have thought that from Trinidad, Colo., one of the most distinguished and accomplished physicians and entrepreneurs would arise in the latter half of the 19th century? Michael Beshoar, MD, was probably one of the most unrecognized American physicians of that era.

A book; a biography by his grandson Barron Beshoar, “Hippocrates in a Red Vest;” Michael’s own book, “All About Trinidad and Las Animas County Colorado;” and more than eight large boxes (Beshoar Family Papers) donated to the Western History Collection of the Denver

Public Library tell the story of the most prominent physician of the old, Wild West.

Born in a small Pennsylvania town in 1833, Michael went on to graduate from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1853. In 1861, Beshoar, with his friends and neighbors, joined the Confederate Army where he served as a surgeon in the medical corps. He was captured by the Union Army in 1863 and ended up as a prisoner of war. However, after signing an Oath of Amnesty, he was allowed to join the Union Army where he served as an assistant surgeon until the end of the Civil War.

Following his medical career, Beshoar pursued private practice ventures, eventually ending up in Denver, whose population in 1867 was under 4,000. His success in Denver was hindered by the “anti-southern” bias of that community. That encouraged him to look farther to the south, to the town of Pueblo, which was more friendly to southerners and had only one doctor for its population of 400 at that time. Besides initiating a medical practice in Pueblo, he opened the first drug store between Denver and Santa Fe, N.M. In that same year, 1867, he also found his way south to Trinidad, Colo., a town of about 400 inhabitants that also favored southerners. He arrived there just seven years after the first settlers. He started a medical practice there and opened up a pharmacy. In Trinidad, he moved into a boarding house run by the sister of the famous [chief of the Oglala Sioux], Red Cloud. She was also the aunt of the [indigenous American] known as Crazy Horse.

Trinidad, with its gambling halls and popular saloons lent itself to plenty of drunken brawls between the Americans, Mexicans and the [indigenous Americans] that frequented the town and lived in the surrounding area. This allowed Beshoar the opportunity to utilize the surgical and orthopedic skills that he had acquired during his training and his experience in the Civil War, providing his services to all sides of these conflicts. He was often the only physician available and capable of treating the wounded from these frequent conflicts and the traumatic injuries common in the agricultural, mining and industrial settings of the region. His successful “care of wounds” brought him wide acclaim. He was also one of the only physicians who provided medical care for the local Native American population during his early days in Trinidad, for they were often unable to pay for their care and medications.

A perusal of copies of his billing records indicate a wide range of medical services that he provided. These services included “minor and more important surgical operations, ordinary and difficult obstetric cases and ordinary and acute cases, often including medicines.” He also provided “tooth extractions, bloodletting and cupping, and local and distant house calls.” He proudly noted that his charges were at least one-third lower than those adopted by the Colorado Medical Association.

Read the full version on cms.org for more on Dr. Beshoar: Among his many other accomplishments, he launched a monthly magazine, The Medical Educator; founded the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper, still in print today; was concerned with the health of the community and endorsed school lunches and vaccines; and was county coroner, county clerk and a Colorado state legislator. ■