220.1257.2

The extreme left part of a panoramic of Camp Dodge, a World War I training venue located northwest of Des Moines, directly north of the small town of Johnston, and later directly north of interstate highway 80. In this detail can be seen on the left the building of the Lutheran Brotherhood; in the center, the administration building of the YMCA; and on the right, the YMCA auditorium. The interurban railroad brought thousands of midwestern soldiers in and out of this camp. During the influenza pandemic of 1918, hundreds of those soldiers died here. The railroad helped to spread the disease to Europe when unknowingly the army shipped out infected soldiers to the theaters of the war.