In Spring of 1871 the body of a man named Jones was discovered in Drum Creek, not far from present day Cherryvale, Kansas. The dead man’s throat had been cut from ear to ear and his skull caved in. Not long after that two more bodies were discovered, both having the same injuries as Jones. Their skulls brutally bashed in and throats slit.
By 1873, reports of missing people who had passed through the area had become so common that travelers began to avoid the trail altogether.
All told at