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Killings and aftermath of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

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The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857, in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local Indians.

Initially intended to be an Indian massacre,[1] two men with leadership roles in local military, church and government organizations,[2] Isaac C. Haight and John D. Lee, conspired for Lee to lead militiamen disguised as Native Americans along with a contingent of Paiute tribesmen[3] in an attack. The emigrants fought back and a siege ensued. Intending to leave no witnesses of Mormon complicity in the siege and avoid reprisals complicating the Utah War, militiamen induced the emigrants to surrender and give up their weapons. After escorting the emigrants out of their fortification, the militiamen and their tribesmen auxiliaries executed approximately 120 women, children, and men.[4] Seventeen younger children were spared.

Investigations, temporarily interrupted by the American Civil War, resulted in nine indictments during 1874. Of the men indicted, only John D. Lee was tried in a court of law. After two trials Lee was convicted and executed near the massacre site.

First attack and siege

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Main article: Conspiracy and siege of the Mountain Meadows massacre

During the early morning hours of Monday, September 7[5] the Baker–Fancher party was attacked by as many or more than 200 Paiutes[6] and Mormon militiamen disguised as Native Americans.

The attackers were positioned in a small ravine south-east of the emigrant camp.[7]: 158  As the attackers shot into the camp, the Baker–Fancher party defended itself by encircling and lowering their wagons, along with digging shallow trenches and throwing dirt both below and into the wagons. 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 and their ammunition was depleted.[8]

Massacre

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The site of the massacre, as seen through a viewfinder, from the 1990 Monument.

On Friday, September 11 two Utah militiamen approached the Baker-Fancher party wagons with a white flag and 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.[9]

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, each walking with an armed Utah 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 (1.2 mi), all of the men, women, older children and wounded were massacred by the Utah militia and Paiutes [citation needed] who had hidden nearby. A few who escaped the initial slaughter were quickly chased down and killed. Two teen-aged 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!"[10] (Lee denied this). 50 years later, a Mormon woman who was a child at the time of the massacre recalled hearing LDS women in St. George[11] say both girls were raped before they were killed.[12]

All of the Mormon participants in the massacre were then sworn to secrecy.[13] 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.[14]

