Mr. Lyons, the only survivor of the massacre, says while they were on the road they noticed a heavy dust rising in the distance. In a short time one hundred Indians approached, headed by a half-breed. They told the teamsters not to be alarmed, that they would not be injured, that they intended to fight nobody but troops, and asked for whiskey. The chiefs did not arrive with the warriors, but came up a short time afterwards, when the half-breed introduced them to the white men. After getting drunk the Indians took the men a short distance from the wagons, where they were killed. Lyons made several attempts to escape before he succeeded.... Mr. Lyons thinks the Indians, before getting drunk, did not intend to kill them.
The Semi-Weekly Idahoan
September 28, 1877
A train of eight wagons was captured... Loaded with different kinds of goods, and lots of whisky... Some Indians got bottles and rode away; but many began getting drunk there at the wagons. In the meantine three of the white men were killed in a fight. Two Chinamen with the wagons were not hurt. They cried, and were left to go see their grandmother.
Yellow Wolf
We went to their camp and found the remains of Colonel Shoup's wagons, which had been burned. We found all sorts of merchandise scattered around.
Soon I found two of the murdered freighters, who evidently had put up a hard fight before they died. Later Colonel Shoup, Dave Woods and Billy Price came along with a pack horse, some grub and a pick and shovel. The two men I found were Jim Hayden and Dan Combs. Dave Woods found the body of Al Green, another freighter, in the creek, where he evidently fell when shot. Colonel Shoup saw magpies flying around up the creek and found a fourth freighter's body beside that of a dead mule. We never discovered his identity.
Hayden's gun was broken and bent, the barrel still gripped in his hands. Dan Combs had his mule whip lash wrapped around his hand, and the shotloaded butt was covered with blood and hair, which showed that he had done some work with it.
The only freighter unaccounted for was Al Lyons. We judged that he had escaped, and this later proved to be the case. We were just on the point of leaving when we found a fifth body of a white man in the brush about 10 feet from where Green lay. He had died fighting with an ax, which still was gripped in his hands and showed that he had accounted for at least one Indian. He was a stranger; evidently a man working his way through with the outfit. He had $50 in his watchfob pocket.
Alexander Cruikshank
Back to Our Heritage Home Page