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The '''Mountain Meadows massacre''' was a mass killing of both whites and mixed-blood Cherokee Indians and their Families <ref>http://www.wovoca.com/hidden-history-mormon-massacre-mountain-meadows.htm</ref> on Friday, ] (9/11) ] at ], a stopover along the ] in southwestern ], by a local brigade of the Mormon ] militia<ref>every able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five </ref> <ref>William P. MacKinnon, Loose in the Stacks, A Half-Century with the Utah War and its Legacy, (Vol. 40 No. 1) page 60</ref>. There are conclicting claims made by the Mormon Church through Church Historians claiming participation in the event by the Paiute Indian Tribe, a charge the Paiute tribe vehemently denies publicly. The Mountain Meadows Massacre precipitated Federal Intervention into the affairs of Utah during the 1800's. The '''Mountain Meadows massacre''' was a mass killing of emigrants on Friday, ] ] at ], a stopover along the ] in southwestern ], by a local brigade of the Mormon ] militia<ref>every able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five </ref> <ref>William P. MacKinnon, Loose in the Stacks, A Half-Century with the Utah War and its Legacy, (Vol. 40 No. 1) page 60</ref> and ] Indians. The emigrants were mostly from Arkansas, bound for California during a period of heightened political tension called the ]. Sources estimate that between 100 and 140 men, women and children were killed.<ref>James Lynch, in sworn testimony (1859), stated that there were 140 victims "murdered in cold blood". Indian Superintendent Jacob Forney stated about 115 people had been killed . The monument erected in 1932 stated that the company consisted of about 140 emigrants and that all but 17 small children were killed. Brooks (1991), in the introduction of her paperback version of ''Moutain Meadows Massacre,'' concludes, "the number 123 people killed is greatly exaggerated" and cites several sources giving estimates less than 100. The monument erected in 1990 lists the names of 82 victims who have been identified by the research of descendents of the survivors (see and Bagley (2002)), but states that there were also "others who are unknown."</ref> The causes and circumstances remain controversial.

The emigrants were mostly from Arkansas, with a large number of mixed-blood Cherokee Indians and their families, bound for California. The massacre precipitated the ]. Sources estimate that between 100 and 140 men, women and children were killed.<ref>James Lynch, in sworn testimony (1859), stated that there were 140 victims "murdered in cold blood". Indian Superintendent Jacob Forney stated about 115 people had been killed . The monument erected in 1932 stated that the company consisted of about 140 emigrants and that all but 17 small children were killed. Brooks (1991), in the introduction of her paperback version of ''Moutain Meadows Massacre,'' concludes, "the number 123 people killed is greatly exaggerated" and cites several sources giving estimates less than 100. The monument erected in 1990 lists the names of 82 victims who have been identified by the research of descendents of the survivors (see and Bagley (2002)), but states that there were also "others who are unknown."</ref> The causes and circumstances remain controversial.


==Fancher party (also called the Baker-Fancher party)== ==Fancher party (also called the Baker-Fancher party)==
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==Mountain Meadows== ==Mountain Meadows==
The party found water and fresh grazing for its livestock after reaching grassy, mountain-ringed Mountain Meadows, a regular stopover on the old Spanish Trail, in early September. They anticipated several days of rest and recuperation there. On September 7 the party was attacked by a group of Mormon militiamen dressed as Native Americans.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8</ref> The Fancher party defended itself by encircling and lowering their wagons, wheels chained together, along with digging shallow trenches and throwing dirt both below and into the wagons, which made a strong barrier. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. Sixteen more were wounded. The attack continued for five days, during which the besieged families had little or no access to fresh water or game food and their ammunition was depleted.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8 "By Friday, 11 September, low on water and ammunition, they were in a helpless condition."</ref> The party found water and fresh grazing for its livestock after reaching grassy, mountain-ringed Mountain Meadows, a regular stopover on the old Spanish Trail, in early September. They anticipated several days of rest and recuperation there. On September 7 the party was attacked by a group of ] ]s and Mormon militiamen dressed as Native Americans.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8</ref> The Fancher party defended itself by encircling and lowering their wagons, wheels chained together, along with digging shallow trenches and throwing dirt both below and into the wagons, which made a strong barrier. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. Sixteen more were wounded. The attack continued for five days, during which the besieged families had little or no access to fresh water or game food and their ammunition was depleted.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8 "By Friday, 11 September, low on water and ammunition, they were in a helpless condition."</ref>


