Butte, Montana was an exceptional city, but in late 1918, some of the things that made it so exceptional also made it incredibly cruel. That year, Spanish flu swept across the country, killing some 675,000 Americans before year’s end. Some of the country’s highest mortality rates occurred in its cities – Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, and Butte. In less than six months, the virus killed almost 2 percent of Butte’s residents, overwhelming public health systems. Experimental treatments, civil unrest, death, and human resilience followed in the dramatic final weeks of the year. Janelle Olberding recounts the emotional struggle of the men and women who fought against, suffered from, and succumbed to influenza on the “Richest Hill on Earth.”
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List of Butte’s influenza deaths
This list was compiled from death certificates recorded by the City of Butte between October 1918 and January 1919 that listed influenza as either a primary or contributing cause of death (records held at Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives). It is organized alphabetically by last name. Please contact me with questions or comments about this list.
People
Scroll through the photos below to learn about some of the people discussed in the book.
Dr. William F. Cogswell was the Secretary of the Montana State Board of Health. He was initially responsible for the early actions public health took against influenza in Butte and across the rest of the state. The rest of his career was dedicated to fighting communicable disease in Montana. 
Dr. Dan J. Donohue was President of the Montana State Board of Health. As a physician residing in Butte, he worked closely with the Butte-Silver Bow Board of Health. 
Dr. Jed B. Freund was the Secretary of the Butte-Silver Bow Board of Health and responsible for reporting the morbidity and mortality numbers to the rest of the board members at each meeting. He was also primarily responsible for ensuring that all public health directives were put into place and followed. This is a photo of his father, Dr. Isadore D. Freund. I was unable to find a photo of Dr. Jed Freund, but according to his WWI draft card, the doctor had the same dark eyes and medium build as his father. 
Dr. Walter C. Matthews, Butte City Physician, was also an active member of the Butte-Silver Bow Board of Health. 
Dr. Caroline McGill was leader of the Silver Bow Medical Society during the pandemic. She was very familiar with respiratory disease, devoting much of her carer to fighting tuberculosis in Butte. This photo was taken in her later years, circa 1950. 
The Reverend Charles Frederick Chapman was a very popular figure in Butte, presiding over weddings, baptisms, funerals, and a variety of community events. Rev. Chapman was also an outspoken opponent of the board of health’s decision to prohibit religious ceremonies during the pandemic. 
Walter Mueller was the treasurer of Centennial Brewing. He died of influenza on December 9, 1918. 
Arthur Mueller, Walter’s brother, was Centennial’s president. Influenza claimed him on November 27. 
Arthur’s wife, Katherine Sullivan Mueller, survived her fall 1918 bout with influenza. However, the disease claimed her in June 1919 during the pandemic’s third wave. 
Norman Visnes was just two-years-old when influenza claimed his parents in November 1918. He was raised by his uncle in Butte and graduated from Butte High and the School of Mines. He later worked his way up the ranks of the American Smelting and Refining Company. This photo, circa 1932, is from the Butte High School yearbook.
