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Date: Wed, 9 Apr 1997 02:10:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: Harry MF Teasley <het3@panix.com>
Subject: [allhats] Indians and smallpox

What was the resolution folks came to the last time we talked about the possible deliberate fostering of smallpox among North American indians? I just picked up _Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies_ by Jared Diamond, and he vectors the story of smallpox blankets being given to indians in at least one instance.

A little web searching brought more reference to General Amherst corresponding with a Colonel Henry Bouquet on the topic, and it would seem that it was tried at the very least.
(http://web.maxwell.syr.edu/nativeweb/subject/amherst/lord_jeff.html , an especially nice reference as it provides .jpegs of the microfilmed letters from Amherst and Bouquet).

Date: Wed, 9 Apr 1997 11:34:00 -0500
From: Andy Warinner <warinner@ttd.teradyne.com>
Subject: Re: [allhats] Indians and smallpox

For the hat trick of McNeil quotes:

The ravages of smallpox among Indians may in fact have been assisted by deliberate efforts at germ warfare. In 1763, for instance, Lord Jeffrey Amherst ordered that blankets infected with smallpox be distributed among enemy tribes, and the order was acted on. Whether the result was as expected seems not recorded.

William McNeil, _Plagues and Peoples_, ISBN 0-385-12122-9

McNeil cites J. C. Long, _Lord Jeffrey Amherst, Soldier of the King_ (New York, 1933), p. 186-87.

Andrew Warinner