Published on 04/11/2009

It is very easy to talk and write about a certain region being "The Consumptive's Paradise," and a" Sanitarium for all Afflicted Humanity,"...

United States Climate: Where to Find the Healthiest Climate

It is very easy to talk and write about a certain region being "The Consumptive's Paradise," and a" Sanitarium for all Afflicted Humanity," with little to support the claim except bold assertions, wreathed in flowery language. But in the following the reader will find facts, not fancies; and facts too numerous and authentic to be set aside. And in collecting and comparing these facts the writer has not at all been actuated by the desire to prove a theory, but simply to find out truth.

WHERE shall we seek recuperation and health? Where can we find the best United States climate—or in the world? Is it in Florida? or on the Mediterranean? or in New Mexico? or California? Individual experience and opinion can determine nothing. It is only by the combination and comparison of great numbers of carefully recorded facts that we can arrive at any certainty about the matter. These facts or statistics we may find in the records of sickness and death which are kept at the military posts throughout the United States and other civilized countries. Let us see which way these point.

Our North Pacific Slope Compared With Other Parts of the United States.

Taking the period from 1849 to 1860, omitting fractions as much as possible, and taking the nearest whole numbers, we find that the average number of deaths per annum, in every 1,000 soldiers, by disease, was:

In Florida——26
In Southern Texas——50
In Western Texas——20
In New Mexico and Arizona——19
And in the "Department of the Columbia," Oregon, Washington and Idaho, only——9

Between the years 1860 and 1867 the rate of mortality was disturbed and complicated by the war.

During the years 1868 and 1869 there died, on the average, by disease, in every 1,000 soldiers, annually:

In Florida and the Southeast——16
In Texas——11
In New Mexico a little more than——8
In Arizona——10.6
In Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah——67
In California a little over——6
In Montana, Dakota and Minnesota——4
And in the Department of the Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, only——1

During the period from 1870 to 1874 there died, in every 1,000 soldiers annually, by disease:

In Florida and the Southeast——12
In Texas, an average of about——16
In Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah——6
In New Mexico, nearly——8
In Arizona——15
In California——7.8
In Montana, Dakota and Minnesota——6
And in the Department of the Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Idaho——5.4

On taking the seven years from 1868 to 1874, inclusive, we have the average mortality per annum, in each 1,000 soldiers:

In Florida and the Southeast about——14
In Texas——13
In Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and, Utah——6.3
In New Mexico——8
In Montana, Dakota and Minnesota——5.5
In Arizona——13
In California——7.3
And in the Department of the Columbia——3.6 (viz., Oregon, 3; Washington, 6; and Idaho 2, in each 1,000 troops.)

Making a more brief and general estimate, we have for the seven years from 1874 to 1881, a death rate per annum, by disease, in Florida, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona of from 8 to 14 in every 1,000 soldiers; while in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, the death rate, by the official record, was less than 4 per 1,000, (the exact figures, 3.74, being almost precisely the same as for the preceding seven years).

Or let us compare the prevalence of certain diseases in the different parts of the United States. In an equal number of soldiers in the different Departments during the years 1868 and 1869, the number of cases of sickness, (not deaths), by malarial fever, stood nearly in the following proportion:

In the Department of the East——30
In the Department of the South——60
Department of the Lakes——50
Department of Texas——80
New Mexico, Indian Territory, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri, over——40
Wyoming, Nebraska and Utah——20
Montana, Dakota and Minnesota, nearly——10
Department of the Columbia (Oregon, Washington and Idaho)——10
Department of California——20
Department of Arizona——160

Or compare the mortality, in the different sections, by that great destroyer of human life, Consumption, and other respiratory diseases. Taking the period from 1850 to 1860 there died annually in every 1,000 soldiers, by consumption, pneumonia, etc.:

In Florida, an average of——2.75
In Texas——3
In New Mexico and Arizona——3.15
In California, a little more than——3
In the Department of the Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Idaho——1.6

From 1870 to 1874 (the next period for which the necessary figures have been obtained), the mortality by consumption, pneumonia, etc., was in every 1,000 soldiers annually:

In Florida——3
In Texas an average of——2.3
In Montana, Dakota and Minnesota——2
In New Mexico——2.2
In Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah——1.6
In Arizona——3.3
In California——3

While in the Department of the Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, the mortality by these diseases was a little less than 1 in 1,000; and for the period from 1874 to 1881 it was considerably less than 1 in 1,000;—showing only about half as much consumption and other respiratory disease in this section as in any other Department of the United States army;—and, as we shall see, less than in the British, French, or Italian armies, on the Mediterranean, or in Algeria, or in the West Indies, or, so far as we can find, in any other part of the world.

