Last week it was reported that this winter’s version of the
influenza had claimed its first life in Wisconsin – a twelve-year old girl from
Milwaukee. That is truly tragic news to
hear. Wisconsin seems to be one of the
states in the country that has the influenza breaking out in epidemic
proportion and the Kickapoo Valley has not been spared from that outbreak. The medical clinic in La Farge has been
jammed for several weeks with people seeking relief and remedies from the
dreaded influenza. In olden days, they
called the disease “La Grippe”.
One of the
downsides of researching through the history of La Farge has been to chronicle
the effects of disease, disaster and destruction of various sorts in the
community. Great floods of the Kickapoo
River stand like signposts when navigating through the history of this little
river town. Those disasters of Mother
Nature provide dividing points in telling the story of this town. (Think how the village has changed since the
great flood of 2008 as the most recent example of this.)
As one leafs
through the pages of old newspapers that help to tell the story of La Farge,
the mentions of the winter sicknesses like influenza are all too common. At its very beginning, the village endured
the ravages of the illness. In the
January 20, 1899 issue of the La Farge
Enterprise, it is noted that, “everyone has la grippe”. The use of that term, “la grippe” is
interesting in itself. Its use is
probably derived from the earlier lumber camps that were located in the
northern part of the Kickapoo Valley.
The derivation of the word is French-Canadian, which again would
possibly tie it to the men who were populating those early lumber camps.
The men in
those lumber camps were housed in barracks of a kind that could foster the
spread of a disease like influenza or la grippe. Virtually stacked on top of each other for
sleeping arrangements and usually eating from a common serving vessel, the
spread of disease and illness was almost guaranteed. The sound of the morning cough of the men in
the camp was legendary and was a signal for other, more healthier sorts to stay
away.
In the
first decade of the village of La Farge (1899-1909) mention is made nearly
every year of an outbreak of la grippe or some other influenza type
illness. “La Grippe is back in town” led
the local observation of the March 11, 1909 issue of the Enterprise. Of course in
those days there were no flu shots to help mitigate the ravages of the
flu. (Although I can personally attest
that the 2014-15 version of that flu inoculation did not mitigate the effects
of a certain strain of this season’s influenza.
My constant cough of several weeks has become a factor of recognition,
as in, “Oh there’s that awful hacking cough, that must be Brad!)
Tragically, death from disease was
often the final chronicle for some in those early years of research. The report of a death from the influenza, or
whooping cough, or croup was almost a weekly occurrence in those newspapers
from that time. In a 1905 issue of the
La Farge newspaper, mention is made of a six-month old baby succumbing to
membranous croup, a childhood upper respiratory illness associated with
diphtheria. Whooping cough was another
deadly disease for the young during that time.
The whooping cough could become so virulent that quarantines and other
isolating measures would be used to thwart the spread of the deadly
disease. Doctors in the village would
post warning signs on the front doors of houses where the disease was rampant,
warning others to avoid contact with the inhabitants. The local school in La Farge was shut down
for a week or two at a time on more than one occasion during this era to stem
the effects of these winter illnesses.
In one year during this early
decade of La Farge, the village president, acting in concert with the local
doctors, cancelled a much-anticipated dance, which was to be held at the Opera
House. The members of the band that was
to play for the grand winter ball were from Viola, which was apparently rife
with whooping cough at the time. So to
avoid the threat of infection from the downriver community, the dance was
called off. Of course, this action did
not sit well with the people of Viola, so in that town’s newspaper a scathing
article was published the following week that rebuked the La Farge officials
for impugning their fair town (Viola) as a center of disease and pestilence.
Of course, back in those days,
there was a train chugging into town every day.
The old “Kickapoo Stump Dodger” delivered all sorts of goods and products to the
businesses and farms of the community.
There were also usually some passengers on the daily train – often
salesmen coming to La Farge to peddle their wares. One can imagine of the various ills and
maladies also accompanying those traveling salesmen when they came to town. Spreading la grippe, the Kickapoo Croup and
other winter illnesses would have been part of the convenience of La Farge
being connected to the outside world via its rail line.
One of the saddest findings in my
research dealt with the death of the teenage daughter of Henry Millard. I believe she was only thirteen-years old
when she succumbed to one of the winter influenzas of that time. She was a very popular girl in the village. Her Dad owned a general store and operated La
Farge’s post office out of the same building and she often helped people with
their purchases and picking up their mail.
She was a daughter of La Farge’s Main Street and her sudden passing
shocked the community and devastated her parents. It was said that Henry Millard and his wife
never got over their lovely daughter’s passing.
Eventually, the store was sold and the Millard’s left the community that
they had called home for so many years.
They left to escape the painful memories of the loss of their beautiful
little girl.
Stay healthy during this winter flu season my friends.
