Six Unlucky Messengers: The Dixon Death Riders, 1832

On a commonplace May 19th, 1832, these six American men, Fred Stahl, William Durley, Vincent Smith, Redding Bennett, James Smith, and John D. Winters, took off as couriers for the US Army. The task was to race between Colonel James M. Strode in Galena and General Henry Atkinson at Dixon's Ferry. They left Dixon at 3 p.m, but their adventure unfortunately culminated near Buffalo Grove, where a concealed attack by Native Americans ended their journey. The unlucky William Durley met his untimely demise on the spot, leaving behind a chilling image of his remains.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons