“10,000 people had congregated at Blatchford Airfield (1929 Edmonton)”
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Today’s Feature
“A super interesting read of life in Northern Alberta back in the 1920’s with two of my great great Grandfathers (Gus Clarke and Joe Lafleur) playing a major role.” Deborah Vos, Grandma to Eleanor, Eamon & Ephraim
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Diphtheria Outbreak at Little Red River
– Credit: Blair Jean, Author-Historian.
Blair Jean Author Historian | Facebook
This article is reposted with permission.
Almost 100 years ago, people in northern Alberta were facing an outbreak of diphtheria, a deadly disease known as “the Strangler” for its ability to choke the breath of its victims. But, northerners took action to control the disease, some at great personal risk to themselves.
Bert Logan an HBC man, had been stationed at Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River and later transferred to Little Red River, five miles below the Vermilion Chutes on the Peace River. After taking holidays in Quebec, Mr. and Mrs. Logan had returned to the Peace River Country.
Along with clothing for residents of the settlement, they also brought back a disease, diphtheria. While unpacking, Mr. Logan felt ill. It wasn’t long before symptoms showed. Mrs. A Logan, who was a nursing sister with the Grey Nuns, realized her husband had diphtheria. This was a sobering thought as she well knew the result if untreated.
She also knew it was imperative to contain the disease to prevent spread through the settlement. But she needed the antitoxin. She hoped the Doctor at Fort Vermilion had a supply. Mrs. Logan quickly made arrangements with Mr. William Gray and his son Bobby to travel 56 miles up the frozen Peace River to fetch the Doctor.
The two set off with horses and sleigh but they were the first to travel the river that winter as the ice was still forming. This required them to check the soundness of ice often with the back of an axe. Knowing the urgency, the two pushed on until reaching their destination.
Upon receiving the concerning news at Fort Vermilion, Dr. Harold Hamman set out by dog team for Little Red River, accompanied by William and son Bobby, with their team of horses.
At Little Red River, Doctor Hamman confirmed Mr. Logan had contracted diphtheria, but 7 days had passed so little could be done to save his life. Bert Logan was already gasping for air, and he would soon be dead.
To stop the spread of the disease, everyone at Little Red River and Fort Vermillion would have to receive an injection. But where would they get the medicine? Doctor Hamman had some out-of-date toxoid but that was a prevention drug, not a treatment. A shipment of both would have to come from Edmonton.
William Gray and his son Bobby were once again called into service. Doctor Hamman sent them back upriver with a message for HBC manager Gus Clark at Fort Vermilion. The message directed Mr. Clark to send a message to Peace River Crossing. The message was to be telegraphed to the Department of Health in Edmonton.
Once the message reached Fort Vermilion, Mr. Clark arranged with Joe (Dollar) LaFleur and Joe’s son-in-law, William Lambert, to get the critical message to the telegraph office at Peace River Crossing.
On December 18, 1928, Joe and William set out with a team of horses and sleigh as well as a dog team for the 280-mile trip by river ice. They took provisions and clothing for winter travel including feather robes for sleeping on the ground at night.
Despite the cold temperatures, the river ice was still forming. Then suddenly Joe broke through the ice. This ordeal forced them to return to Fort Vermilion to recover.
On December 21, Joe LaFleur and William started again for Peace River. With temperatures reaching minus 50 Celsius, it took them four days to reach the settlement of Carcajou, a distance of 110 miles. From Carcajou they traveled over a land trail which took another four days to reach Peace River Crossing on January 1.
Once the message was delivered, Joe and William were hospitalized for recovery from their difficult 8-day trip. The message was immediately sent to Edmonton by telegraph.
Telegram sent at request of Dr. H.A. Hamman
“Logan, HBC man at Red River, fifty miles below Fort Vermilion bad case laryngeal diphtheria. Voice is gone and throat paralyzed. Serum old. Have started immunizing people around but quantity limited. Several known contacts five to nine days ago with great possibility of spread. One other suspicious sore throat tonight. If possible, rush aeroplane. Good landing and no snow. If snow will clear landing strip on river both at Fort Vermilion and Red River. Radio message to me when to expect plane. Send intubation apparatus and several hundred units antitoxin toxoid for two hundred. Cannot leave Logan’s bedside. Real emergency. Do all possible. H.A. Hamman. M.D. “
From this point on, the telegraph operators at Peace River Crossing and Edmonton, F. J. Colmer and Dick Rice, would be kept busy sending telegrams keeping both ends apprised of what was happening.
