Chapter 5

April 6, 1850

Suzy died today. Despite the antibiotic and Sun Lee's herb, she never really regained consciousness. Josephine, "Call me Josie", helped me bury her behind the shack. Miz Anne is pulling through, but we also lost one of the boys. We got in five more patients with smallpox to care for and we will need more room if this continues. I hope we get the vaccine to immunize everyone soon before this becomes an epidemic. I'm really worried about my wives and children.

Lisa took Suzy's death hard and is in a depressive slump. She seems not to care if she is alive or dead. My arm hurts where I inoculated myself but it seems to be restricted to the one spot. Josie is a great nurse. She seems to know when a patient needs help and has no hesitation in doing the messy jobs involved in treating comatose patients. She told me that she was a muleskinner of all things! She runs loads between Oregon and Wyoming over the Oregon Trail as part of a supply train that went to the various trading posts and forts. When I asked if the men gave her any problems on the trail, she looked at me as if I were crazy. I don't understand why she acted so surprised. Josie is a sweet woman who can hold a good conversation and seems to be a good companion after you get past her constantly putting herself down because of her scars.

Elizabeth likes her too and they spend a lot of the time together when they aren't taking care of the patients just talking about various subjects. Claire brought all three of us some clean clothes and some more food when she came to see us. It was hard to see her keeping so far away, but she had never been vaccinated and I warned her that if she came any closer I would kill her if the smallpox didn't. I think my mentioning the children had the greatest effect though. Josie was surprised when she learned that I had three wives. She asked the same thing I always heard, "Are you a Mormon?". Sometimes I almost feel like becoming one just to stop the question. Upon being assured by Elizabeth and I that I wasn't she gave me more funny looks.

All the women are taking turns cooking for the people. I tried to help but Elizabeth and Sun Lee threw me out of the kitchen area. After they talked to Josie, she wouldn't let me help her either. I don't think they'll ever let me live down that hot chili and the pico de gallo I made. I grew up eating Thai and Mexican dishes, so to me they weren't hot. I wonder what they would have done if I could have fixed some Tomyam Kung instead.

Most of the patients that are being brought in are young boys or girls who never received vaccinations back east and the ones born in the Oregon Territory. We need to set up a system of vaccinations for smallpox for Oregon so this never happens again. We also need a hospital, but I don't know how we can get that set up with the distrust of doctors most people have.

April 7, 1850

Miz Anna and Lisa are improving rapidly and the older children are doing well for the most part. They will have some scarring but the application of the antibiotic solution on their skin seems to have reduced it a great deal. The younger ones are the ones that I'm worried about. They seem to be more rapidly affected by the disease and are harder to treat. Dr. Campbell told me when the last patients were delivered that he expected to get all available supplies of vaccine from Oregon City by the 10th, and would vaccinate my wives and children first. Several people died before they were found, including the parents of one of the young girls we have here. Lisa held on to her when she learned that and has been caring for her ever since. At least it seems to have gotten her out of her deep depression.

April 8, 1850

We lost another young boy last night. He wasn't two years old. I think the youngest ones are the hardest to lose. Everyone is depressed about it. We are continuing to treat the others and have had two more brought in. Three other women have come here to work with the patients. One I wouldn't let come around because she couldn't or wouldn't show me a vaccination scar. This makes it easier for us since there are more people to take care of the sick ones but we end up needing more supplies. The biggest problem I'm having is making sure everyone washes their hands between patients. I had to chew out one of the women who came to help today when she failed to wash her hands. Hopefully I won't have to do that again, but I will if I have to.

Josie has been a rock of support through this along with Elizabeth and Sun Lee. They are keeping things organized and clean in the shack and the surrounding area. I have been relegated to giving advice and cutting wood for the fire. My inoculation has formed a scab and I have felt no further effects from it. I just hope that it provides protection. The women have formed a bond between them and I often see them talking to each other when I'm busy doing something outside.

