Page "Pontiac's War" Paragraph 42

According to an eyewitness report, smallpox was spreading among the Ohio Native Americans before the blanket incident.

Because smallpox was already in the area, it may have reached Native villages through a number of sources.

Eyewitnesses reported that Native warriors contracted the disease after attacking infected white settlements, and spread the disease upon their return home.

Historian Michael McConnell argued that even if the Fort Pitt attempt was successful, Native Americans were familiar with the disease and adept at isolating the infected.

For these reasons, McConnell concluded that " British efforts to use pestilence as a weapon may not have been either necessary or particularly effective.

" According to historian David Dixon, the Native Americans outside Fort Pitt were apparently unaffected by any outbreak of disease.

Dixon argued that " the Indians may well have received the dreaded disease from a number of sources, but infected blankets from Fort Pitt was not one of them.