Meanwhile back at Fort Vermilion, William Gray and his son Bobby took rest for a couple of days. On December 24 they started back for home at Little Red River. They were fortunate to find shelter the first night at Clement Paul’s Sawmill. Overnight the wind and temperature turned very warm. To their horror, the river was covered in meltwater that froze creating glare ice. The horses could not stand on this without horseshoes so once again they were held up.
It was decided William would take the dog team back to Fort Vermilion to get horseshoes. By December 25, the horses were shod at the mill site. The next morning, William and Bobby continued their travels to Little Red River with horses, sleigh and dog team.
While William and Bobby traveled downriver, they spotted another team of horses and sleigh coming upriver. The team was driven by Francis Bourassa. In his company were Dr. Hamman, Mrs. Logan, and the body of poor Mr. Bert Logan, who had died December 22.
The Bourassa horses were struggling to get a footing on the glare ice. Not having shoes, Francis Bourassa had wrapped their feet in burlap sacks for traction. But the burlap was not adequate.
Once again, William Gray and son Bobby saved the day, and perhaps the lives of the Bourassa horses. For if a horse fell and broke a leg, the horse would have to be put down. William turned his team around, transferred the Doctor, Mrs. Logan, and the body to his sleigh, and started back for Fort Vermilion.
But their problems were not over. The RCMP had been advised by a trapper coming upriver by dog team that the body of Bert Logan was coming by horse and sleigh. The residents were terrified.
Ten miles from Fort Vermilion the Mounties met the party and told them not to bring the body into Fort Vermilion. The body was then taken straight to the Anglican cemetery, where it was left.
On January 1, 1929, the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Malcolm Bow, in Edmonton, received the telegraph from Peace River Crossing. Realizing the seriousness of the issue he immediately contacted the well-known pilot Wop May. Dr. Bow reach Wop May in Calgary where he was visiting family. Dr. Bow explained, sending aid by train to Peace River and then by dog teams down the Peace River would take until Jan 16. Being the only plane in the region, Wop said straight up, “We go tomorrow.” He then contacted his partner Vic Horner back in Edmonton to get the plane ready.
Their plane, call letters, G-CAVB, was a two-seater, open cock pit, Avro Avian biplane. The plane was also on wheels as they had no skis. That plane was certainly not suited for this flight. But it was what they had and the outbreak must be stopped. It fell to May and Horner to get the toxoid and antitoxin flown north.
On January 2, as promised, Wop May and Vic Horner were at Edmonton’s Blatchford Field, dressed in their winter flying gear and ready to fly north. Dr. Bow with Mayor Bury arrived and handed the two pilots the critical medicine wrapped in a woolen blanket.
A charcoal heater had been installed in the baggage compartment to keep the medicine from freezing. At 12:45, with pockets stuffed with chocolate bars, the small 75 horsepower plane took to the air with the temperature at minus 28 Celsius, a low ceiling, and ice fog persisting.
CJCA, the broadcasting station of the Edmonton Journal was sending out messages to settlements and trappers along the route to be watching for the plane. It was unsure if forced landings would occur.
This news also caught the attention of Hester Lawrence, a nurse trained in Winnipeg and daughter of the well-known Sheridan Lawrence, an early pioneer of Fort Vermillion. Hester would catch the first available train to Peace River Crossing. From there she would arrange for a dog team to take her 280 miles downriver to the mission at Fort Vermillion. She was bent on returning to her place of birth to aid in the outbreak.
From Edmonton, the pilots followed the Dunvegan & British Columbia Railway north to Smith on the Athabasca River. Then it was northeast 32 air miles following Lesser Slave River and then west 62 air miles along the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake to Grouard. They continued northwest but headwinds and snow forced them down to less than 500 feet.
While en route, smoke was spotted coming from the baggage compartment so a quick landing was made on a small windswept lake. To their surprise, the woolen blanket protecting the serum had caught fire. The baggage compartment idea was not working. The next effort was to place the bottles of serum under their clothing at their armpits and groin areas for most warmth.
