Autumn 1998 Vol. 24, No. 4
the
TEND/ECK A review and newsletter from the Columbia River Maritime Museum at 1792 Mari,~~ Drive in Astoria, Oregon I
Immigrant passengers arrive in the Columbia River by ship, ca. 1900. Before landing, they were met by health officials who inspected and fumigated the ship and quarantined passengers carrying communicable diseases . 1983.67.30
Guardians of Health on the Lower Columbia River Perhaps the best known immigration and quarantine station in North America is Ellis Island in New York Harbor, where fully two-thirds of immigrants passed through the famous "portal to America." By the late 19 th century, the Columbia River also ranked as a major American port of entry. As more and more cargo ships and immigrants arrived from overseas, residents and officials alike grew ever more concerned about an accidental import: disease. Even the names of the virulent, life-threatening diseases - bubonic plague, yellow fever, cholera, smallpox, and malaria - were enough to panic
residents of port cities the world over. But scientists and doctors were close to unraveling the mystery of how disease is spread. The results included a federal Quarantine Act that mandated actions to be taken against incoming ships and passengers that might carry quarantinable disease. To commemorate two hundred years of the U.S. Public Health Service, we take a retrospective look at this little-known aspect of Astoria's history as a port of entry. A photo essay begins on page three.
-Anne Witty, Curator