Averting disaster: The Hudson's Bay Company and smallpox in western Canada during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

Bulletin of the History of Medicine

Volumn 78, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 575-609

  Hackett, Paul ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Aboriginal people; Epidemic; Fur trade; Hudson's Bay Company; Indians; Public health; Quarantine; Smallpox; Vaccination; Western Canada

Indexed keywords

EID: 6344248865     PISSN: 00075140     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/bhm.2004.0119     Document Type: Review

References (157)

1. See, for instance, Donald R. Hopkins, Princes and Peasants: Smallpox in History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983); William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976).
2. See, for instance, Donald R. Hopkins, Princes and Peasants: Smallpox in History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983); William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976).
3. Alfred W. Crosby, "Smallpox," in The Cambridge World History of Human Disease, ed. Kenneth F. Kiple (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 1008-13.
4. Henry F. Dobyns, Their Number Become Thinned: American Population Dynamics in Eastern North America (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983), p. 441; Ann F. Ramenofsky, Vectors of Death: The Archaeology of European Contact (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987), p. 130; Donald B. Cooper, Epidemic Diseases in Mexico City, 1761-1813, Latin American Monographs, vol. 3 (Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, 1965), pp. ix, 56, 68-69, 86.
5. Henry F. Dobyns, Their Number Become Thinned: American Population Dynamics in Eastern North America (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983), p. 441; Ann F. Ramenofsky, Vectors of Death: The Archaeology of European Contact (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987), p. 130; Donald B. Cooper, Epidemic Diseases in Mexico City, 1761-1813, Latin American Monographs, vol. 3 (Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, 1965), pp. ix, 56, 68-69, 86.
6. Henry F. Dobyns, Their Number Become Thinned: American Population Dynamics in Eastern North America (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983), p. 441; Ann F. Ramenofsky, Vectors of Death: The Archaeology of European Contact (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987), p. 130; Donald B. Cooper, Epidemic Diseases in Mexico City, 1761-1813, Latin American Monographs, vol. 3 (Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, 1965), pp. ix, 56, 68-69, 86.
7. Marc Simmons, "New Mexico's Smallpox Epidemic of 1780-1781," New Mexico Hist. Rev., 1966, 41: 319-26, on pp. 321-23.
8. Laura L. Peers, The Ojibwa of Western Canada, Manitoba Studies in Native History, vol. 8 (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1994), p. 20; John F. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects of Epidemics on the Northern Plains: 1734-1850," Western Can. J. Anthrop., 1977, 7 (4): 55-81; W. Raymond Wood, "Plains Trade in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Intertribal Relations," in Anthropology on the Great Plains, ed. W. Raymond Wood and Margot Liberty (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980), pp. 98-109, on p. 100.
9. Laura L. Peers, The Ojibwa of Western Canada, Manitoba Studies in Native History, vol. 8 (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1994), p. 20; John F. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects of Epidemics on the Northern Plains: 1734-1850," Western Can. J. Anthrop., 1977, 7 (4): 55-81; W. Raymond Wood, "Plains Trade in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Intertribal Relations," in Anthropology on the Great Plains, ed. W. Raymond Wood and Margot Liberty (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980), pp. 98-109, on p. 100.
10. Laura L. Peers, The Ojibwa of Western Canada, Manitoba Studies in Native History, vol. 8 (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1994), p. 20; John F. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects of Epidemics on the Northern Plains: 1734-1850," Western Can. J. Anthrop., 1977, 7 (4): 55-81; W. Raymond Wood, "Plains Trade in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Intertribal Relations," in Anthropology on the Great Plains, ed. W. Raymond Wood and Margot Liberty (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980), pp. 98-109, on p. 100.
11. Joseph B. Tyrrell, ed., David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America 1784-1812, Publications of the Champlain Society, vol. 12 (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1916), p. 321; Edwin E. Rich and Alice M. Johnson, eds., Cumberland and Hudson House Journals 1775-82, 2nd ser., 1779-82, 2 vols., Publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society, vols. 14-15 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1952), 2: 223-24, 262; Jody F. Decker, "'We Should Never Be Again the Same People': The Diffusion and Cumulative Impact of Acute Infectious Diseases Affecting the Natives on the Northern Plains of the Western Interior of Canada 1774-1839" (Ph.D. diss., York University, 1989), p. 86. See also C. Stewart Houston and Stan Houston, "The First Smallpox Epidemic on the Canadian Plains: In the Fur-Traders' Words," Can. J. Infect. Dis., 2000, 11 (2): 112-15.
12. Joseph B. Tyrrell, ed., David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America 1784-1812, Publications of the Champlain Society, vol. 12 (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1916), p. 321; Edwin E. Rich and Alice M. Johnson, eds., Cumberland and Hudson House Journals 1775-82, 2nd ser., 1779-82, 2 vols., Publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society, vols. 14-15 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1952), 2: 223-24, 262; Jody F. Decker, "'We Should Never Be Again the Same People': The Diffusion and Cumulative Impact of Acute Infectious Diseases Affecting the Natives on the Northern Plains of the Western Interior of Canada 1774-1839" (Ph.D. diss., York University, 1989), p. 86. See also C. Stewart Houston and Stan Houston, "The First Smallpox Epidemic on the Canadian Plains: In the Fur-Traders' Words," Can. J. Infect. Dis., 2000, 11 (2): 112-15.
13. Joseph B. Tyrrell, ed., David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America 1784-1812, Publications of the Champlain Society, vol. 12 (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1916), p. 321; Edwin E. Rich and Alice M. Johnson, eds., Cumberland and Hudson House Journals 1775-82, 2nd ser., 1779-82, 2 vols., Publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society, vols. 14-15 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1952), 2: 223-24, 262; Jody F. Decker, "'We Should Never Be Again the Same People': The Diffusion and Cumulative Impact of Acute Infectious Diseases Affecting the Natives on the Northern Plains of the Western Interior of Canada 1774-1839" (Ph.D. diss., York University, 1989), p. 86. See also C. Stewart Houston and Stan Houston, "The First Smallpox Epidemic on the Canadian Plains: In the Fur-Traders' Words," Can. J. Infect. Dis., 2000, 11 (2): 112-15.
