The two pioneer missionaries established their home in the city of Bareilly, British India just ten weeks before the breaking out of the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. Traveling day and night, through forests and jungles, in constant danger of wild beasts and from the treachery of native residents, the Butlers finally reached a place of safety in the heart of the Himalayas. Their hiding place was discovered, however, and they were forced to flee from place to place, until with the fall of Lucknow, the mutiny was finally ended. Mrs. Butler was the only American woman who saw the horrors of this mutiny, when so many thousands of Europeans were slain. After the country had quieted down, Mr. and Mrs. Butler again took up their missionary work, and continued for eight years.