[2] The reports reached the territorial capitol, Omaha, and outraged the citizens who believed the Pawnee needed to be "punished.

"[2] A petition was signed by the citizens of Omaha calling for the Nebraska Territorial Militia to intervene.

[2] The 300-man militia, led by General John Milton Thayer and Lieutenant Beverly Holcombe Robertson, headed west to attack a large Pawnee camp.

The first Petalesharo was a Skidi Pawnee leader who was well-remembered and celebrated by white settlers for opposing human sacrifice, but this man died in 1836.

[5] The elder Petalesharo is remembered for his part in the 1833 treaty which ceded southern Nebraska to the United States.