Josef Quinn Memorial Library

Town Biographies I - Loren, Olive, Dorothy, Reverend, Jake

LOREN BRAY

GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Sour-faced proprietor of "Bray's General Store." (Pilot)

His wife Maude suffered a massive coronary -- Mike was there but couldn't do anything to help her. Loren's daughter Abigail married Sully without Loren's approval. We learn she died giving birth - Loren blames Sully. (Pilot)

Loren flirts with Elizabeth Quinn. Loren thinks Dr. Mike should go home and assume the conventional role of a woman - thinks Mike's "Headstrong, stubborn," just like Abigail. (#0102)

Lets the store slide a bit after Maude's death; Olive has to clean up the books. (#0101)

Loren plays the harmonica. Loren and Maude met at a dance; Loren really wanted Dorothy, Maude's (younger?) sister. Loren starts drinking to forget his loneliness. Loren runs lemonade concession at Hurdy-Gurdy. Loren is impatient with Brian - Brian's indecisiveness when trying to pick out something to buy at the General Store (candy, harmonica, etc.) (#0103)

Holds a grudge against Sully, since Sully married his daughter, Abigail, against his wishes, and she died during childbirth. Loren discovers Sully's homestead, which he thought his deceased wife has deeded to her deceased daughter, was in his name, after all; Loren threatens to take the homestead away from Sully. Mike performs a blood transfusion between Sully and his former father-in-law, during which they make peace with each other. (#0106)

Loren helps build schoolhouse. (#0114)

Loren takes in his dead wife's sister, Dorothy Jennings, when she comes to him for "Sanctuary" from her husbands beatings. Loren has always carried a torch for Dorothy; he really wanted to marry her, not Maude, her sister. (#203)

Loren, who tends to be rather greedy, redeems himself when he refuses to do business with the mining company after Dorothy reveals that Colorado Springs' mine owners employ unsafe mining practices to cut costs in her Gazette. (#0212)

Heart, a rag-tag circus owner, convinces Loren to serve as her clown in "The Circus." (#0215)

Loren becomes very jealous when Jake starts courting Dorothy, whom he thought he had squatter's rights to. (#0216)

Loren joins the KKK, but back down when they try to string Robert E up. (#0221)

Loren is Jake Slicker's campaign manager in the Mayorial election. (He also nominated Jake). (#0222)

Loren is for corporal punishment on children. (#0224)

Loren gets a silly, too-young suit, has Jake dye his hair black (later Dorothy dyes it back to its natural color) and attempts to leave for Bolivia to look for lost treasure, but ends up instructing Brian in the mysterious ways of women during his bout of "middle-aged crazy." Loren is named "He (or "One") Who Stands Against the Bear" by the Indians during his rite of passage at the Indian reservation. (#0302)

Loren demonstrates his love for Dorothy when she has breast cancer by a) offering to put the store up for sale, take her to New York and buy her high-fashion clothes, and take her to see the New York Times, "the biggest newspaper in the world," and b) by keeping his mouth shut so as not to hurt her (even though it might help his courtship of her) when Jake confides that he feels differently about Dorothy's mastectomy since she "ain't normal no more." During Dorothy's mastectomy, Loren confesses to Sully that he "loves that woman," and "always has." (#0303)

Olive Davis leaves Loren, her brother, her Colorado ranch and her interest in the General Store in her will. When Brian's stung by a scorpion on the cattle drive, Loren, who never told his own sister he loved her before she died, makes sure he won't make the same mistake, and tells Brian he loves him. (#0304)

Loren unites with Jake and Hank in a scheme to make a fake dinosaur for fast cash, intending to sell it to a visiting paleontologist who offered cash for dino bones. Later, in retaliation for the desecration of their burial grounds, Dog Soldiers take Loren's wife Maude's bones, and Loren must ask Sully to act as liaison with Cloud Dancing for their return. (#0306)

Loren declares himself against the library as "it's bad for business." (#0309)

Loren's anti-semitism leads him to convince townsfolk, (including Jake) to go overturn the cart of his Jewish immigrant competitor, peddler Itzhak Frankel. (Loren's prejudice stems from the fact that he blames them for ruining his father's life by driving him out of business with their competitive prices.) Unfortunately, Loren's mean prank goes farther than Loren intended, with Itzhak being caught underneath the cart and crushing a few ribs. (#0314)

Loren gets greedy. Along with Hank, he paints a horse blue to encourage gullible people that cataclysmic changes are occurring that signal the end of the world. (#0316)
Loren testifies in Mike and Sully's behalf at the "Cooper Vs. Quinn" custody battle, but, to Loren's annoyance, Ethan twists his testimony around to look perjorative toward Mike. Loren gifts Colleen with books and Brian with a yo-yo as they leave town with Ethan Cooper, their con-man father, after a vicious custody battle. Naturally, Ethan's wife, Lillian, changes her mind at the last minute. (#0319)

