The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-19

tbo,, -ACauoW, as 1t was called
snr, was little valley with two
southwest Of Salt Lake City. Fine gras,
%nu plenty Of good water were there
tllouSh very little timber save thai
Sno"lng at the head Of the meadow
ne eihlgrants had gone there to rest
W luelf teams for a week before start.
ing across the desert and through
Death valley. Porter Rockwell had told
then that he would furnish them with
sufoe 10 conduct them across the des-
erL ana through the valley and that he
would De there at a certain given time
DsIofe they We're to start This was Ia
SsVe Tue Mofmons more time to organize
Tor their dirty work.
The Mormons who went from, Farm
lngton and Salt Lake Cifv marched
down to Provo in broad daylight, From
FroVo to where the eIuigrants were
cHihped was about thirty miles. After
| une Mormons mad gathered at Provo
tney renamed there one night in order
70 make final arrangements. Then they
moved on down to the edge Of Thousand
Spring Galley and went into camp in the
evening. The attack was made just be-
Iore the break of day on Aug. s, 1856
Men disguised as Indians first made
rnelr appearance. Then the Mormons on
ehe opposite side of the train came up
IN such a way that the emigrants
tnougnt they were coming TO their as
srstaslce. Instead, when the Mormons
got close enough they began to shoot
the emigrants down.
Inc same morning of the massacre
the teams were hooked to the wagons
ana everything about the camp belong
ing to the emigraRts was put into the
wagons and driven to Provo. There the
distribution was made, Bishop Rock
we'll being the man who had the entire
say in that matter The women told US
that the bodies were not buried until
the news Of the massacre reached Salt
Lake City, when Brigham Young sent
a man Of the name of Snider, together
with five other men, down to the Mea-
dows to bury the victims.
When Mr.. Howard and ] went down
there it appeared to us as if the bodies
had all been buried In one ditch. There
were forty eight wagons in the train
and, judging from other trains I have
been with in crossing the plains, the
average would be about two families
to every three wagons and about five
persons to each family. After each
bishop got his dividend out OF the eff
fects the remainder was taken to the
tfthing house in Salt Lake City. The
SCIiNi4tA NOliidH lOltl us WHERE we COulll
go and see four of the mules any day
we wished. The animals belonged to
their husband and were in a certain
pasture little south of Salt Lake City
They also told US their husband had one
of the wagons which he had bought
from Brigham Young for $3.50.
After this conversation with the
women we started for Pennington.
The women had told US we were spotted
by Bill Hickman and that we would
better look out for ourselves. They
said: IF Porter Rockwell learns you
are detectives you will not live long
enough to get to Fort Douglas. He
could have 100 men on your track in
less than half-hour at any time, day
or night. He has a certain signal
which he gives, and every Mormon in
good standing knows that he must
obey it, no matter when given"
On our way to Pennington Howard
asked: What do you think of that
story the women told Us the other night
about the destroying angels watching
us?"
I answered that l did not doubt them
In the least, as we had done too much
running around with Mormon women.
said: You know as well as 1 do,
Mr.. Howard, that the church rules
forbid Mormon women accom-
gentiles.
We'll, but you know we have been
acting as Mormons all the time" said
Howard.
1 answered: Flow can you say that
when you know the women told US
they knew we were not Mormons the
they met us?"
Mr.. Howard replied that it was be-
cause they had known me before that
time; still I had my suspicious and be-
lieved we were spotted.
We had letter of introduction to
Mrs. Davis of Pennington and formed
her acquaintance. She was the seventh
wife of Mr. Davis. We got no further
with the exception that
she warned us to be careful. She said:
Bill Hickman believes you are detec-
tives and it would not surprise me a
bit II you never saw Salt Lake City
again, for Bishop Crowley has men
right here watching every move you
make"
The next morning We went back to
Salt Lake City and from there we went
to Fort Douglas, where Howard told
Cen. Connors that he was getting a lit
tie bit tender footed" The general
said to me to be on our guard at all
times.
The next day we went down to Salt
Lake city, rode our horses to EmiErant
square put them In the emigrant cor
raj and started up toward Salt Lake
theatre to see some other persons
whom We had been directed to see.
When we got near the centre of the
business portion of the city Howard
happened to look across the street and
there were Porter Rockwell and Bill
Hickman going in the same direction.
Every little while we could see Rock
well turn his eyes on us and the nod
to Hickman. We were satisfied that
they had us Spotted"
Howard said to me: "This day winds
up my detective work here"
We went into a restaurant, got din
ner, went back to the corral, mounted
our horses and rode to the fort. That
night Mr.. Howard with an escort Of
10 soldiers, started east. The soldiers
escorted him to Fort Bridger. From
here he had to go alone. ! had worked
FOR him steadily from the month of Oc-
5ober 1864, until June. 1865. 1 have
never heard anything from him since
the night he left us. / never knew
he was detective in the en-
oloy Of private parties, ! never knew
what became of the vast amount Of
evidence we gathered, but do know
that il was sufficient to hang Brigham
Young and every bishop and elder in
the Mormon church. Who knows Mr..
Howard and what became of the evil
3ence?