Reasons for the Devastation For the Native people of southern New England, the consequences of contact with the first European settlers of the region were dramatic and lethal.  The colonists brought with them to the Americas European diseases that spread rapidly through Native communities.  Having never before come in contact with diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza, Native people had no immunity to them. Densely-packed urban settlements in Europe -- many with large numbers of domesticated animals -- were perfect environments to host infectious diseases such as smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, and tuberculosis.  These diseases had been present in Europe for so long that European populations were adapted and somewhat immune to them.  New England Native people, in contrast, had never before encountered such epidemics and were particularly susceptible.  Smallpox epidemics occurred in Mexico and other regions of the Americas decades before they struck in New England.  Why?  The Spanish established large, permanent settlements in Mexico very early on, and during the 16th century, thousands of settlers traveled across the Atlantic to these settlements -- including many children, the main carriers of the disease.  The presence of European children greatly increased the chances of infecting the Native populations in Mexico.  In New England prior to the 17th century, however, Natives came in contact mainly with European ships’ crews, which were small and comprised almost entirely of adult men.  It was not until the 17th century, when large numbers of Europeans migrated to New England to establish colonies, that the conditions existed to spread smallpox to the Natives of this region. Once smallpox and other infectious diseases took hold among the Native populations of southern New England, there was very little that could be done to prevent the devastation that followed.  Not only did Natives lack immunity to the diseases, but there were no effective treatments at the time among Natives or among Europeans.  The best approach the Pequots and other Native people had when the diseases reached their area was to abandon their wigwams and leave their place of residence.  Deserted wigwams dotted the landscape of southern New England in the early 17th century, testament to disease’s tragic effects on Native lifeways.