On Sept. 29, 1918, Minneapolis civilian, military, and school officials announced the arrival of the influenza epidemic to the city. The first case, which appeared on September 27, was later identified in a man who had visited his son in Camp Dix, New Jersey.

Approximately 150 cases were reported in the city, the vast majority among cadets and soldiers from University of Minnesota Student Army Training Corps units or the small detachment at the Dunwoody Institute Training Camp, and the rest among sixteen nurses from the University Hospital reported to be suffering from a mild form of the disease.

The ill cadets were transferred to the Fort Snelling hospital, while medical officers on campus conducted physical examinations of all men in an attempt to identify cases as early as possible.