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Black Death at the Golden Gate: The Race to Save America from the Bubonic Plague
For Chinese immigrant Wong Chut King, surviving in San Francisco meant a life in the shadows. His passing on March 6, 1900, would have been unremarkable if a city health officer hadn’t noticed a swollen black lymph node on his groin—a sign of bubonic plague. Empowered by racist pseudoscience, officials rushed to quarantine Chinatown while doctors examined Wong’s tissue for telltale bacteria. If the devastating disease was not contained, San Francisco would become the American epicenter of an outbreak that had already claimed ten million lives worldwide.
To local press, railroad barons, and elected officials, such a possibility was inconceivable—or inconvenient. As they mounted a cover-up to obscure the threat, ending the career of one of the most brilliant scientists in the nation in the process, it fell to federal health officer Rupert Blue to save a city that refused to be rescued. Spearheading a relentless crusade for sanitation, Blue and his men patrolled the squalid streets of fast-growing San Francisco, examined gory black buboes, and dissected diseased rats that put the fate of the entire country at risk.
In the tradition of Erik Larson and Steven Johnson, Randall spins a spellbinding account of Blue’s race to understand the disease and contain its spread—the only hope of saving San Francisco, and the nation, from a gruesome fate.
To local press, railroad barons, and elected officials, such a possibility was inconceivable—or inconvenient. As they mounted a cover-up to obscure the threat, ending the career of one of the most brilliant scientists in the nation in the process, it fell to federal health officer Rupert Blue to save a city that refused to be rescued. Spearheading a relentless crusade for sanitation, Blue and his men patrolled the squalid streets of fast-growing San Francisco, examined gory black buboes, and dissected diseased rats that put the fate of the entire country at risk.
In the tradition of Erik Larson and Steven Johnson, Randall spins a spellbinding account of Blue’s race to understand the disease and contain its spread—the only hope of saving San Francisco, and the nation, from a gruesome fate.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2019
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5436 people want to read
About the author
David K. Randall
10 books89 followersDavid K. Randall is a senior reporter at Reuters and has also written for Forbes, the New York Times, and New York magazine. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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March 22, 2021
The similarities between the 1900s and the discovery of the bubonic plague in San Francisco and our present Covid situation was startling. Science shunned, denial, blaming it on the Chinese where the plague was first found, politicians getting involved minimizing the risk etc. The ruining of reputable doctors reputations, the storyline was too close for comfort. Interesting reading because there was so much I hadn't known about this time. Eventually reason would prevail, and the discovery that rats carrying fleas were the cause. Can you imagine they caught millions of rats, millions? Made me shiver.
Plague still exists, there are cases every year but now we have the antibiotics that cure. Better times for meds, but same old times with how these diseases are hidden, politicalized, until they can be no longer.
Audio was wonderfully narrated by Charles Constant.
Plague still exists, there are cases every year but now we have the antibiotics that cure. Better times for meds, but same old times with how these diseases are hidden, politicalized, until they can be no longer.
Audio was wonderfully narrated by Charles Constant.
June 5, 2022
4.5 ☆
What San Francisco could not initially do, however, was to deal with the terrifying reality of the Bubonic Plague. The Plague has been one of the most virulent pandemics in human history, killing at least 30 percent of the population (an estimated 25 to 50 million people) in Europe alone during the 1300s. Terror can trigger extreme reactions, be it fight or flight. In March 1900, when the distinctive symptoms of the Plague were detected on the corpse of Wong Chut King, most of San Francisco chose "flight" by denying the Plague's presence in the city.
Bacteriology was a nascent discipline in the late 1800s. In 1894, French researcher Alexandre Yersin identified the bacterium responsible for the Bubonic Plague - Yersinia pestis. Dr. Kinyoun, another medical scientist interested in the developing field, had coincidentally been transferred in June 1899 to the San Francisco outpost of the federal Marine Hospital Service. Kinyoun was one of the few in the entire country with the knowledge to identify Yersinia pestis.
The more things change, the more they remain the same; or what is old is new again. I read Black Death at the Golden Gate in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the Plague's ick factor, learning this history was occasionally an uncomfortable experience as it was all too easy to see the current-day parallels. Scientific knowledge may have progressed in the century since Kinyoun's hope but human temperaments and foibles have not. Black Death recounted how economic motivations joined political forces in mobilizing the media to humiliate the medical authorities, suppress medical updates, and scapegoat the victims of the disease on the basis of their race.
Because of political corruption - from San Francisco Mayors Phelan and later Schmitz to Governor Gage - who all protected business interests, the Plague persisted in San Francisco from 1900 until 1908. In the first few years, the federal government scientists were discredited in the media despite their knowledge, their evidence, and access to the Haffkine serum, which was used both as a vaccination and as treatment for the afflicted patients. The Chinese community was treated abominably as there were quarantines of Chinatown similar to a siege state (no food had been sent in), ostensible health inspections which turned into burglaries, and the constant threat of burning down Chinatown.
It wasn't until the Marine Hospital Service sent its third specialist, Dr. Blue, that minor progress was made in 1901 because whites began to die from the Plague and because Texas and other states were threatening to ban California products. Dr. Blue became a medical hero as he launched a multiple-prong campaign, key of which was the massive rat testing and eradication program. After the devastating April 18, 1906, earthquake and fires, Dr. Blue finally got the opportunity to act on his hypothesis that the rats were the disease carriers. Technically-speaking, the Plague-infested fleas who hitched transport via rats were responsible. Eventually, 2 million rats were exterminated from San Francisco; this was about five times the human population.
Despite the massive efforts in the first decade of the 1900s, Yersinia pestis found another viable and mobile reservoir. The infested fleas also liked squirrels. After the extensive rodent eradication campaign in San Francisco, flea-ridden squirrels had appeared in the farmlands outside of San Francisco. Within a few years, they had spread the disease up and down the spine of California. The more lethal iteration, pneumonic Plague, killed 40 people in Los Angeles within two months in 1924. The first victims were of Mexican ancestry. The racist playbook was again resurrected with a quarantine of the Mexican community, but at least the city had provided some rations.
The Black Death was a fascinating history about the transformation of San Francisco, the systemic discrimination primarily against Asian residents, and a case study on how to contain and then snuff a bacteria-based pandemic. The threat of the Bubonic Plague still exists today. I will never regard a squirrel the same way again and cleanliness is tantamount to godliness.
"We are ready at the drop of a hat for a feast, a frolic, or a fight," [declared Rear Admiral Evans]. San Francisco of all places knew how to provide all three.
What San Francisco could not initially do, however, was to deal with the terrifying reality of the Bubonic Plague. The Plague has been one of the most virulent pandemics in human history, killing at least 30 percent of the population (an estimated 25 to 50 million people) in Europe alone during the 1300s. Terror can trigger extreme reactions, be it fight or flight. In March 1900, when the distinctive symptoms of the Plague were detected on the corpse of Wong Chut King, most of San Francisco chose "flight" by denying the Plague's presence in the city.
