The Ward Massacre

The two plaques here disagree on the leader's name: the state sign calls him Alexander and the Daughters' bronze lists William Ward, aged 44; he was William Alexander Ward, bound from Missouri. The trouble began that afternoon over a horse taken by a Shoshone band, and a few men rode off to bring it back, among them the Amen on the bronze, more likely Amon. Newton Ward, 13, and his brother William, 15, survived arrow wounds by hiding in the brush. Newton was carried to Fort Boise; William, an arrow through his lung, made his own way there later.

What the plaque says

To the memory of the pioneers who were massacred by Indians near this spot August 20, 1854. This monument is dedicated by Pioneer Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution Boise, Idaho. William Ward age 44 Margaret Ward " 37 Mary Ward " 18 Robert Ward " 16 Edward Ward " 9 Francis Ward " 7 Flora Ward " 5 Susan Ward " 3 Eliza White " 30 George White " 4 Samuel Mallagan Charles Adams William Babcock Dr. Adams — Amen Adolph Schultz John Frederick French Canadian The Ward Massacre Only 2 young boys survived the Indian attack on Alexander Ward's 20 member party, Oregon bound on August 20, 1854. Military retaliation for the slaughter so enraged the Indians that Hudson's Bay Co. posts Fort Boise and Fort Hall had to be abandoned, and the Oregon Trail became unsafe without army escort. Eight years of Indian terror followed. Finally the 1862 gold rush brought powerful forces, civilian and military, that gradually subdued the tribes. 75 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Basque Block — 21 mi
  A merchant's 1864 brick house became the boardinghouse where herders from the Basque Country found beds, meals and their own language.
• World Center for Birds of Prey — 21 mi
  The hilltop where the peregrine falcon was bred back from DDT, and where condors for the Grand Canyon country still hatch.
• Idaho State Capitol — 21 mi
  Walls hauled from the prison quarry, heat pumped from 3,000 feet down, and its newest rooms built underground.
• Old Idaho Penitentiary — 23 mi
  A territorial prison that ran for 101 years on conditions that barely changed, and closed the year its prisoners burned it.

More markers nearby

• The College of Idaho — 3.7 mi
• Emigrant Crossing — 4.1 mi
• Northwest Nazarene University — 7.1 mi
• Lower Boise — 10 mi