The series begins in the year 1867 and centers on a proper and wealthy female physician from Boston, Massachusetts: Michaela Quinn, also called Dr. Mike (played by British actress Jane Seymour). After the death of her father Josef Quinn, Dr. Mike sets out west to the small wild west town of Colorado Springs, to set up her own practice. She makes the difficult adjustment to life in Colorado with the aid of rugged outdoorsman and friend to the Cheyenne Byron Sully ( American actor Joe Lando) and a midwife named Charlotte Cooper (played by Diane Ladd). After Charlotte is bitten by a rattlesnake, she asks Michaela on her deathbed to look after her three children, Matthew (played by Chad Allen), Colleen (played by Erika Flores and later Jessica Bowman) and Brian (played by Shawn Toovey). Dr. Mike settles in Colorado Springs and adapts to her new life as a mother with the children while eventually finding love with Sully. Furthermore, she casts herself into a one-woman mission to convince the townspeople that a female doctor can successfully practice medicine.
