Smallpox Quarantine on the Colville Reservation
An epidemic sweeping the southern half of the reservation prompts orders barring Indians from leaving and whites from entering.
Spokane—An epidemic of smallpox is sweeping over the south half of the Colville Indian reservation, and strict orders have been issued against any Indian leaving the reservation or any white man entering it. Dr. E. H. Latham, government physician in charge at Nespelim, has issued the order to ferrymen forbidding them either carrying the Indians off the reservation or the whites on. Advices state that the epidemic is severe and is sweeping over the reservation like wildfire.
“Strict orders have been issued against any Indian leaving the reservation or any white man entering it.”
Quarantines and border closures have always fallen hardest on Native communities, and the language here—barring Indians from leaving while barring whites from entering—shows how public health and racial control could merge. The episode still resonates in debates over tribal sovereignty, rural health care and who gets to decide who belongs on the reservation.
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