Question: What disease swept through the Catawba Nation four times by 1759?
Answer: Smallpox swept through the Catawba Nation four times by 1759, devastating their population through contact with European settlers. This highly contagious disease, introduced by colonists, hit repeatedly in the 18th century, with the 1759 outbreak reducing their numbers to fewer than 1,000 by 1760.
Bonus info: The Catawba Nation is based in South Carolina but successfully proved that it has ancestral ties to Kings Mountain, so the U.S. Department of the Interior placed 17 acres in a trust under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), enabling construction of the casino there. The IGRA, passed in 1988, establishes the legal framework for Native American tribes to operate casinos and gaming facilities on tribal lands.
