The modern concern with Smallpox bio-weapons, coupled with the possibility of their use as an instrument of terror and unconventional warfare, brings to the forefront the realistic concern that there is no wide-spread extant immunity against the Variola virus. Decades of immunization and the effective eradication of the disease in the 20 th century have left the population without adequate protection against a future outbreak. This is the same state the American Plains Indians were in during the 19 th century.
During the first half of the 19th century, Anglo-European interaction with the central plains Indians of North America brought about catastrophic results for the semi-sedentary Upper Missouri River tribes, particularly the Mandan Indians. This work uses the background of the smallpox epidemic which originated in 1837 aboard the American Fur Company steamer St. Peters to explore the method of American medical education during the early 19th century, and early 19th century methods of intervention relevant to the smallpox virus. This examination may aid future care-givers in dealing with the looming threat of a smallpox bio-weapon.
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