History is being made as the COVID 19 coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the globe.
It is unprecedented in modern times. Unfortunately, pandemics are not unprecedented.
As the First World War was drawing to a close in the fall of 1918, the devastating Spanish flu pandemic struck.
It was brought back to North America by soldiers who caught it along the front in Europe. The first cases reached Calgary in early October 1918. Despite measures taken to contain the outbreak, it soon spread across the province.
Red Deer was one of the communities where the Spanish flu hit hard. Hundreds of people in the city and surrounding community were stricken.
Before the pandemic finally faded, more than 50 people across this part of central Alberta passed away. All the health and medical facilities were swamped, including the Red Deer Memorial Hospital, a special isolation hospital on 43rd Street and an adjacent “nurses home.”
Actually, about a month after the pandemic first hit this area, the flu seemed to abate. The number of new cases were dropping off. Then, on Nov. 11, 1918, the First World War came to an end. Large crowds turned out to celebrate the return of peace.
Although everyone made sure to wear a flu mask, in the following days, another more devastating surge of flu cases swept the community. Several more people died, often two or three days after they first fell ill.
Toward the end of December 1918, the flu had abated enough that the isolation hospital and adjacent nurses home were closed.
Churches held their traditional Christmas services, but other festivities were either cancelled or kept very small. The schools did not reopen until the new year.
People began to cautiously return to normal life. However, the real dangers of catching the flu were by no means over.
An example of what could happen involves Samuel Isaac Smith, a prominent and successful local businessman.
Smith was born in Monkton, Ont., on July 22, 1879. In 1904, he moved to Evarts, southwest of Sylvan Lake on the Medicine River.
He joined his brother Donald, who had started a horse and cattle ranch south of the village. The venture was very successful. It was soon widely known as the Smith Brothers, or Island Ranch.
As Evarts was becoming one of the major transportation and commercial points for people homesteading in the West Country, the Smith brothers decided to start a store in the community.
Samuel took the responsibility for the store, while Donald concentrated on running the ranch.
On Sept. 5, 1910, Samuel married Margaret Braton. However, the community was changing.
The Alberta Central and Canadian Northern railways were being built west to Rocky Mountain House, but decided to bypass Evarts. The new townsite was created farther north at Benalto. Several people from Evarts decided to relocate there.
Samuel and Margaret sold the store, but moved to Red Deer to start a family, while Samuel successfully pursued real estate and other business interests. In rapid succession, they had three children – two girls and a boy.
Samuel Smith was very fit and athletic. On Jan. 14, 1919, with the flu seemingly disappearing, he went to Calgary to take part in a curling bonspiel.
Two days later, he collapsed on the ice. After receiving medical attention, he said he was feeling better. He played two more games on the Friday afternoon. He then headed home, as he said he was exhausted.
His condition rapidly deteriorated. On the morning of Saturday, Jan. 25, he died from the terrible pneumonia that often set in right after the flu. He was 40 years old.
His funeral was an outdoor one at the Red Deer Cemetery. The start of the annual Red Deer Bonspiel was delayed so that the local curling community could attend the services, along with large numbers of other mourners.
His wife Margaret also had fallen very ill with the flu and pneumonia, but fortunately, recovered. She later remarried and moved to B.C. with the children.
There is a large white marker in the Red Deer Cemetery in memory of Samuel Isaac Smith.
Red Deer historian Michael Dawe’s column appears Wednesdays.