calsfoundation@cals.org
January 22, 1923
Prominent physician Zaphney Orto died. In 1882, while living in Walnut Ridge (Lawrence County), Orto began investigating malaria, believing there was a direct connection between malaria and mosquitoes. In 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Orto volunteered for military service, serving at the rank of major. He was president of the State Medical Society of Arkansas in 1890. Leaving his private practice, he became the second president of Simmons National Bank in Pine Bluff beginning the year it was founded, 1903, until his death in 1923.