Dr. Klaus Gardner

Dr. Gardner photographed in Bayou Nwa by Stanley Shelton sometime in 1897.

Leo

Nazi Germany (1931 - 1945)

Klaus Leopold Gardner (20 April 1870 - 3 February 1945) better known as Dr. Gardner was a German surgeon who operated as a US outlaw in The Valentine Mob, a researcher under the German Empire, and an overseer of a research organization during Nazi Germany's dominance over Europe.

## Early Life

Klaus Leopold Gardner was born on the 20th of April in 1870 in Konigsberg, Prussia. He was born the 2nd of 5 children to Leopold and Grenda Gardner, two young and poor Prussian farmers. Little is known about his childhood, except that his parents moved to the United States in 1878 in hopes of finding greater opportunity to work their way out of poverty.

## Move to America

The Gardner Family moved to New York City, and his father began studying to become a doctor, but found the job too challenging and quit, instead becoming a carpenter for a local construction company. Klaus took his fathers unused textbooks and read them thoroughly, memorizing human anatomy and basic surgical procedures, and in 1889 he spent his savings attempting to earn a degree from New York City College to become a pharmaceutical dealer, but decided to drop out in 1890 after finding the classes to be repetitive and in his mind, pointless. In 1891 Klaus and his friend Anjo Adelheid, a writer who operated his own printing machine, hatched a plot to forge medical licenses and doctorates so that they could falsely operate as doctors despite not having gone to school. The plot was found out by local authorities though, and the two were forced to flee. Anjo was captured and arrested 2 days later, but Klaus hopped a cargo train that was headed to Texas. He had stolen two copies of the medical degrees shortly before having to leave, and still carried them with him in the event Anjo should rejoin him. He was discovered and was consequentially tossed off the train when it made its next stop in Blackwater.

## Surgical Tools

Dr. Gardner's doctor's bag and surgical tools on display in the Ventian National Museum of History Crime Wing

Through a loan from the local bank Klaus was able to purchase a room at a local hotel temporarily. His landlord noticed his degree, and, mistaking him for a doctor, asked for help in treating an infected wound. Klaus saw the opportunity and used his formerly obtained medical knowledge to treat the man's wounds free of charge. It was about this time he began being called "Dr. Gardner". He began using the payments from his patients to purchase more advanced medical tools, performing more high-risk operation, and soon gained the reputation as a famed doctor who could perform almost any operation with guaranteed success. It was because of this that in November of 1893 an outlaw group stormed into his room, kidnapping him and taking him 10 miles away to their camp where their leader lay dying of a heavily infected gunshot wound. The gang offered him 1000$ in exchange for saving their leader's life, and death if he turned them down. He performed the operation, curing the leader's infection through the use of some of his "wonder tonics" and basic hygiene techniques, which the gang lacked. He was given the 1000$ as promised, and immediately used the money to buy himself a large house on the outskirts of Blackwater, where he continued to practice medicine.

## Blackwater home

Dr. Gardner's house in Blackwater, photograph taken in 1900 by Theodore Levin as a part of his writings on The Valentine Mob.

## Victor, Stanley, and Dr. Gardner

Stanley Shelton (Left), Victor Krochovsky (Center) and Dr. Gardner (Right) at Van Horn in 1898, unknown photographer.

The gang leader that Dr. Gardner healed was Phineas Hogg, a local gang leader that operated a large cattle-rustling operation. Dr. Gardner's remarkable abilities in the medical field astounded Phineas, who payed Dr. Gardner 500$ to act as his private doctor, which was immediately accepted. Phineas sent an enforcer of his, Cornelius Adams to act as a personal guard and assistant to Gardner, and the two became quick friends. When Hogg and the rest of his gang was captured and arrested by local law enforcement in the summer of 1894 Gardner acted as Cornelius' alibi, protecting him from being charged for any crimes. As a result, Cornelius was the sole survivor of his gang, who were hanged for their crimes. Cornelius taught Gardner everything he knew about the cattle operation and showed him the process by which the gang was able to get away from law for so long, which was similar to Ned Kelly's operation in Australia a few years prior. This information came in handy when The Valentine Mob came to Blackwater in the summer of 1895, and stayed with Gardner after hearing he was willing to serve outlaws. Cornelius taught everyone about the previous operation and how they could exploit it to gain maximum profits, and the gang spent a few months in town stealing cattle and horses and reselling them at a profit. This continued until January of 1896, when a local farmer caught Cornelius, Stanley, and Victor trying to make it away with his prized horses, and shot Cornelius on the spot as a result. Stanley and Victor retreated into the nearby woods, but were pursued by the farmer. After returning a few days later, the bandits all decided it was time to leave, and fled back for familiar territory in Louisiana.

## Gardner in Louisiana

A poorly taken photograph of Dr. Gardner in LaPedite manor in 1898.

## Medical Diploma

Copy of the original unaltered Medical Diploma that Dr. Gardner would change to be his own.

When the Valentine Mob moved to Louisiana, they offered Klaus the opportunity to make thousands of dollars if he continued to roam with them. He hesitantly agreed, and went with the gang to their new more permanent hideout at Shady Belle, a plantation owned by Stanley's family. He set up a doctor's tent outside the mansion near the front entrance to the mansion. He accompanied the mob on numerous of their heists, including the robbing of the Rhodes Railway Heist. He acted as a group medic and tactician, bandaging the wounded and helping to plan possible robberies. During the Saint-Denis Bank Heist he was with Juaquin and Louisa, and as a result did not witness the death of Stanley. When the group rejoined, Dr. Gardner offered to lead away the police with Don Julio, and the two agreed to try to lead the police towards the border, while everyone else returned to Shady Belle to gather supplies to flee. This failed, however, and resulted in Dr. Gardener and Don Julio ironically losing the police, with the subsequent Last Stand At Shady Belle promptly ensuing. Both men returned to the plantation in an effort to help fend off police, but returned too late and witnessed as Victor took his own life. Dr. Gardner abandoned Don Julio and fled north towards Van Horn trading post, where he intended to shave himself and travel to New York to avoid capture, but decided to travel back home to Germany instead after seeing a wanted poster for his capture at the very barber shop he stopped at.

