THE GREAT EPIZOOTIC OF 1872

Equine Influenza Devastates America

AMERICA COMES TO A HALT http://www.lrgaf.org/medical/epizootic.htm

Imagine a transportation disaster that within 90 days affected every aspect of American transportation, everything Americans took for granted, and everything that ensured their safety.

AMERICA RAN ON HORSE POWER

Throughout most of

U.S. history, the horse has been the engine of business and commerce. Our nation relied on the gentle animal to move freight and perform countless tasks.

ChicagoDetroit

CincinnatiMilwaukee

Kansas CityBostonAlbanyBuffalo

New YorkPhiladelphia

BaltimoreWashington

AtlantaNew Orleans

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Horses per square mile

A highly contagious strain of equine influenza originated in Toronto, Canada and swept south into the US in late 1872, affecting the entire country within 90 days.  It is estimated that 80%-99% of horses were eventually infected.  Horses were unable to stand in their stables and were seen coughing violently in the streets.

9/25-Markham, Ont.10/1- Toronto10/10-Detroit

10/14- Buffalo, NY10/17-Rochester, NY

10/18- Montreal10/19- Syracuse, NY

10/21- Keene, NH10/22- NY, NY10/22- Boston

10/23- Bangor, Me10/23- Chicago

10/24- Baltimore10/26- Pontiac, Mi

10/28- Philadelphia10/28- Wash D.C.

10/29-Columbus, OH11/1- Newark, De11/2- Charleston

11/4- Springfield, Ill11/5-Grand Rapids11/6- Richmond, Va11/10- Indianapolis

11/10-Savannah11/13- Louisville

11/27- New Orleans12/1-Colorado

Springs12/7-Havana, Cuba1/26-Albuquerque

AMERICA CAME TO A STANDSTILL The government in

Washington D.C. was shut down

Ships in New York harbor could not unload their cargo

A small fire in Boston grew into a devastating inferno destroying a large amount of the city

The U.S. Cavalry was forced to fight the Apaches on foot

EVERYDAY LIFE WAS FROZEN

In Philadelphia, streetcar companies

suspended service undelivered freight

accumulated at wharves and railroad depots

consumers lacked milk, ice and groceries

saloons lacked beer work halted at construction

sites, brickyards and factories city governments curtailed

fire protection and garbage collection.

ISOLATING DIDN’T HELP While the mortality rate

was relatively low, estimated at only 1%-2% overall, large cities lost many more horses than in rural areas.  

Since there were no horses to haul coal out of mines, many railroads went bankrupt as well as thousands of other businesses.

A four story horse hotel to quarantine the animals. The city of Philadelphia reported the loss of 2500. There were 600,000 horses in the state of New York alone, over 90% fell ill.

NEWSPAPER REPORTSReporting in the New York Times gives an insight into the extent of the outbreak.

"There is hardly a public stable in the city which is not affected“. the paper reported on October 24, 1872.

"It is not uncommon along the streets of the city to see horses dragging along with drooping heads and at intervals coughing violently." "Large quantities of freight are

accumulating along the Erie Railway in Paterson, New Jersey.

“The disease is spreading rapidly in Bangor, Maine. All fire department horses in Providence, Rhode Island, are sick."

THE FATE OF THE ECONOMY WAS IN JEOPARDY

It was becoming apparent that a nation so heavily dependent on the horse for so much could suffer an economic calamity from this epidemic.

Remember, this disease began spreading in the fall of 1872. What are most farmers doing

in the fall of every year? How do Midwestern crops get

to Eastern cities? What impact would this event

have on your ability to buy food for your family?

GREAT BOSTON FIRE OF 1872

One of the major casualties of the Great Epizootic was the city of Boston itself. A great fire swept through the industrial section on November 9, ultimately destroying 65 acres of the city, comprising 776 buildings.

FIREMEN STRAPPED HARNASSES TO THEMSELVES TO HAUL WATER

No one is certain how the fire started.  The water supply in the area was inadequate, and many of the buildings had wooden roofs and were filled with flammable materials. Citizens of Boston were forced to haul water to the location on foot, without the assistance of heavy, faster-moving horses.