{"id":2456009,"date":"2020-03-19T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=322876"},"modified":"2020-03-19T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T16:00:00","slug":"lessons-from-the-1918-flu-pandemic-in-aspen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/lessons-from-the-1918-flu-pandemic-in-aspen\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from the 1918 flu pandemic in Aspen"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7358490566038\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-322876-44\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-1024x658.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Aspen Historical Soceity | A patient with two nurses in Aspen, 1913.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A patient with two nurses in Aspen, 1913.<\/strong><br \/>Aspen Historical Soceity<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-1024x658.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A patient with two nurses in Aspen, 1913.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-1-1024x729.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Aspen Historical Society | Aspenites Emma WIlliams Bradsha and John Good Williams at Citizen's Hospital in Aspen, photographed in the 1910s.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Aspenites Emma WIlliams Bradsha and John Good Williams at Citizen&#8217;s Hospital in Aspen, photographed in the 1910s.<\/strong><br \/>Aspen Historical Society<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-1-1024x729.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspenites Emma WIlliams Bradsha and John Good Williams at Citizen's Hospital in Aspen, photographed in the 1910s.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-2-1024x696.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Aspen Historical Society | A sleigh pulled by two horses going through the gate of the Citizens Hospital, photographed in the 1910s.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>A sleigh pulled by two horses going through the gate of the Citizens Hospital, photographed in the 1910s.<\/strong><br \/>Aspen Historical Society<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-2-1024x696.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A sleigh pulled by two horses going through the gate of the Citizens Hospital, photographed in the 1910s.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-3-1024x642.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Aspen Historical Society | Four women wearing nursing outfits and surgical gowns at the Citizens Hospital in Aspen, 1913\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Four women wearing nursing outfits and surgical gowns at the Citizens Hospital in Aspen, 1913<\/strong><br \/>Aspen Historical Society<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-3-1024x642.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Four women wearing nursing outfits and surgical gowns at the Citizens Hospital in Aspen, 1913\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-4-1024x641.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Aspen Historical Society | A patient lying with visitors at Citizen's Hospital in Aspen, 1913.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A patient lying with visitors at Citizen&#8217;s Hospital in Aspen, 1913.<\/strong><br \/>Aspen Historical Society<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-4-1024x641.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A patient lying with visitors at Citizen's Hospital in Aspen, 1913.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-5-1024x590.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Aspen Historical Society | Ben Vagneur and Alice Bourg visiting a woman identified as Lottie at Citizen's Hospital, 1914.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Ben Vagneur and Alice Bourg visiting a woman identified as Lottie at Citizen&#8217;s Hospital, 1914.<\/strong><br \/>Aspen Historical Society<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cover-atw-031920-5-5-1024x590.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Ben Vagneur and Alice Bourg visiting a woman identified as Lottie at Citizen's Hospital, 1914.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/lessons-from-the-1918-flu-pandemic-in-aspen\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/lessons-from-the-1918-flu-pandemic-in-aspen\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">The answers were not much different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Aspen first took notice when newspapers reported a large outbreak in Spanish cities in July 1918, hence the informal name \u201cSpanish influenza.\u201d Spain may have seemed far away, but World War I had focused American attention on Europe. Around the same time, reports indicated the affliction had felled German troops, a greater consequence for Americans than the death of Spaniards: would influenza alter or end the war?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">By August, papers reported the epidemic had killed 109 Swiss Army soldiers, and more than 14,000 others were sick. The pandemic began to quickly spread on our home shores, and grew into a tangible threat, rather than a far-away curiosity, much like COVID-19 has here since the first confirmed case in Washington state in January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Late in August, the U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s Office reported an outbreak of the Spanish influenza at Fort Morgan, an Army camp in Alabama. In September, newspapers across the country published his explanation of how the disease spread and his advice: \u201cwear a gauze mask, and avoid crowded areas like street cars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">At that time he considered quarantining impractical.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Thousands of young conscripted men resided in training camps across the country. Several men shared a small tent, and they pitched the tents close together. Men marched side by side all day, and the disease spread rapidly. In a short period of time the Army announced more than 20,000 cases, with 10,000 at Camp Devens in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">That eastern state seemed far away from Aspen. But soon the Army reported that the disease had infected troops who had been training on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder. Letters home from Aspen\u2019s soldiers began to report illness and deaths of local troops in the camps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Overnight, everything changed. On Oct. 24, Charles Wagner, Aspen\u2019s mayor, wrote in a proclamation, \u201cIt appears that there are some well-defined cases of Spanish influenza in the city of Aspen and vicinity.