When the settlers from St. Joseph joined the settlement of Mill Point to form New St. Joseph, there appeared to have been a few advantages. The location allowed them to use a nearby natural island for winter pasture. It provided pasture, but it also was the root of one of the great heart-breaking events of the settlements. On February 20, 1866, the Indians planned and carefully executed a successful raid on the herd of livestock that was kept on the island. These animals included the teams of oxen and horses as well as the cattle of the settlers. Daniel Day tells of this calamity that befell the settlers of New St. Joseph.

"The cattle and horses had been driven onto an island where grass was plentiful. The Muddy was narrow and deep and its banks were steep on all sides that formed the island. Only one place nearest the settlement was fordable. No one thought of trouble or loss of the animals. Brother Thomas Day and a companion had been looking for the animals all morning and thought it strange that they were not to be found. Suddenly they came upon a bridge, which had been hastily laid, and they knew that the Indians had stolen them. The alarm was immediately given, but as their horses had gone with the cattle, the men were obliged to pursue on foot. They gathered up their canteens, and ten men started, following the tracks of the Indians all that day and night. On the following morning, they found themselves on the desert with empty canteens, no prospects of water, and already a feeling of thirst. The tracks pointed from the desert to the mountains, a distance of at least 20 miles. What good could be done by ten men on foot, parching with thirst in an arid desert, trying to fight Indians on horseback. The ten men gave up the chase...and returned home...Here was the loss to a few half-starved, half-naked settlers: seventy head of horned stock and most of the teams of the settlement..."(Hafner 83)

After the initial ill-fated search, a better-supplied group was organized. It followed the trail of the Indians for sixty miles to the northwest to the foot of what was called the Timber Mountains (Sheep Mountains). The group, however, was not able to overtake the Indians. Discouraged, they returned to New St. Joseph (Mill Point). When the group returned, they found much to their surprise, that not only was their livestock gone, so were all the Indians who lived near the settlement.

With the loss of their work animals, life became difficult for the settlers. They were able to receive some help from neighboring communities, but that help was meager and did not compensate for their loss. The settlers decided that it was best to wait until the Indians returned to the valley. The settlers knew that once all the animals were eaten, the Indians would return, because this was their home and the only place in the desert they could survive.

Eight weeks later an old Indian called "Captain Thomas" in company with three other men, returned to the valley and were seen grousing about for food. The men were immediately taken into custody and taken to St. Thomas where they appeared before Brother Thomas Smith...