DOCTORS IN THE EARLY DAYS OF LAVALLEE MUNICIPALITY

When the pioneers came to this wilderness called New Ontario they were prepared to make many sacrifices. In this new land where they were offered free grant land the lack of medical care may have been missed the most. Imagine the difficulty in calling for a doctor in those times when there were no telephones, roads were little more than trails and travelling was done on foot or by horse and wagon or sleigh.

"The River of Time" tells us that Dr. Frederick Hyde Bethune came to Emo as the first resident doctor. It is likely that he came in about 1899 or 1900 and he was the only to doctor with very widespread area including the LaVallee Municipality to cover. With the area filling up it was not long before there were accidents, childbirth cases and serious illness requiring a doctor's care. We might wonder what the settlers did before Dr. Bethune came. The settlers were ever ready to help each other and there were many women skilled in nursing, delivering babies and applying home remedies. Sometimes these were to no avail and one story in "Connections" tells of a woman who died in childbirth on her way by boat to Fort Frances for medical aid. The doctor at the time may have been Dr. Robert Moore.

Dr. Bethune's name appears over and over in the early records. He travelled by horse and buggy or sleigh and often took his two dogs with him. It was said that he kept a saddle in his buggy and if the roads became impassable he put the saddle on the horse and continued on horseback. After the railroad came through in 1901 he even obtained permission to use a hand pump car. When he travelled to the west part of the district he travelled by canoe on the Rainy River making calls on both sides of the river. Once he even set a broken leg in a boat.

To the settlers Dr. Bethune must have been welcome sight when trouble was at hand., as on those days the doctor came to you. He relied on certain men and women in the community for their help. All babies in the earliest days were born at home but it is sad to note that the mortality rate for women in childbirth was fairly high. The efforts of these pioneer doctors were nothing short of heroic. Kate Ruttan, local poet, wrote of Dr. Bethune: (selected lines)

"Pioneer physician before the roads began,
Over moor and muskeg he rode or else he ran;
When horses were available, at Devlin he'd relay,
And when the pioneers were poor he did not press for pay.
He healed their mumps and measles, diphtheria and fever,
And when a woman needed him he'd never, never leave her:
He sent a flood of knowledge through Rainy River Valley
His cheery air and rosy cheeks, most made the sick to rally."

There were other doctors in Fort Frances and their names also appear on the early records though Dr. Bethune seemed to be the doctor of choice. Dr. Robert Moore, Dr. Soloway, Dr. McKenzie and Dr. Robert McTavish, son the elder George McTavish of LaVallee, all attended patients in the very early 1900's.
Dr. Bethune enlisted in the 141st Battalion in 1916 and returned from WW1 in 1919. By then another doctor, Dr. D. R. Young who became very familiar to the residents settled in Emo. He also was ready to travel into the farthest corners of the area to give medical assistance. Sometimes he performed operations on a farmer's kitchen table with Dr. Bethune by his side. Other times he was on his own with his wife Evelyn who was a nurse assisting. Although some babies were born at the Cuthbertson Nursing Home in Devlin, babies were delivered at home well into the 1930's. By this time the doctor had a car although he still had to travel by sleighs in the winter.

Dr. Young delivered hundreds of babies over the years and was honoured at a special day in 1956 where those people wore ribbons saying, "I'm one of D.R.'s babies."
Dr. Bethune and Dr. Young hold a special place in the history of LaVallee for their dedicated services for which they were often unpaid, their courage, skill and total commitment to their duty. Respect, praise and thankfulness are due them.