Aug. 28, 2025

The Laredo Smallpox Riot

The Laredo Smallpox Riot
Spotify podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player icon

a Smallpox outbreak arose in Octobere 1898 in Laredo, but tensions grew when the Texas Rangers were callled to assist in forcibly taking sick people to "pesthouses". In this episode, Cristina tells Carmen about the Laredo Smallpox Riot.

If you have topic suggestions, feel free to email Historiasunknownpodcast@gmail.com or use the contact us form on the website https://www.historiasunknown.com/contact/

Want ad free episodes? And weekly bonus episodes? Support Historias Unknown on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/HistoriasUnknownPodcast

By joining, you can help Historias Unknown donate 20% funds to charity. This month's donation went to CLEAN, carwash worker center, an org thata has been helping car wash workers who are unable to leave their homes due to increeaing ICE raids in LA country, by providing groceries to over 200 car wash workers. Follow @carwasherxs on instagram

Follow on social media:

Instagram: https : //www.instagram.com/historiasunknown/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@historiasunknown

Historias Unknown is on YouTube now!

https://youtube.com/@historiasunknown?si=_rmuVXrSQhs5R1bg

Sources

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/laredo-smallpox-riot
https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=2012
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1069029/https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/about/history.htmlhttps://www.who.int/health-topics/smallpox#tab=tab_2
https://traviscountyhistorical.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-history-of-travis-county-pest-camps.html
https://www.marquette.edu/cgi-bin/cuap/db.cgi?uid=default&ID=5982&view=Search&mh=1

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/historias-unknown--6253658/support.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:14.199
Hi everyone. This is Carmen and Christina and this is

2
00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.000
The Study as a known, a podcast where we talk

3
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.239
about Latin American history. Sometimes it's horrible and deals with

4
00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.960
heavy topics like racism, corruption, and genocide. But more than that,

5
00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:27.320
it's also by resistance, power and community. And we're back

6
00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:31.719
for back maybe. Yes, the break was what we needed

7
00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:38.600
for me to pack and mostly unpacked. Yeah, and we're ready.

8
00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:43.960
We're ready to go. So today it's it's a shorter

9
00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.240
episode because there's not a lot of information on the

10
00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:48.759
scene that happened, but I didn't know about it. So

11
00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.200
here we are. A few episodes back. I did a

12
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.600
series on mob violence toward Mexicans in the US, and

13
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.880
the last two really focused on Texas and the Texas Arrangers.

14
00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:04.000
And like we sometimes do, we make short videos about

15
00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.560
the topics that we cover on the podcast to post

16
00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:11.640
on TikTok and Instagram. Right, yeah, And I don't remember

17
00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.640
where the comment came from, but I posted a video

18
00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:19.159
about the Bortovindi massacre and the Texas Rangers and someone said,

19
00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:24.799
look into the smallpox riot of vlad Delo, Texas, and

20
00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:27.799
I was like, okay, oh, I don't think I saw

21
00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:32.680
that comment. Yeah, well there's thousands now so when you

22
00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:38.640
combine Instagram and TikTok. Anyway, Yeah, someone said that and

23
00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.439
I was like, okay, and that's what this episode is,

24
00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:46.319
the smallpox riots. Interesting, never heard of this. Yeah, I

25
00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:48.879
had no idea. And so this takes place in March

26
00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:52.879
eighteen ninety nine. But before we can talk about what

27
00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.239
happened on that day, that's share some context. Yes, we

28
00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.519
have like a little button that just like context. Context.

29
00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:04.000
We love context. Actually the button should say we love context,

30
00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:09.599
we love no, but we love it. No, yeah, no, seriously.

31
00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:13.560
So you know, thanks to the series that we did

32
00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:19.520
on violence, violence, we know that this was a very

33
00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:23.360
tense time period between the Texas Rangers and Mexicans in

34
00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.479
Texas because of the Texas Rangers, but also you know,

35
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.960
there's the Mexican American War, then just a lot of

36
00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:36.360
angles arrive into the area, the Mexican Revolution, all of

37
00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:41.400
these things are happening, and just really it's it was

38
00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:46.599
bad time, contentious time, yes, thank you. And also this

39
00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:49.199
is the eighteen hundreds we're talking about, and it's like

40
00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.599
a terrible time to be sick with anything just in general. Yeah, yeah,

41
00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:56.960
like that's a death sentence, a cough dead not dead.

