The Sadlermiut continued to establish contact with Westerners. However, as with many North American aboriginals, the Sadlermiut were often susceptible to Western diseases. By 1896, there were only 70 of them remaining. Then, in the fall of 1902, a British trading/whaling vessel named the "Active" had made a stop at Cape Low, Southampton Island. It is said that some of the Sadlermiut caught a disease, possibly an influenza, typhoid, or typhus, from a sick sailor aboard the "Active", which then spread to the entire community. By the winter 1902-03, the entire Sadlermiut population except for a woman and four children had died.