In a span of two decades the main parts of Saskatchewan were transformed from a scattering of settlements and a vast tract of unbroken prairie to a land of hundreds of towns and villages, thousands of farms and a population nearing one million. It was an instant society, but one that did not have a built-in infrastructure for critical needs, particularly medical ones.

Relatively well-educated pioneer doctors hailing largely from England, Scotland and Ontario came West to establish private medical practices, often working with a pioneer hospital, in a large number of cases, run by a charitable order. The earliest annals of pioneer medicine are a curious blend of medical free enterprise, acts of human kindness and philanthropy, runaway horses and other pioneer accidents, and neighbours delivering babies on lonely homesteads.

Joseph T. Cooper

The medical profession of Saskatoon finds a representative member in Dr. Joseph T. Cooper, well-known physician and surgeon, with offices in the Canadian Pacific building. He was born in Ontario, at Plattsville, on the 28th of April, 1878, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth C. Cooper…In the pursuit of his education Joseph T. Cooper attended the public and high schools of Galt, Ontario, and then taught school from 1899 to 1901. In the latter year he enrolled in the medical department of the University of Manitoba and was graduated from that institution with the M.D. degree in 1906. He practiced in Manitoba until May, 1910, when he came to Saskatchewan and located at Scott,where he resided until 1918, and then came to Saskatoon, and has here since continued to practice…In his political view Dr. Cooper is independent, giving his support to the man he thinks best fitted for the office without regard to party principles. For two years he was active in the office of mayor of Scott and has been coroner of Saskatchewan for the past ten years. He also held that position for a time in Manitoba. Along strictly professional lines he holds membership in the Canadian Medical Association, the Saskatchewan Medical Association and the Saskatoon Academy of Medicine… (Hawkes, pp. 1958-1959)

James B. Swanston

The pioneer physician and surgeon of Shaunavon is Dr. James B. Swanston, who is responsible for the Shaunavon Clinic. He was born in Grey County, Ontario, on the 17th of September, 1878, and in the pursuit of his education attended the public schools of his native province and was graduated from Toronto University in 1905. He located in French River, Ontario and there engaged in practice from 1908 to 1910, in which latter year he moved to Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, where he remained until 1914, when he located in Shaunavon. Dr. Swanston is the pioneer physician of this community. When he came here there was practically no town and he witnessed its growth to that of a thriving and prosperous community. He has always been a leader in his profession in this district and was the organizer of the Shaunavon Clinic, whose building and equipment cost some fifteen thousand dollars.

In 1910 Dr. Swanston was married to Miss Martha Taylor, a native of Ontario, and they have three children: Isabella, Fern and Helen. Fraternally the Doctor is identified with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He devotes the greater part of his time and attention to his practice but is appreciative of the social amenities of life. (Hawkes, 1924 pp. 2030)

Dr. Shadd

Dr. Alfred Schmitz Shadd was born in Ontario in 1870, the offspring of slaves from the southern United States who had come to Canada in the 1850s. Educated in the East he became a teacher in the Kinistino area, studying medicine part-time, and graduated from the University of Toronto’s medical faculty in 1898. Later he studied in Edinburgh and Paris. Unsparing of self, he traveled widely to meet the needs of the ill, and was instrumental in building Melfort’s first hospital. He was one of Saskatchewan’s first coroners. The stories of heroic travel by horse to treat the ill are legion. He was also a politician, owner of the Carrot River Journal, 1908 – 1912, and raised prize-winning Shorthorn cattle, helping also to form the Farmer’s Elevator Company. He passed away in 1915, his Melfort funeral being the biggest to date, with one end of the procession at the cemetery and the other still in the town.

Pioneer Doctors

Percy C. Crosby

No history of the medical fraternity in the Pheasant Hills district would be complete without extended mention of Dr. Percy C. Crosby, who in fourteen years of his practice in Melville has proven effectively his unusual skill in his profession…He was born in Prince Edward Island on 26th March, 1876, a son of Isaac and Susan (Scott) Crosby…received his early education in the public schools of his birthplace…in 1904 he graduated from McGill University with the M.D. degree and immediately began the practice of his chosen profession. He was employed as physician and surgeon of the Canadian National Railroad in 1904, on the construction between Kamsack, Saskatchewan and Edmonton, Alberta…In February, 1909, he came to Melville and has since practiced here…Dr. Crosby’s preparation was thorough and as he keeps in close touch with the progress of medical science through the medium of the various journals and periodicals issued for the benefit of the profession, he has continued to advance…Aside from his private practice the Doctor has served as health officer of Melville for several terms…He has also served one term on the city council, has been a member of the local school board for six years, and is an active member of the Melville Board of Trade. (Hawkes, 1924 pp. 1680 – 1683)

Arthur S. Gorrell

Dr. Arthur S. Gorrell, an active and successful representative of the medical profession in Regina for the past sixteen years, has made a specialty of the treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat. His birth occurred at Farran’s Point, Stormont County, Ontario, on the 18th of November 1869, his parents being Taylor and Catherine (Fulton) Gorrell, the former a native of Brockville, Ontario and the latter of New Zealand…Both he and his wife, who was the first white child to cross the Isthmus of Panama during the gold excitement of 1849, died in Ontario.

Arthur S. Gorrell…in 1886 matriculated in McGill University, from which institution he graduated in 1889…his initial experience as a medical practitioner was obtained at Newboro…where he remained for a year, on the expiration of which period he removed to Ashton, Ontario, there following his profession for fourteen years. He then went abroad for special work on the eye, ear, nose and throat, studying in London, Paris and Vienna. It was on the 8th of December, 1907, that he settled in Regina, where he has remained to the present time and has built up an extensive and gratifying practice as an ophthalmologist, otologist, rhinologist and laryngologist. In 1919 he spent two months in postgraduate work in Montreal and has ever kept abreast with the most advanced methods…During the period of the Great War he organized and had charge of the medical department of the province of Saskatchewan and is now lieutenant colonel and was the first Assistant Director of Medical Services in Military District No. 12. (Hawkes, 1924 pp. 1803 – 1804)