42
00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:00.240
Cut on your finger. If you don't lose your finger,

43
00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:03.479
you die, or you lose your finger and then you die. Right, Yeah,

44
00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.319
tennis and all that. Yeah, we didn't have things that

45
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:14.120
we have today, like vaccines. But also before we talk

46
00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:17.960
about the riot, what is smallpox. It is a super

47
00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:23.159
contagious disease caused by the variola virus. Even though the

48
00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:28.520
names sound the same, chicken pox and smallpox, chicken pox

49
00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.080
is not from the same virus. I was gonna say,

50
00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:33.120
it's a different virus, right, it's a herpes virus. Yeah,

51
00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:36.800
I remember from listening to this podcast will Kill You,

52
00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:39.120
a very fun podcast. I haven't listened to that in

53
00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:41.280
so long. I haven't either a while. I got to

54
00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:46.400
get back to it. But yeah, So smallpox is believed

55
00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.080
to have existed for at least three thousand years before

56
00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:55.000
it was eradicated three thousand years. Well, yes, and it's

57
00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:59.159
eradicated like it's gone. Oh, like it's eradicated now. It

58
00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:03.400
doesn't exist except in labs to be maybe when they

59
00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:08.360
used as a biological weapon, which is very scary. Anyway,

60
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:14.199
The origin of smallpox is unknown, but smallpox like rashes

61
00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:20.600
have been found on Egyptian mummies. Wow. Yeah, I forgot

62
00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:24.680
which mummy specifically, but like on his head. Oh, and

63
00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.279
that's where that three thousand years comes from. They're dating

64
00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:30.879
back to like that like for sure, then possibly longer.

65
00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.240
The earliest written description of a disease that sounds like

66
00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:39.600
smallpox comes from fourth century China. Fourth century. I can't

67
00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:44.160
even like fathom the fourth century, right, like oh, and

68
00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:47.279
then there's like there's like a drawings of them like

69
00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:51.800
making altars to a god to like help them with smallpox,

70
00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:54.040
which is just fascinating to see how people dealt with

71
00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:57.480
it because obviously there's no vaccines, so all they had

72
00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:00.879
was their gods or god. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. In Japan

73
00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:06.000
in the eleventh century, there's uh drawings of offerings to

74
00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:16.199
a smallpox demon. Yeah. Anyway, so early signs on symptoms

75
00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:19.800
of smallpox include a high fever, fatigue, severe back pain,

76
00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:23.759
severe back pain. I want to connected that I know

77
00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:26.639
the symptoms so amazing. I wouldn't have thought of that,

78
00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:31.199
and it's gone, so you wouldn't know it exactly exactly. Yes,

79
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:35.199
thank you vaccines. Well to come back as has the measles,

80
00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:38.560
I hope not if it's a two rfk it will

81
00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:43.839
hm hmm but less rare, but also sometimes happen with

82
00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:48.360
some people's abdominal pain and vomiting. And that's like day

83
00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:51.079
one and two, right, because it gets worse and then

84
00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:57.000
you die. Yes. Day three is when the rash develops.

85
00:05:57.079 --> 00:05:59.800
And this is a very specific looking rash, like there's

86
00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:03.199
these big bumps everywhere. The bumps are full of clear

87
00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:07.519
liquid and then puss, I'm sorry for this, and then that.

88
00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:12.439
Then these bumps develop a crust and then that dries

89
00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:18.959
and falls off. Yeah, And the rash begins on the

90
00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:22.680
face and hands and then spreads to the entire body,

91
00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:27.639
but in the in the face specifically, it's these like

92
00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:32.399
lesions inside the mouth, the now the nose and mouth oo. Yeah.

93
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:36.920
That then they become ulcers. So then you can't even eat, right, no,

94
00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:39.360
I mean it sounds painful like it would. But also

95
00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:42.560
some people are throwing up at the same time, you know. Yeah,

96
00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:47.759
honestly sounds like a terrible time. No. Yeah, again, highly contagious.

97
00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:50.839
It's transmitted from person to person through droplets. So like

98
00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.279
you know, you're love one sick, you comfort them, they

99
00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.519
turn and cough in your face and get done. They

100
00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:04.399
breathe next to you, but also through contaminated clothes and bedding.

