by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Camp Funston was a training camp located at Ft. Riley, Kansas. It was constructed in 1917 and had a mission of preparing young American troops to fight in Europe in World War I. On March 4th, 1918, Private Albert Gitchell reported to the hospital at Ft. Riley with symptoms of a sore throat, fever, and a headache. By noon that day one hundred more soldiers based at Camp Funston were reporting similar symptoms.
The Great Flu (also known as the Spanish Flu) had begun.
The highly contagious and deadly influenza was thought to have started on a hog farm in southwestern Kansas and was then carried into the crowded barracks of Camp Funston by a soldier who had been on leave with his farm family. The virus quickly spread from Camp Funston and around the world as the young soldiers shipped out to other training stations across the United States and on to Europe. It was an ideal set of circumstances for the spread of the deadly contagion.
Before that strain of influenza ran its course, over 675,000 people had died in the United States, and somewhere between twenty and fifty million perished worldwide. It is estimated that over a third of the world's population contracted the virus. It ran rampant for the better part of two years.
The first known cases were at Ft. Riley in early March of 1918. Barely eight months later, on October 8th, 1918, Mayor James P. Harlin of West Plains, Missouri, issued the following proclamation for his small community. (As you read it, please note that the concept of "social distancing" is nothing new.):
Citizen Journalist
Camp Funston was a training camp located at Ft. Riley, Kansas. It was constructed in 1917 and had a mission of preparing young American troops to fight in Europe in World War I. On March 4th, 1918, Private Albert Gitchell reported to the hospital at Ft. Riley with symptoms of a sore throat, fever, and a headache. By noon that day one hundred more soldiers based at Camp Funston were reporting similar symptoms.
The Great Flu (also known as the Spanish Flu) had begun.
The highly contagious and deadly influenza was thought to have started on a hog farm in southwestern Kansas and was then carried into the crowded barracks of Camp Funston by a soldier who had been on leave with his farm family. The virus quickly spread from Camp Funston and around the world as the young soldiers shipped out to other training stations across the United States and on to Europe. It was an ideal set of circumstances for the spread of the deadly contagion.
Before that strain of influenza ran its course, over 675,000 people had died in the United States, and somewhere between twenty and fifty million perished worldwide. It is estimated that over a third of the world's population contracted the virus. It ran rampant for the better part of two years.
The first known cases were at Ft. Riley in early March of 1918. Barely eight months later, on October 8th, 1918, Mayor James P. Harlin of West Plains, Missouri, issued the following proclamation for his small community. (As you read it, please note that the concept of "social distancing" is nothing new.):
MAYOR'S PROCLAMATION
I hereby proclaim that a malignant, infectious and contagious disease, commonly known as the Spanish Influenza, is prevalent in West Plains, and nearby towns, and because of that fact, I, James P. Harlin, Mayor of the city of West Plains, desirous of preventing the further development of said disease, do hereby respectfully request that, beginning at midnight October 8, 1918, all schools, churches, theaters, dance halls, and all public meetings of any and every nature whatsoever in this city, with the one exception of Liberty Loan meetings, close and remain closed until further orders, and the board of health is hereby instructed to take all steps and measures necessary to avoid, suppress and mitigate such disease.
All persons, firms and corporations in West Plains, Mo., are hereby requested to openly comply with all reasonable orders of the board of health for the avoidance and suppression of said disease.
J.P. Harlin, Mayor
(Note: Mayor Harlin's proclamation ran as an historical reprint on the front page of the West Plains Daily Quill on Wednesday, April 1, 2020.)
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