On the morning of Wednesday, August 20, 1862, the Dakota entered the settlement from the north. At the first cabin they simply trampled through the cornfield and vandalized a fence, leaving the Meyers family perplexed but unharmed. At the next cabin, the Hurds', darker tidings revealed themselves. Phineas Hurd and another settler were long overdue from scouting land in Dakota Territory. Now his wife Alomina recognized that one of the Dakota men was riding her husband's horse. Some of the men followed her into the cabin, which woke one of the Hurds' two children. John Voigt, whom Mr. Hurd had hired to work in his absence, carried the crying toddler outside. Without warning one of the Dakota shot Voigt dead (though the child was unharmed). Many more Dakota men then leapt out of hiding and looted the cabin.