101
00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:07.439
And it has an incubation period. Do you know what

102
00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:12.839
incubation period means? Yeah? I like, I like vaguely like, no,

103
00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:16.519
it's like the time I'll just like explain, yeah, before

104
00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.079
you go on about how you don't know what was

105
00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:22.480
the same. It's the time between when you get it

106
00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:27.000
and you're contagious and then you before you show symptoms, right, yeah,

107
00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:30.120
so it is the time from you are infected to

108
00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.160
the time you show symptoms. Sometimes you spread the disease

109
00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:37.959
during this, sometimes you don't smill box. It's not contagious

110
00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.399
during the incubation period. It is contagious when you start

111
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:43.680
having a fever, which is like day one of symptoms.

112
00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:47.279
So interesting, Yeah, which is good because the incubation period

113
00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:51.160
of this is seven to nineteen days. Seven to nineteen days. Yeah,

114
00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:53.720
so you could have gotten it from someone between that

115
00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:57.360
time nationality symptoms, Yeah, you know in those amount of days.

116
00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.360
Well that means it doesn't spread as easy as fast

117
00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:03.800
as something else until yeah, like but it's not like

118
00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:06.319
they knew that back then, right right, So it's what

119
00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:09.160
someone is sick though, and you're near that sick person

120
00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:11.959
one hundred percent, you're going to get it, right, but

121
00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:15.319
it wasn't like like COVID right right, right, Yeah, and

122
00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.759
then your infectious from the moment the fever develops to

123
00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:24.120
the last scabs. I did know that falling off and

124
00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:29.399
this these scabs like sorry, the pustular rash, the pustules,

125
00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:34.759
those wings gap. It sounds discussing, but the pustular rash

126
00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:38.519
is before its scabs, right, yes, the scabs after Yeah,

127
00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:40.759
so that's about ten days and then it takes another

128
00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:44.080
six days after that for the scabs to all fall off. Now,

129
00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.840
so you're like infections for a long time. Yeah, you're

130
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.960
dealing with this for a long time if you don't die. Yeah,

131
00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:52.600
what was the survivable rate of this? It was like

132
00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:57.360
three out of ten people died. Oh, but I couldn't

133
00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:00.240
find the exact year, like because in some areas like

134
00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:05.120
ninety percent of people. Yeah, like the seventeenth century when

135
00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:08.679
colonizers brought smallpox to North America. Yeah, and it was

136
00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:12.000
extremely deadly. And I will say it was deadly er

137
00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:15.720
because in like Europe and all these areas there was

138
00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:20.519
a form of inoculation for a while. So inoculation is

139
00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:24.360
like a precursor to vaccines, where like people had is

140
00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:27.320
that like herd immunity, Yeah, sort of like people had

141
00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:31.200
been living in close proximity to animals that had variations

142
00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:36.120
of smallpox within their own like species, right, and because

143
00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:40.279
of that people some people developed inoculation or some people

144
00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:43.720
had already gotten sick and survived, and so then you

145
00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:45.960
know that immunity spreads, and so a lot of people

146
00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:49.360
were already immune, these people being the colonizers that then

147
00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.440
came to North America, South America, these places that had

148
00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:56.720
never seen this disease before, and like a smallpox killed

149
00:09:57.080 --> 00:10:01.000
at least thirty percent of all indigenous peopleeople in like

150
00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.080
all these continents, in some areas like being like one

151
00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:09.799
hundred percent of some groups percent. Wow, and you're adding

152
00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:12.279
measos and the flu. That's where those numbers grow even

153
00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:14.320
more because measos and the flu also had not been

154
00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:18.279
encountered by these groups before Cortes and his army of

155
00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.320
colonizers they lost their first battle to the Meschica in

156
00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.039
the Tan, and then they were returning for their second attack,

157
00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:28.279
fearing that they were going to lose because they had

158
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.759
already like lost that first battle. When they got back

159
00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:35.200
to the they found that smallpox had devastated the city,

160
00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:39.200
like so many had died already because they brought smallpox

161
00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:43.720
with them in other parts, like in more north than that,

162
00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.279
so like in the what would become the US, But

163
00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:53.360
when it was like still under British colonization, they found

164
00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:57.039
that smallpox was very deadly to indigenous people and they

165
00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:00.720
were like, hey, let's make smallpox blankets. Yeah, and there

166
00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:04.559
was a weapon, and again it was very very deadly.