Loren, jealous, snoops through Dorothy's things and finds the beautiful dress Jake gave her for Valentine's day. When Dorothy discovers this, it, combined with the fact that he's been pooh-poohing her production of "Romeo and Juliet," causes Dorothy to go stay in the clinic to recover from her laryngitis and broken heart, for she and Jake have by now broken up. Loren, suffering some heartbreak from Dorothy's constant rejection, tries to leave town, but Sully convinces him to return. Loren then redeems himself in Dorothy's eyes when he buys some red brocade curtains for the production and "sweeps her off her feet" by appearing in Shakespearean clothing, "rescuing" her from the balcony, and taking her to see the play. (#0320)

Loren thinks the theory of evolution is bunk. (#0325)

Unbeknownst to her, Loren loses Dorothy's money for a new press in a mining camp gambling bet, but retrieves the money by selling his goods (which he'd loaded in a wagon and taken to the mining camp to sell to the miners) for the same amount of money as the money of Dorothy he lost. (#0405)

Loren is hurt when Dorothy writes very little about him (the implication being that he's boring and hence there's nothing to write about) in her book about the town. She, in turn, is baffled that he's upset about not being in the book when everybody else is upset that they are in the book. (#0406)

Loren proposes to Dorothy on a picnic out at the old Sorena place, (which he tells her he's going to buy for her so she'll at last have a real home) but he has a stroke before she answers him. Later, he "takes back" his proposal to Dorothy to let her off the hook. Also in this episode, Loren, in the depths of his misery over his condition, contemplates suicide with a handgun, but the arrival of Brian, who's just arrived to read him a story, and Mike, who accompanies Brian, stops him. (Only Mike knows what he was intending to do, and she gently pulls the gun away from him after sending Brian back to the clinic for her medical bag.) (#0408)

Loren (like Horace and Robert E) is disdainful of Dorothy's plan to climb to the top of Pike's Peak, but while she's gone he gains a newfound sense of independence/confidence in his returning physical abilities which he lost since his stroke. When Dorothy returns, he and she reach the mutual decision that it's time for her to move out. (Note: Loren votes for the Preston's proposed resort/casino in this episode; he's excited about the prospect of showgirls.) (#0409)

Loren will not be present for the reservation Thanksgiving; he's going to Cheyenne to have dinner with his cousin Leonard, who's..."an odd fellow... And his wife can't cook worth beans. But, heck, they are family, right?" (#0411)

Loren plays a wise man in the Reverend's "living nativity" Christmas extravaganza. (#0412)

Loren, in a misguided but kindly gesture, tries to fix Matthew (who's still grieving for Ingrid) up with widow Brown's daughter, Melanie to alleviate his grief. Unfortunately, the attempt backfires when Melanie talks Matthew's ear off -- the date is not a success. (#0413)

Loren votes against Matthew's proposed anti-gun law. When Brian brings back the train he stole from Loren, Loren forgives Brian for stealing the train from him to go to the train fair -- even offering to take the very relieved Brian to the fair himself. (#0414)

Loren is taken in by confidence men Curtis Roper and Randolph Cummings and invests in their "home-refrigeration-box" scam. Fortunately for Loren (and other townsfolk), Sully wires ahead to Mike and the Reverend, who are in Denver immunizing some Indian School children, and Mike and the Reverend cook up a bait-and-switch scheme of their own, thus managing to get the people of Colorado Springs' money back. (#0416)

We learn that Loren lets the store slide a little -- for example, he forgets to order sugar -- after Dorothy has moved out. Obviously, her moving out of the store will be an adjustment for them both. (#0422)

Loren replaces Dorothy's old desk with a new one; Emma comes in, makes the deal to occupy the General Store as a dressmaker; we presume the desk will be used by her. (#0424)

Loren, knowing money's tight for Dorothy, cuts her some slack on supplies, telling her he's putting off charging her for a few months 'til she gets on her feet. (#0427)

Loren buys Dorothy's new sign for the Gazette which reads: "Colorado Springs Gazette -- Dorothy Jennings, Editor" as a surprise for her. He'd been meaning to get her something for the Gazette, and since she was broke and had to cancel her order for the sign, this seemed like just the thing. Dorothy is rendered speechless with happiness and gratitude. (#0428)


MEDICAL HISTORY:

Loren gets a groin hernia picking up a piano, has a fight with Sully (re: old scars concerning Abigail), the hernia strangulates, Mike operates. (#0106)

Loren is hard-of-hearing; thinks a traveling faith-healer named sister Ruth cures him of this at her revival meeting. (#0202)

Gets dysentery from drinking bad pond water, which he and Jake took from a contaminated pond on the Indian reservation. (#0211)

Loren's arm is spattered with buckshot with Robert E shoots him in self-defense; Loren was anonymously dressed as a KKK member. (#0221)

Mike treats Loren for a sore shoulder (and wounded dignity) when, during a "middle-aged crazy" bout, he buys a wild stallion and is thrown from it. (#0302)

In a fit of pique, Loren strains a muscle lifting a crate. (#0314)

Loren breaks his leg when he heads out to buy Indian land and his wagon turns over on him; Sully helps him back to town and he "changes his mind" about buying the land (a noble sacrifice) when he sees how disheartened Sully is. (#0328)

Loren takes a hit to the testicles by a wayward baseball. (#0402)

Loren has a stroke. (#0408)

Loren cuts his hand (not severely) on a jar. (#0425)


DOROTHY JENNINGS

GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Beautiful, middle-aged redhead with a willowy figure.

