On August 20, 1854, the Alexander Ward Party of 20 men, women, and children traveled on the Oregon Trail with five wagons, a day behind a larger party led by Alexander Yantis. After the Wards pulled off the trail for lunch and to water their stock, two white men and three Native Americans approached to trade for a horse. When the trade failed, one of the Native Americans tried to ride off with the horse and was killed. Fearing retribution, the Wards hurried back to the trail and corralled their wagons against about 60 Native Americans who raced from their encampment across the river to attack. For nearly two hours, six men defended the wagons, but when the last defender fell, the wagons were rushed and two boys and two non-combatant men were killed. The women and children were gathered into a wagon and driven toward the river. Seven men from the Yantis party heard gunfire and women's screams and came to help, but retreated after one of their men was killed. That evening they returned and found dead and dying on both sides. Thirteen-year-old Newton Ward, injured in the attack, was carried back to the rebuilt Fort Boise trading post near present-day Parma. In all, 19 immigrants were killed, while Newton and William Ward survived. The number of Native American dead was never tallied. Two days later, a rescue party from Fort Boise found the four burned wagons and the bodies of the Ward party men. Young Mary Ward was found in a draw by a burned wagon, Mrs. White's battered body was found in a pond by the river, and the mutilated bodies of Mrs. Ward and three young children were found across the river in the abandoned encampment. Two younger children could not be found, but William Ward, with an arrow in his side, later walked into Fort Boise.