167
00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:10.360
The Incan Empire also a very very like ninety percent

168
00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:16.639
mentality rate mortality rate, so yeah, very deadly. And until

169
00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:20.600
smallpox was eradicated through a vaccine, there were outbreaks that

170
00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.000
happened very often all over the world. The last known

171
00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:29.000
cases happened in the late nineteen seventies. Damn mm hmm,

172
00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:33.440
yeah that long ago. No, no, yeah again, no, thanks

173
00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.679
to vaccines. It is the only human infectious disease in

174
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:41.960
the world to be completely eradicated, because even polio came back, right, yeah,

175
00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:45.639
and it wasn't completely eradicated everywhere. It had been eradicated

176
00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.559
in the US, but obviously like other areas. I remember

177
00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:51.320
listening well too, this podcast will kill you, and they

178
00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:53.200
mentioned that, Yeah, in some areas of the world it

179
00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.039
was still around, and I think they had someone from

180
00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.120
I forgot where in the world, but they had contracted

181
00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:01.679
it as a child as guests they had them him

182
00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:06.159
on Wow. Well yeah, like I said, outbreaks happened on

183
00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:10.639
a very regular basis before wide efforts to completely get

184
00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.279
rid of this disease. And again, the way this was

185
00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:15.720
done is it was amazing. I didn't write it down

186
00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:17.919
because it would take so long. But basically it was

187
00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:23.320
like a worldwide effort between like Who and the CDC.

188
00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.399
And I mean, if anyone wants to learn more, you

189
00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:30.960
can listen to the episode on smallpox from this podcast

190
00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.399
will kill you because they get into the history. Yeah,

191
00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:36.519
how it was eradicated all of that, Yeah, but it's fascinating.

192
00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:41.279
But basically, yeah, it was just this effort like quarantines,

193
00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:47.240
door to door vaccinations, things like that. Contact tracing. I

194
00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:51.200
am fascinated by contact tracing, truly fascinating, and it is

195
00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:55.440
what helped eradicate smallpox even the last outbreak that the

196
00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:59.440
last one that happened in somewhere, yeah, in nineteen seventy seven.

197
00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:03.120
I forgot where it was though, Somalia maybe, but it

198
00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.519
was contact tracing where they were able to like stop

199
00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:09.480
it from being spread and then like just vaccinate everyone.

200
00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:15.840
So yeah, contact tracing it works, public health it works.

201
00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:19.799
So yeah. One of these regular outbreaks that happened before

202
00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:31.759
the eradication of smallpox eighteen ninety eight Loretto, Texas. So

203
00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:36.200
on October fourth, eighteen ninety eight, doctors in Laredo started

204
00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.840
noticing the spread of an illness that resembled chicken pox.

205
00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:41.840
It was spreading among the children, and soon they realized,

206
00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:44.919
oh no, this is not chicken pox, this is smallpox

207
00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:49.679
because it's more deadly. The first death from this outbreak

208
00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:53.240
happened on October twenty ninth, eighteen ninety eight, and it

209
00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:57.919
was a Mexican child, and this death prompted the then mayor,

210
00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:02.279
Mayor Lewis J. Christen and officials to start a committee

211
00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:06.720
to investigate the spread of this illness. And within three months,

212
00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:10.000
by the end of January eighteen ninety nine, there had

213
00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.960
been more than one hundred cases in Laedo, and because

214
00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:17.759
of this, officials advised stronger measures to control the spread

215
00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.919
of the disease. And so this is where doctor Walter

216
00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:27.759
Fraser Blunt Blunt, a Texas State health officer then advised

217
00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:31.600
house to house vaccination and fumigation, the burning of all

218
00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:35.919
possibly contaminated clothing and personal effects that could not be fumigated,

219
00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.320
and then the establishment of a field hospital for all

220
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:43.879
infected patients. And this field hospital it became like a

221
00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:48.480
quarantine area that then was called a pest house. And

222
00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:52.279
these measures to control the disease were mostly taking place

223
00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:54.960
in the poorer areas of Ladedo, which also happened to

224
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.919
be mostly Mexican areas. And like we know that then

225
00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:04.080
populated areas are where viruses thrive. Yeah, it has nothing

226
00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:07.679
to do with a race, right, If anything, it has

227
00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:17.440
to do with the disparities that follow racial and ethnic

228
00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:22.960
and disadvantage groups right right, And then there's a reason

229
00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.279
the most a risk groups are the more highly densely

230
00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:30.679
populated areas. You add in like the style of living, like, oh,

231
00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.679
is it a multi generational home? Right people in this area?