<!-- Need to add in information about Haight, Higbee and others directing Lee to do what he did -->Following orders from Haight in Cedar City, on Friday ] John M. Higbee ordered two Mormon men to approach the Baker-Fancher party wagons with a white flag. They were soon followed by Indian agent and militia officer ].<ref> Lee was a scribe for the ] and a friend of both ] and ], in both of whose service Lee had performed duties as a law enforcement and security officer and was ''rumored'' to have been an ] (a territorial operative or enforcer) as well.</ref> Lee told the battle-weary emigrants he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for leaving all their livestock and supplies to the Native Americans.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 9</ref> Accepting this, they were split into three groups. Seventeen of the youngest children along with a few mothers and the wounded were put into wagons, which were followed by all the women and older children walking in a second group. Bringing up the rear were the adult males of the Fancher party, each walking with an armed Mormon militiaman at his right. Making their way back northeast towards Cedar City, the three groups gradually became strung out and visually separated by shrubs and a shallow hill. After about 2 kilometers Higbee gave the prearranged order, "Do Your Duty!"<ref>http://www.xmission.com/~country/reason/lee_mm.htm,</ref> Each Mormon then turned and killed the man he was guarding. All of the men, women, older children and wounded were massacred by Mormon militia. A few who escaped the initial slaughter were quickly chased down and killed. <!-- Need to add in information about Haight, Higbee and others directing Lee to do what he did -->Following orders from Haight in Cedar City, on Friday ] John M. Higbee ordered two Mormon men to approach the Baker-Fancher party wagons with a white flag. They were soon followed by Indian agent and militia officer ].<ref> Lee was a scribe for the ] and a friend of both ] and ], in both of whose service Lee had performed duties as a law enforcement and security officer and was ''rumored'' to have been an ] (a territorial operative or enforcer) as well.</ref> Lee told the battle-weary emigrants he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for leaving all their livestock and supplies to the Native Americans.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 9</ref> Accepting this, they were split into three groups. Seventeen of the youngest children along with a few mothers and the wounded were put into wagons, which were followed by all the women and older children walking in a second group. Bringing up the rear were the adult males of the Fancher party, each walking with an armed Mormon militiaman at his right. Making their way back northeast towards Cedar City, the three groups gradually became strung out and visually separated by shrubs and a shallow hill. After about 2 kilometers Higbee gave the prearranged order, "Do Your Duty!"<ref>http://www.xmission.com/~country/reason/lee_mm.htm,</ref> Each Mormon then turned and killed the man he was guarding. All of the men, women, older children and wounded were massacred by Mormon militia and Paiutes who had hidden nearby. A few who escaped the initial slaughter were quickly chased down and killed.


Two teenaged girls, Rachel and Ruth Dunlap, managed to clamber down the side of a steep gully and hide among a clump of oak trees for several minutes. They were spotted and taken to Lee. Eighteen-year-old Ruth Dunlap reportedly fell to her knees and pleaded, "Spare me, and I will love you all my life!"<ref>Gibbs (1910), Part 3 under heading "The Massacre", paragraphs 16-19</ref> (Lee denied this). The sisters were later found stripped of their clothing with their throats slit.<ref>Carleton mentions in multiple places in his report that 2 young girls had escaped the initial slaughter, but never names them or states if they were raped. He did state his personal belief that they were dismembered, disbelieving the statements he recorded that they were buried. He later stated "There were doubtless atrocious episodes connected with the massacre of the women, which will never be known. Mr. Rogers, the deputy marshal, told me that Bishop John D. Lee is said to have taken a beautiful lady away to a secluded spot. There she implored him for more than life. She too, was found dead. Her throat had been cut from ear to ear."</ref> 50 years later, a Mormon woman who was a child at the time of the massacre recalled hearing LDS women in ]<ref>St. George is about 15 miles from the Mountain Meadows.</ref> say both girls were raped before they were killed.<ref>Gibbs (1910), Part 3 under heading "The Massacre", paragraphs 16-19</ref><ref>Denton, Sally ''American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows'' New York, Knopf (2003) The Dunlap sisters, aged 14 and 16, were allegedly "raped, stripped of their clothing, and then brutally murdered by Lee after they promised to love him and obey him for the rest of their lives."</ref> However, this latter allegation is strongly disputed.<ref>Brooks, p. 105 "Although there have been cases where man has committed murder after rape, the circumstances surrounding the massacre make such an action highly improbable. In the midst of wholesale murder, surrounded by excited Indians, with more than fifty Mormon men in the immediate vicinity, such an incident seems fantastic." Brooks later says she regards the version told by Albert Hamblin to Major Carleton, which confirms that the girls fled and pleaded for their lives but doesn't mention rape, as "perhaps the most reliable story."</ref> Two teenaged girls, Rachel and Ruth Dunlap, managed to clamber down the side of a steep gully and hide among a clump of oak trees for several minutes. They were spotted by a Paiute chief from Parowan, who took them to Lee. Eighteen-year-old Ruth Dunlap reportedly fell to her knees and pleaded, "Spare me, and I will love you all my life!"<ref>Gibbs (1910), Part 3 under heading "The Massacre", paragraphs 16-19</ref> (Lee denied this). The sisters were later found stripped of their clothing with their throats slit.<ref>Carleton mentions in multiple places in his report that 2 young girls had escaped the initial slaughter, but never names them or states if they were raped. He did state his personal belief that they were dismembered, disbelieving the statements he recorded that they were buried. He later stated "There were doubtless atrocious episodes connected with the massacre of the women, which will never be known. Mr. Rogers, the deputy marshal, told me that Bishop John D. Lee is said to have taken a beautiful lady away to a secluded spot. There she implored him for more than life. She too, was found dead. Her throat had been cut from ear to ear."</ref> 50 years later, a Mormon woman who was a child at the time of the massacre recalled hearing LDS women in ]<ref>St. George is about 15 miles from the Mountain Meadows.</ref> say both girls were raped before they were killed.<ref>Gibbs (1910), Part 3 under heading "The Massacre", paragraphs 16-19</ref><ref>Denton, Sally ''American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows'' New York, Knopf (2003) The Dunlap sisters, aged 14 and 16, were allegedly "raped, stripped of their clothing, and then brutally murdered by Lee after they promised to love him and obey him for the rest of their lives."</ref> However, this latter allegation is strongly disputed.<ref>Brooks, p. 105 "Although there have been cases where man has committed murder after rape, the circumstances surrounding the massacre make such an action highly improbable. In the midst of wholesale murder, surrounded by excited Indians, with more than fifty Mormon men in the immediate vicinity, such an incident seems fantastic." Brooks later says she regards the version told by Albert Hamblin to Major Carleton, which confirms that the girls fled and pleaded for their lives but doesn't mention rape, as "perhaps the most reliable story."</ref>


