Tuesday afternoon, August 19, the day after the Sioux Uprising massacre at Acton in 1862, word was received that the outbreak was widespread and would extend all along the border. That evening, the frightened settlers held a council meeting, and they decided to send all the women and children to Clearwater. Jesse V. Branham, Jr., the future first Council President for Litchfield (Mayor), was appointed to take charge of the wagon train of loved ones. Wednesday morning, the wagon train started on the journey to safety. It was made up of animal teams of every description and was a half a mile in length. Jesse V. Branham, Jr., led them about halfway through the “Big Woods,” when he turned the train over to a couple of other gentlemen, bade his family good-bye, and returned to Kingston. There he talked with a number of the leading citizens, gave them his idea of a stockade, and on the following morning, with his team, he hauled the first logs for the Kingston fortifications.