232
00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:36.159
So yeah, all those things come into play when you

233
00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:42.840
look at how viruses are spreading. But we and our

234
00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:46.080
listeners know that this is the time period also where

235
00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:50.639
eugenics was like fully thriving, right, you know, people were

236
00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:54.000
blamed because of their race, Like, oh, those dirty Mexicans.

237
00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:59.440
So the fact this was getting mostly Mexican children was

238
00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:04.279
adding touch that narrative. Yes, thank you for your type. Yeah. Yeah. Also,

239
00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:07.639
these pest camps were hardly a place to heal and

240
00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:12.120
get better. It was probably more disease written. Yeah, and

241
00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:14.919
it was more like a prison, Oh god, and a

242
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.919
death sentence going there and meant you were going to die. Basically,

243
00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:22.080
these pest camps had armed guards to keep the sick

244
00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:25.559
in and visitors out. No one was allowed to be

245
00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:28.960
closer than seventy five feet. It was also common for

246
00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.080
these patients to escape when guards were not around. I mean,

247
00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:34.919
you can't treat people like this or else they're gonna

248
00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.600
want to escape even though they're sick. You can spread

249
00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.240
their illness. Yeah, but when you treat people like shit,

250
00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:42.879
they're gonna want If you treat them like prisoners, they're

251
00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:45.039
going to feel they need to escape, like come on now. Yeah.

252
00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.840
Oftentimes they were referred to as inmates instead of patients.

253
00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:51.120
Oh my god. And so of course no one is

254
00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:54.320
gonna want to go there, or even if they're sick. Yeah,

255
00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:57.320
like you might even lie about meansick, right, you might

256
00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:01.399
resist going there. Right, It was coming for patients to

257
00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:04.640
escape and then run into the nearest body of water

258
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.200
to looking for relief from the pain and then die.

259
00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:12.839
You know, other people ran to their homes to die

260
00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.640
in comfort, but then unfortunately like spread the disease. Right. Yeah,

261
00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.359
there's a case of a patient escaping and then pouring

262
00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.480
kerosene all over himself and his bedding and then setting

263
00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:27.279
himself on fire. Oh wow, truly vile, horrible things, truly,

264
00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:29.720
I mean, and like I'm sure obviously there was no

265
00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:35.319
better way to handle this, right, right, crisis. Yeah, this pandemic,

266
00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:38.440
I don't know if it was pandemic thoal that has

267
00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:43.519
an egredemication, Okay, yeah, epidemic also, like I understand these

268
00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:46.920
are different times. I'm just sharing what these pest houses

269
00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.960
were like and that they were more like presents. Right. So,

270
00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:53.720
Small Box was still spreading and it was so bad

271
00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:57.160
that on March sixteenth, eighteen ninety nine, doctor Blunt himself

272
00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:01.519
arrived in Lato from Austin, Texas to be there and

273
00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:06.160
in charge of the fight against this epidemic. Around this

274
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:10.160
time that he was arriving from Austin to l Ledo,

275
00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:14.000
residents began to resist the fumigations and like, I can't

276
00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:16.640
find a reason why they were resisting. But I think

277
00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:18.440
if we think back to how it has to do

278
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:21.960
with how they were treating the contagious people, right, if

279
00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:24.079
we think to how they were being treated inside the

280
00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:27.119
pest houses, and then you think about like our episode

281
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.440
on the Panama Canal Zone and how the fumigations were

282
00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.480
taking place there and say that, yeah, yeah, it isn't

283
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.960
hard to see why anyone would be resistant to this.

284
00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:40.119
I imagine they were just getting in there, not explaining anything.

285
00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:43.279
I imagine there was a language barrier, and like, yeah,

286
00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:48.240
you know, so I understand the point of resistance, not

287
00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.799
the point I understand the resistance happening, right, Like, I

288
00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:55.839
don't blame them the apprehension, right, Like, I get it.

289
00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:03.720
But because of this resistance, Blunt requested the Texas Rangers.

290
00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:11.640
Texas Rangers mentioned bingo, Yeah, he requested them to assist

291
00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:16.559
medical teams in the house to house vaccinations and fumigations.

292
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.559
And so the Rangers, or a detachment of the Rangers

293
00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:24.359
arrived three days later on March nineteenth, eighteen ninety nine.

294
00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:27.160
And this is probably not a surprise, but the Rangers

295
00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:31.319
started breaking doors down, removing people with force from their

296
00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:36.640
homes and like dragging them to the pest houses violently.

