Caitlin Lockhart

Caitlin Lockhart was born Caitlin Duffy in a small farm near Frederick, Maryland. She has one older brother, Patrick Jr, and two younger brothers: Owen and Sean. Her mother died of consumption when she was 10, forcing her to grow up fast and take care of her younger brothers. When the Civil War broke out, loyalties in Maryland were particularly divided. The Duffy family, all die-hard abolitionists, sided with the Union. Patrick Jr joined the army and fought with a Union artillery regiment. Caitlin, though too young to join the nearly-formed Army nursing bureau, volunteered at the Frederick hospital and learned nursing there. It was a rough education. Casualties from several major battles were brought to Frederick - Antietam, Monocacy Junction, and fighting around Frederick itself when the Confederates captured the town.

After the war, Caitlin gave up nursing and returned to the farm. Nearly ten years later, she met a man in town named Michael Lockhart. Originally from Virginia, Michael had been forced to leave his home due to the sad state of the southern economy. He went north, seeking work, and eventually ended up in Frederick. He'd been there once before, after being injured in the battle of Monocacy Junction. Much to his surprise, he saw a familiar face in town one day. It was the nurse who had tended him after his injury. She didn't remember him - one soldier among hundreds she had treated - but he would never forget her. They soon fell in love, but Caitlin's father could not approve of her marrying a penniless former rebel.

The West beckoned Michael, promising a better future, and he wanted to share it with Caitlin. Despite her father's objections, they were married and left for Montana soon afterward. They intended to settle a homestead and start a family, and arrived in Maddock in late fall 1876. Their plans were shattered when a terrible fire broke out in town. Michael was killed trying to rescue a boy trapped in a burning building. In the aftermath of the fire, many were injured. Caitlin offered her assistance, though it had been ten years since she'd done any nursing. It helped keep her mind off what had happened, and gave her a purpose.

Eventually, the Chinese Doctor Kei offered her a position as his assistant. The offer sounded intriguing. Kei's view of nurses was radically different from what she'd experienced from army surgeons during the war, and even from Doc Webster's views. She was even further shocked when he offered to make her his apprentice, and teach her to become a doctor. It was more than she'd ever imagined for herself, though at times Caitlin finds herself thoroughly intimidated by the idea.

After two years of apprenticeship, Caitlin was accepted into a medical school in San Francisco. Alone, she ventured west to complete her education. Despite facing her share of hardship, due mainly by the prejudice of the male students, she graduated a year later with her medical degree. Also while in San Francisco, she ran into her old friend Thierry Marcel from Maddock, who had opened a business in the city. They were married later that year, and moved back to Maddock after Caitlin finished school.

Back in Maddock, things did not go entirely as Caitlin had planned. Competition from the other male doctors left little opportunity for the sometimes timid Caitlin. Friction within the Marcel family (between Thierry and his daughter Theodora) also complicated matters. In the end, the Marcels returned to San Francisco, where Caitlin went to work at a women and children's hospital.