There's no dispute in the primary source historical record regarding the initial dispostion of the dead. Dyer and the 49th Missouri Infantry took the dead men they found in Centralia to Mexico and buried them in a mass grave; Draper and the 9th MSM Cavalry buried the dead from the countryside in Centralia.

Col. D.P. Dyer: "I took the murdered soldiers in Centralia to Mexico, where they were buried in one long ditch. The bodies of Johnston's troops were buried by the Ninth Cavalry."

Adj. Gen. Frank Evans: "Lieutenant-colonel Draper is at Centralia with 250 men. They have collected the dead bodies from the field and now have 87 bodies at Centralia, 17 dead bodies at Sturgeon, and 34 at this place [Mexico]."

Lt. Col. Daniel M. Draper: "I came back [to Sturgeon], after ordering the citizens to bury the eighty-five bodies left at Centralia...."

Likewise, the History of Boone County generally confirms the above.