297
00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:40.920
And so in response to this, protesters got together and

298
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:48.400
started throwing rocks at the Texas Rangers and health officials, rocking, yes, rockings,

299
00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:51.640
And during this protest, one health official was hit on

300
00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.400
the head by a rock and one of the protesters,

301
00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:58.759
Pablo Aguillade, was shot in the leg. From what I

302
00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:02.319
can see, both were okay, no, none of these injuries were deadly,

303
00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:06.640
and so that was at for now, But of course

304
00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:10.319
that wasn't everything right. The following day, the Laredo Times

305
00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:15.000
reported that quote a local hardware store called the Dudes

306
00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:23.559
Dutes Deutz I'm gonna guess dudes as well, I don't know, okay,

307
00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:28.200
called the Dudes Brothers had received a telephone order for

308
00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:31.680
two thousand rounds of bugshot to be delivered to a

309
00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:36.039
house in the southeastern portion of the city. But instead

310
00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:39.599
of feeling the order, the authorities were notified and given

311
00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:43.119
the location where the delivery was to be made. And so,

312
00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:47.720
based on that report, local Sheriff LR or TH's and

313
00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:52.119
Captain J. H. Rogers of the Texas Rangers and the

314
00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:57.160
Texas Rangers Detachment, they obtained a search warrant for wherever

315
00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:00.799
that ammunition was supposed to be delivered. By now, more

316
00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:04.519
rangers had arrived as reinforcements, and they began doing house

317
00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:07.759
to house searches looking for the ammunition that had been

318
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:13.799
allegedly delivered or that had been ordered for delivery. And

319
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.839
so when they got to the home of a former

320
00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:23.000
la of the policeman named Agapito, the rangers met some trouble.

321
00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:28.599
Agapito met them outside of his house and he was

322
00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:31.880
speaking with sheriff or thieves when a young man who

323
00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:35.319
had been standing in the doorway yelled, yeah, like I

324
00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:38.200
don't know, telling someone now, oh right, and then he

325
00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:41.559
ran inside and at that moment the rangers drew their guns,

326
00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:44.519
and by then Agapito had also ran inside and gone

327
00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:47.319
out through the back door along with several armed men,

328
00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:55.319
and then a gun battle ensued. So was in on it? Yeah?

329
00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.160
I think he set them up? Oh wow, damn, not

330
00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.400
the setup, It would seem that way. I don't know,

331
00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.240
it does kind of seem that way. Yeah, I don't

332
00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:07.759
know who shot first, that's not clear. But did you

333
00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.759
saying ambush? Wow damn? Set up? The texted rangers? Yeah,

334
00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.559
I think so, uh and so. In this gun battle

335
00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:20.480
Detextas Rangers captain J. H. Rogers was hitting the shoulder

336
00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.240
and I got Pito had been shot in the chest.

337
00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:27.279
Both were still alive. I Gotto fell to the ground

338
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.400
from his wound, and then Ranger A y those his

339
00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:34.519
initials A y Old ran up to Apito and shot

340
00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:38.160
him in the head twice. Okay, I mean he was

341
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:43.319
already like hers down, He's down, man down. Shoot a

342
00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:47.160
man once he's already down, like the role of I

343
00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.119
don't know, I'm making shut up, but it's not wrong.

344
00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.519
I don't know. To me, yes, but you know, I

345
00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:56.079
guess when you're being ambushed, it's all fair game. But

346
00:22:56.119 --> 00:22:58.359
it's all fair game to the Rangers anyway. They don't care.

347
00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.599
That's true. That's true. I mean they ambushed. But they

348
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:06.160
have done this otherwise, probably right, they used to say.

349
00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:10.880
But yeah they have we know they have another man,

350
00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:15.920
Santiago Grimaldo was shot in the stomach and A Gopito's

351
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.279
sister was shot in the arm. From this instance, though,

352
00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:21.759
I think A Gopito was the only one to be

353
00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.119
killed or to die. The Rangers evactuated with their captain

354
00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:29.960
and then they returned to the scene. Once their captain

355
00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:32.759
was saved, they returned to find a crowd of one

356
00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:37.200
hundred surrounding a gopito, and some of the one hundred

357
00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:39.680
were armed, not all of them, just some of them,

358
00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:45.160
you know, only a small them out probably numbers. I

359
00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:47.720
don't have exact numbers. Okay. There was some back and

360
00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:51.880
forth between the crowd and the rangers, and then someone

