Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-03-28
The Mountain Meadow Massacre.

Many of our readers will remember the
horrid particulars of the Mountain Meadow
Massacre, which occurred in September, 1857,
by which one hundred and thrty-ive men,
women and children from Arkansas and
Missouri were brutally murdered by Nor
mon agency. At that time the Mormons
were greatly incensed against the two states
from which the emigrants came, as they had
been driven out of Missouri, and their mis-
sionaries had been banished from Arkansas.
This party of emigrants to California had
passed through Salt Lake City, and when
first attacked were eating their breakfast at
a place called Mountain Meadow, about
three hundred miles south of that city. The
murder was committed by party OF well
armed Mormons disguised as Indians. For
five days and nights the brave party held
out against these hell-hounds, and were only
conquered by strategy. Suddenly, on the
evening of the fifth day, the firing was sus-
pended, and the Indians apparently disap-
peared. On the morning of the sixth day
the little party saw a wagou-load of men
coming into the valley; all were white men,
who unfurled the United States flag. They
were received by the emigrants with great
cordially as their defenders. Among the
men in the wagon were John ID. Lee and
Isaac C. IIaight. They at once charged
the emigrants with having poisoned a GER
tain spring from which Indians had drank
and died-a spring which is so large and
rapid that one who has seen it says a barrel OF
arsenic could not have poisoned it, Lee and
llaight said this was the cause of the at
tack from the Indians; that they were on
friendly terms with the savages, and would
conduct a treaty. They retired, and in a few
hours returned, saying the Indians were
a surrender by the emigrants Of all their
property, especially their arms, and a return
to the East by the route they had taken in
coming. Lee, with other Mormons in the
party, offered to make the delivery and con-
duct the emigrants back. This proposal was
accepted, and the arms were given up. With
the Latter Day Saints as guide, they pro-
ceeded to the north on foot. After walking
| about a mile, the company entered thicket
of scrub oaks near large pile of rocks. In
this thicket the Indians and disguised white
men were concealed. John d. Lee gave the
signal, " Halt" and the bloody work began
which did not cease until the emigrants
were all murdered, The property of the
emigrants was divided among the Mormons,
and their bodies, stark and naked, were left
just as they had fallen. A monument over
the remains of the victims was erected by
| United States soldiers in 1858, and bore the
inscription: vengeance is mine | will re-
pay, saith the Lord" 1t did not stand long
Mormon fanatics tore it down. The church
was ordered to restore it, which they did,
but changed the inscription to; vengeance
is mine, have repaid, saith the Lord" This
inscription, however, was not allowed to re-
main long. A company of soldiers took it
down and restored the original text. The
spot now bears no cross, but is marked by a
heap of stones, twenty feet long and seven
feet wide, gathered from the hills about the
meadow.
Little by little the facts of the massacre
leaked out, and John d. Lee was at last gen.
orally believed to be one OF the guilty men.
He was prominent Mormon, and had been
commissioner of public works at Nauvoo
under Joseph Smith, before the saints mi.
grated to Utah. He held the same position
under Brigham Young. He was recorder
for the quorum of seventy and clerk of the
church. He had journeyed abroad as mis-
sionary for the church, for which he also
acted as financial agent, aud he had held
many offices in the territory. But the sus.
pioons Fastened upon him finally drove him
into hiding
For twenty years vengeance had slept, but
the passage by Congress of the Utah bill
drawn up and introduced by Judge Poland
at last created a court of competent jursdic
ton to try crimes of this magnitude. In
dictmeuts were then found against the lead
ers, and Lee was arrested. In July, 1875, he
was tried and the jury disagreed. In Sep
TENDER, 1876, Lee was again tried, found
guilty, and sentenced to be executed Oh
January Goth, 1877 The law OF Utah gave
him the choice of being beheaded hanged
or shot, he chose the latter A stay of pro
ceedings, pending an appeal, was granted
but, on February llth last, the verdict OF
guilty was approved. Lee was sentenced by
the court to be shot on the 23d of March
and the sentence was executed. He leave:
sixty-four children to bear the stigma of a
murderer's name. He had eighteen wives
but when Brigham Young cut him off from
the Mormon church, eight of them were
divorced from him within twenty-four hours
and only three were faithful to him. The
Mormon leaders utterly deserted him; Nor
mons testified against him and a Mormon
jury brought in verdict of guilty. but he
pinned his faith to the Mormon doctrine,
and expected to have his share of bliss il
the Mormon hereafter. His confession viii
be found elsewhere.