The War With Nature
1918 Influenza Pandemic
The Third Wave
1918 Influenza Pandemic
The Third Wave
The draft had created a local labor shortage and large employers such as the American Smelting and Refining plant (above, Animas Museum Collection) in Durango was forced to bring in labor from El Paso, Texas to keep the plant at capacity. Those laborers brought their families and were some of the first flu deaths in La Plata County. On September 7, 1918, the wife of one of the smelter workers from El Paso died. Her daughter and husband died soon after. The epidemic was now in Durango.
It didn't help that soldiers finished basic training at Camp Funston then came back to town to visit their families before being shipped overseas. Adding to the problem were families who heard their sons were sick with flu in camp, rushed off to nurse them, and then brought the virus back to Durango.
During that month, the Colorado/New Mexico Fair was held in Durango. At least 5000 people attended the fair from all over the Four Corners. A parade (similar to the one above, from Little Pieces of Time) was held to encourage people to support the Red Cross and buy war bonds. Although it probably should have been cancelled, it was an election year and war bond funds were desperately needed. That parade most certainly helped to spread the flu.