14. Joseph B. Tyrrell, ed., David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America 1784-1812, Publications of the Champlain Society, vol. 12 (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1916), p. 321; Edwin E. Rich and Alice M. Johnson, eds., Cumberland and Hudson House Journals 1775-82, 2nd ser., 1779-82, 2 vols., Publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society, vols. 14-15 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1952), 2: 223-24, 262; Jody F. Decker, "'We Should Never Be Again the Same People': The Diffusion and Cumulative Impact of Acute Infectious Diseases Affecting the Natives on the Northern Plains of the Western Interior of Canada 1774-1839" (Ph.D. diss., York University, 1989), p. 86. See also C. Stewart Houston and Stan Houston, "The First Smallpox Epidemic on the Canadian Plains: In the Fur-Traders' Words," Can. J. Infect. Dis., 2000, 11 (2): 112-15.
15. Tyrrell, Thompson's Narrative (n. 6), p. 322.
16. See, for example, F. J. Paul Hackett, "A Very Remarkable Sickness": Epidemic Disease in the Petit Nord, 1670-1846, Manitoba Studies in Native History, vol. 14 (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2002); John F. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects of Epidemics on the Northern Plains: 1735-1870" (M.A. thesis, University of Montana, 1982), pp. 38-39.
17. See, for example, F. J. Paul Hackett, "A Very Remarkable Sickness": Epidemic Disease in the Petit Nord, 1670-1846, Manitoba Studies in Native History, vol. 14 (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2002); John F. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects of Epidemics on the Northern Plains: 1735-1870" (M.A. thesis, University of Montana, 1982), pp. 38-39.
18. In practice the charter proved largely unenforceable, and for much of its history the Company was beset by competitors from Canada and what is now the United States.
19. Arthur J. Ray, "The Decline of Paternalism in the Hudson's Bay Company Fur Trade, 1870-1945," in Merchant Credit and Labour Strategies in Historical Perspective, ed. R. Ommer (Fredericton: Acadiensis Press, 1990), pp. 188-202.
20. Victor P. Lytwyn, Mushkekowuck Athinuwick: Original People of Swampy Land, Manitoba Studies in Native History, vol. 12 (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2002). Among the Lowland Cree some bands resided farther from the coast and were less-frequent visitors to the Hudson Bay posts, perhaps hunting geese during the spring and fall but not generally appearing during the winter: Victor P. Lytwyn, "The Hudson Bay Lowland Cree in the Fur Trade to 1821: A Study in Historical Geography" (Ph.D. diss., University of Manitoba, 1993), p. 63. Some Ojibway bands lived just beyond the lowlands and participated in the posts' deer hunt, but did not spend long periods of time there.
21. Hudson's Bay Company Archives (hereafter HBCA), B.239/a/80, fols. 63, 69, Provincial Archives of Manitoba (PAM), Winnipeg, Manitoba.
22. Cocking, born in 1743 at York, England, was hired by the Company as a writer in 1765. During the 1770s he made several important exploratory trips inland from Hudson Bay, reaching as far onto the plains as western Saskatchewan. His resourcefulness was to stand him in good stead as he faced the coming epidemic. In 1775 Cocking took charge of Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan River. Two years later he transferred to Severn as the master of that post; there he stayed until 1781, when he was called on to take charge of York Factory for a brief time, temporarily replacing Humphrey Marten, who departed for England to attend to his health. See Lawrence J. Burpee, ed., "Journal of Matthew Cocking, from York Factory to the Blackfeet Country, 1772-73," Proc. and Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, 3d ser., 1908, sect. 2: 89-121; Irene M. Spry, "Mathew Cocking," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 1771-1800, ed. Francis G. Halpenny (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979), pp. 156-58.
23. Cocking, born in 1743 at York, England, was hired by the Company as a writer in 1765. During the 1770s he made several important exploratory trips inland from Hudson Bay, reaching as far onto the plains as western Saskatchewan. His resourcefulness was to stand him in good stead as he faced the coming epidemic. In 1775 Cocking took charge of Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan River. Two years later he transferred to Severn as the master of that post; there he stayed until 1781, when he was called on to take charge of York Factory for a brief time, temporarily replacing Humphrey Marten, who departed for England to attend to his health. See Lawrence J. Burpee, ed., "Journal of Matthew Cocking, from York Factory to the Blackfeet Country, 1772-73," Proc. and Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, 3d ser., 1908, sect. 2: 89-121; Irene M. Spry, "Mathew Cocking," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 1771-1800, ed. Francis G. Halpenny (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979), pp. 156-58.
24. v-42.
25. The method was to transfer small amounts of wound pus from a person with a mild case of the disease to one who had not yet been exposed: Esther Wagner Stearn and Allen E. Stearn, The Effect of Smallpox on the Destiny of the Amerindian (Boston: Bruce Humphries, 1945) p. 53; George Rosen, A History of Public Health (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), p. 160.
26. The method was to transfer small amounts of wound pus from a person with a mild case of the disease to one who had not yet been exposed: Esther Wagner Stearn and Allen E. Stearn, The Effect of Smallpox on the Destiny of the Amerindian (Boston: Bruce Humphries, 1945) p. 53; George Rosen, A History of Public Health (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), p. 160.
27. Cyril W. Dixon, Smallpox (London: J. & A. Churchill, 1962), pp. 236, 244.
28. Rosen, History (n. 15), pp. 161-63.
29. Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), pp. 239, 240.
