Question

What is the best possible explanation for why the measles epidemic affected the Cayuse tribe in greater numbers than the Whitman group
A) Marcus Whitman focused his treatment efforts on the sick settlers rather than the Cayuse.
B) Measles was an unfamiliar disease to the Cayuse and thus they had no immunities to it.
C) The Whitmans were poisoning the Cayuse tribe.
D) Marcus Whitman was not a true medicine man.

Answer 1

The best answer is B) Measles was an unfamiliar disease to the Cayuse and thus they had no immunities to it.

Europeans had many diseases in their culture that, over generations, they had developed an immunity to. This lessened the severity of these diseases and even eliminated their danger to Europeans. People with no previous contact with the Europeans or their diseases, such as the Cayuse, did not have the same immunity, and thus were more greatly impacted by illnesses such as measles.