3:38
Our ancestors had to cope with the specter of disease and the possibility of death in ways that most of us cannot comprehend. There was a near constant fear that smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, cholera, diphtheria, pneumonia, and any number of childhood infections could strike and kill without warning. Of these maladies, smallpox was the most widespread medical terror of the past, and it was a particular concern in the Northwoods where it spread throughout the lumber camps.
There was a nationwide smallpox epidemic at the turn of the twentieth century. Hundreds of people died in major cities across the United States, and smaller communities like those in the Northwoods saw the epidemic wreak havoc on local economies. A smallpox vaccination had been available since 1796, but without government regulation to ensure quality and safety it was a risky and invasive procedure. As a result, many people resisted vaccination and thought the idea of compulsory vaccination as a threat to their health and an invasion of individual rights. This, even though ordinary smallpox had a fatality rate of 30 percent while the malignant and hemorrhagic forms were nearly always fatal.