30. Robinson was the surgeon at York Factory during the epidemic and until 1786 (HBCA, Search File "Robinson, Alfred"). He would have served on the post's council under Cocking and advised him on medical matters, but the decision ultimately was the trader's. Houston and Houston ("First Smallpox Epidemic" [n. 6], p. 113) have suggested that the plan to isolate the Upland Indians was Robinson's, although there appears to be no evidence that this was the case.
31. The relationship between the HBC and the British scientific community was well established by the 1780s. Company employees routinely collected and passed on data concerning the climate and natural history of Hudson Bay. In 1769 the Royal Society and the HBC cooperated to send an astronomer to Hudson Bay to observe the planet Venus passing in front of the sun, while company employees were trained to observe and record this event. One earlier employee, Christopher Middleton, was a publishing member of the Royal Society; see, for example, Edwin E. Rich, ed., Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1743, and Notes and Observations on a Book Entitled a Voyage to Hudsons Bay in the Dobbs Galley, 1749 (Toronto: Champlain Society for the Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1949), pp. 168 n. 1, 327, 328. Another employee, Thomas Hutchins, was a surgeon stationed at Albany Fort at the time of the epidemic, and in 1783 was awarded the Copley Medal by the Society for research in determining the freezing point of mercury: William B. Ewart, "Thomas Hutchins and the HBC: A Surgeon on the Bay," Beaver, August/September 1995, pp. 39-41.
32. The relationship between the HBC and the British scientific community was well established by the 1780s. Company employees routinely collected and passed on data concerning the climate and natural history of Hudson Bay. In 1769 the Royal Society and the HBC cooperated to send an astronomer to Hudson Bay to observe the planet Venus passing in front of the sun, while company employees were trained to observe and record this event. One earlier employee, Christopher Middleton, was a publishing member of the Royal Society; see, for example, Edwin E. Rich, ed., Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1743, and Notes and Observations on a Book Entitled a Voyage to Hudsons Bay in the Dobbs Galley, 1749 (Toronto: Champlain Society for the Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1949), pp. 168 n. 1, 327, 328. Another employee, Thomas Hutchins, was a surgeon stationed at Albany Fort at the time of the epidemic, and in 1783 was awarded the Copley Medal by the Society for research in determining the freezing point of mercury: William B. Ewart, "Thomas Hutchins and the HBC: A Surgeon on the Bay," Beaver, August/September 1995, pp. 39-41.
33. For example, the Huron of the Great Lakes region placed a good deal of the blame for the initial round of epidemics during the seventeenth century on the appearance of the Roman Catholic missionaries who went to live in the native villages, generating hostility toward the French clerics. During the Seven Years' War the fear of smallpox influenced the Great Lakes tribes to forgo sending warriors to the east when called on to aid the French against the British: D. Peter MacLeod, "Microbes and Muskets: Smallpox and the Participation of the Amerindian Allies of New France in the Seven Years' War," Ethnohistory, 1992, 39: 42-64. On occasion, the consequences could be more direct and drastic - as, for instance, in 1847 with the Whitman massacre in Oregon, which is thought to have been the consequence of accusations by the local Cayuse that the Whitmans, a family of Methodist missionaries, had introduced measles among them.
34. Hackett, Very Remarkable Sickness (n. 8), pp. 94-95. Some forty years later, rival Northwest Company traders attempted to arouse the ire of the Indians against the HBC by falsely accusing them of being responsible for importing measles and whooping cough (ibid., p. 141).
35. Hackett, Very Remarkable Sickness (n. 8), pp. 94-95. Some forty years later, rival Northwest Company traders attempted to arouse the ire of the Indians against the HBC by falsely accusing them of being responsible for importing measles and whooping cough (ibid., p. 141).
36. Conversely, it seems to have been used with some frequency among the Aboriginal people of Mexico and South America: Stearn and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), p. 54.
37. Frederick Haldimand to John Johnson, Quebec, 3 November 1783, pp. 180-81; Johnson to Haldimand, Montreal, 10 November 1783, p. 182, Correspondence with Officers Commanding at Michilimackinac, MG 21, Add. MSS #21775, microfilm reel #H-1450, Haldimand Papers, National Archives of Canada, Ottawa; R. Mathews to Major Harris, Quebec, 2 November 1783, pp. 125-26, Add. MSS. #21788, microfilm reel #H-1452, ibid. It was their intention to seize and bury the supply of smallpox to prevent its helping to spread the epidemic.
38. Rosen, History (n. 15), pp. 44-45. Isolation had also long been used to prevent the spread of leprosy.
39. Cooper, Epidemic Diseases (n. 3), pp. 99-102; Percy M. Ashburn, The Ranks of Death (New York: Coward-McCann, 1947).
40. Cooper, Epidemic Diseases (n. 3), pp. 99-102; Percy M. Ashburn, The Ranks of Death (New York: Coward-McCann, 1947).
41. John J. Heagerty, Four Centuries of Medical History in Canada and a Sketch of the Medical History of Newfoundland, 2 vols. (Toronto: MacMillan, 1928), 2: 25-26; Edmund B. O'Callaghan, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York; Procured in Holland, England and France, 15 vols., ed. John Romeyn Brodhead (Albany: Weed, Parsons, 1853-61), 9: 1029.
42. John J. Heagerty, Four Centuries of Medical History in Canada and a Sketch of the Medical History of Newfoundland, 2 vols. (Toronto: MacMillan, 1928), 2: 25-26; Edmund B. O'Callaghan, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York; Procured in Holland, England and France, 15 vols., ed. John Romeyn Brodhead (Albany: Weed, Parsons, 1853-61), 9: 1029.
43. Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), p. 238.
44. Henry Ellis, A Voyage to Hudson's-Bay by the "Dobbs Galley" and "California" in the Years 1746 and 1747 for Discovering a North West Passage: With an Accurate Survey of the Coast and a Short Natural History of the Country together with a Fair View of the Facts and Arguments from Which the Future Finding of Such a Passage Is Rendered Possible (London: Printed for H. Whitridge, 1748), p. 201.
