Native Americans in the United States reached the West Coast in the 1770s, smallpox rapidly killed at least 30% of Northwest Coast Native Americans. For the next eighty to one hundred years, smallpox and other diseases devastated native populations in the region. Puget Sound area populations, once estimated as high as 37,000 people, were reduced to only 9,000 survivors by the time settlers arrived en masse in the mid-19th century. Smallpox epidemics in 1780–82 and 1837–38 brought devastation and drastic depopulation among the Plains Indians. By 1832, the federal government established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans ("The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832"). It was
Dutch Lacrosse Association At the helm of the men's national program was long time lacrosse business man, John Bergsma. John's wealth of experience within the National Lacrosse League and Team Canada was supported by coaches from both North America and the United Kingdom. Travis Taylor, a native of New Westminster, British Columbia and head coach at the University of Bristol, was named head coach, while MacGregor Stockdale (a former defenseman at Brown University), Nigel Greenall (head coach of Ashton lacrosse in Northern England), and Richard Bos (Groningen Lacrosse, Netherlands) were all hired as assistant coaches. The team formed new sponsorships for the European