Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman in Colorado Springs

After flying into Denver International Airport, we drove our rental car south to Colorado Springs. Along the way we passed through the concrete canyons and big box store forests of urban sprawl. When we reached Colorado Springs, we ate lunch at a popular chain restaurant before touring the U.S. Air Force Academy. Then we drove along the freeway, and through wide paved streets lined by strip malls to our hotel. 

It wasn't until the next day, as we hiked in Garden Of The Gods, that I realized we were actually in Colorado Springs, where Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was set. In the TV series, Dr. Michaela Quinn travels from Boston, Massachusetts to Colorado Springs in 1867, because the townspeople of modern Boston refuse to visit a female doctor. At first, the inhabitants of this frontier town refuse to trust Michaela also. But gradually, she wins their respect, and becomes a valued member of the community.

While Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was filmed in California, this is the area in which the TV series was set. There may not have been a real Dr. Michaela Quinn. Nonetheless, the issues the character battles, and the events she lived through, were very real indeed. When you see General Custer leading his army troops against nearby Native American tribes, this is where those battles actually took place. When you see Army troops killing herds of buffalo to drive away Native American communities, and clear the land for homesteads and ranches, this is where that occurred. When you see the townspeople striving to attract the interest of the railroads, and thereby develop their town, this is where that occurred.

In the series, all that occurred, or at least began, in 1867. In the one hundred-and-fifty years hence, townspeople like shopkeeper Loren Bray and barber Jake Slicker won. The train came to Colorado Springs, and the town grew. Now there's far more than one school or church in Colorado Springs, let alone one doctor. The town has grown out all proportion to its original size, and has reaped all the benefits of becoming a modern city, as well as the accompanying traffic and overcrowding issues. 

In Garden of the Gods, the beauty of the land in which Colorado Springs was planted remains. This was the place where people like Dr. Michaela Quinn demonstrated that all people are equal, regardless of gender, race, or beliefs. I'm so glad it remains free to enter, and accessible to all.

Dragon Dave