45. The plantation of an HBC fort was an area located between the "the battery and ship," which "was separated from the fort by two rows of high fences, between which were store-houses, the cookery and workshops" (Arthur S. Morton, A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71, Being a History of Rupert's Land (the Hudson's Bay Company) and of the North-West Territory (Including the Pacific Slope) [Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1939], p. 149).
46. v.
47. v.
48. Ibid., fol. 91.
49. HBCA, B.198/a/28, fol. 3.
50. This was Charles Price Isham, a mixed-blood employee, who contracted the disease on the Saskatchewan River but later recovered: Rich and Johnson, Cumberland and Hudson House (n. 6), p. 263.
51. Houston and Houston, "First Smallpox Epidemic" (n. 6).
52. v-15.
53. Ibid., fol. 15.
54. In fact, none of the HBC men who were stationed at the Bayside posts contracted the disease. This is no doubt indicative of the existing immunity of the European-born traders by virtue of earlier exposure to smallpox.
55. Houston and Houston, "First Smallpox Epidemic" (n. 6), p. 113.
56. v; Rich and Johnson, Cumberland and Hudson House (n. 6), p. 298. On 15 August the King George arrived at York from England, and the captain noted "a Dreadfull amount of Indians dying in the Small Pox" (HBCA, C. 1/386, 15 August 1782); in all probability these were Upland Indians who were too ill to depart the vicinity of the fort for the interior.
57. v; Rich and Johnson, Cumberland and Hudson House (n. 6), p. 298. On 15 August the King George arrived at York from England, and the captain noted "a Dreadfull amount of Indians dying in the Small Pox" (HBCA, C. 1/386, 15 August 1782); in all probability these were Upland Indians who were too ill to depart the vicinity of the fort for the interior.
58. Richard Glover, "La Pérouse on Hudson Bay," Beaver, March 1951, pp. 42-46. For his part, Mathew Cocking was able to slip by the French ships aboard the King George, and managed to sail to England on August 23: Spry, "Mathew Cocking" (n. 13); Edward Umfreville, The Present State of Hudson's Bay: Containing a Full Description of that Settlement, and the Adjacent Country; and Likewise of the Fur Trade, with Hints for Its Improvement, &c. &c., ed. W. Stewart Wallace (reprint, Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1954), p. 67.
59. Richard Glover, "La Pérouse on Hudson Bay," Beaver, March 1951, pp. 42-46. For his part, Mathew Cocking was able to slip by the French ships aboard the King George, and managed to sail to England on August 23: Spry, "Mathew Cocking" (n. 13); Edward Umfreville, The Present State of Hudson's Bay: Containing a Full Description of that Settlement, and the Adjacent Country; and Likewise of the Fur Trade, with Hints for Its Improvement, &c. &c., ed. W. Stewart Wallace (reprint, Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1954), p. 67.
60. Donald B. Gunn and Charles Tuttle, History of Manitoba from the Earliest Settlement to 1835 (Ottawa: Maclean, Rogers, 1880), p. 87.
61. HBCA, B.239/a/83, fol. 5.
62. v.
63. On the impact of the epidemic in the Albany area see Lytwyn, Mushkekowuck Athinuwick (n. 11), pp. 164-65, 171; but on its diffusion, cf. Hackett, Very Remarkable Sickness (n. 8), pp. 93-118.
64. On the impact of the epidemic in the Albany area see Lytwyn, Mushkekowuck Athinuwick (n. 11), pp. 164-65, 171; but on its diffusion, cf. Hackett, Very Remarkable Sickness (n. 8), pp. 93-118.
65. Jenner's first experiment with vaccine on a boy, James Phipps, occurred in 1796, but it was not until 1798 that he published his first treatise: Edward Jenner, An Inquiry into the Clauses and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, a Disease Discovered in Some of the Western Counties of England, Particularly Gloucestershire, and Known by the Name of the Cow Pox (London: Sampson Low, 1798).
66. Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), p. 261.
67. "Edward Jenner," Dict. Nat. Biog., 110: 760; Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), pp. 266, 270, 271.
68. "Edward Jenner," Dict. Nat. Biog., 110: 760; Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), pp. 266, 270, 271.
69. Nicolau Barquet and Pere Domingo, "Smallpox: The Triumph over the Most Terrible of the Ministers of Death," Ann. Internal Med., 1997, 127 (8, part 1): 635-42. The Spanish employed a form of serial vaccination among orphan boys to maintain the supply of vaccine on the long journey across the Atlantic; they were able to control the rate of cowpox infection by using arm-to-arm infections in a sequential manner.
70. The date of Clinch's first vaccination is not clear, but he had certainly carried out several by the summer of 1800: John W. Davies, "A Historical Note on the Reverend John Clinch, First Canadian Vaccinator," Can. Med. Assoc. J., 1970, 102: 957-61; K. B. Roberts, "Smallpox: An Historic Disease," Mem. Univ. Newfoundland Occ. Pap. Med. Hist., 1978, 1: 31-39, cited in J. W. McIntyre and C. S. Houston, "Smallpox and Its Control in Canada," Can. Med. Assoc. J., 1999, 161: 1543-47.
71. The date of Clinch's first vaccination is not clear, but he had certainly carried out several by the summer of 1800: John W. Davies, "A Historical Note on the Reverend John Clinch, First Canadian Vaccinator," Can. Med. Assoc. J., 1970, 102: 957-61; K. B. Roberts, "Smallpox: An Historic Disease," Mem. Univ. Newfoundland Occ. Pap. Med. Hist., 1978, 1: 31-39, cited in J. W. McIntyre and C. S. Houston, "Smallpox and Its Control in Canada," Can. Med. Assoc. J., 1999, 161: 1543-47.
