What were the main causes of death at Gratiot?
Disease–mainly small pox. The prison officials took efforts to contain the disease and vaccinated against it as far as possible but there were still several severe outbreaks. All the other typical illnesses common to the era also affected the prisoners. There is little evidence that lack of food or safe water (by 1860’s standards) was ever a major problem. When inspections revealed poor food or lack of food steps were taken to correct the situation. Sanitary conditions were also monitored carefully. While there were problems–particularly in the early months of operation–there’s no indication that any food shortages or deficient sanitary conditions were intentional and they were corrected as soon and as well as possible. Also, arriving prisoners may have had battle wounds that had often gone untreated for several days, as well as an arduous trip, that affected their survival chances. In the very first batch of prisoners to arrive at Gratiot one man died practically on the doorsteps i
