Wilmington journal., 1875-07-30

now he would turn the Indians loose
on them. 1t probably increased hi.
anger that when this train left Sail
Lake City several disaffected Mao
mons joined it. The emigrants were
lourneyIng to Los Angeles, in Califor.
ma, and We're last seen by an Indian
agent near the upper end of Mountain
Meadows. This spot lies about three
hundred miles from Salt Lake, and
| the leaders Of the, train had been told
| That Il large spring near the south end
OF the meadow would be q favorable
| spot to rest and recruit their stock be-
fore entering the great desert, aud this
they did.
The It-dian agent was The last man
who saw the train and reported it..
Thereafter, and for some years, moth
lig was heard of it's fate 1t was re-
ported ''lost." But the bloody tale of
its massacre gradually leaked ont, and
the details which we give below have
now been known and forgotten for
many years. The Mountain Meadows
were then surrounded by several Nor
mon settlements. The bishops OF
these one day gathered their people
together and declared that they had
received command from the Mormon
capital to follow and attack the ac-
cursed Gentiles, aud let the arrows of
the Almighty drinl their blood" A
force of sixty white men and a party
of Indians surrounded the iII-fated
emlgrants one morning before day
light, the Mormon whites having
painted and disguised themselves as
Indians in order to give the movement
the app arance Of al Indian attack
But the Cmlgrants rapidly drew their
wagons into 4 circle made all energet
lc defens ;, and, rs quickly as they
could, threw up earth works, behind
which they sheltered themselves, their
women and children and stock. They
We're surrounded and kept under lire
for long week, the Mormons hoping
they could weacy them out. The wife
OF an Indian trader afterward testified
that while the firing continued and
was plainly heard at her house, the
Mormon leaders We're going backward
aud forward between the place of
murder and Eer house, and at the lat
ter place "pitching quoitS and amusing
themselves III various ways"
At the end of the week, however. the
Mormons appeared to have got tired
of the slow attack; they washed off
appeared before the ove1ioyed emf
grants as a rescuing band of whites
who had driven offthe Indians They
were received as deliverers; the emI-
grants accepted the Mormous as an
escort, and on a march these, at an
agreed signal, suddenly opened fire
upon the party, whom they had by
trick persuaded to lay aside their guns
Indians stationed III ambush rushed In
to help in the work of assls-inntiOn
aud u a very brief time Il hundred and
twenty men, "Omen and children We're
slain III cold blood. Three men only
escaped, but only to perish later 10y
starvation or the Indians. Seventeen
children We're saved alive, being sup
posed too young to remember the as
sassinatiOu. All of them were after
ward claimed by their friends III the
East, and two OF them later gave evi
dence concerning the murder. The
of the eInigrants was divided
by the MOrmOnS and Indians, and it is
said that as late as 1862 jewelry taken
at Mountain Meadows was openly
worn at Salt Lake City and its origin
not denied.
The dispatch which relates to the
trial now going on Ill Utah for this |
foul murder speaks of one |
Lee. whose confession the Gov
refuses to accept. This is John
ID. Lee, then Mormon Bishop of |
and one of the three chiefs |
who planned this cruel assass s'nation.
He appears 30 have been a peculiarly |
at; ocious scOundrel; for it is related |
IN the accounts of the massacre which |
we have seen that while the Mormon
were killing the mon this Lee singled |
Dut beautiful young girl and dragged .
ler out of the n4eicc for his own vile |
purposes; and he himself is said t,
nave related afterwards that "she |
struck at him with a large knife, |
he shot her through the
head" So late as 1870 this scoundrel
still lived at Harmony, in Utah; and |
now III the hands of justice. it is to be
hoped he will not escape hanging.