Diamond Island is an island in the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

. It has an area of about one half square mile. It is ten miles west of Henderson, Kentucky

Henderson, Kentucky

Henderson is a city in Henderson County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. The population was 27,952 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area often referred to as "Kentuckiana", although "Tri-State Area" or "Tri-State" are more...

 in Henderson County, Kentucky

Henderson County, Kentucky

Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1799. As the latest census data update of 2010, the population was counted 46,250. The county seat is the City of Henderson. The county was named for Colonel Richard Henderson who originally purchased of land...

. In the late eighteenth century, it was a hideout for river pirates

Piracy

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...

, most notably, Samuel Mason

Samuel Mason

Samuel Mason or Meason was a Revolutionary War militia captain on the frontier, who following the war, became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries...

 and his gang in 1797 and serial killers, the Harpe Brothers

Harpe Brothers

Micajah "Big" Harpe and Wiley "Little" Harpe , pronounced and , were murderers, highwaymen, and river pirates, who operated in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Mississippi in the late 18th century...

.

Diamond Island Massacre

In 1803, Barnard family was emigrating from Virginia when one son, James, shot a deer on the bank. The family landed the boat to retrieve the deer and were ambushed by ten Native Americans, who were hiding in the canebrake

Canebrake

Canebrake is an English noun meaning an area of land with a thick dense growth of cane, sugarcane, exotic bamboo, or similar plant material.Canebrake may also refer to:Places in the United States of America:*Canebrake...

. The first to board the boat was killed by Mrs. Barnard with an axe. Mr. Barnard killed shot two before he was killed. The son, James, ran away with a corn knife, pursued by two. When one fell behind, James turned to fight, and the last pursuer fled.

When James returned to the boat, his mother and father lay dead, and his two younger brothers and one sister were missing. What became of the three children was never known.