1900 — June-Dec, Measles/Flu Epidemics, Western Native Alaskans, AK ~2,000-2,500
Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard, Sep 2012; modified Jan 2020, for website: Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-Of-Life Events. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— Thousands. Wolfe, Robert J. “Alaska’s Great Sickness, 1900: An Epidemic…, 1982, p. 91.
–2,000-2,500 Wolfe extrapolation of Lt. Jarvis estimate for Yukon-Kuskokwim census district.
— 2,000 University of Alaska Fairbanks. Alaska Native History and Cultures Timeline, 12.
Some Localities:
— 6 Andreaofsky trading post area, on Swetlaretchka River. Influenza “in quite a severe form.”[1]
— 57 Bethel, on Kuskokwim River, Western AK. John Kilbuck, pp. 438-442 in Litecky, p118.
–57 Bethel. Influenza/the grip “…within one month…” Brother Weinlick ltr. 9-17-1900.[2]
— 212 Bethel to Ugavig. Brother Weinlick ltr., 9-17-1900, Proceedings…Brethren 1900, p. 56.
— ~200? Bethel down Kuskokwim River, just as bad as Bethel up river to Ugavig.[3]
— ? Big Bend village of 65 people “fully 50 of whom were sick.” White. “Report of…” 269.
— ? Cape Prince of Wales, apparent northern-most report of sickness.[4]
— 35 Carmel, Bristol Bay. Wolfe 1982, 98.
— 3 Christ Church Mission, influenza, by Aug 23. White. “Report of Med. Officer…” p.266.
— 7 Dall River; influenza by Sep 13 (out of population of 60). White. “Report…of…” p.270.
— 20 Dog Fish Village, Yukon River. Wolfe 1982, 98 [from population of 27].
— ? Fort Hamlin. “…many suffered from severe attacks of influenza.” White. “Report…” 270.
— 74 Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, in Wolfe 1982, 98.[5]
— 6 Grayling meeting place, 22 miles above Anvik.[6]
— 49 Holy Cross Mission area, Yukon River; 49 deaths out of 200 pop. Ragaru in White, 269.
— 27 Ikogmute. White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak…” p265.
— 12 Koserefsky, measles and influenza.[7]
— 45 Koserefsky area neighboring villages, measles and influenza.
— 6 Kwikpak Crossing, out of 21 natives, 4 of whom were “quite sick.”[8]
— 21 Neposkiagamiut, influenza.[9]
— ? Norton Sound area, influenza, sum. “became epidemic…death rate was very high…”[10]
— 27 Nulato Roman Catholic mission. White. “Report of Med. Officer, U.S. Nunivak,” p. 268.
— 12 Pitkas Point, Yukon River (pop. ~65 people). Measles by Aug 17.[11]
— ? Quinhagamiut (Quinhagak). “…distress was great…” (Kilbuck in Litecky 2011, p. 123.)
— 36 St. Lawrence Isl. Davenport Republican, IA. “Destitution at Nome.” 8-29-1900, 1.
— 30 St. Michael, by Aug 12. “became epidemic…death rate was very high…”[12]
— 27 St. Paul, Pribilof Islands. Judge 1896-1907,[13] in Wolfe 1982, 98.
— ? Shageluk Slough, where natives from Grayling (measles and influenza there) went.[14]
— 3 Sixmile, pneumonia by Sep 26 (out of population of ~40). White. “Report of…” p. 270.
— 5 Tanana, St. James mission of Episcopal Church by Dec 1 (2 measles, 3 pneumonia).[15]
— 13 Teller City. New York Times. Great Storm at Nome.” 8-30-1900, p. 6.
— ? Tikchik. So many died that the village was abandoned. (Litecky 2011, p. 120.)
— 60 Ugavig, Kuskokwim River. Wolfe 1982, 98.[16] [from population of 132]
— 30 Unalaska, late Aug. Martin, Fredericka I. Before the Storm. 2010, p. 357, fn. 3.
— 15 Village about 15 miles above Koserefsky; unburied bodies found.[17]
— 16 Village 13 miles above the Holy Cross Mission on Yukon River. Ragaru in White, 269.
— ? Yukon River villages. Measles.[18]
Narrative Information:
Brother Weinlick: “The supplies arrived on July 11….Shortly before we were finished storing our goods properly the grip [influenza] came among the natives, and has raged until now [Sep 17]. Within one month fifty-seven were called to their eternal rest here at Bethel, of whom a number had been on a visit or brought something to trade.
