Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-02-22
Indian Agent in Utah, and was ordered
to rescue the children, whom it was
believed the Mormons had

Indian Agent in Utah, and was ordered
to rescue the children, whom it was
believed the Mormons had
SAVED FROM THE sAvAGEs.
With the impudence Of brigands the
''Latter Day Saints" demanded a
ransom for their release. Mr.. Rogers
refused the demand and gathered the
children together. Tohis amazement,
one of the children, then about eight
years old, told him enc day that it was
not Indians, but white men, that killed
their parents. With a company of cav.
airy be went to the Mountain Meadows,
where horrible sight met his gaze. The
skeletons of 100 men, women and
children we're spread upon the field, the
flesh torn from the bones by hungry
wolves, and bullet holes through the
heads of most Of the victims. A large
quantity Of hair from the heads of the
women was gathered up from the sage
bushes, and all the remains were given a
Christian burial. A few days afterward
two Mormons called on Mr.. Rogers, and
telling him ''their hearts were pressed
with grief" SAID they would give him a
true history of the Mountain Meadow
massacre if he would spare their own
lives. He tod them to proceed, and then
they related to him the story told above,
naming Lee as the leader. Some
blooded stock, wagons, carriages, and
other property owned by the enigrants,
they said, had been taken to the
Mormon tithing establishment and sold,
at public auction for the benefit Of the
''Chwch." Brigham Young, it is said,
kept one Of the carriages and a piano
for his own use. In the Mormon versions
of the story of the massacre it was
made to appear that the emigrants
provoked both the Norman settlers and
the Indians in their progress through
Utah. The Mormons said their de-
lstruction was chargeable to the Indians
altogether, and that they were attacked
because they had poisoned spring at
which cattle drank and died, and that
Indians ate the flesh Of these animals
and died also. But this has been
pronounced absolutely untrue by those
who have investigated the matter, and
it was well established, both before and
at the time OF Lees tr;a,. TIA. the
murder Of the unsuspecting emigrants
was but the execution Of a well-laid
plan, a
THE NORMAN COUNCIL.
and that Lee not only executed but
exceeded his sanguinary orders. With
his own hand he killed wounded women
and children, lying helpless after the
first volley. He shot man down who
held child in his arms, and who knew
and recognized him through his disguise.
LEES ARREST.
In November, 1874, Lee was arrested,
and was soon after indicted for participa-
ton in this fearful crime. He had
evaded pursuit for long time, living
with one Of his eighteen wives, an
English woman, among the Navajo
Indians, where his hut was like an
His first trial continued through
part Of July and August, 1875, and on
the testimony then adduced, the jury
failed to agree. During his trial his
cell was searched, and elaborate prepare
tons for an intended escape was discoy-
cred. At this time one Of his wives
tried to see him, and meeting with a
she assaulted the .iaiior. In
1876, he was again tried,
and the jury found him guilty ofnurder
in the first degree. Having in that
Territory the right to choose whether
he should be hanged, beheaded, or shot,
he chose the latter form Of execution,
and was accordingly sentenced to be
shot on the 2sth Of January, 1877.