The "Times" apparently represented the mainstream opinion in the area at the time. An investigation failed to identify a single perpetrator, although those who did the killing were rumored to be well known. Although a grand jury summoned witnesses and held hearings, no one was indicted. Harte was threatened and in danger of mob violence. He quit his job and left Union in March 1860 by the steamer "Columbia" for San Francisco, where an anonymous letter published in a city paper is attributed to him, describing widespread community approval of the massacre.