She's Loren Bray's sister-in-law.

She shows up seeking refuge from her husband, Marcus, who beats her. Initially jailed for the murder of Marcus, whom she hit on the head with an iron skillet and fled after one too many beatings (he died). Mike does autopsy on Marcus; discovers that he actually died from gastritis, which his drinking complicated. Dorothy becomes the editor of "The Gazette," Colorado Springs only newspaper. (#0203)

Dorothy is one of the few people in town, (also Hank and occasionally Sully) who calls Mike "Michaela". Dorothy mentions having three children. (#0203)

Dorothy excites Mike's wrath when she prints that Mike and the Reverend are engaged in her Gazette (the truth -- Mike was only considering the proposal because she and the Reverend wanted to adopt 9 orphans who came to town on a train. (#0204)

Through a series of misunderstandings, (examp. she "loves black kittens") Brian mistakes Dorothy for a witch. (#0207)

Dorothy reveals unsafe mining conditions in her Gazette. (#0212)

Dorothy is pressed into service as a magician's assistant (Rev. is Magician), when the circus comes to town. We discover, via her revealing assistant outfit, that she has a lovely figure. (#0215)

In the aftermath of an aborted date, Dorothy gives Jake an impulsive kiss, carving out the third wedge of a love triangle between Dorothy and Loren and Dorothy and Jake. She also visits her dead husband's grave for the last time; puts away her wedding ring from him and declares herself "an independent woman" to Loren, though she does accept a date to go to supper with him the following night. (#0216)

Dorothy backs Matthew in a high-stakes poker game. Matthew loses her money. (#0217)

Dorothy's morphine-addicted son, Tommy, comes to town, robs Loren, and breaks her heart. (#0218)

When Robert E shoots a KKK Robe-clad Loren, Dorothy prints an inflammatory article about it which almost causes Robert E to get his neck stretched. (#0221)

Outraged at the notion of a black man raising a gun to a white man when the "Buffalo Soldiers ride into town, Dorothy writes about it in her gazette, opening up all kinds of cans of worms. (#0221)

Dorothy is Mike's campaign manager in the Mayorial election. (#0222)

Dorothy tries to give Myra her old, Victorian wedding dress for Myra to be married in. Myra doesn't like it. Dorothy eventually figures it out, and lets Myra know, in a kind way, that it won't hurt her feelings if she doesn't wear it. (#0225)

According to Loren, until her breast cancer Dorothy seems to have been the only healthy member of her family -- her pa died of a bad heart, and her ma died breast cancer at the age of 37. (#0303)

Dorothy teaches Jake to read. (#0309)

Dorothy assists Colleen during Myra's difficult delivery. (#0315)

When she thinks Stowe's Comet will end the world, Dorothy Jennings determines to lock away a "time capsule," in the form of a strong-box, detailing the town of Colorado Spring's last days in existence. (#0316)

Dorothy testifies in Mike and Sully's behalf at the "Cooper Vs. Quinn" custody battle, but, to her annoyance, Ethan twists her testimony around to look perjorative toward Mike. (#0318)

Dorothy mounts a production of "Romeo and Juliet" in honor of Valentine's day. Unfortunately, she gets laryngitis and Mike must complete overseeing the production for her. Jake gifts Dorothy with a beautiful dress for Valentine's day, but she receives a broken heart from him as well when they break up because he feels differently about her since her mastectomy. Standing in the wings is Loren, who begins to romance her seriously, even buying her red brocade curtains for her production and "rescuing" her from the clinic balcony and escorting her to her play after she and Jake's breakup and her subsequent recuperation period from it and her laryngitis. (#0320)

Dorothy interviews Belle Starr and prints her story, full of (we presume) inaccuracies and exaggerations, in the gazette. (#0321)

When Hank's cruel needling of Mike in the aftermath of Washita fails to elicit a usual, outraged response from her, Dorothy is clued in that Mike is seriously depressed. Dorothy approaches Mike, works on her to acknowledge her feelings, supports her, and tries to get the "real" story of Washita from Mike. Mike eventually capitulates and tells the story, and Dorothy prints Mike's version of the Washita massacre in the Gazette. (#0323)

Dorothy doesn't believe in the theory of evolution, but tells Mike: "This ain't about that. It's about doin' whatever it takes to save that girl." (Referring to Mary Ann Daggett and using the defense that she's an animal since there are no child-abuse laws but there are animal abuse laws.) (#0325)

Dorothy acts as Mike's Matron of Honor, along with Rebecca, Mike's sister. (#0326/0327)

