When Conner led his patrol back to the church the next morning, he found Donald Lewis and the three other men ready to leave. The preacher’s horses were hitched up, and the wagon was loaded with a pick and shovel as well as some food for a day or two. He hadn’t thought to offer it before, so Conner volunteered the services of his men to dig graves for the bodies of the slain Quakers. “There were some shovels and other tools packed on some of the mules,” Lewis said, “but we thought we’d bring the Reverend Bridger’s as well.”

It was a trip of about ten miles down a wagon road that led them to the farm of Adam Wylie, the farmer who took the survivors to Fort Benton after they came out of the river. As gracious as before, Wylie and his wife welcomed them back and offered to feed everyone, including the patrol of sixteen soldiers plus a scout. The offer was declined, of course, much to Mrs. Wylie’s relief, when Conner explained that they were working to save as much daylight as possible for their investigation. Thinking Mr. Wylie probably had a better idea how far the Quakers had walked from the river, Hawk asked him the distance and was told about three quarters of a mile. “We’re closer to the river than that,” Wylie said, “but they came outta the water a little farther up the river. My boy can take you to the spot.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Conner said, after an inquisitive look in Hawk’s direction. “We’ll be moving right along up the river after we rest these horses a little while. We’re just trying to get an idea of how far they drifted in the river before they got here.”

The only reason to pause there was to rest the team of horses pulling the wagon, so Hawk saw no reason to wait there, too, so he made a suggestion. “Rascal doesn’t need any rest yet, so why don’t I go on ahead of you. I can ride down along the riverbank and I might see where the massacre happened.” His point was well taken, since the terrain along the river was too rugged for the wagon. It would have to stay on the road. “If Donald was floatin’ in the water as long as he thought, I might be able to find the place it happened, then I’ll come out to the road to wait for you to catch up.” That sounded like a good plan to Conner, so Hawk stepped back up into the saddle and wheeled Rascal back toward the road. “Don’t forget to bring Frog,” he said in parting.