“It was indeed pitiful to see so much suffering. In a number of cases parents died, leaving little children….
“This sickness has been raging all along this river [Kuskokwim] and also over the tundra. The number of deaths we can not state exactly. They will count hundreds. Between here and Ugavig, as near as we can tell, there have been 212, including the children. Down the river it was jus as bad. At Neposkiagamiut, the nearest village below us, 21 deaths have been reported…”(Letter of Brother Weinlick, 9-17-1900, p. 56 in: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending November 14,1900.)
Litecky: “Faith in [missionaries’] curing abilities and the missionaries’ religion would be severely tested during the double epidemic of influenza and measles that ravaged wester Alaska in 1900. As in the smallpox epidemic that occurred a few decades before, massive numbers of Eskimos in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region perished. Unlike the smallpox epidemic, there were numerous witnesses, including several medical personnel, who provide harrowing accounts of their experiences during the summer of 1900. The missionaries could do little to help the suffering Eskimos, and some white people became ill themselves. The Yup’ik people, so skilled in recovering from crisis situations, would rebound after the epidemic. However, the inability of Dr. Romig to assist the Yup’ik people who relied on him would have serious and long-term consequences for Moravian efforts in the region…. [p. 112]
“While… [previous] outbreaks of disease caused some deaths and plenty of discomfort, the situation in 1900 was far different. Up to half the Yup’ik Eskimos living in western Alaska may have perished in the months-long epidemics, which the Eskimos called the ‘Great Sickness.’[19]…” [p. 113] (Litecky notes the “Great Sickness” has also been referred to as “a cataclysm of mass death.”[20])
“In 1900, most Eskimos succumbed to the sickness [measles], which indicates that they had not been exposed to the virus….Often, complications from measles, including a lack of care, lack of treatment for complications, and poor nutrition, rather than the illness itself, leads to death.[21]
“The sources of the two illnesses that defined western Alaska’s double epidemic are uncertain. Ships spiriting gold-seekers to Nome are one potential origin of the measles epidemic. However, some contemporary observers believed that Eskimos visiting Siberia to trade brought the diseases home with them There is some validity to that claim, since the earliest cases of measles appeared around the Bering Strait region, where people would likely cross from Siberia. Chukchi Eskimos in Siberia were stricken by measles in spring 1900. By late summer, measles had spread down the western Alaska coast to the Aleutian Islands. Incredibly, influenza hit around the same time, likely carried north by trading vessels. When the diseases struck western Alaska in the early summer months, most Yup’ik families had already scattered across the region to their small summer fishing camps, but relative isolation did not prevent the sicknesses from spreading rapidly and causing widespread calamity.[22]
“James T. White, surgeon on the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, witnessed the early summer arrival of influenza at St. Michael. Measles appeared in early July. By the middle of July, White wrote that ‘reports were brought in of great destitution, sickness, and death among the natives of the surrounding country.’ He commented that stories from visitors to St. Lawrence Island indicated that ‘the natives were dying so fast, and so many of the remaining were sick, that the dead were left where they lay or simply removed out of doors, out of the way, and there left to the mercies of the dogs.’….” [pp. 114-115]
“As in past epidemics, estimating a precise mortality rate is difficult because no accurate population counts existed for the entire region. Church records give some indication of the number dead. In 1899, the combined Bethel, Ugavig and Carmel missions reported 20 deaths out of their 987-member congregation.[23] The next year a startling 283 deaths were reported.[24] The epidemics impacted communities differently. The presence of whites, who were less affected by the epidemic diseases and could therefore provide crucial medical care, helped lower death rates in some villages.[25] Very few whites became ill or died during the epidemics. A few crewmembers of the Nunivak became mildly ill.[26] Moravian missionary families at Carmel and Bethel contracted influenza and measles but there were few deaths. In contrast, Carmel missionaries Mary Huber and Emma Rock reported that in surrounding villages at least one-third to one-half of the native people died.[27] Several contemporaries estimated that at least half of the Eskimos on the Kuskokwim perished in the epidemic.[28]
(Litecky, Ahnie. “The Great Sickness,” pp. 112-126 in: The Dwellers Between: Yup’ik Shamans and Cultural Change in Western Alaska (Master’s Thesis). Missoula MT: University of Montana, May 2011.)