After 33 miles west-northwest from Grouard, they landed at 3:55 pm at McLennan on Kimiwan Lake where they spent the night. This was not a planned stopping place however the residents at McLennan, hearing news of the flight north, and realizing they were on the flight path, cleared a strip of lake ice in case the plane might need to land. And so it came to be that strong headwinds with blinding snow coupled with ice forming on the wings, did bring the pilots to land on the makeshift airstrip. Flying time from Edmonton, so far, was just a little over 3 hours for the first 267 air miles.
After Wop and Vic departed Edmonton, a backup plan was being made in case the airmen never made their destination. Western Canada Airways in Winnipeg would send another plane to Edmonton. If the need arose it would be close at hand to execute a potential rescue. The flight from Winnipeg to Edmonton would be the longest daylight flight possible.
On the morning of January 3, Wop and Vic readied their plane, including the precious medicine. The pilots took to the air at 9:40 to complete the next 50 miles. They arrived at Peace River Crossing at 10:30 where they landed on another makeshift airstrip, next to the steamboat shipyard, on the ice of the Peace River.
At 11:45 the pilots were back in their cockpits. They taxied downriver but were unable to gain enough elevation to clear the Peace River Crossing 1918 Railway Bridge. So under they went, between the pillars and then gained elevation, following the river north to Fort Vermillion.
Peace River Crossing sent a telegram to Edmonton advising of the pilot’s progress, including:
“Please broadcast Constable McCarthy, Fort Vermilion, that if the plane is not there tonight he is to come this way with dog teams and supplies.”
After another 250 air miles, the plane touched down at 3:00 pm on the makeshift airstrip in front of the HBC post managed by Gus Clarke, at Fort Vermilion. RCMP and many others were at the landing strip to greet the two pilots. Wop May later reported, “The entire population of Vermilion, was there to meet us.” Including fifteen dog teams coming from the Revillon Freres trading post on the other side of the river.” Shortly after their landing, Dr. Harrold Hamman arrived from Little Red River.
A dance had been organized at Fort Vermilion for that evening where Dr. Hamman started inoculating the residents of Fort Vermilion.
A specially selected dog team and driver were in waiting. That team would whisk Dr. Hamman away, 56 miles further to Little Red River with serum for that community.
Some 200 residents of Fort Vermillion and Little Red River eventually received injections. This put a stop to the outbreak.
On January 4, the day after delivering the toxoid and antitoxin, Wop May and Vic Horner started back 250 air miles for Peace River. Again it was a cold ride at minus 33. The automobile gas they were forced to use for the plane at Fort Vermilion caused problems in the cold. The plane’s engine cut out three times during the flight.
They finally emerged over Peace River Crossing. On the ground, an Alberta Provincial Police officer was standing watch for their return. On spotting the plane he lit a pile of oil-soaked wood. The smoke from the fire provided indication of wind direction for a safer landing.
Once down on the ice the pilots emerged stiff and cold, with fingers, hands, and lips showing frostbite. Due to the bad gas, a two-day layover was required at Peace River for engine repairs. Here also was a supply of aviation gas stored there by Northern Aerial Mineral Exploration (N.A.M.E.)
January 6, the two pilots were heading for Edmonton, some 317 miles to the southward. But their trip was not pleasant at minus 33 Celsius. The plane was over Edmonton in just under 4 hours.
On touch down, some 10,000 people had congregated at Blatchford Airfield to welcome the daring pilots back from their mercy flight. Wop and Vic had to land at the end of the runway to avoid collision with the throng of spectators rushing the small plane.
The large crowd resulted from a telegraph being sent from Peace River Crossing to Edmonton. “Epidemic Checked.”
The media had got wind of the returning pilots which they passed on to the public who were eager for more news.
Those two pilots, in that small plane, covered 1,240 miles with a flying time of over 14 hours. This with a plane very unsuited for this trip, including landing with wheels on frozen lakes and rivers.
When the pilots emerged from the plane, Wop pulled away his face covering but in doing so he also pulled away a layer of frozen face skin. Traveling in open cockpits, at 60 miles per hour, plus, at minus 33 Celsius, the cold wind on the face would have been insufferable.
At least six people at Little Red River showed symptoms of diphtheria but, thanks to the pilots, doctors, residents of Little Red River, Fort Vermilion, and Peace River, only one death occurred during that outbreak, that of Mr. Albert Logan of the HBC who suffered for ten days.
This latest flying accomplishment helped Wop May form his new company, Commercial Airways, and secure a mail contract. He based out of Fort McMurray, flying the mail north, down the Athabasca, Slave and Mackenzie Rivers.
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