All of the Mormon participants in the massacre were then sworn to secrecy and to blame the attack on the Paiutes.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 11 "Appalled by what had been done, and in fear of possible repercussions, an effective cover-up plan was put into force. It blamed the entire episode on the Indians, and continued to be maintained for the next few years in the face of outside outrage and investigation."</ref> The many dozens of bodies were hastily dragged into gullies and other low lying spots, then lightly covered with surrounding material which was soon blown away by the weather, leaving the remains to be scavenged and scattered by wildlife.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 10</ref> All of the Mormon participants in the massacre were then sworn to secrecy and to blame the attack on the Paiutes.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 11 "Appalled by what had been done, and in fear of possible repercussions, an effective cover-up plan was put into force. It blamed the entire episode on the Indians, and continued to be maintained for the next few years in the face of outside outrage and investigation."</ref> The many dozens of bodies were hastily dragged into gullies and other low lying spots, then lightly covered with surrounding material which was soon blown away by the weather, leaving the remains to be scavenged and scattered by wildlife.<ref>Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 10</ref>
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==Aftermath== ==Aftermath==


⚫ The Paiutes reportedly received a portion of the Baker-Fancher party's significant livestock holdings as compensation for their part in the massacre.<ref>Carleton (1859), "Lee told Brigham that the Indians would not be satisfied if they did not have a share of the cattle. Brigham left it to Lee to make the distribution."</ref> Many of the murdered emigrants' other belongings (including blood stained and bullet-riddled clothing stripped from the victims' corpses) were brought to Cedar City and stored in the cellar of an LDS warehouse as "property taken at the siege of Sebastopol."<ref>Carleton (1959).</ref> There are conflicting accounts as to whether these items were auctioned off or simply taken by members of the local population. Some of the surviving children subsequently claimed to have seen Mormons wearing their dead parents' clothing and jewelry.<ref>Weekly Stockton Democrat; 5 June 1859. As quoted at this website http://1857massacre.com/MMM/WeeklyStocktonDemocrat.htm. "Both and a boy named Miram recognized dresses and a part of the jewelry belonging to their mothers, worn by the wives of John D. Lee, the Mormon Bishop of Harmony. The boy, Miram, identified his father's oxen, which are now owned by Lee.</ref>
The Paiutes, based upon their oral traditions related to the event, came upon the massacre after the Mormon Militia had withdrawn and took the Baker-Fancher party's livestock holdings that were roaming unsupervised in the area of the massacre. The Paiute had to deal with seasonal fluctuations in their native food supplies during this period in Utah history, with periods of starvation where there was little to eat other than local grasshoppers, which were collected during morning hours when the insects were sluggish and roasted over hot rocks, along with an occasional antelope and mule deer. Due to the encroachment of mormon settlers, and disputes over water rights related to the primitive and limited paiute subsistence farming, many paiutes were starving in the area and the Baker-Fancher livestock would have significantly added to their food supplies.

⚫ Many of the murdered emigrants' other belongings (including blood stained and bullet-riddled clothing stripped from the victims' corpses) were brought to Cedar City and stored in the cellar of an LDS warehouse as "property taken at the siege of Sebastopol."<ref>Carleton (1959).</ref> There are conflicting accounts as to whether these items were auctioned off or simply taken by members of the local population. Some of the surviving children subsequently claimed to have seen Mormons wearing their dead parents' clothing and jewelry.<ref>Weekly Stockton Democrat; 5 June 1859. As quoted at this website http://1857massacre.com/MMM/WeeklyStocktonDemocrat.htm. "Both and a boy named Miram recognized dresses and a part of the jewelry belonging to their mothers, worn by the wives of John D. Lee, the Mormon Bishop of Harmony. The boy, Miram, identified his father's oxen, which are now owned by Lee.</ref>


