Sanatoriums of New Mexico

Tuberculosis, also known as consumption, the White Plague, or simply TB, was the number-one killer in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many physicians of the era advised their patients to chase the cure for tuberculosis in the Southwest, where the region’s clean, dry, fresh air, high altitude, and sunshine offered relief for most and recovery for some. New Mexico, called the “well country,” was particularly eager to promote itself as a mecca for lungers with the coming of the railroad to the territory in 1880 and the creation of many new hospitals, known as sanitariums or sanatoriums (“sans”), which specialized in the treatment of TB. This is a brief history of New Mexico’s sans, their patients, and the doctors, nurses, and staff who served them during the golden age of the TB industry, from the turn of the 20th century to the eve of World War II.