72. The date of Clinch's first vaccination is not clear, but he had certainly carried out several by the summer of 1800: John W. Davies, "A Historical Note on the Reverend John Clinch, First Canadian Vaccinator," Can. Med. Assoc. J., 1970, 102: 957-61; K. B. Roberts, "Smallpox: An Historic Disease," Mem. Univ. Newfoundland Occ. Pap. Med. Hist., 1978, 1: 31-39, cited in J. W. McIntyre and C. S. Houston, "Smallpox and Its Control in Canada," Can. Med. Assoc. J., 1999, 161: 1543-47.
73. Donald R. Hopkins, "Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), the 'Jenner of America,'" Amer. J. Trop. Med. & Hygiene, 1977, 26 (5, part 2, suppl.): 1060-64; John B. Blake, "Benjamin Waterhouse and the Introduction of Vaccination," Rev. Infect. Dis., 1987, 9: 1044-52; Harry Bloch, "Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846): The Nation's First Vaccinator," Amer. J. Dis. Child., 1974, 127 (2): 226-29.
74. Donald R. Hopkins, "Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), the 'Jenner of America,'" Amer. J. Trop. Med. & Hygiene, 1977, 26 (5, part 2, suppl.): 1060-64; John B. Blake, "Benjamin Waterhouse and the Introduction of Vaccination," Rev. Infect. Dis., 1987, 9: 1044-52; Harry Bloch, "Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846): The Nation's First Vaccinator," Amer. J. Dis. Child., 1974, 127 (2): 226-29.
75. Donald R. Hopkins, "Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), the 'Jenner of America,'" Amer. J. Trop. Med. & Hygiene, 1977, 26 (5, part 2, suppl.): 1060-64; John B. Blake, "Benjamin Waterhouse and the Introduction of Vaccination," Rev. Infect. Dis., 1987, 9: 1044-52; Harry Bloch, "Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846): The Nation's First Vaccinator," Amer. J. Dis. Child., 1974, 127 (2): 226-29.
76. Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), p. 276; "Edward Jenner" (n. 49), p. 760; Byrd S. Leavell, "Thomas Jefferson and Smallpox Vaccination," Trans. Amer. Clin. & Climat. Assoc., 1977, 88: 119-27; Steam and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 56-57.
77. Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), p. 276; "Edward Jenner" (n. 49), p. 760; Byrd S. Leavell, "Thomas Jefferson and Smallpox Vaccination," Trans. Amer. Clin. & Climat. Assoc., 1977, 88: 119-27; Steam and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 56-57.
78. Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), p. 276; "Edward Jenner" (n. 49), p. 760; Byrd S. Leavell, "Thomas Jefferson and Smallpox Vaccination," Trans. Amer. Clin. & Climat. Assoc., 1977, 88: 119-27; Steam and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 56-57.
79. Dixon, Smallpox (n. 16), p. 276; "Edward Jenner" (n. 49), p. 760; Byrd S. Leavell, "Thomas Jefferson and Smallpox Vaccination," Trans. Amer. Clin. & Climat. Assoc., 1977, 88: 119-27; Steam and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 56-57.
80. "Instructions to Meriwether Lewis from Thomas Jefferson, April 1803," in Elliott Coues, History of the Expedition under the Command of Lewis and Clark, reprint ed. (New York: Dover, 1965), 1: xxix.
81. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects" (n. 8), p. 54; Stearn and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 57, 62; Michael K. Trimble, "The 1832 Inoculation Program on the Missouri River," in Disease and Demography in the Americas, ed. John W. Verano and Douglas H. Ubelaker (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), pp. 257-64; J. Diane Pearson, "Lewis Cass and the Politics of Disease: The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832," Wicazo Sa Rev., 2003, 18 (2): 9-35.
82. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects" (n. 8), p. 54; Stearn and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 57, 62; Michael K. Trimble, "The 1832 Inoculation Program on the Missouri River," in Disease and Demography in the Americas, ed. John W. Verano and Douglas H. Ubelaker (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), pp. 257-64; J. Diane Pearson, "Lewis Cass and the Politics of Disease: The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832," Wicazo Sa Rev., 2003, 18 (2): 9-35.
83. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects" (n. 8), p. 54; Stearn and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 57, 62; Michael K. Trimble, "The 1832 Inoculation Program on the Missouri River," in Disease and Demography in the Americas, ed. John W. Verano and Douglas H. Ubelaker (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), pp. 257-64; J. Diane Pearson, "Lewis Cass and the Politics of Disease: The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832," Wicazo Sa Rev., 2003, 18 (2): 9-35.
84. Taylor, "Sociocultural Effects" (n. 8), p. 54; Stearn and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), pp. 57, 62; Michael K. Trimble, "The 1832 Inoculation Program on the Missouri River," in Disease and Demography in the Americas, ed. John W. Verano and Douglas H. Ubelaker (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), pp. 257-64; J. Diane Pearson, "Lewis Cass and the Politics of Disease: The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832," Wicazo Sa Rev., 2003, 18 (2): 9-35.
85. Indeed, the epidemic, by virtue of the losses that had been incurred, had played a major role in shaping the emerging fur trade. See Victor P. Lytwyn, The Fur Trade of the Little North: Indians, Pedlars, and Englishmen East of Lake Winnipeg, 1760-1821 (Winnipeg: Rupert's Land Research Centre, 1986), p. 44; Morton, History of the Canadian West (n. 30), p. 334; Richard Glover, "Introduction," in Rich and Johnson, Cumberland and Hudson House (n. 6), p. lxii.
86. Indeed, the epidemic, by virtue of the losses that had been incurred, had played a major role in shaping the emerging fur trade. See Victor P. Lytwyn, The Fur Trade of the Little North: Indians, Pedlars, and Englishmen East of Lake Winnipeg, 1760-1821 (Winnipeg: Rupert's Land Research Centre, 1986), p. 44; Morton, History of the Canadian West (n. 30), p. 334; Richard Glover, "Introduction," in Rich and Johnson, Cumberland and Hudson House (n. 6), p. lxii.
87. Indeed, the epidemic, by virtue of the losses that had been incurred, had played a major role in shaping the emerging fur trade. See Victor P. Lytwyn, The Fur Trade of the Little North: Indians, Pedlars, and Englishmen East of Lake Winnipeg, 1760-1821 (Winnipeg: Rupert's Land Research Centre, 1986), p. 44; Morton, History of the Canadian West (n. 30), p. 334; Richard Glover, "Introduction," in Rich and Johnson, Cumberland and Hudson House (n. 6), p. lxii.
88. v.
89. I b i d.
90. I have yet to find evidence of an earlier HBC interest in vaccination, although it is likely that such evidence exists somewhere within the company's massive archival record. It seems improbable that the HBC would not have at least expressed an interest in a procedure that could preserve their trade prior to 1811, and London had certainly shipped vaccine via Hudson Bay prior to 1813 when it was employed at York Factory. When smallpox returned in 1801 as part of a localized outbreak on the south branch of the Saskatchewan River, the trader, Peter Fidler, arrived only after the disease had passed: HBCA, E.3/2, fol. 71; and see Alice M. Johnson, Saskatchewan Journals and Correspondence, vol. 26, 1795-1802 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1967), pp. 294, 315. About a year later, smallpox broke out at Sault Ste. Marie on Lake Superior after an infected Canadian trader had returned from Montreal. Despite efforts to isolate him, it soon spread to the local Ojibway Indians, with disastrous results; however, "by judicious and early measures" the military surgeon stationed at nearby St. Joseph's Island was able to prevent its further diffusion, perhaps using smallpox vaccine (Henry R. Schoolcraft, Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of Its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832, reprint ed [Millwood, N.Y.: Kraus Reprints, 1973], p. 580).
91. I have yet to find evidence of an earlier HBC interest in vaccination, although it is likely that such evidence exists somewhere within the company's massive archival record. It seems improbable that the HBC would not have at least expressed an interest in a procedure that could preserve their trade prior to 1811, and London had certainly shipped vaccine via Hudson Bay prior to 1813 when it was employed at York Factory. When smallpox returned in 1801 as part of a localized outbreak on the south branch of the Saskatchewan River, the trader, Peter Fidler, arrived only after the disease had passed: HBCA, E.3/2, fol. 71; and see Alice M. Johnson, Saskatchewan Journals and Correspondence, vol. 26, 1795-1802 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1967), pp. 294, 315. About a year later, smallpox broke out at Sault Ste. Marie on Lake Superior after an infected Canadian trader had returned from Montreal. Despite efforts to isolate him, it soon spread to the local Ojibway Indians, with disastrous results; however, "by judicious and early measures" the military surgeon stationed at nearby St. Joseph's Island was able to prevent its further diffusion, perhaps using smallpox vaccine (Henry R. Schoolcraft, Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of Its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832, reprint ed [Millwood, N.Y.: Kraus Reprints, 1973], p. 580).
92. "Instructions to Miles Macdonell," 1811, pp. 179-80, Selkirk Papers, PAM.
93. Peers, Ojibwa of Western Canada (n. 5); Chief Albert Edward Thompson, Chief Peguis and His Descendants (Winnipeg: Peguis Publishers, 1973).
94. Peers, Ojibwa of Western Canada (n. 5); Chief Albert Edward Thompson, Chief Peguis and His Descendants (Winnipeg: Peguis Publishers, 1973).
95. v.
96. HBCA, B.51/a/2, fol. 13. See also Provencher to Dionne, 1 September 1819, Belleau Papers, MG 7 D13, reel 1, PAM.
97. Years later, the explorer Henry Hind quoted HBC Governor Sir George Simpson in his Narrative to the effect that "in the northern parts of Rupert's Land a great mortality took place in 1816, 1817, and 1818, from small-pox and measles. Vaccine inoculation was then introduced by the Hudson' [sic] Bay Company" (Henry Youle Hind, Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858 [2 vols, in 1], reprint ed. [Edmonton: Hurtig, 1971], p. 143); Simpson arrived only after the epidemic, and so his confusion over the diseases and the years is not unexpected.
98. v.
99. Ross Mitchell, Medicine in Manitoba: The Story of Its Beginnings (Winnipeg: Stovel-Advocate Press, 1954), pp. 34, 36.
100. The noted American Fur Company (AFC) trader Edwin Denig, who was later stationed at Fort Union on the Missouri, acknowledged that the HBC vaccination efforts began long before the 1837-38 epidemic: "Another visitation of this malady happened in 1838, but owing to the good management of the Hudson's Bay Company most of the nation [the Cree] were preserved by introducing vaccine matter and persisting in its application for several years previous" (cited in John C. Ewers, Five Indian Tribes on the Upper Missouri: Sioux, Arickaras, Assiniboines, Crees, Crows [Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961], p. 115).
101. v, 9-10.
102. v, 9-10.
103. v, 9-10.
104. v; Edwin E. Rich and R. Harvey Fleming, Colin Robertson's Letters, 1817-1822, Publications of the Champlain Society (Toronto: Champlain Society for Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1939), pp. 244-45. In the annual report for the Albany District, Vincent informed London that, after the departure of the doctor from nearby Moose, he had "vaccinated all the rest of half breed children at the place and with the assistance of Mrs Vincent many of the Indians also who applied to have the operation performed" (HBCA, B.3/e/8, fol. 3). Vincent's decision to have his wife and children accompany him on his retirement to England was a highly unusual one among the HBC men of this era who took native wives. Given that Vincent's family had not been exposed to smallpox before, taking them to England where the disease was endemic might well have proved a death sentence without the vaccinations.