In 1859, two years after the massacre, Brevet Major ] arrived in the area to investigate. At Mountain Meadows he found women's hair tangled in sage brush and the bones of children still in their mothers' arms.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Sight Which Can Never Be Forgotten |date=] |first=Alyssa |last=Fisher |publisher=Archaeological Institute of America |journal=Archaeology |accessdate=2007-01-07 |url=http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/massacre/meadows.html }}</ref> Carleton later said it was "a sight which can never be forgotten."<ref>Carleton, 1859</ref> After gathering up the skulls and bones of those who had died, Carleton's troops buried them and erected a rock cairn inscribed with the words, ''Here 120 men, women, and children were massacred in cold blood early in September, 1857. They were from Arkansas'', along with a cross bearing the words, ''Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord''.<ref>Carleton, 1859</ref> In 1859, two years after the massacre, Brevet Major ] arrived in the area to investigate. At Mountain Meadows he found women's hair tangled in sage brush and the bones of children still in their mothers' arms.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Sight Which Can Never Be Forgotten |date=] |first=Alyssa |last=Fisher |publisher=Archaeological Institute of America |journal=Archaeology |accessdate=2007-01-07 |url=http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/massacre/meadows.html }}</ref> Carleton later said it was "a sight which can never be forgotten."<ref>Carleton, 1859</ref> After gathering up the skulls and bones of those who had died, Carleton's troops buried them and erected a rock cairn inscribed with the words, ''Here 120 men, women, and children were massacred in cold blood early in September, 1857. They were from Arkansas'', along with a cross bearing the words, ''Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord''.<ref>Carleton, 1859</ref>

Revision as of 07:22, 21 May 2007

The Mountain Meadows massacre was a mass killing of emigrants on Friday, September 11 1857 at Mountain Meadows, a stopover along the Old Spanish Trail in southwestern Utah, by a local brigade of the Mormon Nauvoo Legion militia and Paiute Indians. The emigrants were mostly from Arkansas, bound for California during a period of heightened political tension called the Utah War. Sources estimate that between 100 and 140 men, women and children were killed. The causes and circumstances remain controversial.

Fancher party (also called the Baker-Fancher party)

See also: List of members of the Fancher party
Map depicting Mountain Meadows and the surrounding region of southwestern Utah in 1857, showing path of the Spanish Trail

In the spring of 1857 approximately forty families, mostly from Marion, Benton, Carroll and Johnson counties in Arkansas, set off on an emigration to southern California. Assembled into a single wagontrain in Utah, these parties were called the Fancher train, company or party after Alexander Fancher who, having already made the journey to California twice before, had become its main leader. Fancher had previously made the journey from Arkansas to California in 1850 at the height of the Gold Rush and again in 1853. By contemporary standards the Fancher party was prosperous, carefully organized and well-equipped for the journey.

The Mountain Meadows monument in Harrison, Boone County Arkansas (1955) indicates that the Fancher party was made up of several emigrant groups. The Fancher train departed from Benton County under the leadership of Alexander Fancher, as did the Huff train. The Poteet-Tackett-Jones train along with the Cameron and Miller trains left from Johnson County while the Mitchell, Dunlap and Prewitt trains began their treks from Marion County. The Baker train departed from Beller's Stand near Harrison in Carroll County (today Boone County) under their wagonmaster John Twitty Baker, whom historians reference when they call the trains the Baker-Fancher company.

Each party left on different dates and was led by individual wagon masters. The families had many reasons for heading west. Some had sold their homes and property in Arkansas and were planning to settle in California. Others (like Fancher) were driving cattle west for profit. The lure of gold may have motivated some of the the young single men. Along their way westward other wagon trains merged with them, broke off, or rejoined the group. These included the Poteet-Tackett train, the Crooked Creek train, the Campbell train, the Parker train and the John S. Baker train. Families and individuals from other states may have joined up with them.

Travel through Utah

The party arrived in Utah Territory in July with over 900 head of cattle but were running low on some supplies when they reached the Salt Lake City area on August 3 1857. The main Fancher train waited outside Salt Lake City for more than a week as other trains caught up with them. The Baker Train was the last to arrive. Meanwhile the settlers had to decide which route to take across the Great Basin. The northern route meant traveling the Humboldt River Road west across the desert and Sierra Nevada mountains, then southward through California. The southern route, which involved less risk of the emigrants becoming snowbound in the mountains this late in the season, would carry them through the settlements in southern Utah, to the Mohave Desert and on to Los Angeles. At least one couple chose to take the northern route while others from the woman's family went south with the main party towards southwestern Utah and Mountain Meadows.

Rumors and friction

The Mormon population was usually eager to trade with emigrant trains but only days before, Mormon leader and Utah Territorial Governor Brigham Young had declared martial law in response to potential hostilities with the United States government. President James Buchanan had ordered United States Army troops to advance towards Utah, beginning what would later be called the Utah War.

The Mormons they encountered along the way were suspicious of non-Mormons and most declined to trade with them for several reasons, including Young's declaration of martial law, his orders discouraging the trading of food with emigrants and his orders forbidding people from traveling through the territory without a pass, which the Fancher party did not have. However, the train's leadership likely were not aware of Young's martial law order since it was not made public until September 15.

