Late in the afternoon, Ranger Robert Sturgeon, returning to Fort Vallonia where he was attached with Captain Biggers' Rangers, was waylaid and shot by Indians a few feet from Half Mile Branch. Fearing others were close behind, they left without scalping him. The firing of guns and the arrival of Sturgeon's horses alarmed the people at the fort and convinced them that he had been killed. Near sunset, Jesse Durham, leader of the citizen's force, called for volunteers to help bring the body to the fort. They included Mr. Beem, Adam Miller, Thomas Ewing, Joseph Brightson, and Mr. Carr. The next day Robert Sturgeon was buried on the north side of what is now Vallonia Cemetery.