Mortlock’s shepherd, Charles Goldsmith, reported that Aboriginal people on several occasions had attempted to spear and steal sheep. On 16 June, a group of about thirty members of the ‘Kukata’ tribe surrounded his hut. Aboriginal women present at the hut warned Goldsmith the ‘blackfellows’ were stealing sheep. Goldsmith’s hat, forehead and thigh were struck by spears, one of which was thrown by Mgurkalta. Goldsmith shot a man in the leg.
(See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)