Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-04-06

them up by the help of the indians
He told the people at the Clara no
to sell their grain to the emigrants
nor to feed it to their animals, a
they might expect a big fight mex
spring with the United States; Pres
ident Young did not intend to lie
troops INTO the Territory. He said
Eve are going to stand up for ou
rights, and will no longer be impose'
upon by our enemies, and want ev
cry man to be on hand with his gur
in good order and his powder dry,
and he instructed the people to par
with nothing that would sustain lif,
from the lst to the 10th of Septem
Der, 1857.
a messenger came to me and tolC
me that President Isaac G. Haight
wanted me to be at Cedar City thai
evening without fail. This was Sat
urday. He told me that a large com.
pany of emigrants had gone south.
then lived at Harmony, twenty miles
south of Cedar City | obeyed the
summons, and President Haight met
me. 1t was near sundown; we spent
the night in an open house-where
we talked most all night. He told
me that company of emigrants had
passed through some two days be-
fore, threatening the Mormons with
destruction, and that one of them
said he had helped to kill old Joe
Smith and his brother Hyrum; that
other members of the company of
emigrants had helped drive the Nor
mons out of Utah; that hey had the
halters ready to hang old Brigham
and Heber, and would have them
strung up before the snow blew;
that one of the emigrants called one
of his oxen-a pair of stags-Brig,
and the other Heber, and that sew
eral of the emigrants had used all
kinds of threats and profanity. John
NJ. Higbee, City Marshal, had in
formed them that it was a breach of
the city ordinance to use profane
language, whereupon one of them
replied that he did not care for Nor
mon laws, or the MOrnons, either;
that they had fought their way
through the Indians, and would do
it through the Mormons, and if their
god, old Brigham, and their priests
would not sell their provisions, they
would take what they wanted, any
way they could get it; that. thus
raging, one of them let loose his
long whip and killed two chickens
and threw into his wagon; Widow
Evans said, Gentlemen, these are
my chickens, please don't kill them;
l am poor widow" that they or
dered her to shut up or they would
blew her brains out, ETC.; that they
had been raising trouble with all the
settlements and Indians on their way,
and that now our safety depended on
prompt and immediate action; that
company of Indians had already
gone south from Parowan and Cedar
City to surprise the emigrants, who
were then at Mountain Meadow, and
he wanted me TO return home in the
morning and send Carl Shurtz-an
Indian interpretation Harmony
to raise the Indians at Harmony,
Washington and Santa Clara to join
the Indians from the north and make
an attack upon the emigrants at the
Meadows.
l said to him, "Would it not be
well to hold council of the breth-
ren before making a move?" He re-
piled that every Latter Day Saint
that regarded their covenants knew
well their duty, and that the compa-
ny of emigrants had forfeited their
lives by their acts, and that Bishop
P. K. Smith Klingen Smith and
Joel White had already gone by the
way of Plato to raise the Indians in
that direction, and those that have
gone from Parowan and here will
make the attack and may be repuls-
ed. We can't now delay for a coun-
ell; return Immediately and start
Carl Shurtz. Tell him that | order
I'd you to tell him to go, and l want
you to try and get there before the
attack is made, and make a plan for
the Indians, and l will send Neph. |
Johnson, the interpreter, to the
Meadows as soon as he can be got,
10 help Shurtz manage the Indians"
did just as was ordered. The In
lians from the north and about HaI
nuny had already started for the
Meadows before l reached home.
Shurtz started Immediately to do his
part. | arrived at home in the night |
md remained till morning; | thought !
over the matter, and the more
thought the more my feelings re
7olted against such horrid deed;
sleep had fed from me. | talked to
ny wife Rachel about it, and she
'elt as l did about it. She advised |
ne to let them do their own dirty
work, and said if things did not go !
ust to suit them the blame would be
aid on me. She never did believe in
blood atonement, and said it was
rom the devil, and that she would !
'ather break such a covenant, if she
lad to die for so doing, than to live |
md be guilty of such an act.
| finally concluded l would go,
md reached the Meadows between |
line and ten o'clock in the morning |
the distance from my place being |
bout twenty-five miles; but | was
90 late; the attack had been made |
ust before daybreak in the morning
md the Indians repulsed with one
,illed and two of their chiefs from |
CEDAR shot through the legs, break |
ng leg for each of them. The In
lians were in a fearful rage.
About sunset | saw Shurtz and
ONE 10 or Is white men and about
so Indians, encamped. During the
light the Indians left the Meadows;
reported to the men what had tax
n place. They attacked the emil
rants again about sunrise next
lorning, which was Tuesday, and
ad one of their number killed and
everal wounded. With the white
len reached the Meadows about l
}. IN. On the way we met a small
and of Indiana raturniur ,pith soyna