List of Mountain Meadows Massacre Victims
Name[16] Age at time
of massacre		 Listed on monument[17] A child
survivor
Last First 1955 1990
Aden, William Allen 19 Yes Yes
Baker, George W. 27 Yes Yes
Baker, Manerva A. Beller 25 Yes Yes
Baker, Mary Levina[19] 7 Yes Yes
Baker, Mary Elizabeth 5 Yes Yes Yes
Baker, Sarah Frances 3[20] Yes Yes Yes
Baker, William Twitty 0
(9 months) 		Yes Yes Yes
Baker, John Twitty[21] 52 Yes Yes
Baker, Abel 19 Yes Yes
Beach, John 21 No Yes
Beller, David W. 12 Yes Yes
Beller, Melissa Ann 14 Yes Yes
Cameron, William 51 Yes Yes
Cameron, Martha 51 Yes Yes
Cameron, Tillman 24 No Yes
Cameron, Isom 18 No Yes
Cameron, Henry 16 No Yes
Cameron, James 14 No Yes
Cameron, Martha 11 Yes
Cameron, Larkin 8 No Yes
Cameron, Nancy 12 No Yes
Coker, Edward[22] 27 No No
Coker, Charity Porter[22] 37 No No
Coker, Unknown[22] 7+?
(Child) 		No No
Coker, Unknown[22] 7+?
(Child) 		No No
Cooper, William E.[22] 29 No No
Cooper, Abbey[22] 29 No No
Deshazo, Allen P. 20[23] Yes Yes
Dunlap, Jesse, Jr. 39 Yes Yes
Dunlap, Mary Wharton 39 Yes Yes
Dunlap, Ellender 18 No Yes
Dunlap, Nancy M. 16 No Yes
Dunlap, James D. 14 No Yes
Dunlap, Lucinda 12 No Yes
Dunlap, Susannah 12 No Yes
Dunlap, Margerette 11 No Yes
Dunlap, Mary Ann 9 No Yes
Dunlap, Rebecca Jane[24] 6 Yes Yes Yes
Dunlap, Louisa 4 Yes Yes Yes
Dunlap, Sarah Ann.[25] 1 Yes Yes Yes
Dunlap, Lorenzo Dow 42 Yes Yes
Dunlap, Nancy Wharton 39[26] No Yes
Dunlap, Thomas J. 17[27] No Yes
Dunlap, John H. 16 No Yes
Dunlap, Mary Ann 13 No Yes
Dunlap, Talitha Emaline 11 No Yes
Dunlap, Nancy 9 No Yes
Dunlap, America Jane 7 No Yes
Dunlap, Prudence Angeline 5 Yes Yes Yes
Dunlap, Georgia Ann 1
(18 months) 		Yes Yes Yes
Eaton, William M. Unknown,
adult 		Yes Yes
Edwards, Silas Unknown No Yes
Fancher, Alexander 45 Yes Yes
Fancher, Eliza Ingrum[28] 32[29] Yes Yes
Fancher, Hampton 19 Yes Yes
Fancher, William 17 Yes Yes
Fancher, Mary 15 Yes Yes
Fancher, Thomas 14 Yes Yes
Fancher, Martha 10 Yes Yes
Fancher, Margaret A. 8 Yes Yes
Fancher, Sarah G. 8 Yes Yes
Fancher, Christopher "Kit" Carson 5 Yes Yes Yes
Fancher, Triphenia D. 1
(22 months) 		Yes Yes Yes
Fancher, James Mathew 25 Yes Yes
Fancher, Frances "Fanny" Fulfer[31] Unknown No Yes
Fancher, Robert 19 Yes Yes
Gresly, John[22] 21 No No
Hamilton, Thomas?[32] Unknown Yes Yes
Huff, Saladia Ann Brown 38[33] Yes Yes
Huff, John[22] 14 No Yes
Huff, William C.[34] 13[33] No Yes
Huff, Elisha[36] Unknown No Yes
Huff, Mary E.[22] 11 No No
Huff, James K.[22] 8 No Yes
Huff, Nancy Saphrona [Cates] 4 Yes Yes Yes
Huff, Unknown Son[22] Unknown No No
Jones, John Milum 32 Yes Yes
Jones, Eloah Angeline Tackitt 27[37] Yes Yes
Jones, Unknown Daughter Unknown Yes Yes
Jones, Felix Marion 1
(18 months) 		Yes Yes Yes
Jones, Newton 23[33] No Yes
McEntire, Lawson A. 21[38] Yes Yes
Miller, Josiah (Joseph) 30 Yes Yes
Miller, Matilda Cameron 26 Yes Yes
Miller, James William 9 No Yes
Miller, John Calvin 6 Yes Yes Yes
Miller, Mary 4 Yes Yes Yes
Miller, Joseph 1 Yes Yes Yes
Mitchell, Charles R. 25 Yes Yes
Mitchell, Sarah C. Baker 21 Yes Yes
Mitchell, John 1?
(Infant) 		Yes Yes
Mitchell, Joel D. 23 Yes Yes
Prewit, John 20 Yes Yes
Prewit, William 18 Yes Yes
Rush, Milum Lafayette[39] 28 Yes Yes
Stallcup, Charles[40] 25 No Yes
Tackitt, Cynthia 49 Yes Yes
Tackitt, William H.[22] 23 No No
Tackitt, Marion 20 Yes Yes
Tackitt, Sebron 18 No Yes
Tackitt, Matilda 16 No Yes
Tackitt, James M. 14 No Yes
Tackitt, Jones M. 12 No Yes
Tackitt, Pleasant 25 Yes Yes
Tackitt, Armilda Miller 22 Yes Yes
Tackitt, Emberson Milum 4 Yes Yes Yes
Tackitt, William Henry 1
(19 months) 		Yes Yes Yes
Wilson, Richard 27[41] Yes Yes
Wood, Solomon R. 20 Yes Yes
Wood, William Edward[42] 26 Yes Yes

