[51][52] Parley Pratt and Eleanor entered a Celestial marriage (under the theocratic law of the Utah Territory), but Hector had refused Eleanor a divorce. On September 7 or 8, the travelers were attacked by a party of Paiute Indians and some Mormon settlers led by John Doyle Lee. [19] Accepting this, the emigrants were led out of their fortification. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Mountain Meadows Massacre, (September 1857), in U.S. history, slaughter of a band of Arkansas emigrants passing through Utah on their way to California. 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. Sixteen more were wounded. Initial reports of the incident date back at least to October of 1857 in the Los Angeles Star. Mormons were required to stockpile grain, and were enjoined against selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed. [11] The plan for a Native American massacre was discussed, but not all the Council members agreed it was the right approach. In 1867 C.V. Waite published "An Authentic History Of Brigham Young" which described the … [56] "It was in accordance with Mormon policy to hold every Arkansan accountable for Pratt's death, just as every Missourian was hated because of the expulsion of the church from that state. 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. Brooks found no evidence of direct involvement by Brigham Young, but charged him with obstructing the investigation and provoking the attack through his rhetoric. 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. [73] They were also affected by the report to Brigham Young that the Baker–Fancher party was from Arkansas where Pratt was murdered. [I]f those who are there will leave let them go in peace. [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. Lee was entitled under Utah Territorial statute to choose the method of his execution from three possible options: hanging, firing squad, or decapitation. [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. Members of the militia were sworn to secrecy. [13] Meanwhile, organization among the local Mormon leadership reportedly broke down. Haight and Dame were, in addition, the senior regional military leaders of the Mormon militia. 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. In September 2007, the LDS Church published an article in its publications marking 150 years since the tragedy occurred.[48][49]. Check out our conversation…. Doug McCormick. 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 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. When a signal was given, the militiamen turned and shot the male members of the Baker–Fancher party standing by their side. By Sept. 11, the Mormons feared that the settlers had realized their identities. The perpetrators killed all the adults and older children in the group, sparing only seventeen young children under the age of seven. In 1857, following the so-called Mountain Meadows massacre, when more than 100 non-Mormon settlers were murdered by a combined force of Mormons and Native Americans, Pres. In 2005 a replica of the U.S. Army's original 1859 cairn was built in Carrollton, Arkansas; it is maintained by the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation. [93], Starting in 1988, the Mountain Meadows Association, composed of descendants of both the Baker–Fancher party victims and the Mormon participants, designed a new monument in the meadows; this monument was completed in 1990 and is maintained by the Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation. The fight lasted five days and the Baker-Fancher party began to run out of ammunition, water, and food. Initially, the LDS Church denied any involvement by Mormons, and was relatively silent on the issue. The Aftermath of Mountain Meadows The massacre almost brought the United States to war against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but only one man was brought to … [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. 10, 1857, Letterpress Copybook 3:827–28, Brigham Young Office Files, LDS Church Archives. Hoge. [12], The somewhat dispirited Baker–Fancher party found water and fresh grazing for its livestock after reaching grassy, mountain-ringed Mountain Meadows, a widely known stopover on the old Spanish Trail, in early September. 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. Eventually fear spread among the militia's leaders that some emigrants had caught sight of white men and had likely discovered the identity of their attackers. 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. Young's use of inflammatory and violent language[80] in response to the Federal expedition added to the tense atmosphere at the time of the attack. [37] Lee called no witnesses in his defense. The victims, most of them from Arkansas, were on their way to California with dreams of a bright future. I shall repay", Young responded, "it should be vengeance is mine and I have taken a little. [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. Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Native American tribes in fighting the "Americans", encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains, and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army. Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 9 vols. Updates? Following the massacre, the perpetrators hastily buried the victims, ultimately leaving the bodies vulnerable to wild animals and the climate. Leonard J. Arrington, founder of the Mormon History Association, reports that Brigham Young received the rider, James Haslam, at his office on the same day. The Utah State Historical Society, which maintains the document in its archives, acknowledges a possible connection to Mark Hofmann, a convicted forger and extortionist, via go-between Lyn Jacobs who provided the society with the document. There is a consensus among historians that Brigham Young played a role in provoking the massacre, at least unwittingly, and in concealing its evidence after the fact. Carleton invited readers to consider a potential explanation for the rumors of misdeeds, noting the general atmosphere of distrust among Mormons for strangers at the time, and that some locals appeared jealous of the Fancher party's wealth. Documented by Timothy Draper. While the emigrants were camped at the meadow, nearby militia leaders, including Isaac C. Haight and John D. Lee, made plans to attack the wagon train. This resulted in an order to kill all the emigrants,[16] with the exception of small children. But, he also included a statement from an investigator who did not believe the Fancher party was capable of poisoning the spring, given its size. 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. In 1872, Mark Twain commented on the massacre through the lens of contemporary American public opinion in an appendix to his semi-autobiographical travel book Roughing It. 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. [11] Following the Council, Isaac C. Haight decided to send a messenger south to John D. [30], Lee was arrested on November 7, 1874. 64–66. Only 17 survived, all under the age of 7. 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. The adult men were separated from the women and children. 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. The Native American chiefs were reluctant, and at least one objected they had previously been told not to steal, and declined the offer.[79]. There is no evidence to support this. 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. 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. The first period of intense nationwide publicity about the massacre began around 1872, after investigators obtained Klingensmith's confession. [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. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. Approximately 400 people, including many descendants of those slain at Mountain Meadows and Elder Henry B. Eyring of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles attended this ceremony. The Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation has expressed their desire that the sites are conserved and given national monument status. When Smith returned to Salt Lake, Brigham Young met with these leaders on September 1, 1857, and encouraged them to fight against the Americans in the anticipated clash with the U.S. Army. The remaining personal property of the Baker–Fancher party was taken to the tithing house at Cedar City and auctioned off to local Mormons. They were camped near what is the present-day town of Enterprise when they were besieged by what they thought were Indians. "[57], Mormon leaders were teaching that the Second Coming of Jesus was imminent - "...there are those now living upon the earth who will live to see the consummation" and "...we now bear witness that his coming is near at hand". [10] Eventually fear spread among the militia's leaders that some emigrants had caught sight of white men, and had probably discovered who their attackers really were. (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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The heightened anxiety brought on by rumors swirling about the train, the advancing federal troops, the drought that many had suffered through for the year, and the memories of violence in Missouri and Illinois all combined in an explosive atmosphere; yet the residents were unclear on what action they should tak… Britannica now has a site just for parents! [89] The monument was found destroyed and the structure was replaced by the U.S. Army in 1864. The prosecution called Daniel Wells, Laban Morrill, Joel White, Samuel Knight, Samuel McMurdy, Nephi Johnson, and Jacob Hamblin. [95] In August 1999, when the LDS Church's construction of the 1999 monument had started, the remains of at least 28 massacre victims were dug up by a backhoe. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. PBS Frontline documentary: The Mormons, Part One, episodes 8 & 9: Mountain Meadows. Some of the property of the dead was reportedly taken by the Native Americans involved, while large amounts of their valuables and cattle were taken by the Mormons in Southern Utah, including John D. Lee. [2] By contemporary standards the Baker–Fancher party was prosperous, carefully organized, and well-equipped for the journey. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts. Some of the cattle were taken to Salt Lake City and sold or traded. [44] National newspapers covered the Lee trials closely from 1874 to 1876, and his execution in 1877 was widely covered. What happened here that will not die? On Sept. 11, 1857, a Mormon militia in southern Utah seized a wagon train from Arkansas and brutally murdered 120 people. [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. 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