Several Aboriginal people died as a result of a confrontation between Peter Ferguson, Joseph Pilcher and Joseph Coles, and an Aboriginal group. In court, the Europeans stated that whilst recovering some stolen sheep, they surprised the group in a steep gully in the early hours of the morning. They alleged that they were compelled, for their own safety, to fire. Aboriginal witnesses informed Protector Moorhouse that two men and one woman had died.
(See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)