On Oct. 9, 1918, due to the influenza spread, Minneapolis Health Commissioner Dr. H. M. Guilford ordered a temporary ban on all unnecessary public meetings.

Despite their proximity to one another, the timing of the epidemic was rather different in each of the Twin Cities. By the first days of October, Minneapolis’s civilian and military authorities estimated approximately 1,000 cases of influenza, which included over 500 sick army soldiers at Fort Snelling Hospital. Guilford guessed that at least 300 civilian cases had not yet been reported.

In St. Paul, by contrast, officials claimed that all was clear. “There is no epidemic here, particularly among the civilian population,” St. Paul Mayor Hodgson told reporters on October 8, “and the situation appears to be in excellent control.