NLM: “Measles, called ‘the Great Sickness,’ reached parts of Alaska as much as 50 years earlier, but some Yup’ik, Inupiat, and Inupiaq communities had not been exposed. Now they suffer losses of one-quarter to one-half of their populations.” (National Library of Medicine. Native Voices. “1900: Measles, the ‘Great Sickness,’ strikes Alaska Natives.”
Univ. AK, Fairbanks: “1900. Epidemic causes the death of one-third of the population of Unalaska.” (Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks. Alaska Native History and Cultures Timeline, p. 12.)
White: “….Early in the summer influenza appeared among the natives at Dt. Michael and those living around Norton Sound. This soon became epidemic in character and the death rate was very high, for in some cases the influenza was followed by a fatal attack of pneumonia. The epidemic rapidly spread, and finally included the white population as well as the native. Following closely on this, abut the 1st of July, measles in a mild for appeared among the natives and rapidly spread through their quarter of the settlement, a few cases among the infants proving fatal. At first the measles was confined to the native population, but on August 11 it appeared among the white people…. [p. 259]
About the middle of July reports were brought in of great destitution, sickness, and death among the natives of the surrounding country. From Surgeon Hawley, of the U.S.S. Bear, it was learned that this same condition existed along the coast as far north as Cape Prince of Wales and on the Siberian side [Russia] from Indian Point to within the neighborhood of Cape Serdze Kamen; that on St. Lawrence Island the natives were dying so fast, and so many of the remaining were sick, that the dead were left where they lay or simply removed out of doors, out of the way, and there left to the mercies of the dogs. Reports of about the same nature also came to us from the Yukon River and from the coast south of the delta….
“The number of deaths among the coast tribes could not be ascertained. At St. Michael 30 were reported to August 12. Many bodies were found out on the tundra and along the beaches unburied. In one instance 8 bodies were found together on the tundra with half a mile of the settlement. Across the harbor were two or three camps containing some 15 people. These I attended at different times, but most of the cases were looked after by the army post surgeons and the physician in the employ of the Alaska Commercial Company…. [p. 260]
“At Kwikpak Crossing we found a fishing camp of 11 people, mostly children. Their story was the same as that told by the natives at St. Michael. They had all been too sick to fish and they were now without food. We found 4 of the men quite sick with pulmonary congestion following influenza, and learned that 6 had recently died….
“Andreaofsky, of the Swetlaretchka River, about 2 miles from its mouth and some 125 miles from the mouth of the Yukon, is one of the oldest trading posts on the river….At one time Andreaofsky was quite a settlement, but now there are only two traders, their families, and a few native assistants, some 25 in all. Nearly all of these were suffering from either influenza or measles. Measles had only recently appeared and was of rather a mild type, but influenza appeared early, before the fishing was half over, and in quite a severe form. [p. 261]
“….Six deaths were reported up to this time (August 16), one occurring the day after our arrival….While here a native came in a kayak from the village at Pitkas Point, some 3 or 4 miles down the Yukon, requesting us to come to their assistance, for, as he put it, ‘Everybody sick; plenty people die; one man die pretty soon, I think.’
“At Petkas [Pitkas] Point is a village of some 65 people, and named after Petka, a Russian creole, as the Russian half-castes are known in this country, who is the headman, church deacon, and trader. This village is one of the worst we saw on the river. The people appear to be in abject poverty, their houses and tents are filthy, and no effort seems to be made to have either order, cleanliness, or comfort. On the point is a large encampment of people who have come from the delta and from the coast to the south, and whom we were told were here to get away from sickness then prevailing in their homes; but they had not bettered themselves, for they were all sick. They had had measles and were then suffering mostly from pulmonary complications. At this village 12 had died to date (August 17), including the visitors.
“In one very small tent we found a man very sick with pneumonia, and covered up beside him was the body of another native who had been dead several days. No arrangement for the burial of the body had been made, and it was only after considerable coaxing and threats that two boys were induced to assist in the work of giving the body burial…. [p. 262]
“About 20 miles above Pitkas Point we stopped at a village of 5 houses occupied by 20 people, most of whom were sick with either influenza or measles. In one small house were found 5 or 6 people, some of whom were very sick. The place was dark, damp, and dismal, the fireplace was cold, and an odor of rotting fish permeated everything. The inmates were lying about on their beds, some covered, some uncovered. In one corner was a girl of about fourteen years, entirely nude, whose body was covered with the red rash of measles. Food and medicines were left for the use of these poor people, and we hurried on.
