contact with European fishermen and explorers, the Massachusett and neighboring tribes were increasingly affected by infectious diseases. With minimal livestock, Indigenous peoples of the Americas lacked immunity to many zoonotic diseases carried by Europeans and the animals they brought. These introduced diseases quickly became a series of virgin soil epidemics that devastated populations. The deadly epidemic of 1616–1619 may have been caused by leptospirosis, a lethal blood infection, likely spread invasive black rats. This epidemic killed between 33 and 90 percent of the Native American population of New England. The Massachusetts smallpox epidemic of 1633 further decimated Native populations, as did subsequent smallpox outbreaks, occurring almost every decade. Devastation by disease and European encroachment upset political balances among New England tribes. Relations with the Plymouth Colony (1620–1626) English settlers established their first permanent foothold in New England with the founding of the Plymouth Colony by Pilgrims in 1620 near the site of the former Wampanoag village of Patuxet, just a short distance south of the historic boundary with the Massachusett. In 1621, the Pilgrims, led by Myles Standish, met Obbatinewat (Wampanoag), a local sachem loyal to Massasoit. The colonists signed a peace treaty with Obbatinewat, who in turn, introduced the Pilgrims to the Squaw Sachem of Mistick (Massachusett, c. 1590–1650), another leader. The Wampanoag chief Massasoit (c. 1581–1661) decided to ally with the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims also met with Chickatawbut (Massachusett, d. 1633), the most powerful Massachusett leader of the time. Unlike Massasoit, who favored increasing ties with the new English settlers to help assist against increasing power struggles with the Pequot and the Narragansett, Chickatawbut and other Massachusett leaders were wary of the Pilgrims and their intentions. Chickatawbut's fears were confirmed when the Plymouth Colony expanded to Wessagusset, in Massachusett territory, with the arrival of a new ship of colonists. The new settlers were ill-prepared, even more so than the first Pilgrims, and quickly resorted to trading supplies with the Massachusett. As their situation worsened, the Pilgrims began raiding Massachusett villages for food and supplies. To prevent an attack, Standish ordered a preemptive strike in 1624, which led to the deaths of Pecksuot, Wituwamat, and other Massachusett warriors who were lured under the pretense of peace and negotiation to meet with the colonists. Standish further angered the Massachusett when he led his men deep into their territory to suppress the nascent colony of Merrymount, which had been established by