By October 1860 the Van Ornum party, survivors of the Elijah P. Utter wagon train attacked by Indians on September 9 and 10 just west of Castle Butte in Owyhee County, Idaho, reached Farewell Bend after following the Snake River for over a week to the Owyhee River crossing and traversing some 75 miles with only the clothes they were wearing, some firearms, and a few basic necessities. Unable to go on, the group of eighteen children, six surviving parents, and a young man waited there for rescue, wounded, hungry, and exhausted. Two weeks later a few Shoshone Indians visited the camp, traded salmon for the few possessions the survivors still had, and forcefully took their firearms. After receiving some salmon, the Van Ornum family, a young man named Gleason, and the two surviving Utter boys left the camp hoping to find a relief party, but near Farewell Bend they encountered Indians and the three Van Ornum girls and their little brother were taken captive. Capt. Frederick T. Dent, leader of the army relief expedition, reported that a party led by Lt. Marcus A. Reno found in the moonlight the dead, stripped, and mutilated bodies of six people: Mrs. Vanorman, Charles and Henry Otter, Mr. Vanorman, Marcus Vanorman, and Gleason. Mrs. Van Ornum was buried 4 1/2 feet deep apart from the common grave of the five males, and Lieutenant Reno buried the bodies where they were found. Local historian P.S. Wood later rediscovered the graves and placed a small metal cross to mark the site. Zacheus Van Ornum became an Indian scout for the army in an effort to rescue his nieces and nephew. The captive children were traded or stolen by other bands; Reuben was rescued in November 1862 in Cache Valley, Utah, by California Army volunteers, Lucinda died soon after being rescued by northern Utah settlers, and Eliza and Minerva either died of starvation or were killed while captives.