But first, the vital statistics of the United States census for 1870 (the latest yet published) coincide to a remarkable extent with these records of the army in regard to the comparative healthfulness or unhealthfulness of different States and Territories. Especially is this true in the West, Northwest and Southwest. Thus the census of 1870 shows in the civil population of the Department of the Columbia, viz., Oregon, Washington and Idaho, an entire death rate of about 7 per 1,000; in California of 16, and in Arizona of 26; and by consumption, pneumonia, etc., there died on the average in each 1,000 of the civil population of the Department of the Columbia (according to the census of 1870) 1.5; in California 3.3, and in Arizona 4.7.

So that combining these two sets of statistics, both in regard to the entire mortality, and also to the mortality by the principal diseases, we have the North Pacific Slope shown to be the very healthiest part of the United States.

The Climate of Our North Pacific Slopes Compared With That of The South of Europe, Algeria, Etc.

But we will go further, and say that, so far as we have the vital statistics to determine, there is no climate in the world that can compare with that of the northwestern part of our own country, between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. Take Italy, the south of France, and Algeria, to which invalids are sent, and both the civil and military statistics show a much higher mortality there than here.

In presenting the following figures, as well as the preceding, perfect fairness has been observed. Particular years are taken, not at all because they favor a theory, but because they are obtainable, and in form to be compared.

The death rate per annum, by all diseases, in the Italian army, from 1860 to 1876, was about 11 in 1,000. Among the soldiers of the French army stationed in the south of France in 1872, it was 10 in 1,000. In the French army in Algeria during the years 1863, 1864, 1866 and 1870 it was 14.50; while in our own Department of the Columbia, viz., Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, the death rate from 1868 to 1881 was only 3.75 in 1,000 by all diseases.

Why should people cross the rough and stormy Atlantic to find health, with the chances threefold against them, there, as compared with what they would be on our own beautiful mountains and plains, that slope from the summit of the continent westward to where the setting sun gilds the Pacific waters?

Or let us compare the figures for the diseases of the respiratory organs, including consumption, pneumonia, etc., and we have among the soldiers in the south of France (including the health resorts of Nice, Men-tone, etc.,) for the year 1872, an average death rate, by these diseases, of 2.4 per 1,000 annually. In the French army in Algeria during the years 1863, 1864, and 1866, it was, by these diseases, more than 3 in 1,000 annually; and in the Italian army during the years 1867, 1868, and 1869, and 1874, 1875, and 1876, the deaths by respiratory diseases, including consumption, etc., averaged nearly 4 in 1,000 annually; while in our own Department of the Columbia, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, the mortality, by these diseases, from 1870 to 1881, was less than 1 in 1,000 troops annually.

The North Pacific Slope Healthier Than Any Other Part of the World of Which We Have the Statistics.

All this is confirmed in a remarkable manner by the records of the Medical Department of the British army from 1859 to 1879. These records show the sanitary condition of the British soldiers, the diseases and deaths which occur at every military station in the British Dominions, and consequently represent the healthfulness or unhealthfulness of climate in portions of every quarter of the globe—Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, and the Islands of Australia, New Zealand, and the East and West Indies,—a mass of official and certainly very valuable statistics. These show every-where a mortality much higher than iii our North Pacific slope—every-where except when approaching the latter, in the neighboring territory of British Columbia, adjoining Washington and Idaho on the north, and having a climate very similar to these. And here we are struck by the fact that these records show a degree of healthfulness almost exactly the same in British Columbia as that in the Department of the Columbia, on our own side of the boundary line. But let us compare the figures.

From 1859 to 1879 at the British stations of Gibraltar, the Ionian Islands, and Malta, in the supposed sanitary zone of the Mediterranean, we find an average death rate, by all diseases, of about 7.5, 8.4, and 10.5, respectively, in each 1,000 troops, per annum; and by respiratory diseases, including consumption, pneumonia, etc., of 2 in 1,000; being more than twice as great as in our Department of the Columbia. In Australia we find a death rate, by all diseases, of 12 in each 1,000 troops annually, and by respiratory diseases of over 5 in 1,000. In New Zealand, of 8.75 by all diseases, and of nearly 3 per 1,000 by respiratory diseases. Japan, China, and the East Indies are much worse, having a mortality of from 14 to 25 or 30 in 1,000 troops. In the West Indies it is, by all diseases, from 10 to 12 and 13 in 1,000, and by respiratory diseases over 2 per annum. In England itself the mortality is about 8 in 1,000 soldiers, by all diseases, annually; and by respiratory diseases over 3.5. In Canada it is between 6 and 7 per 1,000, by all diseases, and over 2 by respiratory diseases. While in British Columbia, lying immediately north of Washington and Idaho, and having a climate quite similar, the death rate per annum, for the four and a half years the British troops were there, was a little over 3 in 1,000, (3.04), by all diseases, being almost exactly the same as among our own soldiers in the Department of the Columbia, so similarly situated. Indeed, the British troops were stationed less than fifty miles from our boundary line.

Thus, after making the circuit of the globe in search of health, we come back to find our own North Pacific slope, and the country adjacent to it—extending from the Rocky Mountains to the coast regions—the healthiest country, so far as we have any positive and reliable evidence, III the world.

