In the dead of night in 1894, a trembling, wide-eyed 13-year-old assisted with an emergency surgery and discovered his calling. Choosing to practice in the frontier West, Dr. Wright performed operations by lantern light and reached remote patients by buggy, dog sled, or Studebaker. The author alternates between thrilling tales of his grandfather's decades of medicine and his own poignant memories of growing up in Hailey--illuminating significant regional events as he paints an intimate portrait of a rural doctor and family life in a small Idaho community. Rugged Mercy was selected as a 2014 Outstanding University Press Title by the American Library Association.