Dorothy writes an autobiographical book about herself/the people of Colorado Springs. Townsfolk, particularly Mike, are at first resentful of Dorothy's exposing their private lives for public consumption. Later, however, they come to realize that she's praising each of them for overcoming their fears/weakness, etc., and their anger at her abates. Also learned in this episode -- Dorothy likes mint tea. (#0406)

Dorothy feels honor-bound to the promise of marriage that she makes to Loren while in his coma in the event that he recovers. Later, Loren lets her off the hook by "taking back" his proposal. Plans are then made for Dorothy to move out of the General Store, once Loren's sufficiently recovered. (#0408)

Dorothy, who says she feels "more alive than ever," decides to climb Pike's Peak with Mike, Grace and Myra, despite Loren's hint that she's too old for it. It is on this expedition that Dorothy decides (independent of Loren, who, while she's gone, comes to the same conclusion) that it's time for her to be on her own and out of the General Store. (#0409/10)

Dorothy is not in town during 4th season Thanksgiving; reference is made to her being in Kansas City, nursing her Aunt Martha. (#0411)

Dorothy, along with Grace, plays an angel in the Reverend's "living nativity;" a spectacle he put on at Christmas involving many of the townsfolk. (#0412)

Dorothy writes an editorial supporting Hank's campaign to be elected Sheriff, but when Matthew presents his reasons for wanting to be sheriff, it's obvious to all that Dorothy wishes she'd given her editorial a little more thought. (#0414)

Dorothy asks Myra, (now working in the bank) about money management, since she's now an expert on the subject. Myra advises Dorothy to invest in the new "home-refrigeration-box" she's heard about. Unfortunately for both women, the refrigeration box turns out to be a scam cooked up by two confidence men -- fortunately for them, Dr. Mike and the Reverend get their and other townsfolks' money back in a bait-and-switch scheme of their own. (#416)

Preston, acting as a broker for the telegraph office for the telegraph company, tries to post a notice for its rental with Dorothy's Gazette. (The office has been vacant ever since the telegraph office moved to the train depot.) When Preston brings the ad in to Dorothy, however, Dorothy decides that she'd like to buy the telegraph office for herself. Preston denies her request for a loan; her visit to Denver bankers for a loan is denied by them as well. Dorothy returns to Preston, asks him again for the loan. Preston, suddenly realizing (with some subtle prompting from Dorothy) how having a stake in Colorado Spring's only newspaper would allow him to weild power by influencing opinion, takes her up on it, and after some initial wrangling -- he wanted 51% ownership of the newspaper, which almost queered the deal -- Dorothy (thanks to Mike, who suggests it) negotiates that she retain 51% and he retain 49%, which allows her to keep the Gazette's voice somewhat more independent than if he was the major stockholder. And so, an uneasy alliance/partnership between Dorothy and Preston is born.... (#0421)

Dorothy buys a new, better used printing press from a man in Denver. At first she has a hard time learning to operate it, but armed with some fighting words from Colleen: "The only reason you can't do it is because you don't think you can," Dorothy eventually masters the beast, which will allow her to expand the Gazette to up to eight pages, rather than the one sheet (printing on front and back) which she's heretofore printed. This is a triumph for Dorothy. (#0422)

Dorothy has an interesting arc re: Cloud Dancing's trial: first, Mike points out that she hasn't even interviewed Cloud Dancing, the man accused of murdering Sergeant Reilly. Embarrassed when she realizes her oversight, Dorothy goes out to the reservation to watch his trial, where she becomes convinced that the Army is stirring up trouble. She then prints up an editorial in the Gazette entitled, "The army -- keeping the peace or breakin' it?" but when Preston sees this, he tries to strong-arm her into not printing it. She almost capitulates to his demands, but when she pays another visit to Mike, Mike gently impresses on her (subtextually) that it would be better for her to start another paper than capitulate to Preston's demands. As such, Dorothy goes back to Preston and tells him so, declaring she'll print the editorial, and Preston backs down. (#0426)

Brian asks if he can be Dorothy's assistant at the Gazette; when she tells him she can't afford to pay him, he tells a grateful Dorothy (who really could use the help) that she can just pay him whenever she can. Dorothy gives Mike baby shoes for the baby at Mike's baby's shower. (#0427)

Dorothy is rendered speechless with happiness and gratitude when Loren buys her a new sign for the Gazette which reads: "Colorado Springs Gazette -- Dorothy Jennings, Editor" as a surprise. Loren tells her he'd been meaning to get her something for the Gazette, and since she had had to cancel her order for this sign (he tactfully refrains from saying that it was because she was broke) this seemed like just the thing. (#0428)


MEDICAL HISTORY:

Suffers beatings and bruises at the hands of Marcus Jennings, her husband. (#0203)

Dorothy goes through a difficult menopause (she initially thinks she's pregnant); hemorrhages, and is saved by Dr. Mike, who cauterizes... something(?) "The procedure worked. I won't have to do major surgery (which would have been removal of the uterus; i.e. hysterectomy)." (#0210)

Gets dysentery from drinking bad pond water, which Loren and Jake took from a contaminated pond on the Indian reservation. (#0211)

