The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-30

He saw two piles of bodies, women and
children, piled promiscuously. There
were about sixty or seventy bodies The
children were from two months old to
twelve years. The smaller ones were
more torn by wolves and crows. Some
had been shot, some had their throat
cut, soma were stabbed, and all were
torn by the wolves, except one woman a
little way off. who appeared as if asleep
with bullet hole in her left side. 1t
appeared as if the bodies had been dead
nfteen days. Seven of us saw it. A
pile of mems bodies was further on; did
MT go to see them; no clothing on the
bodies except the leg of a sock on one of
them; none were scalped.
Azahel Bennett was called. He was
at the Meadows in December, 1857 He
saw the bones there; it was a horrible
sight. The skeletons were of women
and children, with curls and long tresses
of hair dried with the blood on them.
The children were from ten to twelve
years old. Some of the skulls had the
flesh dried on them. The bodies had
been covered up, but the Wolves had
evidently dug them up.
Philip Klinger Smith, a defendant, of
San Bernardino, California, was called.
The prosecution entered nolle prOsequi
as TO himself He lived at Cedar City
in 1857, from 1852; the meadows we're
forty-fve miles south of Cedar, on the
California road He was at the massacre
in September, 1857; heard of the emi-
grants coming; the people were forbid
den to trade with them; felt bad about it;
saw a few of them at Cedar; this was
Friday; some swore, and Higbee fined
them; they went on; heard rumors of
trouble; Sunday it was the custom to
have meetings of the President and
Council; Bishop and Council and High
Council; | was a Bishop; the matter
mp for discussion as to their destruction;
Haight, Higbee, Morrill,, Allen, Willis
and myself, and Others were there; some
brethren opposed the destruction; I did;
Haight jumped up and broke up the
meeting; ! asked what would be the
consequences ofsuch an act: then Haight
got mad; the Indians were to destroy
them on Monday; Higbee, Haight,
White and ] met; the same subject came
up again; / opposed the destruction;
Haight relented; told White and I to go
ahead and tell the people; the emigrants
should go through safe; we did so; on
the road we met John d. Lee; told him
where We were going; he replied: 81
have something to say about that mat
ter" We passed the emigrants at Iron
Springs; next morning we passed them
dgain as we came hack; they had twenty
or thirty wagons. over hundred people,
old men, middle aged, old women, mid
die aged, youths and children. Near
home we met Ira Allen; he said the emf
grants doom was sealed, the die was
cast for their destruction, and that Lee
had orders to take men, go ont and in
tercept them, and Allen was to go on
and counteract what we did. / wen,
home; three days after Haight sent for
that they didn't get along, and wanted
reinforcements; that he had been to
Parowan, and got further orders from
Colonel w. H. Dame to finish the mas
sacre, to decoy them out, and spare only
the small children, who conld not tell
the tale, I went off and met Allen, our
first runner, and others; Higbee came
out, said "You are ordered out, armed
and equipped" So I went, Hopkins,
Higbee, John Willis and Lane Purdy
went along, had two baggage wagons
got to Hamblin's ranch in the night,
three miles from the emigrants; there
met Lee aud others from the general
camp, where the largest number of men
were then; found the emigrants not all
killed; Lee called me out for consulta-
tion to one side; he told me the sitution:
the emigrants were strongly fortified; no
chance to get them out, that Highee or,
dered to decOy them out as best we
could; that was agreed to and the COM
mand was given to J. D. Lee TO carry
out the whole plan; they went to camp;
Lee called all the soldiers in hollow
square. and addressed them; they were
all white men; about fifty in all; the
Indians were in another camp; saw
there Slade and his son Jim, Pearce,
and probably his sons, too; all those
from Cedar; and Bill Steward, Levin
Jacobs, and, | think, Dan. McFarlane,
too, Slade and | were outraged, but we
SAID. "What can We do? we can't help
ourselves" just then an order to march
was given; we had to go, and were put
in double file; Higbee had command ol
part of the men; il was the Nauvoo Le-
gion, organized from tens up TO hun.
dreds; marched in sight of the emil.
grants; either Bateman of Lee went ont
with white flag; man from the emf
grants met them; Lee and the man sal
down on the grass and had a talk; don
know what they talked about; Lee weni
with the man into the intrenehments
after some hours they came ont, and the
emigrants came up, with the wounded
in wagons ahead; the wounded were
those hurt in three days previous fight
said the Mormons and Indians could
not oust the emigrants; next came the
women, next the men; as the emigrants
came up the men halted, and tie women
on foot, children and wounded, went on
ahead with John D. Lee; the soldier
had to be all ready to shoot at word
when the word halt came the soldier
fired; fred once; don't know il killed
the man; they were not all killed the
first shot; saw the women afterwards
dead, with their throats cut; I saw as
came up to them, a man kill a young
girl; the men were marched in double
file first, then thrown IN single file, with
soldiers alongside; heard the emigrant'
concentrating themselves on their sa f.