united states over the treatment of immigrant chinese in san francisco and that forced president william mchenry order an inquiry and finally erratication efforts. people caught and killed rats. but 122 people had died. most scott says because of the denials and cover up. >> if it apt -- hasn't been for j.j. quinon which is a local hero. i think the plague could have wiped out hundreds maybe thousands of people in san francisco at that time. >>> the plague returned after the great earthquake and fire of 1906 which again created pet conditions for the disease. again infested rats fled destroyed stables. ironically, rat proofed china town escaped the worse of it this time. the 1907 plague spread up in ritzy nobhill and other communities. posters ranked all the residents, in fact, threatened them and this time newspapers had extensive coverage of the outbreak. the city paid a bounty on rats, a nickel a rat, more than 2 million were killed. what might have been a far worse epidemic was contained to about 75 deaths over the next two years but the plague did not disappear. two more outbreaks over the