Mike performs a mastectomy on Dorothy. (#0303/)

Dorothy contracts laryngitis. (#0320)

Dorothy gets mild altitude sickness when she climbs Pike's Peak. (#0409/10)



JAKE SLICKER

GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Town barber. (Pilot)

Originally from Philadelphia. Jake's a drunk. Originally the town "Doctor" until Mike showed up -- Jake pulls teeth, lances boils, bleeds patients. Jake pulls Mike's good tooth. Jake sneaks up to the homestead to return the jar of salve that Mike gave him for his infection (cut on hand) - doesn't want townsfolk to see him do it. Jake tells Mike about Robert E's lumbago. (Pilot)

Jake puts out bellows fire in "The Visitor" along with the Reverend. (#0102)

Jake plays concertina. Jake donates free haircuts and shaves for a month to the Founder's Day Auction to help raise money for school. (#0104)

Jake faints during Loren's hernia operation. (#0106)

Jake accidentally nicks Mr. Barton with a dirty razor, which causes the man to die of blood poisoning. As a result, he goes on an alcoholic bender and suffers D.T.'s. Mike and friends help him through his pink elephants. (#0111)

Loren discovers Jake is illiterate when he discovers he can't read the plans for the schoolhouse being built. Jake assists Dr. Mike with Brian's brain surgery. (#0114)

When the judge doesn't show up for Dorothy's murder trial, Jake acts as judge; finds her "guilty of murder in the first degree" until Mike does an autopsy on Dorothy's husband's body and determines him dead of Gastritis. (#0203)

Jake triggers an Indian incident when he accidentally shoots Little Eagle, an Indian, while on a hunting expedition with Loren and Horace. Jake is later kidnapped by the Indians. Sully and Mike intercede; convince him to confess. He makes restitution by giving the slain Indian's family various items; horses, food, tools, bolts of wool and cotton; his watch, and the ring his pa gave him. (#0205)

Jake is assigned ringmaster when a rag-tag circus comes to town. (#0215)

Jake's family's from Pittsburgh. His dad was a barber and a drunk. His mother left Jake and his father (whether there were siblings or not is not known) when Jake was seven. His father left "a couple of years" later, when he heard about gold on Pike's Peak. Jake came out to Colorado Springs and "built me a barbershop just like his back in Pittsburgh," hoping to run into his father. (#0216)

Jake backs Matthew in a high-stakes poker game. Matthew loses his money. (#0217)

Joins the KKK in protest over Robert E moving into a house downtown, but backs out when the Klan tries to string Robert E up. (#0221)

Jake prints up slanderous leaflets about Mike's morals when he runs against her in Colorado Spring's Mayorial campaign. Jake becomes Mayor of Colorado Springs. His opponent: Michaela Quinn, whom he beats 79 to Mike's 56. He ends up striking a deal with Mike, in which he gives the women of Colorado Springs the vote. (#0222)

Jake, who was beaten with a razor strap by his father when he was a child, is against corporal punishment in school. (#0224)

As mayor, Jake wants to officiate Myra and Horace's wedding, but the Reverend ends up doing it. (#0225)

Jake assists Colleen in taking a bullet out of Sully's back, thereby helping save his life. He declares to Sully later, "Now we're even", meaning he's even with Sully for Sully having saved his life in "ep. #0214, "The Incident." (#0227)

Jake (and Loren) dress in drag for Hank's Thursday night "Ladies' Night," and Jake gets taken hostage by outlaws who rob the saloon. Later, Jake confides to Loren that he feels differently about Dorothy's mastectomy since she "ain't normal no more; Mike overhears." (#0303)

Jake unites with Loren and Hank in a scheme to make a fake dinosaur for fast cash, intending to sell it to a visiting paleontologist who offered cash for dino bones. (#0306)

Spurred by the arrival of the town library, Jake, with Dorothy's help, learns to read. Jake, illiterate until ep. #0309, leads the book-burning campaign against the library. (#0309)

Jake happily assists Loren in leading the rabble that overturns the Jewish immigrant Itzhak Frankel and family's cart on Hanukkah. (#0314)

Jake constructs a "meteor shelter" for protection from Stowe's Comet, rumored to hit the earth and cause the end the world. (#0316)

Jake Slicker acts as bailiff in the "Cooper Vs. Quinn" Custody battle. (#0318)

Dorothy and Jake break up: Jake presents Dorothy with a beautiful dress as a present for Valentine's Day, but he can't fake the fact that his feelings for her have changed since her masectomy, and Dorothy lets him off the hook by breaking up with him. Jake plays the concertina in Dorothy's production of "Romeo and Juliet." (#0320)

Jake, along with Hank, is inadvertently responsible for Belle Starr's escape from custody when they free Belle, expecting her to take them to her gang's hideout so they can bring them in for the reward on their heads. (#0321)

As might be expected, Jake thinks the theory of evolution is 'bunk' -- "Man did not come from apes." (#0325)

Jake knocks out Custer with a bench so he won't interfere with Cloud Dancing being Sully's best man. (#0326/0327)

