what happened in the mountain meadows massacre

The massacre occurred September 7–11, 1857 at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah, and was perpetrated by Mormon settlers belonging to the Utah Territorial Militia (officially called the Nauvoo Legion), together with some Southern Paiute Native Americans. [46] The first detailed and comprehensive work using modern historical methods was The Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1950 by Juanita Brooks, a Mormon scholar who lived near the area in southern Utah. [9] The first period of intense nationwide publicity about the massacre began around 1872, after investigators obtained Klingensmith's confession. Forney concluded that the Paiutes did not act alone and the massacre would not have occurred without the white settlers,[23] while Carleton's report to the U.S. Congress called the mass killings a "heinous crime",[9] blaming both local and senior church leaders for the massacre. Details of the atrocity leaked out, but Lee’s trial in Beaver in 1875 resulted in a hung jury. James Buchanan, believing the Mormons to be in a state of open rebellion, ordered some 2,500 soldiers to Utah to replace Young, who had…. Some of the cattle were taken to Salt Lake City and sold or traded. On 11 September 1857, some 50 to 60 local militiamen in southern Utah, aided by American Indian allies, massacred about 120 emigrants who were traveling by wagon to California. (A Mormon who listened to a sermon by Young in 1849 recorded that Young said "if any one was catched stealing to shoot them dead on the spot and they should not be hurt for it"); See Patriarchal blessing of William H. Dame, February 20, 1854, in Harold W. Pease, "The Life and Works of William Horne Dame", M.A. [74] It was rumored that Pratt's wife recognized some of the Mountain Meadows party as being in the gang that shot and stabbed Pratt. From July to September 1857, Mormon leaders and their followers prepared for a siege that could have ended up similar to the seven-year Bleeding Kansas problem occurring at the time. Investigations, after interruption by the American Civil War, resulted in nine indictments during 1874. The Mormons believed that children became “adult” at the age of 8. [36] Lee also stipulated, against advice of counsel, that the prosecution be allowed to re-use the depositions of Young and Smith from the previous trial. The victims, most of them from Arkansas, were on their way to California with dreams of a bright future. The locations of the possible graves are on private land and not at any of the monument sites owned by the LDS Church. [19] Accepting this, the emigrants were led out of their fortification. [37] Lee called no witnesses in his defense. "When she left San Francisco she left Hector, and later she was to state in a court of law that she had left him as a wife the night he drove her from their home. FEATURE — When considering the date it happened and the carnage that took place, one could call the Mountain Meadows Massacre the first 9/11. [I]f those who are there will leave let them go in peace. Categories & Site Details: Gold, Gold & Doubloons, Lost Forgotten History, Massacre Sites, Mountain Meadows Massacre, Mysteries Mountain Meadows… By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. However, in May 1857, just months before the Mountain Meadows massacre, apostle Parley P. Pratt was shot dead in Arkansas by Hector McLean, the estranged husband of Eleanor McLean Pratt, one of Pratt's plural wives. Historians speculate that the Missouri Wildcats poisoned the spring by accident. Eventually Young issued a declaration of martial law. While on his return trip to Salt Lake City, Smith camped near the Baker–Fancher party on August 25 at Corn Creek, (near present-day Kanosh) 70 miles (110 km) north of Parowan. On Sept. 7, 1857, Paiutes and some Mormons dressed as Paiutes first attacked. On September 7 or 8, the travelers were attacked by a party of Paiute Indians and some Mormon settlers led by John Doyle Lee. The horrific crime, which spared only 17 children age six and under, occurred in a highland valley called the Mountain Meadows, roughly 35 miles southwest of Cedar City. In 1872, it excommunicated some of the participants for their role in the massacre. [38] This time, Lee was convicted. See. [42][43]A notable report on the incident was made in 1859 by Carleton, who had been tasked by the U.S. Army to investigate the incident and bury the still exposed corpses at Mountain Meadows. Will Bagley describes John D. Lee’s role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. [13] The Baker–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. [82], According to historian MacKinnon, "After the [Utah] war, U.S. President James Buchanan implied that face-to-face communications with Brigham Young might have averted the conflict, and Young argued that a north-south telegraph line in Utah could have prevented the Mountain Meadows massacre. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Mountain-Meadows-massacre, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture - Mountain Meadows Massacre, National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Mountain Meadows Massacre and “poisoned springs”: scientific testing of the more recent, anthrax theory, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Utah War delayed any investigation by the U.S. federal government until 1859, when Jacob Forney,[23] and U.S. Army Brevet Major James Henry Carleton conducted investigations. At the time of the Fanchers' arrival, the Utah Territory was organized as a theocratic democracy under the lead of Brigham Young, who had established colonies along the California Trail and Old Spanish Trail. In the summer of 1857, however, the Mormons expected an all-out invasion of apocalyptic significance. [34] One of Lee's defense attorneys was former territorial supreme court justice Enos D. This massive slaughter claimed nearly everyone in the party from Arkansas and is the event referred to as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The groups were mostly from Marion, Crawford, Carroll, and Johnson counties in Arkansas, and had assembled into a wagon train at Beller's Stand, south of Harrison, to emigrate to southern California. "[50], In addition, during the prior decades, the religion had undergone a period of intense persecution in the American Midwest. "[26] Possibly as a protective measure against the mistrusted federal court system, Mormon territorial probate court judge Elias Smith arrested Young under a territorial warrant, perhaps hoping to divert any trial of Young into a friendly Mormon territorial court. Lee was entitled under Utah Territorial statute to choose the method of his execution from three possible options: hanging, firing squad, or decapitation. Local families took in the surviving children, and many of the victims' possessions were auctioned off. Initially, the LDS Church denied any involvement by Mormons, and was relatively silent on the issue. 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. [39] In his final words before his sentence was carried at Mountain Meadows on March 23, 1877, Lee professed that he was a scapegoat for others involved. As the Baker-Fancher train camped at Mountain Meadows, some of the residents of Cedar City and the surrounding areas determined that some action needed to be taken against the emigrants. The forensic evidence showed that the remains of the males had been shot by firearms at close range and that the remains of the women and children showed evidence of blunt force trauma. Following the massacre, Young stated in public forums that God had taken vengeance on the Baker–Fancher party. Jacob Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah, also conducted an investigation that included visiting the region in the summer of 1859 and retrieved many of the surviving children of massacre victims who had been housed with Mormon families, and gathered them in preparation of transporting them to their relatives in Arkansas. "[78] Hoge. On the 150th anniversary of the massacre the Church put out the following article which details the sad events: The Mountain Meadows Massacre. Brigham Young to Isaac C. Haight, 10 September 1857, Letterpress Copybook 3:827–28, Brigham Young Office Files, LDS Church Archives. In January 1856, Young said "the government of God, as administered here" may to some seem "despotic" because "...judgment is dealt out against the transgression of the law of God. As the Baker–Fancher party approached, several meetings were held in Cedar City and nearby Parowan by the local Latter Day Saint (LDS) leaders pondering how to implement Young's declaration of martial law. However, the massacre at Mountain Meadows is almost certainly a result of that conflict, and the loss of 120 innocent lives demonstrates the war wasn’t bloodless at all. For the decade prior to the Baker–Fancher party's arrival there, Utah Territory existed as a theodemocracy led by Brigham Young. In April 1857 a California-bound wagon train estimated at 40 wagons, 120 to 150 men, women, and children, and as many as 900 head of beef cattle, in addition to draft and riding animals, assembled near the Crooked Creek, approximately four miles south of present-day Harrison, Arkansas. [17], On Friday, September 11, 1857, two militiamen approached the Baker–Fancher party wagons with a white flag and were soon followed by Indian Agent and militia officer John D. Lee. In Carleton's investigation, at Mountain Meadows he found women's hair tangled in sage brush and the bones of children still in their mothers' arms. As a result, militia commander William H. Dame ordered his forces to kill the emigrants. Whatever the legal situation, she thought of herself as an unmarried woman. I do not think you can dissociate what happened at Mountain Meadows from the experience of the Saints earlier, before they got to Utah. The victims were a group of emigrants mostly from Arkansas who were traveling by wagon train north to south through Utah on their way to California. [77] He noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight, and that some of them were eager to "fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States. [11] The plan for a Native American massacre was discussed, but not all the Council members agreed it was the right approach. On one side of this monument is a map and short summary of the massacre, while the opposite side contains a list of the victims. [27] Cradlebaugh publicly charged Brigham Young as an instigator to the massacre and therefore an "accessory before the fact. The adult men were separated from the women and children. [75], The Mountain Meadows massacre was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War, an 1857 deployment toward the Utah Territory of the United States Army, whose arrival was peaceful. thesis, BYU, 1971, pp. [5], The Baker–Fancher party were refused stocks in Salt Lake City and chose to leave there and take the Old Spanish Trail, which passed through southern Utah. After two trials in the Utah Territory, Lee was convicted by a jury, sentenced to death, and executed by Utah firing squad on March 23, 1877. The wagon train, mostly families from Arkansas, was bound for California on a route that passed through the Utah Territory, during a time of conflict later known as the Utah War. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. Mountain Meadows Massacre, (September 1857), in U.S. history, slaughter of a band of Arkansas emigrants passing through Utah on their way to California. [11] What Haight told Lee remains a mystery, but considering the timing it may have had something to do with Council's decision to wait for advice from Brigham Young. [44] National newspapers covered the Lee trials closely from 1874 to 1876, and his execution in 1877 was widely covered. Haight and Dame were, in addition, the senior regional military leaders of the Mormon militia. They anticipated several days of rest and recuperation there before the next 40 miles (64 km) would take them out of Utah. Covered wagons traveling in Utah shortly before the Mountain Meadows Massacre, September 1857. The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. "Territorial Dispatches: the Sentence of Lee", Diary of Daniel Davis, July 8, 1849, the LDS archives - as quoted in. Initial reports of the incident date back at least to October of 1857 in the Los Angeles Star. However, they debate whether Young knew about the planned massacre ahead of time and whether he initially condoned it before later taking a strong public stand against it. See Patriarchal blessing of Philip Klingensmith, Anna Jean Backus, It is uncertain whether the Missouri Wildcat group stayed with the slow-moving Baker–Fancher party after leaving Salt Lake City. Turley had this to say about the delay in a penalty: Isaac Haight, and John D. Lee, who were some of the main instigators, were both eventually excommuni… A notable report on the incident was made in 1859 by Carleton, who had been tasked by the U.S. Army to investigate the incident and bury the still exposed corpses at Mountain Meadows. The Indians we expect will do as they please but you should try and preserve good feelings with them. [35] This trial led to a hung jury on August 5, 1875. During the mid-1850s, Young instituted a Mormon Reformation, intending to "lay the axe at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity". Mountain Meadows Massacre, (September 1857), in U.S. history, slaughter of a band of Arkansas emigrants passing through Utah on their way to California. PBS Frontline documentary: The Mormons, Part One, episodes 8 & 9: Mountain Meadows. You must not meddle with them. But it did. [84], A modern forensic assessment of a key affidavit, purportedly given by William Edwards in 1924, has complicated the debate on complicity of senior Mormon leadership in the Mountain Meadows massacre. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. [22], An early investigation was conducted by Brigham Young,[15] who interviewed John D. Lee on September 29, 1857. The Mountain Meadows Massacre is an American tragedy in a West full of atrocities. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts. [30], Lee was arrested on November 7, 1874. There is no evidence to support this. "[91][92] In 1932 citizens of the surrounding area constructed a memorial wall around the remnants of the monument. John Cradlebaugh to the Grand Jury, Provo, Tuesday, March 8, 1859)", "Tragedy at Mountain Meadows Massacre: Toward a Consensus Account and Time Line", "Horrible Massacre of Arkansas and Missouri Emigrants (Letter to G.N. The Baker/Fancher Wagon Train consisted of more than 150 men, women and children. I shall repay", Young responded, "it should be vengeance is mine and I have taken a little. Important additional testimony recently received", "Eleanor McLean and the Murder of Parley P. Pratt", "LDS 'Headquarters Culture' and the Rest of Mormonism: Past and Present", Malinda (Cameron) Scott Thurston Deposition, "Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre (2003 FairMormon Conference)", "Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", "Instructions to the Bishops—Men Judged According to their Knowledge—Organization of the Spirit and Body—Thought and Labor to be Blended Together", "To Know God is Eternal Life—God the Father of Our Spirits and Bodies—Things Created Spiritually First—Atonement by the Shedding of Blood". [28] Apparently because no federal charges ensued, Young was released. [97], In 2007, the 150th anniversary of the massacre was remembered by a ceremony held in the meadows. These children were taken in by local Mormon families. [4] This group was relatively wealthy, and planned to restock its supplies in Salt Lake City, as did most wagon trains at the time. President James Buchanan had recently issued an order to send troops to Utah. It is speculated that they wanted no “adult” survivors who could give credible testimony to … Updates? But, on September 7, the party was attacked by Mormon militiamen dressed as Native Americans and some Native American Paiutes. Historical theories explaining the massacre, Brigham Young: American Moses, Leonard J. Arrington, University of Illinois Press, (1986), p. 257. Among Smith's party were a number of Paiute Native American chiefs from the Mountain Meadows area. In early 1857, several groups of emigrants from the northwestern Arkansas region started their trek to California, joining up on the way to form a group known as the Baker–Fancher party. The Church of Latter-Day Saints was technically not involved in the Mountain Meadows massacre; rather, it’s thought that the Mormons at Cedar City acted alone. The Mountain Meadows Massacre Utah is known as being the "Mormon State" because of its early American history of how it was settled. In September 2007, the LDS Church published an article in its publications marking 150 years since the tragedy occurred.