April 9, 1850

Josh and Frieda showed up today and asked to help. I wouldn't let them because neither has had a vaccination against smallpox. I think they wanted to see Sun Lee more than anything else. The longing looks exchanged should have been used to light a fire they were so hot. These kids need to get married soon or there may be some large stomachs at the wedding. While this isn't uncommon around here, I'd rather they were married first. Josie was surprised again when she learned that the three intended to have a multiple marriage as well.

I heard her asking Elizabeth and Sun Lee about multiple marriages. I couldn't hear what they replied because one of the other women came up to me with a question about one of the young boys. By the time I had finished with her the three had already moved out of earshot. When I asked Elizabeth about the conversation later when we went to bed, she just gave me a, "What are you? Stupid?" look and refused to answer. I hate it when she does that.

April 10, 1850

We didn't get any new patients today and are continuing to treat the ones we have. Some of the first ones are beginning to form pustules and I am trying my best to keep them from scratching themselves to prevent scarring. This is really difficult with the younger ones, but between Josie, Sun Lee and Elizabeth, we are managing to stop most of it. The constant bathing them in the antibiotic seems to be helping prevent any major skin problems. One of the youngest girls is having a lot of problems with the antibiotic and seems to be allergic to whatever is in it. I will have to stop using the antibiotic if she doesn't start tolerating it better.

April 11, 1850

The doctor came by and told me that they have received the vaccine from Oregon City and my wives and children have been vaccinated. That is a relief. I was worried that they might be exposed to the smallpox before they were vaccinated. We didn't receive any patients today either and I hope that means there will be no more later. We still have at least 16 more days until everyone is healed. At least we seem to have worked out a good system of resupply for now. Every evening I put a list of what we need on the tree about 100 feet away from the house and every noon I go to pick up the delivered supplies. I don't know who is paying for this but I have an idea that I am paying for most of it.

April 16, 1850

All the patients have begun scarring over the pustules and the young boy and girl that Josie brought with her have scarred over. We managed to prevent scarring on most of the ones brought in later but not all of them. One of the young boys has lost his sight completely and I have no idea what to do about it. Several of the smallest ones may have eye damage but they can't talk yet so I have no idea how much they have suffered. Lisa seems to have come out of her depression completely and is spending a lot of the time helping with the smallest children. We haven't received any new patients since the eighth so I hope that means the disease is being contained. Miz Anna is a jewel. She started helping as soon as she could get out of bed and has been assisting Elizabeth, Sun Lee and Josie ever since. She has a voice that seems to soothe the fussiest child and her comments when one of the other women forget my rule about washing would take paint off a wall.

April 21, 1850

All of the patients have scarred over on the pustules and the first two have started to drop the scabs. I am having a problem keeping the most recovered children occupied and Miz Anna has been a great help by telling them stories and leading them in games. By the end of the month we should have all the patients ready to leave. I wasn't sure when they could be released but Miz Anna told me that when the scabs were completely off then they would not be infectious any more.

I have started calling Josie, Elizabeth and Sun Lee the Three Musketeers; they are so tight with each other. It seems whenever I see one of them the others are near by. The only time when I see Elizabeth by herself is in bed. She told me that she invited Josie to visit with us after we get through this for a while. I don't know what is going on, but I get the impression that the three of them are plotting something.

April 30. 1850

The final patient is getting ready to leave tomorrow. His last scab should have dropped by then. He has lost his sight in one eye but is still glad to be alive. I wasn't too sure he was going to make it for a while. I was depressed about the ones we lost, but Miz Anna told me that losing so few was astonishing, as usually there was a thirty percent mortality rate. She will be remaining here with Lisa and the young girl Lisa seems to have adopted in place of Suzy for a while until she gets her strength up again. She did too much when she wasn't completely well and needed to rest for a while. I invited her to visit if she ever got to Cincinnati. We never did find out what the young girl was named by her parents as they were new arrivals and died without leaving any record of her name. Lisa told me that she was going to name her Suzy after her dead daughter.