MITW history - Epidemics
| 1781-1783: | Smallpox epidemic strikes throughout Great Lakes area. |
| 1820: | Measles strike Indian settlements on the St. Croix river in Wisconsin. |
| 1832: | US troops carrying cholera sent to aid in the Black Hawk war. Civilians fleeing Chicago transmit disease to friendly Indians. |
| 1834: | Cholera reappears and spreads to many Great Lakes Indian settlements. |
| 1832-1835: | Smallpox epidemics in Wisconsin spread from Americans to the Potawatomi in Illinois and Wisconsin, and afflicts one-third to one-fourth of the Menominee's and Winnebago. |
| 1849: | Cholera returns. Death occurs among the Ojibwa and Menominee. |
| 1865 May: | Smallpox epidemic in Keshena when the priest refused to abide by the Board of Health request to bury the dead immediately. The priest insisted on having regular funeral services, spreading the disease to everyone attending. He had to be arrested in order to stop him. There were 79 deaths, nearly all of them being Catholics. |
| 1869-1870: | Vaccination by traders, missionaries and federal Indian agents curb some smallpox epidemics. However, outbreaks continue to occur in both reservation and non-reservation communities. |
| 1919-1920: | An influenza epidemic swept through the Reservation taking both young and old. The majority of those who died lived in the Keshena area; many of the young were at school. |
Last Updated: Fri March 23, 2007