On February 21, 1870, Sheriff David Mizell, his son Will, and brother Morgan went onto the property of Moses Barber to serve an arrest warrant. Tensions between the Barbers and Mizells had been growing for years, and the Sheriff had been warned that if he set foot on Barber land he would be killed. When the group stopped at Bull Creek, a shot was fired from behind some bushes. Sheriff Mizell was killed, becoming the first casualty of this long-running feud.