Surviving children

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Survivor Nancy Saphrona Huff (4) was taken away along with her family's possessions by John Willis to reside at his house until she was returned to relatives in Arkansas two years later.[18]: 80 

Approximately seventeen children were deliberately spared because of their young ages. Multiple sources claim that Lee protested and prohibited the death of all children that were assumed to be too young to talk, and directed that they be placed in the care of one who was not involved in the massacre.[43] Not all of the young children were spared, however; the infant John Mitchell was killed and Sarah Dunlap (1) had her arm shot off, but survived.[7]: 246  In the hours following the massacre Lee directed Philip Klingensmith and possibly two others[44] to take the children (a few of whom were wounded) to the nearby farm of Jacob Hamblin, a local Indian agent.[45] Later, under the direction of Jacob Forney, the non-Mormon Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah, the children were 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."[46][47]

List of Child Survivors of Mountain Meadows Massacre
Name[16] Age at time
of massacre		 Listed on monument[17]
Last First 1955 1990
Baker, Mary Elizabeth 5 Yes Yes
Baker, Sarah Frances 2 Yes Yes
Baker, William Twitty 0
(9 months) 		Yes Yes
Dunlap, Rebecca Jane[48] 6 Yes Yes
Dunlap, Louisa 4 Yes Yes
Dunlap, Sarah Ann.[49] 1 Yes Yes
Dunlap, Prudence Angeline 5 Yes Yes
Dunlap, Georgia Ann 1
(18 months) 		Yes Yes
Fancher, Christopher "Kit" Carson 5 Yes Yes
Fancher, Triphenia D. 1
(22 months) 		Yes Yes
Huff, Nancy Saphrona [Cates] 4 Yes Yes
Jones, Felix Marion 1
(18 months) 		Yes Yes
Miller, John Calvin 6 Yes Yes
Miller, Mary 4 Yes Yes
Miller, Joseph 1 Yes Yes
Tackitt, Emberson Milum 4 Yes Yes
Tackitt, William Henry 1
(19 months) 		Yes Yes

Aftermath and the distribution of spoil

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The Paiutes received a portion of the Baker-Fancher party's significant livestock holdings as compensation for their part in the massacre.[50] 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 the Cedar City LDS tithing office as "property taken at the siege of Sebastopol."[51] 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.[52]

Maj. James H. Carleton, investigated the massacre site in 1859, buried the dead and erected an early marker.

In 1859, two years after the massacre, Brevet Major James Henry Carleton arrived in the area "to bury the bones of the victims of that terrible massacre". "I saw several bones of what must have been very small children. Dr. Brewer says from what he saw he thinks some infants were butchered. The mothers doubtless had these in their arms, and the same shot or blow may have deprived both of life." "Hamblin himself showed Sergeant Fritz of my party a spot on the right-hand side of the road where had partially covered up a great many of the bones."[53]

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.

Meanwhile, Forney and Governor Cummings directed Hamblin and Carleton to gather up the surviving children from local families and transport them to Salt Lake City, after which they were united with extended family members in Arkansas and other states.[54]

