Spanish flu swept through area in 1918

A pandemic that spread into Quay County prompted the closing of schools, quarantine in Tucumcari and pleas from its mayor to avoid personal contact.

These conditions aren't from the current coronavirus epidemic. This is from more than a century ago, when the now-infamous Spanish flu swept into New Mexico.

A look into the Tucumcari Times archives from that time period somewhat reveals the extent of the pandemic. According to a report from the newspaper in late November 1918, the influenza afflicted 1,500 to 2,000 people in the county, with 25 deaths.

According to a recent article in the Albuquerque Journal, the pandemic killed between 1,000 and 5,000 people in New Mexico. Worldwide, the estimated death toll from the influenza was estimated as high as 100 million.

"No epidemic or scourge ever exacted so heavy a toll of life in so brief a time in America. The death list may reach a half million," the newspaper stated.

The final official toll in the U.S. was about 670,000.

The Times reported local officials were cautiously optimistic they would lift the citywide quarantine before Thanksgiving. (The quarantine lasted six or seven weeks; the exact duration wasn't clear.) It noted, however, cities including Kansas City, Missouri, and Denver reinstated quarantines after a rash of new cases.

It wasn't the first time Tucumcari was under quarantine. In 1916, it imposed one during a scarlet fever epidemic.

The flu pandemic appears to have surfaced in Quay County in late September or early October of 1918.

In the Oct. 10 edition, Tucumcari Mayor M.R. James reported 70 cases and no deaths so far from influenza.

"Several new cases are showing up daily, which goes to show the people are not living strictly up to the rules of the quarantine," James told the newspaper. "I have been in communication with the federal health officer of this district and he advises that personal preventation consists in avoiding of close personal contract with other persons and avoid the common use of drinking or easting utensils, towels, etc."

James also noted a few cases of typhoid from outlying districts. Blaming that on lack of cleanliness, he urged residents to clean trash and filth from their properties.

"I hope that the citizens will assist the authorities in handling the present situation so that there will be no deaths in Tucumcari from influenza. Other towns smaller than Tucumcari have had many deaths and I cannot help but think that in many cases it is carelessness. I do not believe that the disease is fatal in this county if the case is taken care of as it should be."

W.E. Kaser, secretary of the New Mexico Board of Health, ordered the cancellation of all public meetings, schools and "places of public amusement" when a local flu outbreak occurs.

By Oct. 17, the Tucumcari Times reported several schools would be closed "for a while" because of influenza cases scattered throughout the county.

"Reports this week said there have been many deaths from the 'flu' and some of the patients are still dying, but up to Thursday noon the undertaker has handled only two deaths caused by influenza," the newspaper stated. "It is well to be careful and keep away from the epidemic, because if your system is just right it will put your lights out in less than no time. Some who were confined to their beds but two days look as bad as patients who have been sick for weeks with other diseases."

That same month, the newspaper ran a bulletin from the U.S. Public Health Service.

"It is very important that every person who becomes sick with influenza should go home at once and go to bed," the bulletin advised. "This will help keep away dangerous complications and will, at the same time, keep the patient from scattering the disease far and wide."

The Times ran several graphics that reiterated caution: "Cover up your cough and sneeze; if you don't you'll spread disease."

Another was "Coughs and sneezes spread diseases as dangerous as poison gas shells" - a reflection of poison gas used on the front lines of World War I, which was raging at the time.

By Oct. 24, The Times reported wartime draft calls involving 405 men in New Mexico were canceled because of the epidemic "sweeping over the state."

The same week, a local family's son died of the influenza at a U.S. Army camp in Georgia; his body was being shipped back to Hudson for burial. Another Quay County man in an ambulance corps camp in Columbus, New Mexico, died of the disease. He was the fifth such victim of his company.

On Nov. 7, the newspaper reported local elections saw about 200 fewer people voting than expected because of illness and fear of the influenza.

In the same edition, a couple from Quay died from the disease. Joe C. Abyeta, who reportedly built most of the rock houses and adobes for houses in Tucumcari, succumbed.

Proclaiming by Nov. 21 that "The Flu Has Flown," the newspaper said the quarantine soon would be lifted and that churches would be overflowing with those wanting to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Quay County wasn't through with the Spanish flu, however. According to the Dec. 19 edition, an outbreak in San Jon killed six people in one week, including two in the same family.

The pandemic inspired what now would be called advertorials for all sorts of medications that claimed to be effective against the flu. There was Tanlac reconstructive tonic and Tanlac laxatives "to keep the bowels open" sold by Sands-Dorsey Drug Co. in Tucumcari and People's Drug Store in Logan.

The newspaper also touted Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets ("made up of May-apple, aloes, jalap and sugar-coated"); Anuric, aka anti-uric tablets, that "flush the bladder and kidneys and carry off poisonous germs'; and Irontic, or iron tonic, pills.

Colotabs would prevent a "clogged up system and a lazy liver." Hill's Cascara Quinine Bromide "breaks up a cold within 24 hours" with no opiates. Foley's Honey and Tar and Doan's Kidney Pills extolled their virtues.

One treatment touted in the newspaper, however, still is sold in drugstores and over-the-counter shelves more than a century later: Vick's VapoRub, a topical mentholated ointment.