“A quarter of a mile above here was another village of 3 houses and some 10 people. All of these were sick with measles and influenza, and many had died/ The surviving members of this community were half starved and helpless, and after burying the dead and leaving food and medicines for the living we were compelled to proceed on our way up the river…. [p. 263]
“At Ikogmute is a mission under the charge of the Russian Church…There were only some 35 or 40 people here when we stopped, but in the winter the place has about 250 inhabitants….The fishing usually last until the latter part of September, and though salmon have been very plentiful this season, the great amount of sickness prevented the people from taking advantage of the run…. [p. 264] During the month previous to our arrival there were 24 deaths, only 4 of which were children, for, as at other points on the river, the worst cases and the majority of deaths were among the olde4r adults. During our short stay there were 3 deaths, making 27 in all to date.
“Fifteen miles above Ikogmute is Dog Fish, the most miserable little village imaginable. There were only 8 people here, all that were left of 30 or 40, the original population. The rest had either died or moved away. These 8 all claimed to be too sick to move about and attend to their own wants, but this inability to work was not alone due to sickness, but also to discouragement, a giving up, a generally demoralized condition. In one house were some half dozen people lying on their beds, or benches which serve as such, apparently awaiting their end. They seemed utterly indifferent to our presence, and did not appear to care whether they were helped or not. Some food left for them was placed on the floor, when one of the men called us back and asked us to move the stuff ono a shelf, for, as he said, it might get wet where it was. In another house was a family of four, all lying on their beds, wet and dirty, too sick or discouraged to move or even build a fire. What they had eaten recently we did not know, for nothing cooked could be seen and the only food in the house was some moldy dried fish. In a little tent, wet and cold, was a man alone and very sick, the last of his family. After all of the others had died he moved out of his house to end his days in this miserable little tent, without fire or wood or even food. When we have him some flour and bacon he smiled and asked us how he was going to eat it, for he had no way to cook, and of course none of his neighbors would assist him, even if they were able to do so, as they never do. In many of the houses and caches were salmon, recently caught, but from want of care they were rotting. We did not learn how many had died during the summer; but 5 had died recently, and had remained unburied until the steamer Margret came, when the crew performed that office. Most of the graves made by the natives were very shallow, and the dogs played sad havoc with the bodies. On the beach was a human foot, where the dogs had left it; and on the hillside were found various pieces that had been dis-interred by these animals. [pp. 265-266]
“At Koserefsky, 75 miles above Russian Mission, are some 150 natives; and about 300 more in the immediate vicinity, most of these latter living on Shagaluk Slough…Measles and influenza were particularly severe here, and the mortality was great, with all the care given to the natives by the mission people; and then following this were a number of severe cases of dysentery. There had been, to the time of our arrival (August 22), 12 deaths, and 45 more in the neighboring villages, some of these latter being almost depopulated. About 15 miles above here is a small village where some of the Fathers went to attend the sick, and there found 15 unburied bodies. Many similar cases were reported to us from other villages….
“Forty-seven miles beyond Koserefsky the Anvik River flows into the Yukon, and just within its mouth is Christ Church Mission, under the auspices of Grace Church of New York City….There are some 150 natives here, including both those at the mission and in the village opposite. They had all been sick, and many were so when we were there. In the mission hospital were 10 girls with measles in all stages, and 3 boys, 2 convalescent from measles and 1 with pneumonia In the village were 3 cases of pneumonia. Measles appeared about the middle of July, followed by influenza and in many cases by pneumonia. There had been but 5 deaths reported to the time of our arrival (August 23) – 2 from old age and 3 from influenza…” [p. 266]
“At Grayling, 22 miles above Anvik, were only 32 people, though the census gives 65 as the population. This place is more of a rendezvous where the natives from the surrounding country come in summer to fish and in winter to trade. Measles and influenza appeared among them early in the season, and after several deaths had occurred the natives became alarmed. The shamans advised them to leave, telling them that if they did not they would all die; so many moved over to Shagluk Slough; but they did not appear to fare any better there, for reports were received saying there were a great many sick and without food and in a bad way generally. At Grayling we found 10 sick – 2 with dysentery, 3 acute conjunctivitis, and the remaining suffering from pulmonary complications following influenza. There had been 6 deaths to date (August 23)….
