Their son, Edward, tagged along one day when his mother went after water, bringing his own little bucket. There was a hole chopped in the ice in the Missouri River for the purpose of supplying the camp with water. As the mother returned with her two buckets, she thought Edward was right behind her. Turning she found he was not anywhere in sight. She hurriedly returned to the hole and all that she could find was the little brass bucket he had carried, sitting on the ice. It was supposed that he slipped into the hole and was carried downstream. They never quite recovered from this incident.