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Well, if this doesn't ever stir up my feminist cockles! From the beginning
of time, women have been the tribal healers. They gathered the healing
herbs that saved the members, and probably set arms and legs, too. As patriarchal
rule took root, 5,000 years of women's tradition came to a screeching halt.
During the Inquisition, women healers were known as "witches," and we all
know what happened to 500,000 of them! Now this tragedy has come full cirle:
I have three women doctors, and I notice that nearly 50% of doctors these
days are female.
<p>Cecil Houk wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style>
<font face="Arial">More by Florence
Courtney Melton; on the Oregon Trail in 1868.</font> <font face="Arial"><font size=+1>
Someone on the the road, while the California group was with us, there
was a family bound for California that had one child, a little boy seven
or eight years old. He had a pony, and one day it jumped and threw
him off and broke his arm between the wrist and elbow. They went
into camp right away. The parents were frantic. The father
asked everyone if there was a doctor on the train. No one knew of
anyone. He said he would give $100 for someone to set his boy's arm.
Uncle William Holbrook told him he knew of one person, who laid no claim
to being a doctor, but she could set the boy's arm. At first he was
skeptical because it was a woman. Uncle brought him around and introduced
him to Mother. She went with him and examined the arm, then came
back to fix a splint. Mary took some of the till of her trunk.
Mother padded it, got something for bandages, and went to work to pull
his arm into place. Of course it hurt. He screamed but she
kept pulling. The man ordered her to stop hurting the boy.
He was very insulting. Mother just stopped and asked him if he knew
how to set it. She had plenty to do at her own wagon. He said
no, he didn't know anything about it. "Well, just keep still and
quit giving orders, if I am to do it." There was a big crowd standing
around. They didn't blame her, and they said so. Uncle laughed
and said, "I knew Mary would settle him." She took care of the arm
until the splints were off. The arm was as straight as the other.
The parents never even thanked her. She never charged for anything
she ever did for sick folks.</font></font><font face="Arial">Mary (and
mother in the above), was Mary Anne Ashbaugh Courtney; my great great grandmother.</font> <font face="Arial">Cecil
Houk, ET1 USN Ret.</font>
<br><font face="Arial">PO Box 530833</font>
<br><font face="Arial">San Diego CA 92153</font>
<br><font face="Arial">FAX 619-428-6434</font>
<br><font face="Arial"><a href="mailto:cchouk@cox.net">mailto:cchouk@cox.net</a></font>
<br><font face="Arial">ANDERSON - BLAKELY - FORD - HOUK - KIMSEY - MOE
- RULAFORD - SIMPSON</font>
<br><font face="Arial">Searchable GEDCOM: <a href="http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk">http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk</a></font>
<br><font face="Arial">My web page MENU: <a href="http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/">http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/</a></font></blockquote>
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