Jake is very angry at Dorothy for exposing in her tell-all book the fact that he's an alcoholic and an illiterate whom she taught to read. He accuses her of making this fact public as a sort of revenge for breaking up with her, and remains convinced of this even after she explains that she wrote that "you had the strength of character to control your drinkin', and to learn to read -- as an adult, which certainly isn't easy..." Of all the townsfolk, Jake is one of the few not to forgive Dorothy. (#0406)

We get to see a softer side of Jake when he finds a stray mutt at Grace's cafe and becomes attached to it, only to end up (in one of his few magnanamous gestures) giving it away to Abner Foley, a Town Visitor. Jake gives the dog to Abner upon his and Mike's discovery that Abner's advanced arthritis is alleviated by having someone/something to care about; i.e., the dog. Thus, Abner receives a new lease on life since his wife's death six months before, thanks to Jake's gift of a friend to someone who needs one. (#0407)

Jake is initially uncomfortable with his friend Loren's medical condition (stroke) but eventually manages to come to terms with it, especially after Dorothy shames him into acceptance of it. (#0408)

Mayor Jake is taken in and manipulated by Preston, who offers a "partnership" in the proposed casino/resort he'd like to build in town if Jake, as Mayor, will help put it through. (Conveniently for Preston, Mike, a council member, is off on a hiking expedition with the other women when this is proposed.) Preston manipulates the city council (the Reverend, Horace and Loren) to vote it in, and Jake is very happy, at least until he learns that Preston's so-called "partnership" consists of running the hotel's barbership. Jake's humiliated, but he gets the last laugh thanks to Sully, who finds in the town charter that Jake can appoint the spot an "historical landmark" and thwart Preston's plans. (#0409/10)

Jake goes on an alcoholic binge when he's left alone on Thanksgiving. (Hank, Jake and Loren all left town for the holidays.) Feeling sorry for himself, he mounts up while drunk and heads off into the woods, only to be startled by Cloud Dancing, whom he accuses of trying to steal his horse (Cloud Dancing was doing nothing of the kind). As he rides quickly away, Jake's forehead hits a treebranch and he falls off, knocked out. Cloud Dancing nurses him, bandages his head, and takes him back to town. Unfortunately, Cloud Dancing, due to his ministrations toward Jake, was unable to get to the General Store to buy tobacco from Loren before he left town for the holidays. Jake, in grudging return for the favor of saving his life, breaks into the General Store for the tobacco Cloud Dancing needs for his holy Thanksgiving ceremonies and brings it out to the reservation. There, townsfolk treat Jake like the (prodigal) friend that he is, and he's more pleased than he can admit to for being welcomed into the bosom of the town and asked to join in their Thanksgiving dinner. (#0411)

Jake plays a wise man in the Reverend's "living nativity" Christmas extravaganza. (#0412)

Jake votes against the anti-gun law. (#0414)

Jake is taken in by confidence men Curtis Roper and Randolph Cummings and invests in their "home-refrigeration-box" scam. Fortunately for Jake (and other townsfolk), Sully wires ahead to Mike and the Reverend, who are in Denver immunizing some Indian School children, and Mike and the Reverend cook up a bait-and-switch scheme of their own, thus managing to get the people of Colorado Springs' money back. (#0416)

Jake goes on expedition (consisting of Matthew, Sully, Preston, Hank, Robert E, Preston and visiting politician Ezra Leonard) to retrieve Caleb, the kidnapped son of Ezra Leonard, from desperate mountain man Noah McBride. Jake stitches up Preston's leg when Preston gets it caught in a bear trap on the expedition to save visiting politician Ezra Leonard's son, Caleb. Even so, infection sets in and Preston almost dies. (#0418/0419)

When the town learns that a beautiful visiting painter from San Francisco named Isabelle Maynard has leprosy, townsfolk panic. Jake calls an emergency councel meeting, with the result being that the townsfolk ask Isabelle Maynard to leave town. (#0425)

When Jake and Hank grumble about Preston's incoming health resort, Mike's visiting sister Marjorie pragmatically suggests that Hank and Jake start a business of their own. At end of episode, we see the two men mulling it over... (#0428)


MEDICAL HISTORY:

Jake comes down with influenza, tries to bleed himself, then goes to Dr. Mike. (#0101)

Jake faints during Loren's hernia operation. (#0106)

Jake goes on an alcoholic bender and suffers D.T.'s. Mike and friends nurse him through it. (#0111)

Gets dysentery from drinking bad pond water, which Loren and he took from a contaminated pond on the Indian reservation. (#0211)

Jake gets a knot on his head, and Mike later treats him for minor cuts and contusions when he and Hank's practical jokes get out of hand. (#0302)

Jake hurts his foot playing baseball against the visiting All-Star baseball team. (#0402)

Jake hits his forehead on a treebranch and is knocked out. He wears a bandage on his head. He's also on an alcoholic bender during this episode. (#0411)



REVEREND TIMOTHY JOHNSON

GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Rumpled, thirty-ish clergyman.