“Some 60 miles above Grayling we stopped at a small village of 14 people, living in tents and makeshift houses of split logs. Measles had just appeared among them, and there were 7 sick – 4 measles, 2 bronchitis, and a baby with ophthalmia neonatorum. The number of deaths could not be ascertained…. [p. 167]
“About 10 miles farther on we stopped at another village of 18 people. Here we found 11 sick – 5 with measles, 2 with bronchitis, 1 with pneumonia, 1 with corneal ulcer, and 2 blind. The number of deaths could not be ascertained.
“At Nulato, a Roman Catholic mission…where there is a church and a school for boys and another for girls. There were about 50 people here at the time of our visit (August 28), 20 of whom were sick…Nearly all had had measles, which appeared early in July…There had been 27 deaths to date (August 28).
“On leaving Holy Cross Mission we took with us Rev. Ragaru, who has been connected with the missions of the Roman Catholic Church on this river for the past thirteen years. During the trip it was our pleasure to consul him regarding the distribution of food and medicines, and before leaving us at Nulato he made certain suggestions, as may be noted in the following letter:
Nulato, August 21, 1900.
Over 800 Indians are attended by St. Peter Claver’s Mission, Nulato. About 600 of these are dependent upon Nulato for their supplies. This summer the grip, shortly afterwards followed by the measles, spread among the natives from St. Michael and up the Yukon, diseases imported, as it were, by the steamers coming up the river.
On account of sickness the natives have been unable to work, and will be destitute this winter. Up to date there have been 27 deaths at Nulato, and over 220 are now sick. Some of them are expected to die. This proportion will probably hold for all neighboring villages. The general sickness has been so prevalent and so prostrating that at Nulato the white men have had to dig the graves and bury the dead for the Indians.
In some neighboring villages it is reported that the dead are left unburied, as none of the tribe are physically able to perform such office. As an illustration, the villages around Holy Cross Mission (some 200 Indians) had 49 deaths to date. And in a village 15 miles above Holy Cross mission a father and two brothers had to made a trip from Holy Cross to the village in order to bury 13 corpses that the surviving Indians were unable to care for….
Twenty-five per cent has been the average of deaths at Holy Cross. Ten per cent has been the average of deaths at Nulato….” [pp. 268-269.]
Aloys A. Ragaru, S. J.
(White, James T., Surgeon. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska.” dated 9-30-1901. Part VI in Report of the Operations of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River Station, Alaska, 1899-1901, 1902, pp. 259-260.)
Wolfe: “In the summer of A.D. 1900 a catastrophic epidemic struck western Alaska. The region’s Eskimos called it the ‘Great Sickness,’ a widespread outbreak of disease prostrating whole communities of Aleuts, Eskimos, and Indians. The Great Sickness affected the native population along the Aleutian Island chain, the western seacoast south of Bering Strait, and three major rivers of the interior, the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Nushagak… Thousands of Native Alaskans died. It was alleged that communities frequently lost 25 percent to 50 percent of their members, and that a quarter of western Alaska’s Eskimo population perished (Jarvis 1901).[29] In striking contrast, the non-native population of western Alaska was hardly affected by the epidemic. The diseases ravaging the Native Americans produced mild symptoms and a handful of deaths among Euro-Americans.
“At least two acute infectious diseases precipitated the Great Sickness of 1900 – measles and influenza. Both originated outside this relatively isolated region, and at least measles represented a heretofore unfamiliar disorder….” (Wolfe 1982, 91.)
“Near the turn of the…century, parts of western Alaska experienced a short period of intensive Euro-American activity. Gold had been discovered on the Klondike in 1897 and at Nome in 1898, luring thousands of Euro-American gold seekers into the Yukon River valley and Seward Peninsula. Nome had burgeoned into a tent-city of 20,000 packed on a six-mile beach, fully 18,000 arrivals in June of 1900 alone (Randall 1900:243-255).[30]….”[31]
“It was in the spring of 1900 that the microorganisms beginning the Great Sickness were introduced into the Native Alaskan population.
“Within many Alaskan communities, the Great Sickness gave the appearance of a single, devastating disease outbreak, lasting several weeks in its acute stages, and presenting a wide spectrum of symptoms. In certain reports, the illness was characterized as a strain of influenza….
“Most Euro-American medical personnel observing the 1900 epidemic concurred that at least two discrete diseases were passing through the Native American population – measles and influenza….”(Wolfe 1982, 95.)