[48][49]. We cannot change what happened, but we can remember and honor those who were killed here. Historians have ascribed the massacre to a number of factors, including strident Mormon teachings in the years prior to the massacre, war hysteria, and alleged involvement of Brigham Young. A federal judge brought into the territory after the Utah War, Judge John Cradlebaugh, in March 1859 convened a grand jury in Provo, concerning the massacre, but the jury declined any indictments. In addition, the process of sifting through conflicting accounts can help students The prosecution called Daniel Wells, Laban Morrill, Joel White, Samuel Knight, Samuel McMurdy, Nephi Johnson, and Jacob Hamblin. Wilford Woodruff, who later became President of the Church, claimed that upon reading the inscription on the cross, which read, "Vengeance is mine, thus saith the Lord. Omissions? The U.S. posted bounties of $500 ($10109[33] in present-day funds) each for the capture of Haight, Higbee and Stewart, while prosecutors chose not to pursue their cases against Dame, Willden and Adair. [26], Further investigations, cut short by the American Civil War in 1861,[29] again proceeded in 1871 when prosecutors obtained the affidavit of militia member Philip Klingensmith. Members of the militia were sworn to secrecy. The horrific crime, which spared only 17 children aged six and under, occurred in a highland valley called the Mountain Meadows, roughly 35 miles southwest of Cedar City.” We’re going to cover this issue in 2 parts. [62], The sermons, blessings, and private counsel by Mormon leaders just before the Mountain Meadows massacre can be understood as encouraging private individuals to execute God's judgment against the wicked. Renewed interest in the Mountain Meadows case developed in the early 1870s, thanks largely to a series of stories in the Utah Reporter by Charles W. Wandell, writing under the pen name "Argus," that challenged Brigham Young's response to the massacre. [10] In the afternoon of Sunday, September 6, Haight held his weekly Stake High Council meeting after church services, and brought up the issue of what to do with the emigrants. He claimed that he reluctantly participated in the massacre and only to bury the dead who he thought were victims of an Indian attack. Then, as the band of 137 proceeded southward toward Cedar City, they were ambushed, and all except the young children were massacred. The Native American chiefs were reluctant, and at least one objected they had previously been told not to steal, and declined the offer.[79]. Seventeen of the children were later reclaimed by the U.S. Army and returned to relatives in Arkansas.[20]. [68] Col. William H. Dame, the ranking officer in southern Utah who ordered the Mountain Meadows massacre, received a patriarchal blessing in 1854 that he would "be called to act at the head of a portion of thy Brethren and of the Lamanites (Native Americans) in the redemption of Zion and the avenging of the blood of the prophets upon them that dwell on the earth". [76], Scholars have asserted that George A. Smith's tour of southern Utah influenced the decision to attack and destroy the Fancher–Baker emigrant train near Mountain Meadows, Utah. [100], In 2014, archaeologist Everett Bassett discovered two rock piles he believes mark additional graves. In 1867 C.V. Waite published "An Authentic History Of Brigham Young" which described the events. 64–66. [26] Cradlebaugh attempted to arrest John D. Lee, Isaac Haight, and John Higbee, but these men fled before they could be found. They had traveled the 165 miles (266 km) south from Salt Lake City, and Jacob Hamblin suggested that the wagon train continue on the trail and rest their cattle at Mountain Meadows, which had good pasture and was adjacent to his homestead. [11] Following the Council, Isaac C. Haight decided to send a messenger south to John D. Documented by Timothy Draper. “The Mountain Meadows Massacre,” Ensign, Sept. 2007). [11] The Council resolved to take no action until Haight sent a rider, James Haslam, out the next day to carry an express to Salt Lake City (a six-day round trip on horseback) for Brigham Young's advice, as Utah did not yet have a telegraph system. As Frank implies in … (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1984), 5:577. "[53], Mormon leaders immediately proclaimed Pratt as another martyr,[54][55] with Brigham Young stating, "Nothing has happened so hard to reconcile my mind to since the death of Joseph." [14][15] 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. He issued a report in May 1859, addressed to the U.S. Assistant Adjutant-General, setting forth his findings. Only 17 survived, all under the age of 7. Following these events, faithful Mormons migrated west hoping to escape persecution. [102], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}37°28′31.8″N 113°38′37.3″W / 37.475500°N 113.643694°W / 37.475500; -113.643694, 1857 massacre of California-bound emigrants by Mormon militiamen. The Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation has expressed their desire that the sites are conserved and given national monument status. Lee told the battle-weary emigrants that he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely the 36 miles (58 km) back to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for turning all of their livestock and supplies over to the Native Americans. The Los Angeles Star thought of herself as an unmarried woman forces in early Mormonism by contemporary standards the party... And returned to relatives in Arkansas. 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