food, clothing and shelter. By 1871, the Indigenous peoples from the northern plains of the North-West Territories (NWT), the Cree, Ojibwa and Assiniboine, considered negotiating a treaty with the government to protect their traditional lands from settlers and HBC surveyors. By the 1870s, the population of the once-plentiful bison had decreased to the point that tribal chiefs, elders, and many of the people sought the Crown's protection to ward off starvation. They believed that a treaty with the government would guarantee assistance and prevent starvation. The fear of smallpox, which had spread to the northern plains tribes during the smallpox pandemic of 1870–1874, was another motivation for the chiefs to consider entering into a treaty with the Crown. The epidemic spread to the northern plains tribes, killing many of the Cree who had no immunity to this new disease. Because of emigration, smallpox had been introduced to America over the centuries. By 1873, thousands had caught the disease, hundreds, in eastern cities, such as Boston and New York and it had spread into Canada. Previous smallpox epidemics brought by the emigrants to America included the 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic that killed thousands of indigenous people along the Missouri River. Considering the sale of the NWT to Canada from the HBC, the Indigenous peoples were concerned about entering into a treaty with the Canadian government as they did not want their land to be taken over. As treaties made their way slowly towards the North-West, the pressures of the Indigenous peoples on the government to make treaties increased. Lieutenant Governor Alexander Morris proposed the government make a treaty in the west in 1872, but the suggestion was dismissed. The Cree were told by traders each year that a treaty would be made with them soon to discuss their concerns, but years passed, and the government made no effort to create a treaty. The government was uninterested in negotiating a treaty with the Indigenous peoples at the time, but as a result, the Cree stopped letting surveyors onto their territory and stopped telegraph workers from creating a line from Winnipeg to Fort Edmonton. The events eventually caught the attention of the government, which did not want a war with the Indigenous peoples. It wanted immigration to the North-West to continue, and a war would certainly halt settlement. Thus began the negotiations for Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton. Morris advised the government