MUSCODA - There has been a lot of controversy in recent months regarding whether the government can or cannot require people to be vaccinated during the time of an epidemic. Following is a brief look at the type of action taken many years ago.
The following article appeared in the Village of Avoca and Area historical book, printed by us in 1970, as the community prepared to celebrate 100 years of history. There may be a few of those books still around on shelves or in attics and the old may be new to many folks living in the area now and it follows here.
“On January 23, 1877, all hands are preparing to keep the King’s smallpox from overcoming us. The village board passed an ordinance that all persons be vaccinated in the village who have not been vaccinated within the last 60 days to be vaccinated within the next 10 days under the penalty of $5 to $20. Those too poor to pay for the vaccine are to be vaccinated at village expense. The board of health ordered school closed and served notices to all merchants not to allow any persons on their premises if they have been exposed to the dread disease. Dr. Linsey vaccinated from 60 to 80 people every day until the vaccine was gone. He never used any vaccine other than which he got from Dr. Griffin’s cow.” Note – the story has no explanation as to how Dr. Griffin’s cow became involved in the effort.
Winter River Travel
The Wisconsin River at Muscoda attracts numerous visitors – even during the winter. “River Looking” is a Muscoda tradition. However, few of the lookers have thoughts about being “on the river” during the winter.
But there was a time, likely before the upstream dams controlled the river flow, when people did cross the river on the ice and sometimes skated on it. A few years ago this newspaper carried an “in person” story about a long-ago local group who skated on the river, traveling several miles upstream by the light of the moon and then cooking and having a party.
A special winter ice story is in the aforementioned Avoca 100-year book. It concerns a well-known area physician, Dr. Bertha Reynolds, who lived in Lone Rock and served the area, starting in 1902, reaching her patients any way she could.
The “Dr. Bertha” story notes that in making her rounds through the Wisconsin River Valley she progressed from a sidesaddle on a horse to a horse and buggy, to autos and even an airplane. She also used boats and the railroad, including handcars. A man who sometimes drove for her on emergencies recalled: “For a mild-mannered woman, she had the most stubbornness when there was a sick person to reach.”
The doctor recalled one incident, which even she described as a narrow escape. She had been called to Avoca on an early spring night. It had been thawing and many roads were under water. Her driver asked her if they should go by way of the bridge or go across the ice. She instructed him to go across the ice.
She said that at one place they heard her favorite horse “Brownie” sloshing in water and seemingly wanting to go toward the bank. She told the driver to let the horse pick the way but get to the highway as soon as possible. They made it to the Avoca sick call and stayed until daylight the next morning, returning to Lone Rock by way of the bridge – and witnessed that the middle of the river had entirely opened up during the night.
Dr. Bertha practiced at Lone Rock more than 40 years, including through the influenza epidemic of 1918 and a tornado in 1914. She recalled that during a flood in 1923, when roads were under water, she talked a young visiting airplane pilot into flying her to a patient in the Clyde area. When she asked about the young man’s name, he replied, “Charles Lindbergh.”
Dr. Bertha died October 31, 1961. She is buried in the Brown Church Cemetery in Bear Valley. The inscription on her tombstone simply reads: “She served this community well!”