New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-03-23

her husbands breast she drew small dirk KNIFE and
like tress at bay, confronted the vile wretch lie re-
cocd IN terror but the next instant man steppea up
behind the brave aud drove knife through ner
body. without struggle she fell dead across her nus
bands feet. Picking up the dirk she had dropped the
end deliberately pinned the little babes body 10 us
fathers, and laughed to see its conyusiVe death-
struggles"
The property Of these murdered people was quietly
divided among the Mormons not until year afterTard
it known that white men had anything to do with
the deed. Eight days after the a man visited
the sccne and said at the trial OF Leo that he saw the
bodies OF men, women, and children strewn upon the
ground and heaped in piles Some stabbed others
shot and still others had their Threats cut Thero was
clothing left man, woman or child, except that
torn stocking leg clung to the ankle OF one The wolves
had acerated every OF the coses except
one. There l27 in ALL and each bore the marks OF
wolves teeth, except just one. 10 was tho body OF
handsome well formed LADY, with beautiful face and
long flowing hair single bullet had pierced her side
Most OF the bodies had been thrown into three piles,
distant from each other about pig rods Another man
who there said he in .December-three months
after the massacre quantity Of human bones: saw
skulls and children the former with long resscs
OF beautiful hair attached dscOlored with blood and dried
up remarked the skeleton Of child, apparently 10 to
II years old also the skeletons Of women; the
bones had been buredcoyercd up with earth in holes
and g1lllies the wolves had dragged them out; the
bones were scattered around over the Held.
All possible efforts made to preclude the chance
that any knowledge Of this mOnsrOuS wckedness should
ever come forth to the world No survivor left to
tell the tale every pledged to secrecy; Brig
ham Young laid upon his leaders the commend that the
DO kept profound secrct-that they should
not talk OF it among themselves Reports of the
massacre were made by Brigham Young and John ID
Lee both OF whom always attributed II to the Indians and
told story OF the poisoned spring But such crime
could be forever hidden Fact after fact came out
the years aud John d. Lee was az last gen.
crafty believed be OF the guilty men But there
were no courts In Utah with competent jurisdiction until
the passage of the Poland bill few years ego. Indic
meHts were then found against the leaders and Lee was
arrested In july 1875, he was tired and the jury
disagreed. One Philip Klingensmith, who took part in
the massacre, turned States evidence. He ,od much
the story is given here. In september,
1876 Lee was again tried found guilty and sentenced 20
be executed on January 20, 1877 The law OF Utah
gave him the choice of being beheaded hanged or shot
he chose the latter stay OF proceedings, pending an
appeal was granted. and Feb IL last the verdict OF
guilty approved and Lee remandcd TO the court be-
low which was ordered to Fix the day Of his sentence
Further dilatory proceedings were attempted, and
few days delay secured, until at last all efforts
were exhausted and the will today meet his punish
mcnt. This great wickedncss was committed on sept
10, ISj7-nearly 90 years ago. Justice has been slow
but not less certain in its work.
The exact motive which led to the massacre will prob
ably never be known. The most scrupuous care has
sought to conceal every trace that could explain it, and
much of the Information that has been obane' Is con-
Trajectory. The emgrans have been represented as pos
scsscd Of very great wealth; and, the MOrmons at
that time were poor, motive Of plumber has been
attributed to them. The story goes that after the mas
sacre they suddenly appeared more prosperous bUllt
new houses and dressed IN finer clothes. Several wit
n,sscs have testified that the emigans quiet in
dustrOus and peaceabe people that they We're Sabbath
loving Christians and held religious services frequently
On the other hand they have been represented as very
arrogant i'm Manners and is said they did much 10 Ell
rage the MormOns. They named fayortc stag BriS;
Of them swung pistol over his head IN street III
salt Lake City and declared that he helped to Kill Joe
Smith ard was Z" loaded for old Brigham" These cir
cum5tanccs have been connected with the Nor
mon idea Of blood atonemcnt which was often
discussed when the subject enlisted its first
general interest. There is good instance
The monument over the remains OF the victims was
erected by Uned soldiers in 1853, and bore the
inscription: vengeance is mine: will repay satin the
Lord" Ii did not stand long; Mormon fanatics tore it
down. The Church ordered to restore it, which they
diI but changed the Inscription to- Vengeance mine;
have repaid, saith the Lord" This inscription now
ever. was not allowed to remain long company OF
soldiers took down and restored the original text The
spot now bears no cross. but is marked By heap Of
stones gathered from the hills about the meadow Il is
an IRREGULAR pile, 20 feet long and feet wide The
highest point is in the ntor and the top 2oDc3 toward
the Sides like the roof OF houses II is only three or
four feet high and has inscription other mark 70
denote its significance
me Icr1d printed yesterday what purnortcd to be the
confession of Lee. lie says that those with him at the
massacre were acting under orders from the Church Of
Je,I, Chris; OF Latter Day saints. Tie decd was d0ao
as dug which they believed they owed to God ANA TIE
church They were all to secrecy, and the rcno'ty
for giving Information about IL death Il was the
result oftlc direct teaching Of Brigham YoGas and 1t
was done by orders those El;d IN authority IN TIE
Mormon community. Lee reported the massacre u
Brigham Young. ard he said To him: Brother Lee not
a drop Of Innocent blood has bccn shed. have direct
evidence from God that the act just oae that it
1as IN accord with Gods will" Lee says Young was
t!n ana for many years after 'uy satisfied with him
ami his act ewing him three wives, and appointing HIN
Probate Judge OF Washington County TINS version OF
the confession is obviously outline obtained from
william ". Bishop, the prisoners counsel, and can
scarcely be regarded as in all respects. The
fun text OF the couies ion is to be withheld from publ!
cation until John ID. Lee is out OF the world.
TIE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT