On July 31, 1865 a band of Cheyenne and Arapaho attacked a train of 75 wagons including those of the family of Jasper Fletcher just east of the Rock Creek stage station. Most of the train was of heavy freight wagons pulled by oxen – progress was slow; perhaps 4 miles per day. The two Fletcher wagons were pulled by faster mules; Jasper developed the habit of travelling ahead of the main train, stopping at a likely camping spot and waiting for the main rain to catch up. The Fletchers had come from England and were headed for he gold fields in California – he had been captured by the gold bug while in England and came seeking “fabulous wealth”. His wife was not so excited but the left Liverpool for New York in 1861. Illness caused them to stop with friends in Illinois.

Jasper, 37; his wife Mary Ann, 36; eldest daughter Amanda “Mary”, age 17; William, 11; Jasper Jr, 6; Oscar, 4; and Elizabeth, 2. They left Illinois in May 1865, passed through Omaha – there joining a large wagon train following the Platte. The train split at Julesburg, the Fletchers followed the South Platte route to Denver. They eventually joined a freight train of 75 wagons heading for Salt Lake City.

By the time they approached Rock Creek, the Fletcher wagons were several miles ahead of the main train, stopping east of the ferry across creek for lunch while waiting for the main train, intending to cross over to the station with the main train.

While camp was being prepared, Mary Ann and her two daughters wandered away from camp. As they approached the creek, the Indians attacked, killing Mary Ann and capturing the two girls. The Indians then attacked the two wagons, wounding Jasper. He told the three boys to run back to the main train; Jasper managed to hide in a ravine. The Indians ignored him, seeking treasures in the wagons. They took what they wanted – including the horses – and burned the rest. The Fletchers had travelled too far in front to allow rescue.

The boys had been rescued by the main train, but having thought to be orphans, they were placed on a train heading back to Denver. Jasper was discovered by another train a couple of days later and taken to Salt Lake. Father and sons were reunited several months later. Mary Ann was buried near the stage station but the location has been lost

We were just camped for dinner, and a party of the Indians just came right down on us, – about three hundred of them as I afterward learned, – Cheyennes and Arapahoes.

I had my mother by her hand and my sister under the other arm. My mother was killed by my side and my sister taken. Then I was taken, picked up and put on horseback and taken back to the wagons. Where I was picked up I could not tell just exactly, but it must have been 300 or 400 yards from the wagons.

Frightened, I seized my mother by the hand, at the same time snatching up my baby sister. The Indian ponies circled and wheeled, their riders hurling spears and wielding axes as they rode their horses over us. We stood there, hand in hand, too terrified to move, and then, without a word, mother sank to the ground. A spear had pierced her head and she died with the whisper, “Mary” on her lips. As I knelt there a brave galloped by, leaned down from his pony and snatched the baby away from me. Except for a glimpse of the baby later that same night, I never saw her again. I was picked off my feet, tied and thrown on the pony, then led off in the gathering darkness.

Three days after Mary was captured, she recalled the Indians attacking another single family, unwisely travelling alone on the road. Mary said the entire family was killed, “with the exception of the white woman. She was captured, and killed shortly afterwards.”

Amanda spent a year with the tribe before being bought by a trader and returned to Illinois. The fate of her sister was unknown. It was believed that she was killed but in 1900 Mrs. Cook believed that a white woman living with the Arapahoe near Casper was her sister. The claim was never verified and the woman refused to leave the tribe.