“From the accounts of Euro-American observers, the number of Native Americans who died during the epidemic was staggering. Precisely how many cannot be determined, as there were no mechanisms for tabulating mortality statistics in western Alaska at that time. D. H. Jarvis, a lieutenant in the Revenue Cutter Service who traveled widely that summer along Seward Peninsula and the Yukon delta, estimated that 25 percent of the population of the Yukon-Kuskokwim census district died of measles, influenza, pneumonia, and starvation (that is, from 2,000 to 2,500 of the 9,000 enumerated in the 1890 census) (Jarvis 1901; Porter 1893; 6-7).[32] Sheldon Jackson, who also traveled extensively collecting reports from schools and reindeer stations, estimated that 40 percent died at Nulato and Koserefsky, and 50 percent at Indian Point, Siberia, which he visited inn late July (Jackson 1900: 10, 37).[33] R. N. Hawley, the surgeon aboard the Revenue Cutter Bear, reported that a quarter to one-third of the people perished at King Island (Hawley 1900).[34] A third of the population died at Unalaska (Commissioner of Education 1901: 1465).[35] Similarly, the statement that ‘half the natives died’ was offered at several locations, including Akulurak (Chronological Sketch of the Mission, undated, Teller (Jackson 1900b), settlements surrounding Holy Cross mission (Sipray 1900),[36] Bethel, and other lower Kuskokwim communities (Proceedings 1901: 54-55;[37] Schwalbe 1951: 84-86).[38]….” (Wolfe 1982, 98.)
(Wolfe, Robert J. “Alaska’s Great Sickness, 1900: An Epidemic of Measles and Influenza in a Virgin Soil Population.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 126, No. 2, 1982, pp. 90-121.)
Newspapers
Aug 3: “Washington, Sept. 1. – Governor Brady of Alaska, in a letter to Secretary Hitchcock, dated St. Michael, Alaska, August 3, describes the distress in Alaska which the government is now taking steps to alleviate. Governor Brady says:
“I left Sitka July 21 and arrived here last evening at 8 o’clock. While coming down the Yukon we stepped at various places to wood[39] and when I had the opportunity I went among the natives to make observations. At a place called Greyling, some 500 miles from here. I say that the natives were sick in nearly every tent upon the shore line and were in a very deplorable condition. Some were lying groaning on the ground. I saw one man sitting with his whole body naked and coughing and groaning. The pity of it was that nothing was being done for their relief. Even the sub-treasurer at the place was sick in bed.
This morning the Bear arrived from Siberia and different points along the Alaskan coast and St. Lawrence island, and report a terrible state of affairs among all the natives. In some places the natives report that more than one-half of them have died, and where the revenue officers have been able to investigate about one-fourth have died in each place. The epidemic seems to come in the form of grip attended by pneumonia or measles, or both. The natives seem to become stupefied and utterly helpless and lie down to die….”
(Anaconda Standard, MT. “Alaskan Natives Dying Like Flies.” 9-2-1900, p. 10.)
Aug 28: “Seattle, Aug. 28. – The United States transport Lawton arrived this evening from Nome with 220 passengers, two-thirds of whom were destitute miners returning at the expense of the government.
“Rev. Sheldon Jackson, the interior department representative in Northern waters, came in on the Lawton…. Jackson reports that grippe,[40] pneumonia and measles have been epidemic all summer among the Eskimos, materially lessening their numbers. The ravages of the disease extended from the Aleutian islands to Point Barrow. On the island of St. Lawrence, out of a population of 400, 36 Eskimos died. Many Indian children were found hovering around the dead bodies.
“The revenue cutter Bear was loaded with supplies and sent to the relief of the natives. General Randall and other army and government officials in the North have formally brought the matter to the attention of the government.” (Davenport Daily Republican, IA. “Destitution at Nome.” 8-29-1900, p. 1.)
Aug 28: “A tale of disease, death and suffering among the Eskimos that almost beggars description is told by Guy N. Stockslager, who has been directing a relief expedition sent out by the Government. Stockslager has returned from Cape York and reports the natives dying by wholesale, dozens of dead bodies lying around unburied. At Teller City the sick natives killed the medicine man of the tribe in the vain hope that the act would appease the evil spirit. Thirteen deaths were reported in one day in Teller City.” (NYT. Great Storm at Nome.” 8-30-1900, p. 6.)