The Fancher party may have been joined by a group of eleven miners and plainsmen who called themselves "Missouri Wildcats". There is debate on whether the Missouri Wildcats stayed with the slow-moving Fancher party after leaving Salt Lake City, or even existed. Though the conduct and/or existence of the Wildcats is now questioned, rumors about them at the time antagonized the local population. The most severe accusations about the Missouri Wildcats have included the poisoning of wells, bragging about taking part in Haun's Mill massacre and threats of returning to Utah with an army to wipe out the Mormon population.. At least one account claimed the Wildcats bragged they had the gun that "shot the guts out of Old Joe Smith".

Also, popular Mormon leader Parley P. Pratt had been murdered in Arkansas a few months earlier (by the ex-husband of one of Pratt's plural wives) and news of his death had only recently begun to arrive in the area. These rumors, martial law, threats of war and limited supplies all likely influenced individual Mormons who didn't sell food to the Fancher party.

Alliance with Indian tribes sought

On September 1 in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young (who held the title of Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Utah) met with Indian chiefs from the Southern Territory, which included the area around Mountain Meadows. During a one-hour meeting, Young complained that the Americans had come to kill both Mormons and Indians. He told the chiefs that if they fought the Americans, he would give them all the cattle on the Southern California Trail.

Cedar City meetings

As the party approached Mountain Meadows, several meetings were held in Cedar City and nearby Parowan by local LDS ("Latter-Day Saints") leaders pondering how to implement Young's declaration of martial law. On Thursday evening September 10th, at first Isaac B. Haight decided to "eliminate" the Fancher wagon train, but hesitated and sent a rider to Salt Lake City (a six-day round trip on horseback) for Brigham Young's advice. Meanwhile, organization among the local Mormon leadership reportedly broke down. The rider did return with a letter from Young ordering that the emigrants not be harmed, but did not arrive in time to prevent the attack and moreover, after the siege had started Haight resolved to exterminate any adult witnesses. Historians continue to debate the letter's contents.

Mountain Meadows

The party found water and fresh grazing for its livestock after reaching grassy, mountain-ringed Mountain Meadows, a regular stopover on the old Spanish Trail, in early September. They anticipated several days of rest and recuperation there. On September 7 the party was attacked by a group of Native American Paiutes and Mormon militiamen dressed as Native Americans. The Fancher party defended itself by encircling and lowering their wagons, wheels chained together, along with digging shallow trenches and throwing dirt both below and into the wagons, which made a strong barrier. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. Sixteen more were wounded. The attack continued for five days, during which the besieged families had little or no access to fresh water or game food and their ammunition was depleted.

Following orders from Haight in Cedar City, on Friday September 11 John M. Higbee ordered two Mormon men to approach the Baker-Fancher party wagons with a white flag. They were soon followed by Indian agent and militia officer John D. Lee. Lee told the battle-weary emigrants he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for leaving all their livestock and supplies to the Native Americans. Accepting this, they were split into three groups. Seventeen of the youngest children along with a few mothers and the wounded were put into wagons, which were followed by all the women and older children walking in a second group. Bringing up the rear were the adult males of the Fancher party, each walking with an armed Mormon militiaman at his right. Making their way back northeast towards Cedar City, the three groups gradually became strung out and visually separated by shrubs and a shallow hill. After about 2 kilometers Higbee gave the prearranged order, "Do Your Duty!" Each Mormon then turned and killed the man he was guarding. All of the men, women, older children and wounded were massacred by Mormon militia and Paiutes who had hidden nearby. A few who escaped the initial slaughter were quickly chased down and killed.

Two teenaged girls, Rachel and Ruth Dunlap, managed to clamber down the side of a steep gully and hide among a clump of oak trees for several minutes. They were spotted by a Paiute chief from Parowan, who took them to Lee. Eighteen-year-old Ruth Dunlap reportedly fell to her knees and pleaded, "Spare me, and I will love you all my life!" (Lee denied this). The sisters were later found stripped of their clothing with their throats slit. 50 years later, a Mormon woman who was a child at the time of the massacre recalled hearing LDS women in St. George say both girls were raped before they were killed. However, this latter allegation is strongly disputed.

All of the Mormon participants in the massacre were then sworn to secrecy and to blame the attack on the Paiutes. The many dozens of bodies were hastily dragged into gullies and other low lying spots, then lightly covered with surrounding material which was soon blown away by the weather, leaving the remains to be scavenged and scattered by wildlife.

Surviving children

Approximately seventeen children were deliberately spared because of their young ages. In the hours following the massacre Lee directed Philip Kingensmith and possibly two others to take the children (a few of whom were wounded) to the nearby farm of Jacob Hamblin, a local Indian agent. Later Jacob Forney, the non-Mormon Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah, ordered that the children be placed in the care of local Mormon families pending an investigation of the matter and notification of kin. However, some accounts relate that Lee sold or bartered the children to whatever Mormon families would take them. Sarah Francis Baker, who was three years old at the time of the massacre, later said, "They sold us from one family to another."