Received a silver cross necklace from Olive (trip to Mexico). (#0101)

Puts out bellows fire along with Jake; Robert E is burned. (#0102)

Hates to take sides in a matter - wishy-washy.

Under pressure from "sour-faced church members," he objects to the opening of the Hurdy-Gurdy - it's not the dancing, it's where it leads. Helps Olive get Hurdy-Gurdy going to help Mike and Sully rescue Cloud Dancing from Custer. Hurdy-Gurdy is a distraction for Custer and his soldiers. Dances with Olive -- opening night of Hurdy-Gurdy. (#0103)

"Father's Day" - helps organize Founder's Day Social - auction to help raise money for a real school. (#0103)

The Reverend is reluctant to marry Robert E and Grace, a black couple, in his church. He is persuaded by Sister Ruth, Mike and Sully, and marries them. The Reverend fears losing some of his flock to Sister Ruth's Revival; later he comes to appreciate her. (#0202)

The Reverend falls in love with Mike and proposes to her; she turns him down because she doesn't love him. The Reverend shaves his beard to court Dr. Mike. (#0204)

The Reverend serves as a magician when the circus comes to town. (#0215)

The Reverend was a gambler and ne'r'do-well in his former life. He then found God and was a changed man. (#0217)

The Reverend becomes distinctly less sympathetic about the Indian cause when hostiles stick an arrow in his arm, but a talk with Cloud Dancing brings him around. (#0219/0220)

The Reverend arbitrates the Mayorial campaign -- discovers there's nothing in the town's charter against either women running in political campaigns or women voting, so long as they own land. (#0222)

The Reverend brings ex-sweetheart Louise Chambers to town to teach school. He also proposes to her, and she accepts. Unfortunately, the Reverend discovers two major things they don't have in common -- he wants kids, she doesn't, and she believe in corporal punishment, he doesn't. Upon this, the Reverend rescinds his marriage proposal, and Louise leaves town. (We learn the Reverend plays piano in this episode.) (#0224)

The Reverend councils Horace on his problems consumating his marriage with Myra. (#0226)

As minister to the town's spiritual concerns, the Reverend goes overboard when he discovers Colleen reading "Faust" and launches a censorship campaign against the town library, which was donated by Mike. Later, he goes to Horace and Myra's and confiscates their books, entitled "The Scarlet Letter" and "The Vampyre," respectively. Ultimately, he comes to his senses when he realizes that one of the books banned and burned was the Holy Bible. (#0309)

When Myra begins her sleep-walking stint, the Reverend announces that, if a sleep-walker is awakened, "... their souls are loose, and if you wake them too suddenly, they might never find their way back to their bodies." He asserts, however, that he doesn't believe this. (#0310)

The Reverend testifies in Mike and Sully's behalf at the "Cooper Vs. Quinn" custody battle, but, to his annoyance, Ethan twists his testimony around to look perjorative toward Mike. (#0318)

The Reverend is cast as Friar Laurence in Dorothy's production of "Romeo and Juliet." (#0320)

The Reverend tries, along with Mike and Sully, to leaven public opinion against the Indians, but he's as unable to avert disaster as Mike, Sully, or anyone is. (#0322)

After the Washita Massacre, the Reverend approaches Mike to tell her that, "... not everybody is happy about what happened to the Cheyenne," but she's in no mood to listen. (#0323)

The Reverend gives Mike and Sully pre-marital counseling, forcing them to face the "ghosts" of their pasts to be able to forge a complete and successful union. (#0324)

The Reverend's abscessed wisdom tooth causes him to take a few days off from school. Mike substitute-teaches for him, for the Reverend hastens back to his post when angry parents complain that Mike's been teaching the student Darwin's theory of evolution. The Reverend does not believe in Darwin's theory of evolution; in fact, he and Mike a diametrically opposed on this issue. (#0325)

The Reverend is embarrassed when Dorothy's book reveals his past history as a gambler. (#0406)

The Reverend is taken in by Preston and votes for his proposed resort/casino when Preston tells him a percentage of the money from it will be used toward civic improvements such as repairing the church and improving the school. (#0409/10)

The Reverend gives piano lessons to Sarah Sheehan and Brian Cooper. The Reverend comes up with the idea to have a "living nativity"; for Christmas -- he persuades Sully and Robert E to build it, Horace, Myra and baby Samantha to be Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, Loren, Jake and Hank to be the wise men, and Dorothy and Grace to be angels. Robert E plays a shepherd. (#0412)

The Reverend votes for Matthew's proposed Colorado Springs anti-gun law. (#0414)

The Reverend and Dr. Mike go to Denver to help immunize the Indian children at the Indian school in Denver. While there, the Reverend and Mike intercept two flim-flam men (Curtis Roper and Randolph Cummings) who have made off with the people of Colorado Springs' money in a "home-refrigeration box" scam. The Reverend and Dr. Mike get the money back in a bait-and-switch scam of their own -- as it turns out, the Reverend's past life as a shyster helped out tremendously in this venture. (#0416)