361
00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:58.119
in the crowd fired at the rangers. Then the arrangers

362
00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:02.559
opened fire into the crowd, the whole crowd, the whole crowd. Yeah,

363
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:06.599
and I found eight were wounded, but there's also some

364
00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:10.160
sources that say thirteen. So eight to thirteen were wounded

365
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:14.720
from this attack, and one man died. And the rangers

366
00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:18.400
then retreated into market Square and all through the night

367
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:22.880
there was gunfire exchange. Oh wow. Yeah. The rangers had

368
00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.359
to call on the US Army cavalry unit that was

369
00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:30.920
stationed at Fort McIntosh, and the cavalry arrived on March

370
00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:34.519
twenty first, eighteen ninety nine, and then over the next

371
00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:37.599
several days, with the help of the army, together they

372
00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:42.680
coelled this riot rebellion, right, I don't know mine anyway,

373
00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:46.759
So they arrested twenty one people, including a journalist named

374
00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:51.359
Housto Cardenas for having participated in the riot. But I

375
00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:54.279
don't know what their evidence was for any of it, right,

376
00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:57.359
just they arrested twenty one people that were part of

377
00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:01.200
the crowd, and more small pop deaths occurred through the

378
00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:04.160
end of March, then decreased in April of that year,

379
00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:07.559
and then by May the quarantine order in Laedo had

380
00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:22.799
been lifted. And yeah, that was the smallpox riot of Ladolo, Texas. Interesting. Interesting, Yeah,

381
00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.519
I found this surprising, But this isn't the only small

382
00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:30.119
box riot in the US. You find that surprising? Yeah,

383
00:25:30.200 --> 00:25:32.160
I just didn't. I guess I didn't think that there

384
00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:34.599
was going to be more than one occurrence of this.

385
00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:38.200
Where were the rest? Was it also like targeted like

386
00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:41.640
Mexicans or what? No, this was the mostly Polish community

387
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:46.480
in eighteen ninety four in Milwaukee, Okay, but a Polish

388
00:25:46.599 --> 00:25:50.799
community in what eighteen eighteen ninety four, ninety four. They

389
00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:54.720
were considered ethnic back then, so yeah, so so yeah.

390
00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:58.160
Mobs of Milwaukee residents took to the streets to protest

391
00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.440
the isolation of smallpox patients. On August fifth, eighteen ninety four.

392
00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:05.279
A mob of three thousand armed with clubs and knives

393
00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:08.359
prevented health officers from removing a sick child from their

394
00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:11.599
house to be taken to the hospital. Wow. And then

395
00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.640
two days later, two thousand got together to prevent the

396
00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:18.000
removal of a child suspected to have passed away from

397
00:26:18.039 --> 00:26:22.039
smallpox from their house because there was a rule to

398
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.160
try and control the outbreak that a body had to

399
00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:27.039
be buried on the night of death. But they wanted,

400
00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:30.599
you know, obviously to bury their loved ones. Yeah. And

401
00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:33.720
that's when things like this get so because back then,

402
00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:38.119
obviously they just didn't care about people in some places, right, Yeah,

403
00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:40.599
I mean, if they barely show a semblance of care now,

404
00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.920
it's like even worse back then. Yeah. And it should

405
00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.839
also be added first that people want to First, people

406
00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:51.640
were scared, right in this case, and they didn't understand

407
00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:54.640
what was going on. Yeah, in this case and in Texas, right,

408
00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:58.279
both are very similar I think to me, So people, Yeah,

409
00:26:58.319 --> 00:26:59.960
people didn't know what was going on. People were scared.

410
00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.359
But also people want to hold on to like their

411
00:27:02.359 --> 00:27:05.559
traditions and rituals and practices of like caring for their

412
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:09.640
loved ones, doing their funerals, respecting the dead the way

413
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:13.599
they they are accustomed to. You can't do those things

414
00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:16.599
in the middle of an outbreak, so you know, that

415
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:18.480
makes it even more difficult. But then you add in

416
00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.400
the way these things are being enforced, these guidelines, these

417
00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:26.319
wolves much more violent than today. But it also should

418
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:29.279
be added at these hospitals like in you know, in

419
00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:31.359
the case of the pest houses in Texas. But this

420
00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.400
specific hospital in Milwaukee, it became known as the slaughterhouse.

421
00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:39.720
They were known to treat patients who were sent there horribly.

