The Spanish Flu was the most severe pandemic the US has experienced in modern times. It began in early 1918 and came in three waves. The first wave and came during the normal flu season so most people weren’t aware of it’s severity until too late. When summer arrived the active flu cases decreased as would the normal flu.
World War I was occupying most leaders minds through out the world and because leaders didn’t want to hinder the war effort news about this pandemic was being censored by governments, including the US government. Most American people weren’t even aware of the pandemic.
We don’t know where it started or came from. It was an H1N1 type flu. The other H1N1 flu virus started in China so it would probably that this started there too. Technology was pretty primitive compared to what we have today so tracking a virus like this was pretty difficult.
Because Spain was a neutral country, it had no restrictions about reporting the pandemic and because of it’s openness the virus was dubbed the Spanish Flu although it is highly unlikely that it started in Spain. History channel reports that the Spanish dubbed it the French Flu. It is unlikely that it started in France as well.
in August of 1918 several thousand troupes were brought home from the war arena in Europe. Many were unknowingly affect. In September Philadelphia had a huge patriotic parade where many thousands of people gathered to celebrate the war effort. Again news about the pandemic was censored and few people realized what was going on and few protected themselves from the virus. A large number of people died from this event from the exposure to the virus. This was the beginning of wave two.
In November 11, 1918 my grandfather, George Fillis, died of pneumonia which was result of the Spanish Flu. Four days earlier his oldest daughter, Beatrice, aged 15, had died from the virus.
George lived in Enid, MT. How could he be exposed to the virus way out there? It turns out he had contract with the US Postal Service to carry mail from Enid to the train station in Great Falls, Montana. This was about 30 miles each way. He was to pick up mail in Great Falls Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is believed that he was exposed to the virus on one of his visits to Great Falls.
In 1916, George had obtained a 320 acre homestead near Enid and had moved there. When he died in 1918 he left his wife Clara with seven children. The youngest was two years old. Clara was forced to take in ironing and clean houses to support the family. The good news here was that she had no property taxes or rent to pay.
More about Clara’s story in another post.
Author: Art Fillis