I had a little bird, Its name was Enza.
I opened the window, And in-flu-enza.
In the fall of 1918, the Great War in Europe was winding down. Peace was on the horizon as thousands of Americans anticipated the return home. Deep within the trenches these men lived through some of the most brutal conditions of life. For these men, they could not imagine life getting any worse. Then, in pockets across the globe, something erupted that seemed as benign as the common cold. The influenza of that season, however, was far more than a cold.
In the two years that this scourge ravaged the earth. Nearly a fifth of the world's population was infected. The flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40. This pattern of morbidity was unusual for influenza which is usually a killer of the elderly and young children.
By the time that the virus had run its course, 28% of all Americans were affected. An estimated 675,000 Americans died of influenza. Of all the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, nearly 43,000 died of influenza.
1918 would go down as unforgettable year of suffering and death and yet of peace. As noted in the Journal of the American Medical Association final edition of 1918:
"The 1918 has gone: a year momentous as the termination of the cruelest war in the annals of the human race; a year which marked the end at least for a time, of man's destruction of man; unfortunately a year in which developed a most fatal infectious disease causing the death of hundreds of thousands of human beings. Medical science for four and one-half years devoted itself to putting men on the firing line and keeping them there. Now it must turn with its whole might to combating the greatest enemy of all--infectious disease."
The effect of the influenza epidemic was so severe that the average life span in the US was shortened by 10 years. The death rate for 15 to 34-year-olds of influenza and pneumonia were 20 times higher in 1918 than in previous years. People were struck with illness on the street and died rapid deaths.
One anecdote shared of 1918 was of four women playing bridge together late into the night.
Overnight, three of the women died from the virus. Others told stories of people on their way to work suddenly developing the flu and dying within hours. One physician writes that patients with seemingly ordinary influenza would rapidly "develop the most viscous type of pneumonia that has ever been seen" and later when cyanosis appeared in the patients, "it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate." The physicians of the time were helpless against this powerful agent of influenza.
The pandemic affected everyone. With one-quarter of the US and one-fifth of the world infected with the influenza, it was impossible to escape from the illness. Even President Woodrow Wilson suffered from the flu in early 1919 while negotiating the crucial treaty of Versailles to end the World War.
Those who were lucky enough to avoid infection had to deal with the public health ordinances to restrain the spread of the disease. The public health departments distributed gauze masks to be worn in public. Stores could not hold sales; funerals were limited to 15 minutes. Some towns required a signed certificate to enter and railroads would not accept passengers without them. Those who ignored the flu ordinances had to pay steep fines enforced by extra officers. Bodies piled up as the massive deaths of the epidemic ensued. Besides the lack of health care workers and medical supplies, there was a shortage of coffins, morticians and gravediggers. The conditions in 1918 were not so far removed from the Black Death in the era of the bubonic plague of the middle Ages.
During this time, LeFlore County did not escape the effects of this plague. Countless died, leaving many devastated families behind. For Poteau, as well as the rest of LeFlore County, later years of the 1910's through the early 1920's proved to be some of the most horrific years on record. First, as with the rest of the country, the Great War had many profound and far-reaching effects on the nation. As soldiers began to return home, the height of the Influenza epidemic reached home. Finally, in the early 1920's, a massive smallpox epidemic wrecked the town of Poteau, leaving many residents scarred for life.
However, the strength and determination of city residents prevailed. Residents banded together to support one another. Despite everything, the town continued to grow and thrive. This strength of character and desire to overcome all obstacles still prevails in Poteau today.
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