1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic

The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic was a major outbreak of smallpox that began in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, and quickly spread among Indigenous peoples across the Pacific Northwest Coast and the Northwest Plateau. Over the course of 1862 and 1863, the disease swept along the coast from Puget Sound to Southeast Alaska, causing devastating loss of life and permanently altering Indigenous societies throughout the region.

While colonial authorities worked to contain the disease among settlers through vaccination and quarantine, fewer measures were taken to protect Indigenous communities. As a result, the epidemic continued to spread unchecked in many areas, leading to devastating loss of life and long-lasting demographic, social, and political consequences in what is now British Columbia and the northwestern United States.