Editor's note: The Beltrami County Historical Society is partnering with the Pioneer on a series of monthly articles highlighting the history of the area. For more information about the Historical Society, visit www.beltramihistory.org
BEMIDJI-This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic which killed roughly 40 million people.
Bemidji at first thought that it was a haven from the flu, but in the fall of 1918, it, too, experienced the effects.
The 1918 pandemic was unusual in that it killed many healthy 20- to 40-year-olds, including millions of World War I soldiers. The virus itself did not cause most of the deaths. Instead, many individuals, infected by the virus, succumbed to pneumonia due to a secondary bacterial infection. In an era before antibiotics, pneumonia could be fatal.
"Bemidji has been lucky in many ways. Bemidji has no Spanish influenza," said Dr. E. A. Shannon, city health officer, on Oct. 3, 1918. He assured the residents that although the new disease was spreading in 43 states, Bemidji was in no immediate danger. One week later, the state board of health discussed the possibility of closing the schools throughout the state. Bemidji felt that it was not necessary, as the school nurse had not discovered a single case among the pupils, and Shannon assured the public that he had heard of no Spanish influenza in the city. "Bemidji should be exempted under any contemplated influenza decree," he said.
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The next day, Crookston started to close its schools and motion picture theaters. Fargo had already reported 2,000 cases of Spanish flu with a total of 110 deaths. Bemidji Mayor Charles W. Vandersluis then asked The Bemidji Pioneer to announce that all schools, churches, motion picture theaters and all places of public gathering in Bemidji would be closed as a precautionary measure against the spread of the epidemic.
Not only were all schools and theaters closed, but church services were also discontinued. Bemidji's Carnegie Library also came under the closing order. The reading room of the Crookston Lumber Co. in Bemidji was closed. The roller-skating rink and wide-open card games were also banned. Any place where people could congregate was included in the ban, which they expected to last about six weeks.
All children were to be kept at home and "not allowed to roam at will." Chief of Police John Essler said the best bunch of children in the city were those of Nymore, and he complimented the children and their parents on their cooperation. When the chief went out to the Fifth Ward to round up any youngsters who were in violation of the order, he failed to discover even one child on the streets.
Bemidji and Beltrami County first experienced the losses from the Spanish influenza through the death of several soldiers.
Five of the men who were part of the Beltrami draft quota boarded the train at Bemidji enroute to Camp Forrest in Georgia. Four were taken off the train at Indianapolis and taken to the post hospital at Fort Benjamin Harrison. James McClellan was taken off the train at Brainerd and conveyed to the hospital where he died the next day.
Joseph Schumer died at Camp Mills, N.Y. His body was returned to Bemidji and buried at the Catholic cemetery. Private Elmer Stormoen of Kelliher died at Camp Wadsworth, S.C. His funeral took place in Kelliher. All pupils except the first, second, and third grades marched in the long funeral procession to the cemetery. Almost every citizen of Kelliher attended the ceremonies. Quartermaster Benjamin Stowell, stationed at Camp Custer in Michigan, died from pneumonia and his remains were sent to Bemidji. Some soldiers reached France but became ill there and died. William Hunt of the town of Northern received word that his son had died in France from pneumonia on Oct 11, 1918. The civilian relief committee of the Beltrami County Chapter of the American Red offered relief, aid or advice to any soldier's family that was affected by the epidemic.
The Ojibwe people at Red Lake were hit hard by the epidemic, and Brenda Child has pointed out that the Ojibwe Jingle Dress Dance stems directly from that epidemic. She has written about the dress, dance, songs, and associated stories that link the jingle dress to the global influenza epidemic. The Ojibwe women who experienced this epidemic were the first to recognize the therapeutic power of the jingle dress, wrote Child in her book, "My Grandfather's Knocking Sticks."
The first death in Beltrami County was that of Alma Boquist, a waitress at Baudette. She died on Nov. 1, 1918. The second was that of Edward Noft, born in Russia. He was a merchant in Baudette and was ill only six days before his death on Nov. 6, 1918. Unfortunately, Bemidji eventually had its deaths, too. Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 of 1918, Bemidji had 37 deaths. Seventeen more residents died from the flu or its complications in 1919.
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Despite the threat of the flu, many Halloween celebrations took place, weddings continued, and the epidemic ban for the theaters was lifted Nov. 11, 1918. The schools opened after Thanksgiving. The Hospital Corps of the 21st Battalion, Home Guards, and 12 members of the Home Guard made a survey of the city to determine what the conditions were. They visited homes in the city and took note of all influenza cases, which were then compiled into a general report.