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White, James T., Surgeon. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska.” dated 9-30-1901. Part VI in Report of the Operations of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River Station, Alaska, 1899-1901, by First Lt. John C. Cantwell. 257-274. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1902. Accessed 1-5-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=J54dAAAAYAAJ&ppis=_e&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Wolfe, Robert J. “Alaska’s Great Sickness, 1900: An Epidemic of Measles and Influenza in a Virgin Soil Population.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (Vol. 126, No. 2, Apr 8, 1982, pp. 91-121).
[1] White, James T., Surgeon. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska.” dated 9-30-1901. Part VI in Report of the Operations of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River Station, Alaska, 1899-1901, 1902, pp. 260-261.
[2] Proceedings…Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel…Year Ending November 14 ,1900. P.55.
[3] Brother Weinlick letter of 9-17-1900, in Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren…1900, p. 56.
[4] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 260.
[5] Cites: Lerrigo, P. H. J. Report from St. Lawrence Island. In Sheldon Jackson, Tenth Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska. Washington: GPO, 1900, pp. 98-130; and Lerrigo, Annual Report of the Presbyterian Reindeer Station, Gambell, St. Lawrence Island. In Sheldon Jackson, Eleventh Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska. Washington: GPO, 1901, pp. 88-123.
[6] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 267.
[7] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 266.
[8] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 261.
[9] Letter of Brother Weinlick, 9-17-1900, p. 56 in: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending November 14,1900.
[10] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 260.
[11] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 262.
[12] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” pp. 259-260.
[13] Judge, James. Pribilof Island Log Books June 1896 through 2 June 1907. Univ. of Alaska Archives, Fairbanks.
[14] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 267.
[15] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 270.
[16] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen: 36: 1901: 24; from church membership roles.
[17] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 266. Nots “Many similar cases were reported to us from other villages.”
[18] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 260.
[19] Cites: Wolfe, p. 91.
[20] Cites: Harold Napoleon. Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being. Erik Madsen, ed. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 1996, p. 10.
[21] Cites: Robert J. Kim-Farley. “Measles,” Cambridge World History of Human Disease, ed. Kenneth F. Kiple, pp. 871-875. Cambridge, England: University of Cambridge Press, 1993.
[22] Cites: Wolfe, pp. 96 and 109.
[23] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1900, p. 36.
[24] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1901, p. 24.
[25] Cites Wolfe, p. 116.
[26] Cites White, pp. 259-260.
[27] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1901, pp. 26, 38, 40, 54.
[28] Cites: Anderson, 198; G.T. Emmons, “A Report on the Condition and Needs of the Natives of Alaska,” 58th Congress,2nd Session, Senate Document No. 106 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905), 7; Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1901, 29. However, Wolfe supports the estimate that one quarter of the Yup’ik Eskimos died. See Wolfe, 115.
[29] Jarvis, D. H. Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, dated 14 February 1901. Senate Document No. 178, 56th Congress, 2d Session.
[30] Randall, George M. Report of the Department of Alaska. In Annual Reports of the War Department, June 1900, b. 1, pt. 3, pp. 243-258.
[31] On pages 95-96 Wolfe discusses theories that the measles epidemic originated in Siberia and was imported by Eskimo and Russian traders.
[32] Jarvis, op cit. Porter, Robert P. Report on the Population and Resources of Alaska at the Eleventh Census: 1890. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893.
[33] Wolfe notes two 1900 Sheldon Jackson documents in his bibliography: Tenth Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska. Washington: GPO; and Letter to Captain Francis Tuttle, Commanding Revenue Cutter Bear, 1 August 1900, Port Clarence. Alaska File of the Revenue Cutter Service, 1867-1918, Roll 8 (M/F 10), Federal Archives and Records Center, Seattle.
[34] Hawley, R. N. Report to Captain Francis Tuttle, Commanding U.S. Steamer Bear, dated December 1900: Medical and Surgical Cases of the Bering Sea and Arctic Cruise. Alaska File of the Revenue Cutter Service, Roll 8 (M/F 10), Federal Archives and Records Center, Seattle.
[35] Annual Report. In Annual Reports of the Department of the Interior, June 1900. Washington, GPO, 1901.
[36] Sipray, Aleck A. Account of the Plague in Alaska. Jesuits, Alaska Mission Records, III Holy Cross Mission, Reel 4, Box V, Folder 10. University of Alaska Archives, Fairbanks.
[37] Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending August 25, 1901. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
[38] Schwalbe, Anna B. Dayspring on the Kuskokwim. The Story of Moravian Missions in Alaska. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Moravian Press, 1951.
[39] For fuel
[40] Influenza.