And this question of health is, after all, the important question, for health is the basis of enjoyment of all other blessings—the measure of the value of money, and whatever money can buy. Only a healthy eye can see all the beauties in nature and art. Only a healthy palate can taste the full pleasure of eating. Only healthy nerves and brain can feel all the enjoyment of living.

But not only is this a land of health; it is also a land of beauty, of grandeur, of fertility; With mountains scarcely inferior to those of Switzerland; with plains not surpassed in fertility by any on the globe; a land refreshed and made beautiful by bubbling springs, and rippling streams of purest water, and grand with rapid rivers and roaring cataracts; a land, in many parts, of almost matchless wealth of forest for architectural use; with harbors the most extensive and beautiful in the world, winding in numerous branches and coves far into the interior of the country, where the shipping of all nations could float in safety. And, withal, it is a land where nature is mild and peaceful: for of the 600 cyclones reported by the Signal Service in the United States, and which, in other parts of our country, have destroyed hundreds of lives and rendered thousands houseless, not one is reported in Oregon, Washington, or Idaho, and only one in California.

Moreover, this region is mild in temperature both winter and summer. With an average thermometer for the year about equal to that of Cincinnati or St. Louis, the winter is not so cold, nor the summer so warm, by several degrees, as at these places. The nights are never uncomfortably warm, and the days are seldom uncomfortably cold.

The great elevation of the Rocky Mountains in Montana and Wyoming forms the dividing barrier between two distinct climates on the east side the rainfall being mainly in summer and on the west in winter. Also, on the east side the winds in winter come mostly from the frozen north; or, if they come across from the west, they bring down with them the cold of the snowy mountain tops. On the other side they come mainly from that great reservoir and equalizer of caloric, the Pacific ocean; and in winter the farther they travel from the ocean the colder they become; so that as you go west from the Mississippi the winter temperature, at equal altitudes, increases till you reach the Pacific.

Thus, taking the reports of the Signal Service for the years 1878, 1879, and 1880, we find, on or near the same parallel of latitude, the average winter temperature at St. Paul, about 18.30°—(some parts of Dakota being even colder on account of greater elevation)—at Umatilla, Eastern Oregon, 33.50°, and at Portland, Western Oregon, 40.50°. Also at Breckenridge, Minn., we have an average temperature in winter of 6°, and at Olympia, on the same latitude near the Pacific, of 37°.

In summer the case is beautifully reversed, and the temperature becomes more cool and pleasant as we approach the Pacific.

It is then no wild fancy or exaggeration to say that this region has the conditions to become one of the grandest portions of the earth, with a population the healthiest and strongest, and, with proper institutions and training, surpassed by none in civilization and art.

And millions of fertile acres in this favored region are waiting for cultivation—waiting for acceptance on the most favorable terms. Surely, then, it only needs that these facts be properly put before the public to draw a large, intelligent and most desirable immigration.

To Those Who Propose to Travel for Health or Pleasure.

The writer has been carefully and studiously over the favorite parts of Europe, and also of our Pacific slope, with a view both to health and beauty of scenery, and he honestly, and without hesitation, would say to all who think of going to Europe for health: You had far better go in the opposite direction. The very soil of Europe is saturated with the mold and human filth of thousands of years; while in our own great West there is a freshness of nature, and a purity of air, not to be found in the crowded countries of the Old World.

If you have a summer vacation to spend, go west—the further the better, at least till you get within sight of the Cascade Mountains, or of the Coast Range. There, on the high western plains of Idaho, or on the pine-clad slopes of the Blue Mountains, or of the Cascades in Eastern Oregon, or Washington, or on some favored points of the Coast Mountains of California, whence you can look down upon the gleaming waters of Clear lake,—at any of these points you will find, in summer, an almost cloudless sky, perfect immunity from rain or heavy dew, a dry and bracing atmosphere, in which you can "sleep under the stars," fanned by Pacific breezes, and be wakened each morn by Aurora peeping o'er the purple mountain tops, or through your green curtains of aromatic fir-tree boughs. In short, you can there enjoy all the sanitary advantages of open-air life, both night and day. And such a life is strongly recommended by the most eminent physicians of the Pacific coast, even for consumptives.

Is it natural scenery you would enjoy? The Rhine is not so grand as the Columbia breaking through the Cascades. The snowy crests of Hood, of St. Helens, and Reiner, and Shasta, rival those of Blanc, Jungfrau, and Rosa. The sun that gilds their summits shines from a brighter sky, and invests them in more varied and lovely hues. Our great traveler, Bayard Taylor, says that nowhere else, except in Greece, has he seen such delicate and ever-changing atmospheric tints as among the mountains near the Pacific coast.

Going there for the first time, is almost like going to a new world, so many things are different there from here. The Quail has a different whistle; the Lark a different song,—it sinus there as if its throat were full and overflowing with melody. In Europe you may find art but in the West you will find health, purity of air, and a freshness and beauty of nature, which is "The Art of God."