The Fall Creek Massacre was all too typical—seven whites murdering nine Indians in Indiana in 1824, for no apparent reason. The outcome set a precedent.
Six of the killers were arrested (the other disappeared) and tried for their crimes. Two turned state’s evidence; the other four were convicted and sentenced to hang. One of them was pardoned (he was 18 and influenced by the others). The remaining three were hanged in 1825. It was the first time whites were executed for killing Indians in the U.S.