Aftermath

The Paiutes reportedly received a portion of the Baker-Fancher party's significant livestock holdings as compensation for their part in the massacre. Many of the murdered emigrants' other belongings (including blood stained and bullet-riddled clothing stripped from the victims' corpses) were brought to Cedar City and stored in the cellar of an LDS warehouse as "property taken at the siege of Sebastopol." There are conflicting accounts as to whether these items were auctioned off or simply taken by members of the local population. Some of the surviving children subsequently claimed to have seen Mormons wearing their dead parents' clothing and jewelry.

In 1859, two years after the massacre, Brevet Major James Henry Carleton arrived in the area to investigate. At Mountain Meadows he found women's hair tangled in sage brush and the bones of children still in their mothers' arms. Carleton later said it was "a sight which can never be forgotten." After gathering up the skulls and bones of those who had died, Carleton's troops buried them and erected a rock cairn inscribed with the words, Here 120 men, women, and children were massacred in cold blood early in September, 1857. They were from Arkansas, along with a cross bearing the words, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.

Replica of the original Mountain Meadows Massacre Monument in Carrollton, Arkansas.

Meanwhile Carleton and others gathered up the surviving children from local families after which they were united with extended family members in Arkansas and other states. Several Mormon families claimed and received financial compensation from the federal government for the children's care and even protested that the amounts paid were insufficient although the conditions some of the children lived under were severely criticised.

Carleton issued a report to the United States Congress in which he called the mass killings a "heinous crime" and blamed local and senior church leaders for the massacre. However, years later only Lee was charged with murder for his involvement. Lee's first trial ended in a mistrial, but he was convicted on re-trial and executed by firing squad at Mountain Meadows.

The causes and circumstances of the Mountain Meadows Massacre remain contested and highly controversial. Although there is no evidence that Brigham Young ordered or condoned the massacre, the roles of Cedar City church officials in ordering the murders and Young's concealing of evidence in their aftermath are still questioned. Moreover, while by all accounts native American Paiutes were present, historical reports of their numbers and the details of their participation are contradictory. Paiute leaders stated in 2001 that the tribe's oral history denies any involvement in the massacre itself, but does admit to many watching from a distance and pillaging the Fanchers' property after the massacre. Young's use of often inflammatory and violent language in response to perceived Federal colonialism has also been cited as adding to the tense atmosphere that helped precipitate the attack.

Memorials

Starting in 1988 descendants of both the Baker-Fancher party victims and the Mormon participants collaborated to design and dedicate a monument to replace the neglected and crumbling marker on the site. There are now three monuments to the massacre. Two of these are at Mountain Meadows.

Mountain Meadows Association built a monument at Mountain Meadows in 1990 which is mantained by the Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation. On September 15 1990, more than 2,000 people attended a memorial service at Southern Utah State College, marking the dedication of the memorial. Participants in the memorial service included Roger Logan and J. K. Fancher, a descendant of Alexander Fancher, representing the emigrant families, Geneal Anderson and Clifford Jake, representing the Paiute tribe, Rex E. Lee, representing descendants of LDS pioneer families from the area, and Gordon B. Hinckley, representing the LDS Church. Hinckley described the event as marked by a "spirit of reconciliation."

In 1999 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built and agreed to maintain a second monument at Mountain Meadows. A monument in Arkansas is a replica of Carleton's original marker maintained by the Mountain Meadows Massacre Monument Foundation Inc.

A commemorative wagon train assembled at Beller Spring, Arkansas on April 21-22, 2007, with some participants in period dress, to honor the sesquicentennial of their ancestors' having embarked on its ill-fated journey.

Depictions in media

  • The semi-autobiographical travel book Roughing It (1872) by Mark Twain within its Appendix B comments on the massacre based upon public perceptions of Americans during the mid nineteenth century.
  • The play Fire In The Bones (1978) by Thomas F. Rogers is a depiction of the massacre from the perspective of John D. Lee, and is based heavily on Juanita Brooks' research.
  • The play Two-Headed (2000) by Julie Jensen depicts two middle-aged Latter Day Saint (Mormon) women reflecting on the massacre that occurred when they were children.
  • The novel Red Water (2002) by Judith Freeman is a fictionalized account of John D. Lee's role in the massacre from the perspective of three of his nineteen wives.
  • The documentary film Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre (2004) contains footage of forensic analysis of human remains from the massacre.
  • The PBS documentary The Mormons (2007), aired on PBS in two parts on April 30th and May 1st, 2007 and discussed the effects of the Mountain Meadows massacre on the church's image today.
  • The film September Dawn (2007), scheduled to open June 22, 2007,directed by Christopher Cain, is described by a press release as fictionalizing the "point of view held direct descendants ... that the iconic Brigham Young had complicity in the massacre, a view denied by the Mormon Church." Reportedly, the film depicts a love story set at the time of the massacre.

