History Corner

An item in a February 1914 Council Leader mentioned that rabies, which had been a problem the year before, was showing up in the area again.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system of mammals, including humans. It is usually transmitted through a bite or scratch from an infected animal. The virus travels from the site of the bite to the brain, where it causes severe neurological symptoms.

Rabies is most commonly spread through the saliva of infected animals, such as dogs, bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. It can also be transmitted if infected saliva comes into contact with open wounds or mucous membranes.

For a while after 1914 there didn’t seem to be a major outbreak of rabies in the upper Weiser River country, but in January of 1923 the Cambridge newspaper said: “We are authorized to state, by Forest Ranger McGinnis that mad dogs and mad coyotes have already been killed in the Brownlee and Heath Country, that several more are known to have rabies and that a number of cattle have died of the dreaded disease. Everyone should be on the watch and suspected animals can find and the killed if symptoms appear.”

Early symptoms of rabies in humans include fever, headache, and general weakness. As the disease progresses, more severe symptoms develop, such as anxiety, confusion, agitation, hallucinations, hydrophobia (fear of water), and paralysis. Aggression seems to be amplified by rabies in animals, sometimes accompanied by foaming at the mouth. Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal.

For some reason, the appearance of rabies here seemed to become problematic in mid to late winter. In February of 1925 the disease became a big problem. Somewhere in the Indian Valley area, a rabid dog attacked a dog belonging to R. F. Coutts on the family’s porch. The coyote was shot and killed and the incident was almost forgotten until the dog showed signs of rabies and had bitten Mrs. Albert Dowell, Mrs. Frank Durham and the small daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Richardson. The people bitten wore coats and gloves or mittens, which saved them from a bite breaking their skin, but alarm began to spread through the neighborhood.

Lillian McDowell Imler (daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert McDowell mentioned above) had vivid memories of this rabies outbreak. She wrote the following article for the Council Record in 1983.

“March 1925 is a month long remembered by residents of Adams County who happened to be living in Indian Valley when suddenly calamity struck without warning, as rabid the coyotes came from the areas south of the Valley. They overran ranches and feed yards, fighting, biting and infesting anything in their path, as they came – until they were killed or dropped dead, foaming at the mouth with the dread rabies they carried. Infected dogs and stock appeared over the entire area.

“Our English Setter hunting dog was a beloved pet of the family, kept chained on an exercise wire a short distance from the house on our homestead near Alpine. A bright moonlit night in March 1925, we were awakened by the furious sounds of a death struggle from the dog’s exercise wire. We rushed to the windows to see a coyote battling our chained pet. Before we could get there to help, the coyote struggled on over the hill, leaving our dog bleeding and torn.

“There had been no word at that time of rabies, and we started emergency treatment to save our pet and kept on for days, while the dog’s symptoms grew worse and streams of foam came from his mouth. He could no longer eat or drink or stand on his feet. We now began to hear reports of rabies and consulted Doctor Whiteman at Cambridge who directed us to kill the dog at once and bring the head for immediate shipment to the laboratory of the Public Health Department in Boise. Overnight the answer came, ‘This dog had rabies and all who contacted or treated the animal should receive the Pasteur treatment at once.’

“By this time, many others were having similar experiences, and while Marvin her husband and I received the prolonged treatment then given for rabies, and we were among 14 other persons who received it at the same time in Cambridge.

“The deepest scar of the rabies experience for our family was the loss of our infant son months later from the far-reaching effects of rabies toxin received before he was born. Medical care could not save him.

“Other than rumor, the questions of where and how the outbreak started were never answered, though the damage and suffering were lasting and widespread over the area.”

By April the Adams County Leader commented, “There are very few dogs left in Indian Valley after a recent rabies epidemic.”

‍