When Reverend Thomas, the Reverend's Seminary Instructor and mentor, comes to town, it sparks a crisis for the Reverend, who, feeling that his church is inadequate and in ill repair, takes a loan out from Hank (after Preston refuses him) which he uses to fix up the church. The Reverend takes the loan from Hank intending to repay it with pay-back money from townsfolk he's lent $ to in the past, (Sully suggested the "collect-monies-owed from townsfolk" part) but since the Reverend isn't as dilligent a loan collector as Hank, he almost loses the church to Hank until Hank relents at the 11th hour (with a little prodding from Mike). (#0417)

The Reverend teaches at the new Indian Reservation school but tangles with Cloud Dancing when, in his determination to assimilate the Indians, he goes too far by taking the Indian children to the river to baptize them. Eventually, Mike and Sully effect a compromise between the Reverend and the reservations' representative, Cloud Dancing. The compromise is the introduction of multi-culturalism -- and the episode ends with the children of tradionally ill-at-ease-with-each-others'-tribes sitting in a story circle and swapping Indian legends, with the Reverend telling of his own country of origin and religious beliefs at the end. (#0421)

When Lucien Hazen, the Indian Agent Superintendent (and Sully's boss) visits the reservation, he's displeased to see the Reverend teaching the Indian children (who are wearing traditional Indian clothing) out-of-doors rather than in a school building per the Indian Agent manual. Hazen reprimands the Reverend, threatening him by telling him he can be replaced with someone who will follow the Indian Agent manual's instructions re: how to educate Indian children. Hazen doesn't listen when the Reverend tries to explain how much more receptive the Indian children are re: this kind of learning. (#0424)


MEDICAL HISTORY:

The Reverend gets poisoned from bad water. (#0109)

The Reverend gets an arrow in the arm when he seizes the reins of the stagecoach during an Indian attack. (#0219)

The Reverend didn't get influenza in #0101; which is made clear in episode #0227, when Mike, afraid he'll become infected, goes to Soda Springs to treat the flu epidemic herself.

The Reverend has an abscessed wisdom tooth. (#0325)

The Reverend pretends to be choking, which enables him, with Dr. Mike's help, to get back from Randolph Cummings and Curtis Roper the wallet containing the money the two con-men scammed from the people of Colorado Springs in their "home-refrigeration box" scheme. (#0416)

The Reverend hurts his arm when he falls off a ladder while fixing up the church. (#0417)

The Reverend contracts tonsillitis. Mike decides operating is unnecessary, but when she's bedridden because of spotting (she's pregnant) and Dr. Cassidy comes to town, he almost coerces the Reverend into having them out, until Colleen intercedes in the Reverend's behalf. (#0418)



OLIVE DAVIS

GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

A handsome woman in her late 40's.

Had a palomino horse.

Contradictory; tough woman rancher - nurturer

Charlotte was her best friend - Olive resented not being left the children after Charlotte's death. (#0101)

Olive opened the Hurdy-Gurdy (dance hall) in "The Prisoner"; she uses immigrant girls (incl. Ingrid) as dance girls. Uses a Bible verse to justify the dance hall to the Reverend and the townsfolk who disapprove: "A time to weep and a time to laugh and a time to mourn and a time to dance." A dance at the Hurdy-Gurdy costs five cents. The Hurdy-Gurdy is called "Olive's Dance Castle." Dances with the Reverend the opening night of the Hurdy-Gurdy. (#0103)

Conspires with Mike, Sully, Reverend to use the opening of the Hurdy-Gurdy as a distraction for Custer and his soldiers in order for Cloud Dancing to escape. (#0103)

Part of Sewing Circle. Donates prize bull to be auctioned at Founder's Day Social - for the building of the new school. (#0104)

Olive is temporary schoolteacher. Loren's sister. (#0116)

Stands beside the town in deciding that only the "upstanding citizens" would be part of a town portrait. Eventually, thanks to Dr. Mike's convincing, she agrees to be part of the town portrait, with *everyone*. (#0117)

Olive was in episodes #0101/3/4/5/8/9/12/13/14/15/16/17; left show after first season; is discovered to have died of fever during "Cattle Drive." (#0304)

When Olive takes ill, Mike, the kids, Sully, Robert E, Loren and Grace take to the Loving Goodnight Trail to try to rescue her, only to find that she's died and left various sentimental items to each of them but Sully and Robert E (neither of whom she knew very well) and the bulk of her estate, her cattle, to Matthew. Items left to each person were: Paco, her older, Mexican ranch hand of 14 years, her Mexican Ranch; Loren received her Colorado Ranch and her share of the General Store, Grace received her interest in Grace's Cafe, Colleen and Brian both received money for their education; Brian received her silver-tooled saddle and Colleen received her gold pocket watch; finally, to Mike she left her heirloom brooch which belonged to her mother, and her mother's mother before her. To Matthew, she left 200 head of cattle. (#0304)


MEDICAL HISTORY:

Olive contracts mercury poisoning. (#0109)

Olive dies of fever on the Loving Goodnight trail. (#0304)