Notes

  1. every able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five
  2. William P. MacKinnon, Loose in the Stacks, A Half-Century with the Utah War and its Legacy, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Vol. 40 No. 1) page 60
  3. James Lynch, in sworn testimony (1859), stated that there were 140 victims "murdered in cold blood". Indian Superintendent Jacob Forney stated about 115 people had been killed . The monument erected in 1932 stated that the company consisted of about 140 emigrants and that all but 17 small children were killed. Brooks (1991), in the introduction of her paperback version of Moutain Meadows Massacre, concludes, "the number 123 people killed is greatly exaggerated" and cites several sources giving estimates less than 100. The monument erected in 1990 lists the names of 82 victims who have been identified by the research of descendents of the survivors (see and Bagley (2002)), but states that there were also "others who are unknown."
  4. See map (posted at a Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants webpage)
  5. Bagley (2002), pp. 55-68; Finck (2005).
  6. Bagley (2002) pp. 57; 1850 San Diego County, CA census Roll: M432_35; Page: 280; Image: 544
  7. Fancher family correspondence, Lynn-Marie Fancher and Alison C. Wallner, 1857: An Arkansas Primer To The Mountain Meadows Massacre", 2006
  8. Bancroft (1889) p. 545; Linn (1902) Chap. XVI, 4th full paragraph., Carleton 1859, "this was one of the finest trains that had been seen to cross the plains"
  9. William C. Mitchell, List of the Mountain Meadows Massacre Victims, Letter to A. B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. April 26, 1860. See also: http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/arkansasemigrants.htm
  10. Lynn-Marie Fancher and Alison C. Wallner, 1857: An Arkansas Primer To The Mountain Meadows Massacre", 2006
  11. Bagley (2002) pp. 62-65
  12. Lynn-Marie Fancher and Alison C. Wallner, 1857: An Arkansas Primer To The Mountain Meadows Massacre", 2006
  13. Lynn-Marie Fancher and Alison C. Wallner, 1857: An Arkansas Primer To The Mountain Meadows Massacre, 2006
  14. Bancroft (1889) p. 544; Gibbs (1910) p. 12.
  15. Salt Lake City became a major resupply destination for emigrants, traveling to CA., shortly after the California Gold Rush. See , Old Spanish Trail] .
  16. See Malinda (Cameron) Scott Thurston Deposition 3,1857
  17. Bagley (2002) pp. 97
  18. Bagley (2002) pp. 99
  19. See the deposition made years later by Melinda Cameron.
  20. See Young, Brigham (August 5, 1857). Proclamation by the Governor. Salt Lake City: Territory of Utah. Alternate location.
  21. Bagley (2002), pp. 95-99; Denton (2003), pp. 114-115.
  22. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 5
  23. Salt Lake City: Territory of Utah. Alternate location.
  24. Brooks 1991, page xxi.
  25. Bagley (2002), p. 280, refers to the "Missouri Wildcats" story as "Utah mythology"
  26. Carleton 1859, Quoting Jacob Hamblin "On my way back home, at Fillmore City, I heard it said that that Company, meaning the train referred to, had poisoned a small spring at Corn Creek, where I had met them." However Carleton was sceptical later stating in his report (quoting one Mr. Rodgers) the water in the spring referred to runs with such volume and force "a barrel of arsenic would not poison it."
  27. See http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/four/mountain.htm and http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no88.htm and http://www.youknow.com/chris/essays/misc/mtnmeadows.html
  28. Mountain Meadows Massacre in Tietoa Mormonismista Suomeksi.
  29. "Pratt was called on a mission to the southern states and while he was on this mission, a lawsuit was filed by one Hector McLean, who accused Pratt of causing an estrangement between himself and his former wife, Eleanor. Although Pratt was exonerated by the court, McLean and two accomplices pursued Pratt to Alma, Arkansas, where they fired at and stabbed him. He died on 13 May 1857 and was quietly buried at what is now Fine Springs, Arkansas.". It is believed that Hector and Eleanor were not formally divorced, but rather Eleanor claimed to be a single woman once leaving Hector and marrying Parley, see . Either way, Hector was unhappy with the result of the lawsuit and was later convicted of Pratt's murder. See also http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/mtn_meadows/9.html and http://www.prattconference.org/area_info.htm.
  30. Bagley (2002), pp. 68-72, 80-81. Carleton 1859, (referring to the anger over hearing of Parley's death) "The Mormons swore vengeance on the people of Arkansas"
  31. See Brooks, Chapter 3, pp 40-42. See Bagley. Chapter 6. pp 113-114. See Denton. Chapter 11. p158.
  32. Shirts (1994), Paragraph 6
  33. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 6 "In the meantime, things got completely out of hand. Orders and counterorders were misinterpreted, deliberately or otherwise."
  34. Brooks has stated in her book that this letter shows " did not order the massacre, and would have prevented it if he could." Bagley (p. 85) has a different take, claiming the letter may have contained code words covertly giving other instructions. See this review of Bagley's book by Jeff Needle of the Association of Mormon Letters where this subject is debated.
  35. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8
  36. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8 "By Friday, 11 September, low on water and ammunition, they were in a helpless condition."
  37. Lee was a scribe for the Council of 50 and a friend of both Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young, in both of whose service Lee had performed duties as a law enforcement and security officer and was rumored to have been an Avenging Angel (a territorial operative or enforcer) as well.
  38. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 9