422
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:46.279
They were not giving them water, prison. Yes, so of

423
00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:54.240
course when that's your other option, like people aren't gonna riot, Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah,

424
00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:57.119
people just went there to die, like wow, So of

425
00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:59.440
course people don't want to go there, and they don't

426
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:02.640
want to send their children there. Yeah, we were kids

427
00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:06.039
sent there too. Yes, everyone that was sick and smallpox

428
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:09.599
was very again as most diseases I get, I think

429
00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:15.119
are very rough on children and the elderly. So yeah,

430
00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:17.880
it's like it's understandable. It kind of like you think

431
00:28:17.880 --> 00:28:20.559
about it in terms of now, and I still don't

432
00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:24.400
think it really applies to all the masks. I don't

433
00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:28.799
think it's the same as at least here in the

434
00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:33.599
United States as COVID because they were not forcing people

435
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:36.359
as much as people wanted to say they were being

436
00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:39.559
forced and being persecuted and whatever. Like, the reality is

437
00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.839
that you weren't. And the other reality at the same

438
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:46.720
time is that the groups that were the most affected, black,

439
00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:52.119
Latino Indigenous in very you know, urban areas, these are

440
00:28:52.119 --> 00:28:55.519
the populations that have been medically mistreated in the past. Well,

441
00:28:55.559 --> 00:28:57.519
and that's why I was so confused, because I'm like

442
00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:02.240
the least oppressed, the least affected, or the loudest bunch

443
00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:06.720
during the pandemic about about, you know, being supposedly repressed,

444
00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:09.079
and I'm like, you guys don't know repression. You guys

445
00:29:09.160 --> 00:29:11.640
want to be in this club, Come on right right?

446
00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:16.480
But yeah that was that was this episode. Okay, that

447
00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.240
was cool, well sort of good to learn about it,

448
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:23.759
I guess. Yeah. Yeah, not cool that it happened, of course. Yeah.

449
00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:28.319
Nothing that we talk about is cool. That happened was

450
00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:36.319
something something, yeah, some things, yeah, but most mostly not. Yeah.

451
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:39.400
So yeah, just a quick, little short one for our return,

452
00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:43.920
I think, Okay, okay, or is there anything you want

453
00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:48.640
to add before we end the episode? I don't think so.

454
00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.200
Other than that, if you want to help us. Over

455
00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:59.759
on Patreon, you get first at free episodes. But also, yeah,

456
00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:02.559
I was like, what are they called? And these? In

457
00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:06.799
these episodes, we are often either dissecting like the latest

458
00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:13.839
news that are depressing or internet drama. Sometimes we start

459
00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:17.039
talking about the political state of the word not what

460
00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:21.240
is it that Jaden Smith meme? Oh I forgot, but

461
00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:24.960
I know what you're talking about. Yeah, no, I was

462
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:28.160
gonna say. Sometimes we also talk about somehow start talking

463
00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:33.799
about fundmentalist Christian influencers that has happened to try to

464
00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:37.240
destroy our world. Yeah yeah and force us into their

465
00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:42.400
horrible way of life. Yes. Actually, I'm wondering is this

466
00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:44.720
going to be our return episode or is it going

467
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.759
to be the interview with a flower trald in my Blood?

468
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:49.599
It could be this one. That way, you have a

469
00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:53.559
lot more time to edit. No, okay, well it's oh

470
00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:58.440
well tomorrow or recording? Yeah, yeah, what the episode is

471
00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:03.960
next Thursday? Oh yeah. Anyway, by the time this comes out,

472
00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:06.480
you'll probably have heard our other episode. Because I'm thinking

473
00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:08.960
that this might not be our return return episode. But okay,

474
00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:12.279
it's because we were like, well we're bag baby. Yeah,

475
00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:14.680
but it's fine. It's fine because this is the second

476
00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:18.400
time back to our normal episodes because right right, yeah, okay.

477
00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:21.079
Other than that, yeah, we hope that this was one

478
00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:28.880
less Estoria Unknown for you. Bye bye Estoriasunknown is produced

479
00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.200
by Carmen and Christina, researched by Carmen and Christina, edited

480
00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.960
by Christina. You can find sources for every episode at

481
00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:38.559
unknown dot com and in our show notes. Creating the

482
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:40.000
podcast has a lot of work, so if you want

483
00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:42.279
to help us out financially, you can do so by

484
00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:46.119
supporting us on Patreon at patreon dot com. Slash you

485
00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:47.200
Studia as an own podcast