Carleton issued a scathing report to the United States Congress, blaming 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 involvement of various church officials in both the murders and concealing evidence in their aftermath is still questioned.[13] Moreover, while by all accounts Native American Paiutes were present, historical reports of their numbers and the details of their participation are contradictory.[citation needed]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Walker, Turley, Leonard 2008, pp. 137–140
  2. ^ Lee 1877, p. 214
  3. ^ Walker, Turley, Leonard 2008, p. 265
  4. ^ Hamblin 1876 stated he buried over 120 skeletons); James Lynch (1859) reported there were 140 victims; in Thompson 1860, pp. 8, 82, Superintendent Forney reported 115 victims; a 1932 monument states about 140 were involved in the massacre less 17 children spared; while Brooks' (introduction, 1991) believes 123 to be exaggerated, citing several reports of less than 100. The 1990 monument lists 82 identified by careful research of descendants of survivor ( http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/inmemory.htm ) and states that there are others still unknown. See also Bagley 2002
  5. ^ Brooks 1950, p. 50; Bigler 1998, p. 169
  6. ^ Lee 1877, pp. 226–227 Lee said the first attack occurred on a Tuesday and the Native Americans were several hundred strong.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Walker, Ronald W.; Turley, Richard E. Jr.; Leonard, Glen M. (2008). Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516034-5.
  8. ^ Shirts 1994
  9. ^ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 9
  10. ^ Gibbs (1910) p. 36.
  11. ^ St. George is about 15 miles from the Mountain Meadows.
  12. ^ Gibbs (1910), Part 3 under heading "The Massacre", paragraphs 16-19
  13. ^ a b Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 11
  14. ^ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 10
  15. ^ Bagley 2002, p. 387—389
  16. ^ a b All names and ages are listed exactly as shown in Blood of the Prophets (Bagley 2002) unless otherwise noted.[15]
  17. ^ a b [7]: 243–249 
  18. ^ a b c Jones Brown, Barbara; Turley, Richard E. (2023). Vengeance Is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath. New York City: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-767573-1 – via Google Books.
  19. ^ Spelled "Lovina" in Vengeance is Mine (2023).[18]: 38 
  20. ^ Listed as 2 in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 244 
  21. ^ The initial "T." is defined as "Twitty" in Vengeance Is Mine (2023).[18]: 206 
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l This name is not included on any of the monuments, but is listed as a victim based on research from Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 243–249 
  23. ^ Listed as 22 in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 244 
  24. ^ Initial J. definied as "Jane" in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 245 
  25. ^ Listed as "Sarah Elizabeth" in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 246 
  26. ^ Listed as 42 in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 246 
  27. ^ Listed as 18 in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 246 
  28. ^ Spelled "Ingram" in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 246 
  29. ^ Listed as 33 in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 246 
  30. ^ Bagley 2002, p. 444
  31. ^ Frances may not have accompanied her partner on the trek to California and thus survived despite being listed on the 1990 monument.[30][7]: 385 
  32. ^ This name is listed as "(Thomas?) Hamilton" under other names on the 1990 monument, and is not listed in Blood of the Prophets (2002).[7]: 385 
  33. ^ a b c Age from Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 243–249  Age listed as unknown in Blood of the Prophets (Bagley 2002).[35]
  34. ^ Middle initial from Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 247 
  35. ^ Bagley 2002, p. 387—389
  36. ^ According to Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008) this name is erroneously listed and was actually a mis-identification of the surviving infant Felix Marion Tackitt at the time by government officials.[7]: 248 
  37. ^ Listed as 26 in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 247 
  38. ^ Listed as 23 in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 248 
  39. ^ Initial L. definied as "Lafayette" in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 249 
  40. ^ Reported to have left the wagon train before the siege and massacre occurred, and thus survived in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 243 
  41. ^ Age listed in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 249 
  42. ^ Middle name listed in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 249 
  43. ^ "Confession of John D. Lee".
  44. ^ John D. Lee's Confessions state that he directed Knight and McMurdy to take charge of the children as well
  45. ^ Testimony of Philip Klingensmith (July 23–24, 1875). First Trial of John D. Lee.
  46. ^ Bagley 2002, p. 237
  47. ^ Brooks (1950), Appendix X
  48. ^ Initial J. definied as "Jane" in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 245 
  49. ^ Listed as "Sarah Elizabeth" in Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008).[7]: 246 
  50. ^ 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."
  51. ^ "Brevet Major J. H. Carleton's Report on the Mountain Meadows Massacre (May 1859)". Archived from the original on 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  52. ^ Weekly Stockton Democrat; 5 June 1859. As quoted at this website http://1857massacre.com/MMM/WeeklyStocktonDemocrat.htm. "Both [Becky Dunlap] 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.
  53. ^ Brevet Major J. H. Carleton's Report on the Mountain Meadows Massacre (May 1859) Archived 2008-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
  54. ^ 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."( http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/hamblin.htm ) Also, see the Carelton report, referenced elsewhere in this article.

References

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