105. v. By "Canada," McKay was referring to the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, which correspond to what are now the southern parts of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, respectively. Most likely the supply came from Montreal, from which city the HBC regularly shipped some goods at this time.
106. On the diffusion of this epidemic, see Arthur J. Ray, "Smallpox: The Epidemic of 1837-38," Beaver, 1975, 306 (2): 8-13; Clyde D. Dollar, "The High Plains Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38," Western Hist. Quart., 1977, 8: 15-38; Michael K. Trimble, "Chronology of Epidemics among Plains Village Horticulturalists: 1738-1838," Southwestern Lore, 1988, 54: 4-31.
107. On the diffusion of this epidemic, see Arthur J. Ray, "Smallpox: The Epidemic of 1837-38," Beaver, 1975, 306 (2): 8-13; Clyde D. Dollar, "The High Plains Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38," Western Hist. Quart., 1977, 8: 15-38; Michael K. Trimble, "Chronology of Epidemics among Plains Village Horticulturalists: 1738-1838," Southwestern Lore, 1988, 54: 4-31.
108. On the diffusion of this epidemic, see Arthur J. Ray, "Smallpox: The Epidemic of 1837-38," Beaver, 1975, 306 (2): 8-13; Clyde D. Dollar, "The High Plains Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38," Western Hist. Quart., 1977, 8: 15-38; Michael K. Trimble, "Chronology of Epidemics among Plains Village Horticulturalists: 1738-1838," Southwestern Lore, 1988, 54: 4-31.
109. Michael K. Trimble, "Epidemiology on the Northern Plains: A Cultural Perspective" (Ph.D. diss., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1985), p. 189; Dollar, "High Plains Smallpox" (n. 71), pp. 20-24; Arthur J. Ray, "Diffusion of Diseases in the Western Interior of Canada, 1830-1850," Geog. Rev., 1976, 66 (2): 139-57, on pp. 155-56.
110. Michael K. Trimble, "Epidemiology on the Northern Plains: A Cultural Perspective" (Ph.D. diss., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1985), p. 189; Dollar, "High Plains Smallpox" (n. 71), pp. 20-24; Arthur J. Ray, "Diffusion of Diseases in the Western Interior of Canada, 1830-1850," Geog. Rev., 1976, 66 (2): 139-57, on pp. 155-56.
111. Michael K. Trimble, "Epidemiology on the Northern Plains: A Cultural Perspective" (Ph.D. diss., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1985), p. 189; Dollar, "High Plains Smallpox" (n. 71), pp. 20-24; Arthur J. Ray, "Diffusion of Diseases in the Western Interior of Canada, 1830-1850," Geog. Rev., 1976, 66 (2): 139-57, on pp. 155-56.
112. Pearson, "Lewis Cass" (n. 55). Pearson argues that the failure to vaccinate the Mandan and Hidatsa, and by extension the tribes living farther up the river, was a conscious decision on the part of Secretary of War Lewis Cass, who considered these groups to be hostile to the United States.
113. D. L. Ferch, "Fighting the Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38: The Response of the American Fur Company Traders. Part I," Mus. Fur Trade Quart., 1983, 19 (4): 2-7; idem, "Fighting the Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38: The Response of the American Fur Company Traders. Part II," ibid., 1984, 20 (1): 4-8.
114. D. L. Ferch, "Fighting the Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38: The Response of the American Fur Company Traders. Part I," Mus. Fur Trade Quart., 1983, 19 (4): 2-7; idem, "Fighting the Smallpox Epidemic of 1837-38: The Response of the American Fur Company Traders. Part II," ibid., 1984, 20 (1): 4-8.
115. Ferch (ibid 1984, p. 4) condemned variolation as a dangerous procedure, although this was not entirely warranted. Variolation had been used successfully as a control for smallpox for centuries, and by the time of Jenner's discovery it was relatively safe when done properly, although not so safe as vaccination. Done improperly, however, it would spread the epidemic as surely as if the victims had contracted the disease unaided.
116. Pearson, "Lewis Cass" (n. 55). For example, the commissioner of Indian Affairs was uncertain for a considerable time whether the disease had crossed the Rocky Mountains.
117. See U.S. Department of War, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1838), p. 453.
118. Pearson, "Lewis Cass" (n. 55), p. 24;
119. Department of War, Annual Report (n. 76), p. 454.
120. It was claimed in the Annual Report that a doctor sent by the Office of Indian Affairs was able to vaccinate some 8,000 people, although this hardly seems credible (p. 454).
121. William Clark to C. A. Harris, St. Louis, 6 April 1838, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel #751, St. Louis Agency, 1836-38; Edmund C. Bray and Martha Coleman Bray, Joseph N. Nicollet on the Plains and Prairies: The Expeditions of 1838-39, with Journals, Letters, and Notes on the Dakota Indians, Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1976), pp. 10, 78, 219.
122. William Clark to C. A. Harris, St. Louis, 6 April 1838, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel #751, St. Louis Agency, 1836-38; Edmund C. Bray and Martha Coleman Bray, Joseph N. Nicollet on the Plains and Prairies: The Expeditions of 1838-39, with Journals, Letters, and Notes on the Dakota Indians, Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1976), pp. 10, 78, 219.
123. Ray, "Diffusion of Diseases" (n. 72), p. 156.
124. Arthur J. Ray, Indians in the Fur Trade: Their Roles as Trappers, Hunters, and Middlemen in the Lands Southwest of Hudson Bay, 1660-1870 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988), pp. 188-92.
125. Ibid., p. 190.
126. Typically for those agencies that were more distant from the American frontier, agents made the rounds of their assigned bands only during the summer, and had only limited communication, if any, throughout much of the year. In some cases, such as with the subagent for the Mandan during this epidemic, they visited the Indians only rarely: Pearson, "Lewis Cass" (n. 55), p. 17.
127. v. Nevertheless, most stocks appear to have been viable, and where they were ineffective additional supplies were sent from other nearby posts as replacements.