Bacteriology was a nascent discipline in the late 1800s. In 1894, French researcher Alexandre Yersin identified the bacterium responsible for the Bubonic Plague - Yersinia pestis. Dr. Kinyoun, another medical scientist interested in the developing field, had coincidentally been transferred in June 1899 to the San Francisco outpost of the federal Marine Hospital Service. Kinyoun was one of the few in the entire country with the knowledge to identify Yersinia pestis.
Dr. Kinyoun believed in a future where scientists like him had rendered the concept of infectious disease moot, sparing the lives of innocent people. Instead, he had to face a present in which politics mattered more than honesty, and ignorance proved more powerful than medicine.
The more things change, the more they remain the same; or what is old is new again. I read Black Death at the Golden Gate in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the Plague's ick factor, learning this history was occasionally an uncomfortable experience as it was all too easy to see the current-day parallels. Scientific knowledge may have progressed in the century since Kinyoun's hope but human temperaments and foibles have not. Black Death recounted how economic motivations joined political forces in mobilizing the media to humiliate the medical authorities, suppress medical updates, and scapegoat the victims of the disease on the basis of their race.
Because of political corruption - from San Francisco Mayors Phelan and later Schmitz to Governor Gage - who all protected business interests, the Plague persisted in San Francisco from 1900 until 1908. In the first few years, the federal government scientists were discredited in the media despite their knowledge, their evidence, and access to the Haffkine serum, which was used both as a vaccination and as treatment for the afflicted patients. The Chinese community was treated abominably as there were quarantines of Chinatown similar to a siege state (no food had been sent in), ostensible health inspections which turned into burglaries, and the constant threat of burning down Chinatown.
It wasn't until the Marine Hospital Service sent its third specialist, Dr. Blue, that minor progress was made in 1901 because whites began to die from the Plague and because Texas and other states were threatening to ban California products. Dr. Blue became a medical hero as he launched a multiple-prong campaign, key of which was the massive rat testing and eradication program. After the devastating April 18, 1906, earthquake and fires, Dr. Blue finally got the opportunity to act on his hypothesis that the rats were the disease carriers. Technically-speaking, the Plague-infested fleas who hitched transport via rats were responsible. Eventually, 2 million rats were exterminated from San Francisco; this was about five times the human population.
Despite the massive efforts in the first decade of the 1900s, Yersinia pestis found another viable and mobile reservoir. The infested fleas also liked squirrels. After the extensive rodent eradication campaign in San Francisco, flea-ridden squirrels had appeared in the farmlands outside of San Francisco. Within a few years, they had spread the disease up and down the spine of California. The more lethal iteration, pneumonic Plague, killed 40 people in Los Angeles within two months in 1924. The first victims were of Mexican ancestry. The racist playbook was again resurrected with a quarantine of the Mexican community, but at least the city had provided some rations.
The Black Death was a fascinating history about the transformation of San Francisco, the systemic discrimination primarily against Asian residents, and a case study on how to contain and then snuff a bacteria-based pandemic. The threat of the Bubonic Plague still exists today. I will never regard a squirrel the same way again and cleanliness is tantamount to godliness.
December 13, 2019
4.5 stars
"The plague was not only spreading, but Chinese residents . . . appeared to be hiding victim's bodies in hopes that the decomposition process would obscure the true nature of death, turning the survival of [San Francisco] into a cat-and-mouse game." -- pages 58-59
Sometimes I like nothing better than investing time in a 'non-fiction novel' - a stylish narrative that covers an actual event (a natural or man-made catastrophe, a crime, an accident, etc.) - and getting caught up in the story likes it's an all-star disaster movie from the 70's. That sounds a bit ghoulish, perhaps, but I'd like to think people often show their best selves when confronted with a very bad incident. Or, alternatively, you can get a glimpse of just how rotten or petty some people can be.
Randall's Black Death at the Golden Gate recounts the deadly bubonic plague outbreak striking San Francisco at the start of the 20th century. At the time said city was THE metropolis on the U.S. west coast, much larger and more populous than Los Angeles (though that would eventually change with the forthcoming entertainment industry), as it was a major port and railroad terminus, and it hosts (and still does) the largest community of Chinese immigrants in its large Chinatown neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was also a city then-known for its self-serving, questionable, and corrupt politics.
Into this mix arrives the lethal plague, which confounds the local medical establishment, enflames racism (since it first appeared among the Chinese population), and is badly downplayed by many in city and state government to safeguard the area's reputation. After the initial investigating physician, a federal officer from the Marine Hospital Service (now called the U.S. Public Health Service) and an honest if not exactly personable man, is cruelly excommunicated after attempting follow correct procedures we meet the true protagonist of the event. Rupert Blue, the next assigned government physician - an underdog-type, he is sort of described as an average ordinary guy - quickly taps into previously unused personal skills and strength with his new, unenviable position. The humble, hard-working Dr. Blue admirably rises to the occasion and then literally races against time to prevent the plague from spreading beyond San Francisco's Bay Area. The sweeping changes in health codes and sanitation - things we now take for granted - as a result of the outbreak were also sort of fascinating.
"The plague was not only spreading, but Chinese residents . . . appeared to be hiding victim's bodies in hopes that the decomposition process would obscure the true nature of death, turning the survival of [San Francisco] into a cat-and-mouse game." -- pages 58-59
Sometimes I like nothing better than investing time in a 'non-fiction novel' - a stylish narrative that covers an actual event (a natural or man-made catastrophe, a crime, an accident, etc.) - and getting caught up in the story likes it's an all-star disaster movie from the 70's. That sounds a bit ghoulish, perhaps, but I'd like to think people often show their best selves when confronted with a very bad incident. Or, alternatively, you can get a glimpse of just how rotten or petty some people can be.
Randall's Black Death at the Golden Gate recounts the deadly bubonic plague outbreak striking San Francisco at the start of the 20th century. At the time said city was THE metropolis on the U.S. west coast, much larger and more populous than Los Angeles (though that would eventually change with the forthcoming entertainment industry), as it was a major port and railroad terminus, and it hosts (and still does) the largest community of Chinese immigrants in its large Chinatown neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was also a city then-known for its self-serving, questionable, and corrupt politics.
Into this mix arrives the lethal plague, which confounds the local medical establishment, enflames racism (since it first appeared among the Chinese population), and is badly downplayed by many in city and state government to safeguard the area's reputation. After the initial investigating physician, a federal officer from the Marine Hospital Service (now called the U.S. Public Health Service) and an honest if not exactly personable man, is cruelly excommunicated after attempting follow correct procedures we meet the true protagonist of the event. Rupert Blue, the next assigned government physician - an underdog-type, he is sort of described as an average ordinary guy - quickly taps into previously unused personal skills and strength with his new, unenviable position. The humble, hard-working Dr. Blue admirably rises to the occasion and then literally races against time to prevent the plague from spreading beyond San Francisco's Bay Area. The sweeping changes in health codes and sanitation - things we now take for granted - as a result of the outbreak were also sort of fascinating.
May 5, 2019
Such a deep subject and over quite a span of time- this was supremely researched.
The only star it loses is that it sidetracked to Gold Rush and other historical background context a bit more than was necessary, IMHO. But all told the title is the core of this book.
Oh the early 1898-1903 "fights" between the individuals and the politico "eyes" (BOTH) of the two highest officials! And the obscuring of the reality to the populace or even to the numbers or locations because of the disorganization and just plain selfishness of the "know betters"! It reminds me of the politico "eyes" of the present which allow infectious disease to stream into the country without the stringent measures required at all and at every time because it doesn't fit their "compassionate" politico agenda. Then, like now, the politicians and officials druthers came/ come first. And people continued to die.
It was the most remarkable 5 star portion within the last 1/3rd, in the story of Rupert Blue in particular. I had never heard of the man. What a true heroic life he lead. And what sacrifices and disdaining rejections he suffered for his unrelenting truth telling. And rat wars he conducted against huge and always ridiculed push back. Not to speak of the loneliness!
Only the quirks of the fleas saved 100,000's (100's dying instead of 100,000's) and we still get about 7 deaths a year in the western USA presently. Squirrels can carry it too.
The big Earthquake seems to have put the Bubonic Plague in the shade, so to speak, historically re San Francisco. It sure shouldn't have. Not for the great numbers it killed then and since. Lies, lies, lies and cover ups to disease outcomes and sources with their paths-alive and well within S.F. presently-just as the feces piles and the rats are.
For the most delicate, this book is not politically correct, IMHO. Racial projection and laws, treatments and consequences for a number of issues, like quarantine- very unequal as well.
The only star it loses is that it sidetracked to Gold Rush and other historical background context a bit more than was necessary, IMHO. But all told the title is the core of this book.
Oh the early 1898-1903 "fights" between the individuals and the politico "eyes" (BOTH) of the two highest officials! And the obscuring of the reality to the populace or even to the numbers or locations because of the disorganization and just plain selfishness of the "know betters"! It reminds me of the politico "eyes" of the present which allow infectious disease to stream into the country without the stringent measures required at all and at every time because it doesn't fit their "compassionate" politico agenda. Then, like now, the politicians and officials druthers came/ come first. And people continued to die.
It was the most remarkable 5 star portion within the last 1/3rd, in the story of Rupert Blue in particular. I had never heard of the man. What a true heroic life he lead. And what sacrifices and disdaining rejections he suffered for his unrelenting truth telling. And rat wars he conducted against huge and always ridiculed push back. Not to speak of the loneliness!
Only the quirks of the fleas saved 100,000's (100's dying instead of 100,000's) and we still get about 7 deaths a year in the western USA presently. Squirrels can carry it too.
The big Earthquake seems to have put the Bubonic Plague in the shade, so to speak, historically re San Francisco. It sure shouldn't have. Not for the great numbers it killed then and since. Lies, lies, lies and cover ups to disease outcomes and sources with their paths-alive and well within S.F. presently-just as the feces piles and the rats are.
For the most delicate, this book is not politically correct, IMHO. Racial projection and laws, treatments and consequences for a number of issues, like quarantine- very unequal as well.
July 20, 2019
Until reading Black Death at the Golden Gate, I didn't realize that San Francisco suffered not just one but two plague outbreaks in the early 1900s. Yet, efforts to eliminate the scourge were hampered by multiple factors. Joseph Kinyoun, the first doctor posted by the Marine Medical Service, the federal agency then with jurisdiction over health matters, alienated local politicians with his arrogant attitude. Plus, at this time, the germ theory of medicine was just beginning to be accepted.City and state leaders resisted the diagnosis of plague when residents of Chinatown began dying with the telltale symptoms, including buboes, because they didn't want to inhibit the city's growth. Residents of Chinatown refused to cooperate because they feared officials would raze their neighborhood. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens believed whites were immune.
Only when Dr. Rupert Blue replaced Dr. Kinyoun, a more amiable administrator—and when whites also started falling victim to the disease—did officials cooperate to rid the city of the plague. Thought safe from the crisis, Dr. Blue was reassigned, but the earthquake of 1906 created a new emergency.
David Randall's book is a well-written, well-researched, and engaging book that reveals this hidden pocket of medical history while showing how powerful political interests, greed, and racism can undermine attempts to save the public.
January 27, 2022
I wanted to like this book more, just did not stir me like I want a good non-fiction book to do.
This is the history of The Black Plague scare in San Francisco in the early 1900's. The author gives us the story behind all the politics and prejudice of the time. It was fascinating to compare what happened then as to what we have been through with Covid over the last year. Not much has changed, sadly. Politicians and big business manipulating facts and science to their own ends, Lies and rumors smothering the actual facts. Then there was the racist discrimination against the Chinese population, and how the disease was their fault. Sound familiar? I could hear Trump in my head "China, China, China"-
An interesting story, just wish it would have captured me a little bit more.
This is the history of The Black Plague scare in San Francisco in the early 1900's. The author gives us the story behind all the politics and prejudice of the time. It was fascinating to compare what happened then as to what we have been through with Covid over the last year. Not much has changed, sadly. Politicians and big business manipulating facts and science to their own ends, Lies and rumors smothering the actual facts. Then there was the racist discrimination against the Chinese population, and how the disease was their fault. Sound familiar? I could hear Trump in my head "China, China, China"-
An interesting story, just wish it would have captured me a little bit more.
June 26, 2024
Not for those with a weak stomach, but an interesting piece of history. It was nice to learn more about infectious diseases and some of the foundational work of bacteriology to learn more about my husbands work and calling. 😊 Really interesting and often tragic how politics affects everything, I.e. blaming the Chinese for the plague, the politicians downplaying the reality of a threat of disease to save the economy or their approval, etc. Also, I have never thought to thank the Lord for sanitation, and the work of the men who brought it into our lives, but I sincerely thank Him for it now!
April 26, 2021
This is a history of bubonic plague arriving in San Francisco in 1900 and attempts to understand / cure / hide up it in the following months and years. I read is as a part of monthly reading for March 2021 at Non Fiction Book Club group.
The book starts just before the Christmas in Honolulu in 1899, when a Chinese man is found with markers of plague – enlarged lymph nodes. Just a bit more that 120 years ago no one knew what causes the plague and how to fight it – so the most ‘efficient’ solution for many was just to burn Chinatown…
In the US the author starts with a prominent medical bacteriologist Joseph Kinyoun, whom current Surgeon General Wyman seen as his competition for the seat and therefore sent as far as he could – to California, which developed rapidly after the gold fever of the mid-XIX century. This was a lucky strike for Frisco, because medical biologist were a rare thing then. The first victims of the plague were found among Chinese and Japanese from the hip from Hong Kong, and the opinion of not only illiterate masses, but many medics, including Kinyoun was that the disease hits ‘lower races’, Asians, whether due to their innate inferiority or diet or ‘uncleanliness’ which is often assigned to ‘the other’. This fed already active anti- Chinese racism among whites.
The first reaction of local authorities regarding the cases was complete denial – assuming misdiagnosis of a venereal disease (enlarged lymphs in groin). This only intensified when Kinyoun went public and several other states suggested hat they may stop all communication with San Francisco to prevent the spread. Chinese were afraid that if among them new plague cases are found, this can lead to negative outcomes from exile to burning, so they hide victims, lowering official statistics.
One argument in favor of fake alarm was that the plague victim number remained small. Only later it was detected that flea that spread the disease, in plague in China and India was Pulex cheposis, but iun SF most common was the Northern European species, Ceratophyllus fasciatus. The difference is that
the Indian rat flea has a spiny ridge in its abdomen where blood from its most recent meal collects, eventually blocking material from reaching the stomach. That clot leads the famished insect to aggressively bite any living mammal that it encounters. Fresh blood helps to dislodge the clot, spurring the flea to essentially vomit some of the material stalled in its belly into the skin of its new victim. The European flea, by comparison, retains less blood in its stomach, leaving it less likely to develop a blockage that prompts it to attack as aggressively. When it does bite, the flea deposits only a fraction of its stomach material into the body of its new host, minimizing its ability to spread infection compared with its more ravenous Asian cousin.
The story goes on with Kinyoun de facto expelled from the city and replaced by Rupert Blue, with 1906 quake, with more research and prevention measures.
An interesting story, which definitely calls for comparisons with the present Covid pandemics.
The book starts just before the Christmas in Honolulu in 1899, when a Chinese man is found with markers of plague – enlarged lymph nodes. Just a bit more that 120 years ago no one knew what causes the plague and how to fight it – so the most ‘efficient’ solution for many was just to burn Chinatown…
In the US the author starts with a prominent medical bacteriologist Joseph Kinyoun, whom current Surgeon General Wyman seen as his competition for the seat and therefore sent as far as he could – to California, which developed rapidly after the gold fever of the mid-XIX century. This was a lucky strike for Frisco, because medical biologist were a rare thing then. The first victims of the plague were found among Chinese and Japanese from the hip from Hong Kong, and the opinion of not only illiterate masses, but many medics, including Kinyoun was that the disease hits ‘lower races’, Asians, whether due to their innate inferiority or diet or ‘uncleanliness’ which is often assigned to ‘the other’. This fed already active anti- Chinese racism among whites.
The first reaction of local authorities regarding the cases was complete denial – assuming misdiagnosis of a venereal disease (enlarged lymphs in groin). This only intensified when Kinyoun went public and several other states suggested hat they may stop all communication with San Francisco to prevent the spread. Chinese were afraid that if among them new plague cases are found, this can lead to negative outcomes from exile to burning, so they hide victims, lowering official statistics.
One argument in favor of fake alarm was that the plague victim number remained small. Only later it was detected that flea that spread the disease, in plague in China and India was Pulex cheposis, but iun SF most common was the Northern European species, Ceratophyllus fasciatus. The difference is that
the Indian rat flea has a spiny ridge in its abdomen where blood from its most recent meal collects, eventually blocking material from reaching the stomach. That clot leads the famished insect to aggressively bite any living mammal that it encounters. Fresh blood helps to dislodge the clot, spurring the flea to essentially vomit some of the material stalled in its belly into the skin of its new victim. The European flea, by comparison, retains less blood in its stomach, leaving it less likely to develop a blockage that prompts it to attack as aggressively. When it does bite, the flea deposits only a fraction of its stomach material into the body of its new host, minimizing its ability to spread infection compared with its more ravenous Asian cousin.
The story goes on with Kinyoun de facto expelled from the city and replaced by Rupert Blue, with 1906 quake, with more research and prevention measures.
An interesting story, which definitely calls for comparisons with the present Covid pandemics.
Read
April 29, 2019A fascinating, engrossing, and at times downright enraging look at the spread of bubonic plague in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. The book follows how two doctors recognized what was going on and how one was let down turn after turn, allowing the disease to spread because of inadequate funding and support -- as well as rampant xenophobia and racism -- while the other doctor was able to make inroads and discover that it was a specific type of flea that spread the disease to rats and then onto people. He helped develop a public health system and ways to combat the further spread of plague (even though anyone who has spent time in the west or southwest knows it exists still, and that's touched on here a bit in regards to the wild squirrels).
Randall doesn't shy away from the realities of racism and classism, and he does a great job framing the situation in San Francisco with the greater things going on in the US and around the world at the same time. The earthquake is covered and offers sort of the ah ha moment of figuring out why the disease was spreading the way it was, followed later by further understanding of its spreading in Los Angeles following World War I and the Spanish Influenza.
The history of disease, and plague especially, is fascinating to me, and Randall writes the history in a compelling, engaging manner. Readers who dig this and are open to reading nonfiction for youth would do well with Bubonic Panic: When Plague Invaded America as well, which is how I was already aware of the history of the plague in America.
Randall doesn't shy away from the realities of racism and classism, and he does a great job framing the situation in San Francisco with the greater things going on in the US and around the world at the same time. The earthquake is covered and offers sort of the ah ha moment of figuring out why the disease was spreading the way it was, followed later by further understanding of its spreading in Los Angeles following World War I and the Spanish Influenza.
The history of disease, and plague especially, is fascinating to me, and Randall writes the history in a compelling, engaging manner. Readers who dig this and are open to reading nonfiction for youth would do well with Bubonic Panic: When Plague Invaded America as well, which is how I was already aware of the history of the plague in America.
June 16, 2019
This is a really engaging pop-history of science covering a series of Plague outbreaks in California at the turn of the last century. It was remarkable to see today's headlines reflected in the issues of 1898 San Francisco, from the anti-vaxxers deriding the work of scientists, to an executive blind to objectivity in favor of political expediency, to an anti-immigrant fervor against unwashed masses, to hyperbolic claims and counter-claims of fake news.
The story sometimes reads like a slowly unfolding horror movie with a mysterious silent killer lurking the streets of San Francisco while doctors and scientists do their level best to thwart its efforts. There were Jack-the-Ripper vibes and I could almost picture a modern police procedural in the description of Rupert Blue's map marked with red X's for every plague victim.
It's a fascinating peek back just 120 years to a time when germ theory had only recently been adopted by the medical community (to say nothing of the public), but antibiotics were yet to be developed. San Francisco was teeming with plagued rats under its wooden sidewalks and packed-dirt basements and use of microscopes by physicians was seen as a quaint hobby. Technologically, we've come a long way since then, but in many ways, we're still stuck in an 1898 mentality.
Overall, well-written, well-narrated, and extremely interesting!
The story sometimes reads like a slowly unfolding horror movie with a mysterious silent killer lurking the streets of San Francisco while doctors and scientists do their level best to thwart its efforts. There were Jack-the-Ripper vibes and I could almost picture a modern police procedural in the description of Rupert Blue's map marked with red X's for every plague victim.
It's a fascinating peek back just 120 years to a time when germ theory had only recently been adopted by the medical community (to say nothing of the public), but antibiotics were yet to be developed. San Francisco was teeming with plagued rats under its wooden sidewalks and packed-dirt basements and use of microscopes by physicians was seen as a quaint hobby. Technologically, we've come a long way since then, but in many ways, we're still stuck in an 1898 mentality.
Overall, well-written, well-narrated, and extremely interesting!
October 15, 2020
When I read this in 2019, I had no idea its lessons would become so salient so soon.
The interactions in Black Death at the Golden Gate between the public, the press, public health authorities, business interests, and the local and federal government are so astonishingly reminiscent of the battles between these forces we've all watched play out in 2020 that you'd think the author prescient to write this book when he did.
It turns out that none of the vitriol, the foot-dragging denial, the Sinophobia, the uprisings against public health measures, or the predictably catastrophic consequences are unique to our modern pandemic -- far from it.
The only thing you'll regret about reading this book is that it'll teach you a history you'll be doomed to watch repeat again in real time.
The interactions in Black Death at the Golden Gate between the public, the press, public health authorities, business interests, and the local and federal government are so astonishingly reminiscent of the battles between these forces we've all watched play out in 2020 that you'd think the author prescient to write this book when he did.
It turns out that none of the vitriol, the foot-dragging denial, the Sinophobia, the uprisings against public health measures, or the predictably catastrophic consequences are unique to our modern pandemic -- far from it.
The only thing you'll regret about reading this book is that it'll teach you a history you'll be doomed to watch repeat again in real time.
December 19, 2018
Remember the Middle Ages with all of its death-by-pandemic? This is a true account of when the Bubonic plague hit the United States at the turn on the last century.
For years, one of my favorite books and reading experiences for book club was Steven Johnson’s GHOST MAP. I’ve been searching for something to scratch that itch ever since, but hadn’t found anything close enough... until now.
Author David Randall tells a fascinating story about the race to discover the cause and cure, with an element of racism to foul things up even further, all set on the Pacific seaboard of the United States.
This is one of those “how have I never heard about this?!” stories from history.
For years, one of my favorite books and reading experiences for book club was Steven Johnson’s GHOST MAP. I’ve been searching for something to scratch that itch ever since, but hadn’t found anything close enough... until now.
Author David Randall tells a fascinating story about the race to discover the cause and cure, with an element of racism to foul things up even further, all set on the Pacific seaboard of the United States.
This is one of those “how have I never heard about this?!” stories from history.
February 2, 2022
For such a hair-raising topic this was about as boring as it gets. A vast topic that seemed to be covered sufficiently in a couple hundred pages but yet the book went on for a hundred or so more. Loads of less important digressions and uninteresting footnotes along the way. Unfortunately I’ve read some other books about diseases that were 5-stars; this was not one of them.
January 9, 2020
I had forgotten I had put a hold on this through my library, so was a little surprised when it popped up in my audio library.
First, the narration. I am not a fan of speed reading and felt that I could have slowed this book down to 80% of speed and been fine with it. The guy who narrated it simply spoke to fast to let the story sink in.
Second, the story. I remember learning about the black death and how they figured out that it was transmitted through fleas in High School. I did not recall that it happened in the United States nor the opposition the scientist faced when investigating it.
At the time, Americans had reached the conclusion that the plague was spread through fifth. Moreover, they had decided that the plague was specifically a Chinese problem. I deliberately did not say "Chinese-American", because while most of the early victims were undoubtedly Americans, they were not seen as such.
Most "experts" wanted to pretend that the disease was limited to Chinatown in the San Franscico area. If somebody caught it, it was a de facto proof that they had been to Chinatown. As it manifested itself in the pubic areas first, it was seen as a sexually transmitted disease!
Needless to say, the "experts" didn't know what they were talking about and exiled the scientist so that they couldn't spread their lies.
I guess in that regard, this book has something to say about modern America. Don't confuse our irrational beliefs with the facts.
Unfortunately, this realization comes more in reflecting upon this review than it did while listening to the audio.
First, the narration. I am not a fan of speed reading and felt that I could have slowed this book down to 80% of speed and been fine with it. The guy who narrated it simply spoke to fast to let the story sink in.
Second, the story. I remember learning about the black death and how they figured out that it was transmitted through fleas in High School. I did not recall that it happened in the United States nor the opposition the scientist faced when investigating it.
At the time, Americans had reached the conclusion that the plague was spread through fifth. Moreover, they had decided that the plague was specifically a Chinese problem. I deliberately did not say "Chinese-American", because while most of the early victims were undoubtedly Americans, they were not seen as such.
Most "experts" wanted to pretend that the disease was limited to Chinatown in the San Franscico area. If somebody caught it, it was a de facto proof that they had been to Chinatown. As it manifested itself in the pubic areas first, it was seen as a sexually transmitted disease!
Needless to say, the "experts" didn't know what they were talking about and exiled the scientist so that they couldn't spread their lies.
I guess in that regard, this book has something to say about modern America. Don't confuse our irrational beliefs with the facts.
Unfortunately, this realization comes more in reflecting upon this review than it did while listening to the audio.
October 27, 2022
In the early 20th century the Bubonic plague would make its way to the US via ship. People started dying and it was a race to get it under control because pandemics aren't fun. People panicked, scientists hurried to find the cause, racism was rampant against the Asian population (Chinatown was a big hub for the illness), people refused to take precautions, and some straight up thought it was a conspiracy theory and laughed at it all. Proving that people were just as big jackasses 120 years ago as they can be today. Even in recent years the plague is still present in the US but in very small numbers and is often curable because yay science and medicine!!
This is a fascinating, well researched, well written history book. I was sucked in from the beginning. It only took me a couple days to cruise through Black Death at the Golden Gate and I learned about a part of history I didn't know much about which I personally find fun. Worth the read if you enjoy the popular history genre.
This is a fascinating, well researched, well written history book. I was sucked in from the beginning. It only took me a couple days to cruise through Black Death at the Golden Gate and I learned about a part of history I didn't know much about which I personally find fun. Worth the read if you enjoy the popular history genre.
June 28, 2019
I have no words to describe how good this book is. Simple in form and analytical in approach it tells the story of the first appearance of bubonic plague in US. There are no unnecessary feelings. David Randall managed to write a book that is free of judgement or personal opinions. Joseph Kinyoun and
Rupert Blue, two main characters in this book, are painted in a very vivid colors - you can clearly see how their personal traits influenced their actions and made them fail/succeed. It was terrifying to learn that black death is still present in the US and every year couple people come down with it. I won't feed a squirrel ever again.
Rupert Blue, two main characters in this book, are painted in a very vivid colors - you can clearly see how their personal traits influenced their actions and made them fail/succeed. It was terrifying to learn that black death is still present in the US and every year couple people come down with it. I won't feed a squirrel ever again.
April 13, 2019
A well written history of the plague's appearance in Hawaii and San Francisco as well as the efforts to combat it at the advent of the twentith century. The development of the Public Health Service is chronicled as well as the personalities of the doctors involved. The ethnic and financial bias of the period is also well documented. This was a free review copy obtained through Goodreads.com.
March 28, 2021
He had to face a present in which politics mattered more than honesty, and ignorance proved more powerful than medicine. (p. 111)
Well, if that doesn't sound familiar. In fact, this whole book felt familiar, and not because I had ever heard of the plague outbreak in turn of the twentieth century San Francisco. This book just goes to prove the old adage that history repeats itself has a lot of merit to it.
There is blatant racism against Asian Americans. A communicable disease is threatening to run rampant at any time, spreading over the United States, where it would kill untold thousands of Americans. Politicians are playing politics and ignoring science, telling anyone and everyone who would listen that the disease is made up or exaggerated and god damn it, we can't allow the disease to interfere with the economy. Scientists and doctors are ignored for trying to point out that there is a disease that can spread so quickly and potentially kill so many. Researchers who were pointing that this could be a HUGE disaster in the making were ridiculed as being effete and hysterical over nothing.
Am I talking about COVID-19? Well, yes. But also no. Because this same scenario played out in San Francisco with the bubonic plague in the early 1900s.
I've heard about the bubonic plague cropping up sporadically in the American west because I live here. I didn't know, however, that that plague has its origins in California over a hundred years ago, where it was presumably first introduced. The US was able to keep it from being a huge pestilence that killed thousands (sadly, our country went a different route when it came to COVID-19, with disastrous results), and it has now been largely forgotten to history. Even the author, a native Californian, had never heard of it while growing up.
I found the book quite interesting, and not just because of its modern parallels (although, I have to admit, that was super interesting to me, especially since the author had absolutely no way of knowing just how prophetic this book was to be less than a year after it was published). The doctors who helped keep the bubonic plague under control were rather fascinating and flawed. Joseph Kinyoun was deeply racist and bought into the "only people of Asian descent can get the plague because they're filthy and whites are superior because they eat more meat" bullshit of the time. Rupert Blue was more palatable, I think, especially since he was able to do more to prevent a catastrophe from happening.
Recommended.
July 29, 2022
Interesting story of how bubonic plague got established in California. Perhaps a bit long-winded, with the character setups not entirely paying off. Lots of parallels to modern America.
> Chinese residents—possibly with the assistance of Western-trained doctors familiar with the methods of bacteriology—appeared to be hiding victim’s bodies in hopes that the decomposition process would obscure the true cause of death,
> the press refused to admit the danger that San Francisco was in. “We do not believe that a single person has ever died of bubonic plague in this city,” the Chronicle wrote in an editorial after the body of the fourth plague victim was found
> Developed by Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, a Ukrainian scientist who, like Kinyoun, had once studied with Louis Pasteur, the so-called Haffkine serum had been developed by growing plague cells taken from cadavers and subjecting them to high heat in order to kill their ability to multiply. After potential patients in several villages refused to receive any serum that included plague germs, the first tests had been conducted on a group of prisoners in Bombay three years before. The serum was shown to reduce the risk of infection by half. Yet its side effects—high fever, violent vomiting, and a deep but temporary reddening of the skin—would leave its recipients incapacitated for two days at least, and required additional injections every six months to remain effective.
> coming at a time when distrust of compulsory smallpox vaccinations spurred Americans of all ethnicities to pull their children from public schools, most Chinese in San Francisco saw the Haffkine serum as ineffective at best and suspected that it was actually a plan to poison them. Tongs threatened to harm anyone who submitted to the vaccine
> the most common flea in the city was the Northern European species, Ceratophyllus fasciatus, rather than Pulex cheposis, which was the most prevalent in plague-infested ports such as Hong Kong and Bombay. … The main difference between the two species is in the layout of their guts: the Indian rat flea has a spiny ridge in its abdomen where blood from its most recent meal collects, eventually blocking material from reaching the stomach. That clot leads the famished insect to aggressively bite any living mammal that it encounters. … The European flea, by comparison, retains less blood in its stomach, leaving it less likely to develop a blockage that prompts it to attack as aggressively. When it does bite, the flea deposits only a fraction of its stomach material into the body of its new host, minimizing its ability to spread infection compared with its more ravenous Asian cousin
> Chinese residents—possibly with the assistance of Western-trained doctors familiar with the methods of bacteriology—appeared to be hiding victim’s bodies in hopes that the decomposition process would obscure the true cause of death,
> the press refused to admit the danger that San Francisco was in. “We do not believe that a single person has ever died of bubonic plague in this city,” the Chronicle wrote in an editorial after the body of the fourth plague victim was found
> Developed by Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, a Ukrainian scientist who, like Kinyoun, had once studied with Louis Pasteur, the so-called Haffkine serum had been developed by growing plague cells taken from cadavers and subjecting them to high heat in order to kill their ability to multiply. After potential patients in several villages refused to receive any serum that included plague germs, the first tests had been conducted on a group of prisoners in Bombay three years before. The serum was shown to reduce the risk of infection by half. Yet its side effects—high fever, violent vomiting, and a deep but temporary reddening of the skin—would leave its recipients incapacitated for two days at least, and required additional injections every six months to remain effective.
> coming at a time when distrust of compulsory smallpox vaccinations spurred Americans of all ethnicities to pull their children from public schools, most Chinese in San Francisco saw the Haffkine serum as ineffective at best and suspected that it was actually a plan to poison them. Tongs threatened to harm anyone who submitted to the vaccine
> the most common flea in the city was the Northern European species, Ceratophyllus fasciatus, rather than Pulex cheposis, which was the most prevalent in plague-infested ports such as Hong Kong and Bombay. … The main difference between the two species is in the layout of their guts: the Indian rat flea has a spiny ridge in its abdomen where blood from its most recent meal collects, eventually blocking material from reaching the stomach. That clot leads the famished insect to aggressively bite any living mammal that it encounters. … The European flea, by comparison, retains less blood in its stomach, leaving it less likely to develop a blockage that prompts it to attack as aggressively. When it does bite, the flea deposits only a fraction of its stomach material into the body of its new host, minimizing its ability to spread infection compared with its more ravenous Asian cousin
December 26, 2022
Just a cheerful book about the plague to round out my holiday reading.
In the early 1900s, plague visited California. It creeped in, set up shop in Chinatown in San Francisco, and proceeded to puzzle scientists as it would pick victims seemingly at random. Compounding their efforts to isolate a cause, local politicians staunchly refused to assist the scientists and frighten the residents. San Francisco was growing, California as a whole was growing, and it wouldn't do to frighten people, close borders, and basically anything sensible to combat the disease. Everything's fine in Ba Sing Se. It went about as well as expected.
It was an interesting read about a situation I hadn't heard of before. If the politicians in charge then had had their way, things might have turned out much worse for San Francisco, California, and the United States as a whole. I liked that the book profiled the rotating cast of doctors-in-charge and the many ways their efforts to control the disease were brought up short by everyone around them. We're apparently really good at burying our heads in the sand for the sake of personal convenience and never really learned important lessons from the past. Who knew.
I did think the book meandered a bit more than was necessary, which caused my attention to wander a bit. There was an extensive section about the California gold rush which, while relevant to explain California's development, wasn't necessarily relevant to the plague story being told. I like my sidebars and rabbit holes as much as the next person, but it made the story as a whole feel less cohesive.
Still, a super engaging read and interesting story about how politics and medical science can never seem to see eye-to-eye on anything.
In the early 1900s, plague visited California. It creeped in, set up shop in Chinatown in San Francisco, and proceeded to puzzle scientists as it would pick victims seemingly at random. Compounding their efforts to isolate a cause, local politicians staunchly refused to assist the scientists and frighten the residents. San Francisco was growing, California as a whole was growing, and it wouldn't do to frighten people, close borders, and basically anything sensible to combat the disease. Everything's fine in Ba Sing Se. It went about as well as expected.
It was an interesting read about a situation I hadn't heard of before. If the politicians in charge then had had their way, things might have turned out much worse for San Francisco, California, and the United States as a whole. I liked that the book profiled the rotating cast of doctors-in-charge and the many ways their efforts to control the disease were brought up short by everyone around them. We're apparently really good at burying our heads in the sand for the sake of personal convenience and never really learned important lessons from the past. Who knew.
I did think the book meandered a bit more than was necessary, which caused my attention to wander a bit. There was an extensive section about the California gold rush which, while relevant to explain California's development, wasn't necessarily relevant to the plague story being told. I like my sidebars and rabbit holes as much as the next person, but it made the story as a whole feel less cohesive.
Still, a super engaging read and interesting story about how politics and medical science can never seem to see eye-to-eye on anything.
February 7, 2022
Rounding up from 4.5 stars because the only thing I really disliked was a quirk / repetitive phrasing thing that was like nails on a chalkboard for me personally but didn’t actually have anything to do with the narrative arc. Overall, I legitimately feel 1000x more like I have an understanding of my city’s history after reading this historical / political / medical thriller. It was incredibly jarring to see the commonalities with the US’s response to covid at first, but ultimately I think I found it comforting in a kind of dark & twisted way. In sum, a must read - for San Franciscans especially - in our current era.
January 11, 2021
I worried reading this during the COVID-19 pandemic might exacerbate anxiety, but it really didn't. The story was simply fascinating, and I found myself dog-earing so many pages with parallels to 2020: politicians refusing to recognize the outbreak, muffling the media, laying blame on ethnic groups. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Highly recommended.
April 23, 2019
A devastating disease, an apathetic and greedy local government, and an unlikely hero.
Black Death at the Golden Gate is a shocking tale of a plague outbreak in turn of the century California, an event that had previously been buried in America's history. David K. Randall paints a vivid picture of the chilling events from San Francisco, using a multitude of sources to give the readers a true understanding of who these men facing the Black Death were, and what they stood for.
Randall does an amazing job at pointing out that history isn't just black and white; no person is either "good" or "bad." You learn each character's strength, but also their faults. I am often frustrated that authors leave the less pretty information out to make a more compelling hero. Randall absolutely came through, providing the whole picture.
This read is fascinating, shocking, chilling, and in the end, encouraging. It is an absolute must read!!
Black Death at the Golden Gate is a shocking tale of a plague outbreak in turn of the century California, an event that had previously been buried in America's history. David K. Randall paints a vivid picture of the chilling events from San Francisco, using a multitude of sources to give the readers a true understanding of who these men facing the Black Death were, and what they stood for.
Randall does an amazing job at pointing out that history isn't just black and white; no person is either "good" or "bad." You learn each character's strength, but also their faults. I am often frustrated that authors leave the less pretty information out to make a more compelling hero. Randall absolutely came through, providing the whole picture.
This read is fascinating, shocking, chilling, and in the end, encouraging. It is an absolute must read!!
December 30, 2019
4.5 stars. A historical medical mystery following two doctors who recognized plague when it came to the US and had to fight politicians, business interests, and rampant racism and xenophobia in trying to control the disease. Because of all the pushback the doctors and the Marine Medical Service encountered, it took too long to make the connection to rats and fleas, and now western squirrels also carry the disease (as anyone who has been to a park near Lake Tahoe can tell you; there are signs warning people to stay away from plague-bearing squirrels). As noted in the last sentence, “ ... the disease remains hidden along the wide open horizon of the West, where it waits to once again make a jump into the human population.”
August 16, 2019
A history book that reads nothing like one; I was engaged by Randall's writing. The book's subject, the Plague, is accompanied by additional topics of racism, corrupted politics and media, and negative scientific attitudes which, unfortunately, don't feel as distanced as they should.
June 13, 2020
Another one for the "Mandatory Reading in a Time of Pandemic" list.
Protip: racism and the economy are really bad reasons to let people die of infectious disease because what could possibly go wrong?
Protip: racism and the economy are really bad reasons to let people die of infectious disease because what could possibly go wrong?
October 2, 2023
This is a compelling nonfiction adventure into 20th-century San Francisco. This will grip you and hold you glued to your book player. At least when it grips you it will not do so in the way the disease about which the author writes gripped and killed its victims.
In 1900, some medical folks in Hawaii recognized symptoms of Bubonic Plague in a Chinese resident of the territory. Remember, we didn’t get antibiotics for this until decades later. It was a moment of terror for Hawaiians, and whenever you create fear, you can more easily create racism and/or magnify it. The death toll increased among the Chinese, and soon territory officials are working to cover up the numbers and burn Hawaii’s version of Chinatown to the ground.
Hawaii’s containment efforts worked … until they didn’t. There was no public health infrastructure to speak of in the U.S. at the time, so local doctors made decisions about how things should work with some small assistance from military hospital officials.
Wong Chut King, who died on March 6, 1900, became patient zero in a series of Bubonic Plague deaths that initially slammed Chinatown, and would spread mercilessly to other neighborhoods and even rural communities before health officials got it under control.
This is a heartbreaking fascinating story about pseudoscience, racism, and political coverups that prevented health officials from doing their job and ending the outbreak sooner than it ended. It’s the rollercoaster story of Rupert Blue, a lazy physician destined to live in the shadow of his far more successful older brother. But before this ends, Blue stands in no one’s shadow.
You’ll read about resistance to treatment even by Blue who ultimately took charge of stopping the outbreak. He initially didn’t buy a French physician’s perspective that fleas jumping from rats to people caused spread of the disease. Blue initially thought rats themselves were the cause.
You need to read this for the element of mystery if for no other reason. Why did the disease burst onto the scene in one neighborhood, then quickly subside temporarily? If you think efforts by the White House to silence speech on social media platforms is a new phenomenon, read this to see how California’s governor sought to cover up numbers and prevent the city’s newspapers from publishing accurate data. And yes, big business was right there with him in the attempt.
The narration is excellent, and the subject matter is something about which I knew nothing. This isn’t a hugely long book, but it will long stay with you.
In 1900, some medical folks in Hawaii recognized symptoms of Bubonic Plague in a Chinese resident of the territory. Remember, we didn’t get antibiotics for this until decades later. It was a moment of terror for Hawaiians, and whenever you create fear, you can more easily create racism and/or magnify it. The death toll increased among the Chinese, and soon territory officials are working to cover up the numbers and burn Hawaii’s version of Chinatown to the ground.
