Sensationalist American newspapers initially reported, in screaming headlines, that Conger was "undoubtedly dead," together with his staff consisting of H. G. Squires, William E. Bainbridge and Fleming D. Cheshire as well as all other foreigners in Beijing. Americans and other westerners retreated to the Beijing Legation Quarter, where they were under siege for fifty-five days (see. Siege of the International Legations) until the Eight-Nation Alliance brought 20,000 troops to their rescue. After receiving a hero's welcome on return to the United States in 1901, Conger resumed his duties in China for several more years, serving until 1905. His wife became a friend of Cixi, the Empress Dowager, and an outspoken critic of Western encroachments on Chinese sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs.