W1:  ""And many of the deaths inflicted by white men were self-defense. Natives were often hostile towards white settlers, & were well known for committing savage atrocities & slaughter of white settlers in Oregon."   "..... It became a cycle of revenge",  W1: "Please put an end to your on-going condescending attitude. I think that you are the person who needs to do some more diverse reading of history." ***  i would go back and re-read the rogue wars via wikipedia...looked like the settlers took as many lives in the "slaughter" of natives as did the natives of the settlers.  *context*  mid 1800s -  - indian wars a big thing, all over USA,  as the whites pushed hard westward and the white people's sense of entitlement to ALL lands of their choice dominated with deadly force. as to the diseases...the natives had no immunity because the bugs hadn't been in their population.and so had no natural antibodies., various illness were brought into indian communities on purpose.. con't.**