  39. http://www.xmission.com/~country/reason/lee_mm.htm,
  40. Gibbs (1910), Part 3 under heading "The Massacre", paragraphs 16-19
  41. Carleton mentions in multiple places in his report that 2 young girls had escaped the initial slaughter, but never names them or states if they were raped. He did state his personal belief that they were dismembered, disbelieving the statements he recorded that they were buried. He later stated "There were doubtless atrocious episodes connected with the massacre of the women, which will never be known. Mr. Rogers, the deputy marshal, told me that Bishop John D. Lee is said to have taken a beautiful lady away to a secluded spot. There she implored him for more than life. She too, was found dead. Her throat had been cut from ear to ear."
  42. St. George is about 15 miles from the Mountain Meadows.
  43. Gibbs (1910), Part 3 under heading "The Massacre", paragraphs 16-19
  44. Denton, Sally American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows New York, Knopf (2003) The Dunlap sisters, aged 14 and 16, were allegedly "raped, stripped of their clothing, and then brutally murdered by Lee after they promised to love him and obey him for the rest of their lives."
  45. Brooks, p. 105 "Although there have been cases where man has committed murder after rape, the circumstances surrounding the massacre make such an action highly improbable. In the midst of wholesale murder, surrounded by excited Indians, with more than fifty Mormon men in the immediate vicinity, such an incident seems fantastic." Brooks later says she regards the version told by Albert Hamblin to Major Carleton, which confirms that the girls fled and pleaded for their lives but doesn't mention rape, as "perhaps the most reliable story."
  46. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 11 "Appalled by what had been done, and in fear of possible repercussions, an effective cover-up plan was put into force. It blamed the entire episode on the Indians, and continued to be maintained for the next few years in the face of outside outrage and investigation."
  47. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 10
  48. Multiple sources claim that Lee protested and prohibited the death of all children that were assumed to be under the age of eight, and directed that they be placed in the care of one who was not involved in the massacre. See for example, http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/jdlconfession.htm. Not all of the young children were spared, however; at least one infant was killed in his father's arms by the same bullet that killed the adult man.
  49. John D. Lee's Confessions state that he directed Knight and McMurdy to take charge of the children as well
  50. Testimony of Philip Klingensmith (July 23 - 24, 1875). First Trial of John D. Lee. Carleton 1859, "... when told of the 17 orphan children who were brought by such a crowd to her house of one small room there in the darkness of night, two of the children cruelly mangled and the most of them with their parents' blood still wet upon their clothes, and all of them shrieking with terror and grief and anguish, her own mother heart was touched."
  51. Bagley (2002), Chapter 13, page 237 also Brooks (1950), Appendix X
  52. Carleton (1859), "Lee told Brigham that the Indians would not be satisfied if they did not have a share of the cattle. Brigham left it to Lee to make the distribution."
  53. Carleton (1959).
  54. Weekly Stockton Democrat; 5 June 1859. As quoted at this website http://1857massacre.com/MMM/WeeklyStocktonDemocrat.htm. "Both and a boy named Miram recognized dresses and a part of the jewelry belonging to their mothers, worn by the wives of John D. Lee, the Mormon Bishop of Harmony. The boy, Miram, identified his father's oxen, which are now owned by Lee.
  55. Fisher, Alyssa (2003-09-16). "A Sight Which Can Never Be Forgotten". Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 2007-01-07. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  56. Carleton, 1859
  57. Carleton, 1859
  58. After the massacre, the decision was made to take the children to the nearby Hamblin home; however, Hamblin was gone at the time of the killings. Hamblin's testimony in this regard is as following (Q=attorney in Lee's trial; A=Hamblin): "Q: What became of the children of those emigrants? How many children were brought there? A: Two to my house, and several in Cedar City. I was acting subagent for Forney. I gathered the children up for him; seventeen in number, all I could learn of. Q: Whom did you deliver them to? A: Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah." Also, see the Carelton report, referenced elsewhere in this article.
  59. Carleton (1859), "these Mormons ...dared even to come forward and claim payment for having kept these little ones barely alive..."
  60. Carleton (1859)
  61. Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 11
  62. Smith, Cristopher (2001-01-21). "Forensic Study Aids Tribe's View Of Mountain Meadows Massacre". Salt Lake Tribune. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help) Fee required.
  63. MacKinnon, (2007) p. 7.
  64. Shirts (1994). See pictures on 1990 Monument
  65. "Mountain Meadows Memorial Helps Bring Healing". Ensign 20 (12) (December 1990): 66
  66. See pictures at 1999 Monument
  67. Kirkman, Frank. Photos of 2006 Meeting, page 6. Frank Kirkman's Mountain Meadows Massacre Site. Last accessed 2007-03-25.
  68. "Mountain Meadows relatives mark 150th anniversary" - April 24, 2007 Deseret News.
  69. MacDonald, G. Jeffrey, "Debating History: Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?" Washington Post, Saturday, April 28, 2007; Page B09. retrieved April 28, 2007
  70. Press release (2007-03-26).
  71. See Farms review, Variety , or Politico.com.

References

See also

External links

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