The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-02-12

| Governor of Utah, Commander-in- Chief
| of the military forces, and how per
fectly safe it was to accept shelter un-
der his protecting arm The "In-
dians were awed by the very presence
Of the Mormons, end had ceased firing
Surely the painted savages were per-
fectly controlled by their white supe-
riors How kindly and tenderly these
| officers talked. Lee IS said to have
wept like child as he SYM
pafhized with their suffefings |!
| How providential it was that such
tender-hearted Christian gentlemen
should nave learned of their dreadful
situation and come to their aid A man
SO eloquent SO smooth -tongued as
was good Mr.. Lee A man who was
himself Indian Agent, and for whom the
Indians had the most marked respect
| A Major, too, in the militia Lay down
their arms? Certainly they would. II
i protection could SO easily be guaranteed
by these philanthropic gentlemen and
their regiment, what reason for letting
the wives and little ones die of starry
alton?
Lee was too polite to make many
promises at first He must consult with
the '' Indians" /" Having just arrived he
had not had an opportunity of learning
their terms or intentions
Accordingly he went back and pre-
tended to hold council. Was there
ever such base perfdity? Were white
men-prayerful, God-fearing white
men-ever guilty of such unprincipled
treachery? Well might such das-
tardly. coward hide in a chicken-coop
when the officers came ITO arrest him.
white flag, that pure symbol of peace
and truth An angel from heaven would
not have been q more blessed sight to
those tired, anxious, fearful eyes.
They laid down their trusty rifles that
had been their strong defense. Taking
off their belts, they delivered up their
good revolvers and faithful bowie
, knives.
John d. Lee is as smooth talker as
ever heard. While listened to him
last week in Beaver Jail, I kept con-
} stantly thinking of how he talked those
: emigrants out of the intrenchments
dislodge them. Only fifteen had been
killed in eight days. The corral was q
: bulwark of safety, but the honeyed
words of white man won their hearts.
: A guard of soldiers, we'll armed,
} were drawn up to escort them
in safety. The men marched out
: first, then the women, and lastly
the children. Did nothing whis-
per to those brave hearts the horrible
) fate in store for them and their dear
ones? Was there no pang of regret al
> stepping out of that strong fortifca-
5 tion ? Certainly. not. There was the
) American flag, the dear old flag, and
: rallying meath its folds, they felt that
, the strong arm of the Union enfoldeC
? them
And now, God help them
/ As l write the events of the massacre
3 I almost shrek with terror. It is toe
< terrible to believe or talk about but
7 seventeen years of silence and peace il
: quite as much as those scoundrels de
1 serve, and shall write every incident
: I shall write each one without divestine
1 it of a single horror that it received
? as it came direct from the lips of eye
. witnesses.
THE HORRIBLE MASSACRE.
! Suddenly, at a given signal, the
: troops halted, and down the line passed
the fatal order, Fire -
It was given by John D. Lee, anG
was repeated by the under officers. The
, poor, pitiful emigrants gave one agon.
, 1zing shrek, and fell bleeding to the
earth. The Indians lay ambushed nea1
, the spot, and joired in the slaughter
when they saw the white men begin.
Sworn statements of participators say
the militia fired volley after volIey at
the defenseless, unarmed men who had
intrusted their lives to the militia g
keeping. 1t is the most heartless,
, cold -blooded deed that ever dlsgraced
, the pages of history. The cowardly
, assassins could not have performed one
r single act that would have added to the
: blackness of their perfdy. They feigned
! friendship and sympathy, and induced
these brave men to lay aside every
weapon, and then shot them down like
dogsi The venerable, gray-headed
clergyman, the sturdy farmers, the
stalwart young men, and the beardless
} youth, all were cut down, one by one,
and above their dead bodies waved the
Stars and Stripes!
But this was NOT ALL The women
were not all killed just yet! Many fell
by their husbands, and fathers, and
} brothers but others were not permitted
!; to die yet It was deliberate, prede-
] termined forethcught that the women
were separated from their husbands
sides as they left the corral. Men that
had proven themselves tends had yet
to prove themselves brutes. And they
did so.
Oh, God had not the weary, terror
stricken women and maidens suffered
] enough to have merited at least a
speedy death? It seems not. Their
pure bosoms could not quiver meath
the plunge of the cold steel-blade, nor
their white throats crimson before the
keen knife's edge, until they had suffer
ed the torments of thousand deaths
J at the hands of their brutal captors.
Yet this was done in the latter half
of tae nineteenth century, and the
cruel, heartless beasts are living peace
fully in the midst of the American
nation.
There were two or three sick women,
who were unable to walk out from
the corral. They were driven mp
to the scene of the massacre,
shot, stripped of their clothing,
and the bodies thrown from the wagon
| with the others.
Some of the young men refused to
join in the dreadful work. Jim Pearce
was shot by his own father for protect
ing q girl who was crouching at his
feet The bullet cut deep cash in
his face, and the furrowed scar is there
/ to-day.
Lee is said to have shot q girl who
was clinging to his son. A score of
Il I,enrk~o,,I;r<. 1, aro oAoak -,