\u201d He closed schools, churches, assembly halls and theaters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">A week later, Aspen tallied eight people, including one of the town\u2019s two doctors, in the hospital with respiratory problems. Four men had died. Aspen asked the Colorado Board of Health to supply an additional doctor to address the crisis. The local American Red Cross organized nurses to train other helpers and make home visits. Citizens were advised to \u201cstop visiting neighborly talk, keep children confined to the yard, dress warmly, and if you had business downtown do it quickly without socializing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">The common occurrence of influenza, or the \u201cflu\u201d as we refer to it today, added to confusion. Every few years outbreaks had spread across the country, including Aspen. Some people considered the Spanish influenza as just another flu.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">But the pandemic took its toll on the young, the old and the vulnerable. Deaths from respiratory complications rose. No antibiotics at the time would hold at bay respiratory complications, such as pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">A century ago in Aspen, when the population was about 1,200, many miners died when mining and smoking damaged their lungs. Winter and high altitude added additional respiratory challenges. Childbirth killed many women and infant mortality ran high. Tuberculosis, or \u201cconsumption,\u201d raged with little control. The Spanish influenza distinguished itself from other maladies mainly through a faster spread and higher mortality rate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">As with COVID-19 today, no cure existed for the Spanish influenza. Only the symptoms responded to treatment. Like today, quacks pushed unproven home remedies for the disease. They offered cinnamon oil to relieve congestion. Al Lamb Drugstore in Aspen advertised and sold Foley\u2019s Honey and Tar. The ads claimed the mixture contained no opiates, and that children liked it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Grand Junction closed its public places in October and reported 22 cases with one dead. In early November, Montrose reported 381 Spanish influenza cases, with 41 deaths in 55 days, a death rate that exceeded 10%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">We worry today about travel on airplanes. Compare a couple of hours on a crowded plane to a much longer journey on a crowded train. In 1918, trains connected the country. Aspen held close ties to Leadville and Denver. Salesmen and other businesspeople traveled among the towns daily.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Aspen\u2019s quick action appeared to work and the number of cases and deaths began to drop. Near the end of November, the government lifted the ban on public events. But cases continued to add up, and another large outbreak occurred. In February, Aspen closed its schools again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">In January 1920, Chicago reported 2,230 cases of Spanish influenza with 31 deaths. An additional 321 pneumonia cases resulted in 45 deaths. A few people demanded that Prohibition be suspended because of the outbreak. A health official countered, \u201cWhiskey is not a cure for the flu nor a remedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">The 1918 pandemic affected personal stories, including those of my family. As well as killing the very young and the very old, the Spanish influenza took its toll of younger men. John Sheehan, my grandfather, died at the age of 33 and left a widow with five young children. Sheehan\u2019s brother-in-law also died from the influenza. His widow, Ethel Frost, had been pregnant and lost her baby. With little income, the two widows moved into a house on Main Street, now occupied by Explore Booksellers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">My mother had been only 10 years old at the time, and she told me her father\u2019s funeral etched a vivid memory. Gatherings at churches had been banned, so the ceremony took place in front of their new home. The year dealt several grim blows: a pandemic, World War I, closure of Aspen\u2019s largest mine and many left without work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">The 1918 pandemic infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide. It killed 50 million, including 675,000 in the United States. Aspen lost a large proportion relative to its population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">For COVID-1,9 we can use modern test kits to accurately identify the disease, we can treat it with more sophisticated ventilators, and technology offers the potential for immediate and far-reaching communication. But our main lines of defense have not changed \u2014 leadership, quarantines and our daily decisions and habits. The 1918 surgeon general\u2019s admonition is worth repeating, \u201ccoughs and sneezes spread diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\"><span><em>Tim Willoughby\u2019s family story parallels Aspen\u2019s. He began sharing folklore while teaching Aspen Country Day School and Colorado Mountain College. Now a tourist in his native town, he views it with historical perspective for The Aspen Times. Reach him at <a href=\"mailto:redmtn2@comcast.net\">redmtn2@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/lessons-from-the-1918-flu-pandemic-in-aspen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A patient with two nurses in Aspen, 1913.Aspen Historical Soceity Aspenites Emma WIlliams Bradsha and John Good Williams at Citizen&#8217;s Hospital in Aspen, photographed in the 1910s.Aspen Historical Society A sleigh pulled by two horses going through the gate of the Citizens Hospital, photographed in the 1910s.Aspen Historical Society Four women wearing nursing outfits and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 09:20:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456009\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}