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Sagebrush Dentist--As Told by Dr. Will Frackelton to Herman Gastrell Seely, published by Grosset & Dunlop, 1941.
Louis L’Amour, who was a dedicated collector of western books, spoke highly of the Sagebrush Dentist in his memoir Education of a Wandering Man. He was right on the money. Sagebrush Dentist is a collection of frontier yarns told by a dentist who, as a young man, set out to practice dentistry in Sheridan, Wyoming during the early 1890s.
Doctor Frackelton, fast with his fists as well as his wit, had a taste for adventure when he wasn’t yanking teeth. He dodged a show down with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, rubbed shoulders with Buffalo Bill Cody and legendary scout Frank Grouard in the barroom of the Sheridan Inn, provided dental services to Calamity Jane, and was invited to join the Crow Indian Tribe as an honorary member. On the combined 40th anniversary of the Fetterman Massacre (1866) and the Wagon Box Fight (1867), he revisited the scene with General Henry Beebee Carrington who was the commanding officer of Fort Phil Kearny at the time of the battles.
Doctor Frackelton also had the unique opportunity to meet many legendary Indians including Medicine Crow, Steals-the-Bear, and White-Man-Runs-Him with whom he actually participated in a reenactment of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Doctor Frackelton witnessed the passing of an unforgettable era and the reader is fortunate to share his memories.
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