1918 flu pandemic shut down Clovis

Myrtle Gurley was the first to die, on Oct. 7, 1918. She left two small children and a husband.

Ten days later, Clovis’ number of influenza deaths had swelled to 23. “This is by no means whatsoever a large death rate, considering the hundreds of cases involved,” The Clovis News reported.

Mayor Lester Stone had ordered all public meeting places closed, including schools, theaters and churches.

Coronavirus is a concern for eastern New Mexico, and the world, today. The Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 reminds us why we take human-to-human transmission of viruses so seriously.

At least 20 million people worldwide died from the flu that winter. An estimated 670,000 died in the United States. About 5,000 died in New Mexico.

Clovis’ population at the time was less than 5,000. About 40 city residents died from the flu, according to newspaper accounts.

October 1918 was the worst month.

“People died faster than we could bury them,” said Clayton Reed, who lived north of Clovis at the time.

A front-page editorial appeared in The Clovis News on Oct. 17, 1918.

“He who attempts to deny, even to himself, that these are serious days in Clovis either does not know the situation as it really exists or else he is of the same frame of mind as the individual who whistles to keep up his faltering courage,” it read.

But then, as now, community leaders were urging caution, not panic.

“This is no time for hysteria in Clovis,” the editorial continued. “It is a day and an hour for the manliness of men and the womanliness of women. Human fear is about the most ineffective and impotent thing imaginable. It produces as much protection against disease as one’s hand in front of the face would be worth against a lightning stroke from the blue above.”

By Oct. 31, 1918, a newspaper headline read, “Influenza epidemic in Clovis practically over.”

“Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 30), the health headquarters only had requests for two volunteer nurses whereas during the epidemic the calls often ran as high as seventy-five daily,” the paper reported.

The lead story in the Nov. 7, 1918, News was headlined, “Epidemic Stamped Out.”

Picture shows were scheduled to reopen on Nov. 9, churches were scheduled to reopen on Nov. 10 and “the town will go ahead as usual,” the paper reported.

As usual, we can assume, except for lessens learned about the “manliness of men and the womanliness of women.”

David Stevens writes about regional history for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

[email protected]

More local history:

pagespast.net