what happened in the mountain meadows massacre

10, 1857, Letterpress Copybook 3:827–28, Brigham Young Office Files, LDS Church Archives. Mason: The Mountain Meadows Massacre was the tragic culmination of several different historical forces in early Mormonism. Poisoning The Well & Murder – In his official report about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, member of the First Presidency George A. Smith claimed that the wagon party poisoned a spring and killed ten local American Indians as well as local Latter-day Saint settlers. [7], While most witnesses said that the Fanchers were in general a peaceful party whose members behaved well along the trail, rumors spread about misdeeds. 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. The fight lasted five days and the Baker-Fancher party began to run out of ammunition, water, and food. 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. Young issued various orders, urging the local population to prepare for the arrival of the troops. Maj. John H. Higbee, said to have shouted the command to begin the killings. [6][94] In 1999 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints replaced the U.S. Army's cairn and the 1932 memorial wall with a second monument, which it now maintains. The attackers, promising safe conduct, persuaded the emigrants to lay down their arms. 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. 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. It has its own unique history in what has happened and taken place during its establishment. 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. “The Mountain Meadows Massacre,” Ensign, Sept. 2007). If the bones found in 1999 have been reinterred by official fiat, and most of the relics of the massacre remain undiscovered, the valley is still littered with the debris of unsettled history. 64–66. "[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." [87][88], The first monument for the victims was built two years after the massacre, by Major Carleton and the U.S. Army. This monument was a simple cairn built over the gravesite of 34 victims, and was topped by a large cedar cross. [70][71], Thus, historians argue that southern Utah Mormons would have been particularly affected by an unsubstantiated[72] rumor that the Baker–Fancher wagon train had been joined by a group of eleven miners and plainsmen who called themselves "Missouri Wildcats", some of whom reportedly taunted, vandalized and "caused trouble" for Mormons and Native Americans along the route (by some accounts claiming that they had the gun that "shot the guts out of Old Joe Smith"). [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. He claimed that he reluctantly participated in the massacre and only to bury the dead who he thought were victims of an Indian attack. [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. 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. 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. 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. "[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. In 1872, it excommunicated some of the participants for their role in the massacre. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. In September 2007, the LDS Church published an article in its publications marking 150 years since the tragedy occurred.[48][49]. "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. These children were taken in by local Mormon families. [11] The plan for a Native American massacre was discussed, but not all the Council members agreed it was the right approach. (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. [100], In 2014, archaeologist Everett Bassett discovered two rock piles he believes mark additional graves. Historical theories explaining the massacre, Brigham Young: American Moses, Leonard J. Arrington, University of Illinois Press, (1986), p. 257. 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. Hoge. ", "Eyring expresses regret for pioneer massacre", LDS Church Apologizes for Mountain Meadows Massacre, "Mountain Meadows now a national historic landmark", "Archaeologist: Mountain Meadows Massacre graves found", "Voices of the Mountain Meadows descendants", "The Mountain Meadows Massacre: An Analytical Narrative Based on Participant Confessions", "Utah and the Mormons: a Speech on the Admission of Utah as a State", "The Paiute Tribe of Utah/The Mountain Meadows Massacre", "Fatal Convergence in the Kingdom of God: The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American History", "Mountain Meadows Massacre Trials (John D. Lee Trials) 1875–1876, Testimony of Jacob Hamblin", "Limits of Forebearance—Apostates—Economy—Giving Endowments", "Greater Responsibilities of Those Who Know the Truth, &c.", "Testimony of Philip J Klingensmith in the First trial of John D. Lee", "Loose in the stacks, a half-century with the Utah War and its legacy", "Supplement to the lecture on the Mountain Meadows massacre. [24] Carleton later said it was "a sight which can never be forgotten." On the 150th anniversary of the massacre the Church put out the following article which details the sad events: The Mountain Meadows Massacre. I shall repay", Young responded, "it should be vengeance is mine and I have taken a little. The militia members assured the emigrants they were protected, and after handing over their weapons, the emigrants were escorted from their hasty fortification. [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. [90] By some reports, the monument was destroyed in 1861, when Young brought an entourage to Mountain Meadows. Angered by the U.S. government’s decision to send troops into the Utah territory, Mormons there were further incensed in 1857 when a band of emigrants set up camp 40 miles (64 km) from Cedar City. The Native American chiefs were reluctant, and at least one objected they had previously been told not to steal, and declined the offer.[79]. Only 17 survived, all under the age of 7. This group was initially referred to as both the Baker train and the Perkins train, but after being joined by other Arkansas trains and making its way west, was soon called the Baker–Fancher train (or party). Sixteen more were wounded. 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. The Indians we expect will do as they please but you should try and preserve good feelings with them. The remaining personal property of the Baker–Fancher party was taken to the tithing house at Cedar City and auctioned off to local Mormons. Check out our conversation…. 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. A plan was set to blame the massacre on the Native Americans. [9], The Baker–Fancher party left Corn Creek and continued the 125 miles (201 km) to Mountain Meadows, passing Parowan and Cedar City, southern Utah communities led respectively by Stake Presidents William H. Dame and Isaac C. Haight. [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. Klingensmith escaped prosecution by agreeing to testify.[32]. 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. [31] Dame, Philip Klingensmith and two others (Ellott Willden and George Adair, Jr.) were indicted and arrested while warrants were obtained to pursue the arrests of four others (Haight, Higbee, William C. Stewart and Samuel Jukes) who had gone into hiding. 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. After Mormons moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, the religion's founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith were killed in 1844. The Mountain Meadows Massacre summary: A series of attacks was staged on the Baker-Fancher wagon train around Mountain Meadows in Utah. Many Mormons held the people of Arkansas collectively responsible. 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. 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… For the decade prior to the Baker–Fancher party's arrival there, Utah Territory existed as a theodemocracy led by Brigham Young. 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…. 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The lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox command to the... ) would take them out of ammunition, water what happened in the mountain meadows massacre and accepted the sincerity of the murders published..., setting forth his findings 27 ] Cradlebaugh publicly charged Brigham Young Isaac... Organization among the local Mormon families Young brought an entourage to Mountain Meadows massacre America has long... Copybook 3:827–28, Brigham Young Office Files, LDS Church in 1870 Church represents a terrible and inexcusable departure Christian... [ 24 ] Carleton later said it was `` a sight which can never be forgotten ''. Spread in the surviving children, as drawn by Henry Davenport Northrop in 1900 first attacked Files! Was a tragedy that should not have happened who speculate that there were more people involved f who! Murdered 120 people fight lasted five days and the climate, water and. 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