Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-07-30
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE
AGAIN.

News has reached Phoebe that Bishop
Philip Klingen Smith, at one time man
of high standing and great influence in the
Mormon Church, and the exposer OF the
Mountain Meadow massacre, and the
names of the men who participated in the
bloody deed, is dead. His body was found
in prospect hole, in the State of Sonora,
Mexico, and letter from there, which
was received in the vicinity of Phoebe, states
that the mystery surrounding the body
indicates that Smith had been murdered.
Smith died just as he expected. for on his
return from Beaver in 1876, after testify
ing in the trial of John D. Lee, we met
Smith in town. in a sort of secluded spot,
and during the conversation Smith re-
marked 81 know that the Church will
kill me, sooner or later, and | am as con-
fident of that fact as / am that / am sit
ting on this rock. It's only a question of
time; but I'm going to live as long
as l cam" Immediately after Smiths
return from Lees trial, as his wife at
Panaca refused to have anything to do with
him, being so ordered by the Church, he
started southwark and lived in Arizona for
some time, following prospecting. During
his residence in the mountains of that Ter
ritory two attempts were made upon his
life, but by whom be was never able to dis
cover. Smith made the exposure of the
butchery at Mountain Meadows more for
self protection than anything else. In
early days, when Hike was the county seat
of Lincoln and the fourishing and only
prominent mining camp in the southern
country, the Mormons used to haul all
the freight from Salt Lake to Hike.
Smith was engaged in freighting, and
his son, Bud Smith, was assisting him.
During one of these trips father and
son had quarrel, and Bud Smith went
to Hike and obtained employment. 1t
was during the winter of 1868, when
Khngen Smith arrived in Hike with a
load of freight, his son pointed him out to
the people and told them. that just
after the massacre his father pointed
out a young girl to him and ordered
him to kill her. saying that if he BUD
did not kill her he (his father would
kill him. Bud told his father that he
would not kill the girl, and that he might
kill him. Then Bishop Smith turned upon
thepoor girl himself and knocked her brains
out with club. This was the first mixing
toanything authentic in connection with the
massacre, and caused considerable excite
ment among the settlers of Hike. Wan
dell, one of the county officials at that
time, informed Bishop Smith what his son
had exposed and hurried him out Of town.
After that, while engaged in hauling
freight, upon his arrival in Panaca, Smith
would always hire some person to drive
his team over to Hike. In 1871 Bishop
Smith made affidavits before the Clerk of
Lincoln county, making the exposure Of the
massacre and the names Of those con-
nected Herewith, which was published in
the Record and made public for the
first time. Mrs. Smith is now living
at Bullionville, and is married to a man
named Dolf Laudrich. Mrs. Smith is
an intelligent old lady, and is the mother
of seventeen children by Smith, the last
two born being twin girls, who are now
about IS years of age. Most of the Smith
family reside in Lincoln nty.-[Pioche
Record.