"Two miles brought us to the scene of the late fight. Everything showed signs of a hard Struggle. Six bodies lay by the road partly covered, by persons who had been here before. We got our spades & some of us stopped & gave them a decent burial. The ground is covered with blood. The tent poles and a great amount of half burnt feathers lay around. No waggons left. I picked up a hat with two bullet holes in it and saturated with blood. I presume the owner received the ball in his head. A gun barrel was picked up. The stock broke off & badly bent. It was used I have no doubt by some man who was struggling desperately for life. After burying the dead I put up a notice to those behind to be on their guard & overlook the waggons. Every man now goes armed. Even the drivers carry their rifles in one hand & their whip in the other."

August 25, 1854

"I have learned more of the difficulty with the Indians. It seems the train stopped to noon when the Indians [some 60] came up apparently friendly. One of the Indians took off a horse of the party's. The owners kept two ponies. The Indians brought back the horse & got his ponies. One of the men, who was a short distance from the waggons observing the movement of the Indians saw one of them point his gun at him & supposedly he intended to shoot him took out his revolver and shot the Indian down. The fight commenced in good earnest. Some of the men became frightened and I believe that but two of them did any fighting. A young man by the name of Mulligan from the Southern part of MO fought them to the last. It was him that broke up his rifle fighting. It is thought that if all had stood up to him they would have driven the Indians off. Some of the men even crawled into the waggons, the Indians followed them up killing all but the women & children. About this time seven men of Mr. Yantes train coming back from the fort to look for the lost cow...and were in sight of the fight...got up the Indians then ran to the river about a mile off taking the women & children & some of the waggons, & got in the bushes & followed them and a fire was kept up for some time...the whites with revolvers & the Indians with HB muskets."

"Finally the foremost man of the whites was shot dead & the party retreated to the Fort for more help. Here was their error, had they charged the Indians in the bushes they might have saved the women & children but would probably lost some of their own number–they could hear the screams of captives in the bushes when they left. On their return it was found that the Indians had burned the waggons and had also burned up the children. Their bones were found on the spot, it is hoped they killed them before they committed them to the flames. The men think otherwise and believe from the screams they heard that the children were burned alive, before their mother's eyes. The women [Mrs. Ward & daughter] were murdered and their bodies horribly violated... This is one of the most horrible, massacres of which I ever heard. A whole train of people killed in open day for plunder, & the Indians all escaping. Some 60 head of Cattle & $2,000.00 in gold was carried off. I presume the Indians are now far enough away, and safe from pursuit."

Directions: West of Boise on old U.S. Highway 20-30 to Middleton Road, at the intersection of Lincoln Road and Middleton Road

Must See: Ward Massacre Historic Site -picnic/park area; historical marker and observation site

Current Observations/Journal Entry:

"The mountains in view to the northeast/east are the Boise foothills and to the southwest/west are the Owyhees. This spot is maintained much like a county park--complete with two rustic (outhouse, practically) restrooms. The Oregon Trail came through this area west of Meridian, Idaho, as it followed the Boise River toward Caldwell and Canyon Hill. All the while the emigrants are angling toward Fort Boise. The Ward Massacre led to the closure of Fort Hall and Fort Boise. Subsequent wagon trains came with more fear, and military escorts became more common. The Ward Massacre was akin to the Utter Massacre in terms of the level and impact of the tragedy. The event left such a social scar that a few Indians were hung nearby about a year after the incident; those hung may or may not have been involved with the massacre. It truly is a somber place."