128. v. Nevertheless, most stocks appear to have been viable, and where they were ineffective additional supplies were sent from other nearby posts as replacements.
129. v. Nevertheless, most stocks appear to have been viable, and where they were ineffective additional supplies were sent from other nearby posts as replacements.
130. HBCA, B.49/a/49, fol. 24.
131. v, 28, 31.
132. v.
133. Ibid., fol. 16.
134. v.
135. v.
136. v-24.
137. v.
138. v.
139. For instance, on 30 May 1838, Thomas McMurray at Pic post wrote that he had "inoculated the women and children of the Post with vaccine matter received from Montreal" (HBCA, B.162/a/10, fol. 19).
140. In a letter to James Douglas at Fort Vancouver, dated 31 October 1838, the Governor and Committee expressed their concern over the spread of smallpox to the Indians of the Pacific Northwest and their fear that it would spread to the Indians of the interior. Notwithstanding Douglas's earlier vaccination efforts, they were sending additional vaccine by ship to be distributed throughout the country and, as backup in case the first supply was ineffective, they let him know that "a further supply will be sent across the Mountains next summer [1839]" (HBCA, A.6/25, fol. 10).
141. HBCA, C.4/1, fols. 20-21; A.5/12, fols. 161, 162.
142. HBCA, C.4/1, fols. 20-21; A.5/12, fols. 161, 162.
143. v, 13v.
144. v;
145. B.155/a/50, fol. 20; B.3/a/145, fol. 1;
146. B.123/e/14, fol. 4. 98.
147. HBC A, B.123/e/14, fol. 4 .
148. Although shipped in vials (or "jars"), the vaccine may have been in dried form, given the lengthy journey from England to Hudson Bay: HBCA, D.5/5, fol. 80; B.239/a/151, fol. 16.
149. Dease had actually begun vaccinating during the winter of 1836-37 at Fort
150. Dease had actually begun vaccinating during the winter of 1836-37 at Fort Resolution, and again in June 1837 at Fort Chipewyan. At both places he administered vaccine to all of the children, Indians, and Métis. This was independent of any knowledge of the epidemic, as it would not be until well after the latter date that Dr. Todd was first alerted to the outbreak on the Missouri: see William Barr, From Barrow to Boothia: The Arctic Journal of Chief Factor Peter Warren Dease, 1838-1839, Rupert's Land Record Society, vol. 7 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002), pp. 64 n. 11, 309. Dease appears to have first become aware of the epidemic in March 1838: ibid., p. 147.
151. HBCA, A.6/25, fol. 30.
152. At the 1857 parliamentary inquiry into the Company's charter, HBC Surgeon Dr. John Rae was questioned regarding the Company's role in vaccination, and he replied that "vaccine matter is sent to all the Posts" (HBCA, E. 18/4, fol. 94). It would seem, however, that supplies were not always sufficient. A few years after the vaccination program the supply of vaccine was a concern at the Red River Settlement. In March 1841 George Gladman wrote to Chief Factor James Hargrave of York Factory asking him to "mention to Dr. Gillespie that Mr. Bunn has not at present any 'Vaccine lymph' but having requested a supply to be sent him from Canada he will give us a share should it come safely at hand" (Gladman to Hargrave, Red River Settlement, 27 March 1841, in George P. de T. Glazebrook, ed., The Hargrave Correspondence 1821-1843, Publications of the Champlain Society, vol. 24 [Toronto: Champlain Society, 1938], p. 342).
153. At the 1857 parliamentary inquiry into the Company's charter, HBC Surgeon Dr. John Rae was questioned regarding the Company's role in vaccination, and he replied that "vaccine matter is sent to all the Posts" (HBCA, E. 18/4, fol. 94). It would seem, however, that supplies were not always sufficient. A few years after the vaccination program the supply of vaccine was a concern at the Red River Settlement. In March 1841 George Gladman wrote to Chief Factor James Hargrave of York Factory asking him to "mention to Dr. Gillespie that Mr. Bunn has not at present any 'Vaccine lymph' but having requested a supply to be sent him from Canada he will give us a share should it come safely at hand" (Gladman to Hargrave, Red River Settlement, 27 March 1841, in George P. de T. Glazebrook, ed., The Hargrave Correspondence 1821-1843, Publications of the Champlain Society, vol. 24 [Toronto: Champlain Society, 1938], p. 342).
154. HBCA, D.5/7, fol. 229d. Likewise, in 1846 HBC trader John Tod vaccinated the Indians in the vicinity of Fort Kamloops in the Pacific Northwest in the midst of an epidemic: Stearn and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), p. 92; and the HBC's Dr. John Helmcken vaccinated the Songhees on Vancouver Island during an epidemic in 1862: Robert T. Boyd, The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline among Northwest Coast Indians, 1774-1874 (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1999).
155. HBCA, D.5/7, fol. 229d. Likewise, in 1846 HBC trader John Tod vaccinated the Indians in the vicinity of Fort Kamloops in the Pacific Northwest in the midst of an epidemic: Stearn and Stearn, Effect of Smallpox (n. 15), p. 92; and the HBC's Dr. John Helmcken vaccinated the Songhees on Vancouver Island during an epidemic in 1862: Robert T. Boyd, The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline among Northwest Coast Indians, 1774-1874 (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1999).
156. Ray, Indians in the Fur Trade (n. 80), pp. 191-92. On the epidemic, see also James Daschuk, "The Political Economy of Indian Health and Diseases in the Canadian Northwest, 1730-1945" (Ph.D. diss., University of Manitoba, 2002), esp. chap. 6.
157. Ray, Indians in the Fur Trade (n. 80), pp. 191-92. On the epidemic, see also James Daschuk, "The Political Economy of Indian Health and Diseases in the Canadian Northwest, 1730-1945" (Ph.D. diss., University of Manitoba, 2002), esp. chap. 6.