## Fleeing to Germany

Dr. Gardner bribed a sailor 40$ to keep silent about his being on the boat, and brought with him only his suitcase, which contained a change of clothes and his degrees. He also carried his doctor's bag. The sailor helped him hide and, in exchange for 10 more dollars, brought him food and water every day. After 3 weeks he arrived in Brest, and traveled with caravan to Paris, where he stayed operating as a pharmaceutical salesman for 4 years. In early 1905, he got back into contact with Anjo, who had moved back to Dusseldorf and after hearing about Dr. Gardner from a close associate, invited Klaus to join him. He and Klaus moved in together and spent the remainder of Klaus' money to start a local doctor's office, with Anjo learning about eugenics and genetics, working as Dr. Gardner's assistant.

## Gardner in WW1

Dr. Gardner (Left in white coat) in 1916 during World War One overseeing medical operations at a hospital on the western front.

In 1914 both men were drafted into the military to work on the western front as company medics overseeing medical operations, as both were too old for active field duty. Dr. Gardner was sent to the western front and participated in The First Battle of the Marne and later The Battle of the Somme, participating in combat numerous times even though it was not his intended role. He used his experience in both of these battles to form his later opinions of war and German nationalism, believing that the barbarism displayed by French forces was a clear sign that the French people needed to be "extinguished from the Earth as repayment for their actions during the war". This was later solidified when Anjo was killed in action on August 12th 1917 in the battle of passchendaele attempting to save a young Gerhard Zophel's life. Gerhard, adhering to Anjo's dying wish, met up with Klaus after the war ended and told him about what happened and stating that Anjo clearly loved him very much.

## Post-War

As soon as the war was over he left the military and returned home, marking a grave outside for Anjo, though no body was ever buried as his body was lost under the mud and grime of war. During this time Gardner, a previous devout Lutheran, stopped attending church and became a recluse, only leaving to make house calls and attend work one day out of the week. He ran his shop through the use of minimal-payment employees. In 1923 he became the owner of the Buffalo Brand Books after Don Julio died, and immediately began writing to newspapers across the Southern US, attempting to see if any other gang members were still alive, but was deeply saddened to find he was the only one left. He continued his work as a doctor until 1931, when he became an official member of the Nazi Party, and was offered a position in a scientific division developing new medical procedures due to his previous work in Blackwater.

## Gardner in WW2

Dr. Klaus Gardner in 1943 during his work at Dordecht.

In 1940 he was stationed in Anneheim to work as a teacher of surgery and his experimental procedures at the University of Anneheim, where he continued working until 1942. During this time he would work under Gerhard Zophel, who was made the mayor of Anneheim, and become acquainted with the man very closely. He considered Gerhard to be one of his closest friends, and would often spend days with him discussing politics and their experiences in the first war. In 1944 Gardner was re-stationed in Dordrecht, a large town with a prominent concentration camp. He was made the camp's head doctor and was instructed to continue performing his experiments on the Jewish and Dutch population that was sent to the camp. He unquestioningly obeyed, writing to Gerhard of the horrors he witnessed and was forced to inflict, and knew he shouldn't comply, but felt the need to do so anyway. In late 1944 with advancing Russian and American forces, he sent all of his medical documents, degrees, and Buffalo Brand Books to Gerhard, as well as instructions to dig up Anjo's grave after the war in the event he shouldn't survive in an attempt to keep his belongings safe until after the chaos was over. He then attempted to avoid American capture by heading East in his Mercedes-Benz 260 D with 2 of his assistants disguised as civilians. They drove from Anneheim back to Dusseldorf, where he visited Anjo's grave one last time before burrying his prized possessions in the grave where the body should've been, as he told Gerhard. They then drove for Berlin where they were hoping to meet up with the main military force and obtain safety until the end of the war, knowing that being captured would mean certain death if they knew about his work in the camp. They unknowingly entered a Soviet occupied zone and were pulled over by Russian forces. The forces did not want to take prisoners as they did not have the resources, and were unaware of any of the people's important status, so Dr. Gardner and his assistants were taken out to a field and shot. He died at the age of 75.

## Legacy and Popular Culture

Dr. Gardner is remembered as one of the strangest characters of the dying American West, and as having one of the most incredible life stories. He was the center of the movie The Doctor of Dordrecht, a 1978 film based around his life during World War 2, with the character Dr. Kirgan being a stand-in for him. He was also portrayed as a minor character in the 1965 film The Valentine Mob, played by Ventian actor Donald Bradley. He has since then been condemned as a murderer and a bloodthirsty criminal, who only did things whenever he thought they would benefit him directly.

It has long been theorized that both Anjo and Dr. Gardner were carrying on a homosexual affair, and kept it quiet due to sentiments of the time. This has been speculated by some historians due to surviving correspondence between the two, suggesting some sort of relationship deeper than a mere partnership was present, as well as the fact that both did not marry and actively made no attempt to marry while living with each other for so long. This was also a concern during Gardner's life, and he denied it adamantly until his dying day.