Hawaii’s containment efforts worked … until they didn’t. There was no public health infrastructure to speak of in the U.S. at the time, so local doctors made decisions about how things should work with some small assistance from military hospital officials.
Wong Chut King, who died on March 6, 1900, became patient zero in a series of Bubonic Plague deaths that initially slammed Chinatown, and would spread mercilessly to other neighborhoods and even rural communities before health officials got it under control.
This is a heartbreaking fascinating story about pseudoscience, racism, and political coverups that prevented health officials from doing their job and ending the outbreak sooner than it ended. It’s the rollercoaster story of Rupert Blue, a lazy physician destined to live in the shadow of his far more successful older brother. But before this ends, Blue stands in no one’s shadow.
You’ll read about resistance to treatment even by Blue who ultimately took charge of stopping the outbreak. He initially didn’t buy a French physician’s perspective that fleas jumping from rats to people caused spread of the disease. Blue initially thought rats themselves were the cause.
You need to read this for the element of mystery if for no other reason. Why did the disease burst onto the scene in one neighborhood, then quickly subside temporarily? If you think efforts by the White House to silence speech on social media platforms is a new phenomenon, read this to see how California’s governor sought to cover up numbers and prevent the city’s newspapers from publishing accurate data. And yes, big business was right there with him in the attempt.
The narration is excellent, and the subject matter is something about which I knew nothing. This isn’t a hugely long book, but it will long stay with you.
November 14, 2025
I really wasn’t sure what this was going to be about until I got into it. Did San Francisco have an outbreak of bubonic plague? Sort of, but not until the end of the year 1907, in the fourteenth of this book’s eighteen chapters. From the beginning, though, San Francisco was at high risk for an epidemic of bubonic plague. The dreaded bacterial infection might have caused disaster in the entire country, but because it isn’t carried by the fleas of the region very well, it mostly lies dormant in North America, now, though small, regional outbreaks occur regularly in the southwest, and if antibiotics like streptomycin cease being effective, we could potentially be as vulnerable as before the drugs were developed to a plague outbreak in this country.
There is a pattern to these books, making them
distressing and consoling at once. It’s a consolation that there are always caring and communicative people doing their best to spread truth and good policy, here Rupert Blue, the public health doctor who mustered public resources to fight plague in San Francisco. And the distressing part? Oh, that ordinary Americans would come together in numbers to fight public health experts. Would minimize and attempt to hide disease. Were utterly filthy and built dank cities primed to accept disease. Oh, and when crisis hits, who will blame problems on Chinese, Japanese, or other foreigners they consider inferior to the white race.
Policy failures litter the effort to control bubonic plague in America’s west; ignorance, selfishness, racism and xenophobia all too often defeat efforts at education, generosity, and goodwill toward others. At least we learn that the country has not devolved or suddenly turned against science, in the MAGA and MAHa years. The country has merely reverted to the mean.
There is a pattern to these books, making them
distressing and consoling at once. It’s a consolation that there are always caring and communicative people doing their best to spread truth and good policy, here Rupert Blue, the public health doctor who mustered public resources to fight plague in San Francisco. And the distressing part? Oh, that ordinary Americans would come together in numbers to fight public health experts. Would minimize and attempt to hide disease. Were utterly filthy and built dank cities primed to accept disease. Oh, and when crisis hits, who will blame problems on Chinese, Japanese, or other foreigners they consider inferior to the white race.
Policy failures litter the effort to control bubonic plague in America’s west; ignorance, selfishness, racism and xenophobia all too often defeat efforts at education, generosity, and goodwill toward others. At least we learn that the country has not devolved or suddenly turned against science, in the MAGA and MAHa years. The country has merely reverted to the mean.
April 5, 2021
This is a very dense but informative and interesting account of an outbreak of the Black Plague in San Francisco in the early 1900s. Some of the major players were Kinyoun, one of the first specialists to investigate the outbreak; Gage, the governor who severely inhibited effective treatments; and Blue, who was assigned to SF after Kinyoun and was much more effective.
Some of my thoughts:
The fear and discrimination against Asian-Americans is very similar to today, unfortunately.
The things Kinyoun put up with were nuts! If I had not seen so many similar things occur in the past year, I wouldn't believe that people could be so blind, short-sighted, and selfish. Gage was unbelievable, but then so were Trump and so many of the deniers in the past months.
The amount of detail on the research on rats and fleas was fascinating. In later chapters, it was amazing how they were able to track rats and squirrels.
Wong Chung was so courageous to work so hard with the department to track down patients.
I can almost see how the public and government was skeptical about the severity of the risk, given the slow trickle of confirmed patients and confusing patterns of infections. It was interesting in chapter 16 how they later realized that it may be due to a different species of flea!
It was encouraging in chapter 15 when there finally seemed to be some progress and people listening.
Blue was impressive and I am glad he became surgeon general, even if he was eventually forced out. His success compared to Kinyoun demonstrates the importance of diplomacy! Thank goodness for Fauci now.
Overall, the book was dense but very informative. Glad I read it!
Some of my thoughts:
The fear and discrimination against Asian-Americans is very similar to today, unfortunately.
The things Kinyoun put up with were nuts! If I had not seen so many similar things occur in the past year, I wouldn't believe that people could be so blind, short-sighted, and selfish. Gage was unbelievable, but then so were Trump and so many of the deniers in the past months.
The amount of detail on the research on rats and fleas was fascinating. In later chapters, it was amazing how they were able to track rats and squirrels.
Wong Chung was so courageous to work so hard with the department to track down patients.
I can almost see how the public and government was skeptical about the severity of the risk, given the slow trickle of confirmed patients and confusing patterns of infections. It was interesting in chapter 16 how they later realized that it may be due to a different species of flea!
It was encouraging in chapter 15 when there finally seemed to be some progress and people listening.
Blue was impressive and I am glad he became surgeon general, even if he was eventually forced out. His success compared to Kinyoun demonstrates the importance of diplomacy! Thank goodness for Fauci now.
Overall, the book was dense but very informative. Glad I read it!
May 4, 2021
Bubonic plague breaks out in Chinatown; City and State politicians and the media they control deny its existence (hello, Mr. Xi), say that it is under control (hello, Mr. Trump), say that it only effects the racially inferior (hello Mr. Bolsonaro), and declare the disease has been defeated (hello, Mr. Modi). Meanwhile, a beleaguered federal health department (the Marine Hospital Service, as it was known at the time), is tasked with discovering the pathology and protecting the public, underfunded and in the face of public opprobrium.
All in all, a quite gripping account, although there were a few amazingly wrong statements (a section of San Francisco "bounded by Bay, Market, Valencia and Mission Streets" is a geometric impossibility, and could probably use an Oxford comma, as well), it was generally well written, for non-fiction.
All in all, a quite gripping account, although there were a few amazingly wrong statements (a section of San Francisco "bounded by Bay, Market, Valencia and Mission Streets" is a geometric impossibility, and could probably use an Oxford comma, as well), it was generally well written, for non-fiction.
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