The Green Forest tribune., 1911-11-03
HISTORY OF
 CARROLI. COUNTY
Compiled by the Gocdspeed Publish iog Go. and Was First Published
 in the Year :G29.
MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE.

FOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE.
 The fifty-four white men and about 200 Indians under John D. Lee, were convinced that direct assault would net be successful. \ meeting of the Mormons in the meadows, under Maj. John Higbee, was held; the orders of President Haight. of Cedar City, di- recting that the entire party should be eXterminated, was read; and after prayer @ Highbee announced in conf dent tones, that he had the evidence of divine approval. The ''higher law, ," in ali it's naked enormity. was to be executed by treachefy
 On the morning of Friday, Septem- Der Il, 1857, John D. Lee and William Bateman advanced toward the emi- grants with white flag, and were met by one of the party. Lee explained that the Indians were much excited be- cause of certain acts of violence com mitted by the party and that the only way Of pacifying them was surrender to the Mormon militia. They agreed to do so. Their arms were placed in wagons brought by Lee, with the small children; the women end older children followed on foot; the men, each at the side of Mormon, brought up the rear. The wagons had just pas sed over the divide toward the eastern spring, the women were quarter of mile behind, and the men an equal dis tance behind them, in the ravine. Sud denly from among the ambushed h. dians the form of Higbee appeared on the divide; he motioned with his arms, and at once the work Of death began. Each militiaman wheeled and shot his man. The rife of John D. Lee cracked and wounded woman in the forward wagon fell from the seat. The Indians rushed upon the women. Two young girls escaped some distance, but were pursued by Lee and an Indian chief. There Is reason to think they begged for more than life
 October 2, 1857, the scene of the mas sacre was visited by eleven Mormons, secretly escaping from Utah. They mentioned two piles of bodies, one com posed of women and children, the other of men. The bodies were entirely nude; all were more or less torn by wolves except one, that of woman, which lay apart from the rest, and showed no signs of decay In the spring of 1859 Capt. R. P. Campbell, with two companies of infantry and one of dragons, passed through the meadows and buried the remains of tWenty-siX of the victims. May 20, 1859, Maj. James Henry Carlton, Unit ed States Army, buried the disjointed bones of thirty-four skeletons in d grave on the northern side of the ditch. A rude monument, conical in form, and fifty feet in circumference at the base and twelve feet high, was erected over this grave. This was surmonted by a red-cedar cross, upon the transverse part of which was carved this inscrip- tion;
 Vengeance is Mine: 1 Will Repay, Saith the Lord ''
 A rude slab of granite, leaning against the northern base of the monu- ment, bore these words:
 ''Here One Hundred and Twenty Men, Women and Children Were Mas sacred in Cold Blood, in Sept, 1857. They were from Arkansas. "
 The entire number killed was 121, 10 at the camp, 107 at the massacre, young Alden and the three scouts.
 The property, by direction of Brih- ham Young, was disposed of by Lee. A portion was given to the Indians; the money was kept by Lee and King ensmith; the bedding and clothing were deposited in the tithing house at Cedar City, and was commonly referred to as property taken at the siege of Sevastopol." The wagons, stock, etc. were disposed of at the tithing house, and the proceeds turned over to the Mormon treasury
 The circumstances of the massacre were known at Los Angeles, Cal, the following month, and on the last day of the year 1857 William C. Mitchell, ex. clerk of Carroll county, and then a member of the State senate, apprised
 
 friend of the death of his son and brother-in-law, with their families, l numbering twenty-four persons the | ate action, as did also the National Congress. Dr. Jocob Forney, superin- Jendent of Utah, learned the where abouts of the surviving children June 22, 1857; they had been distributed among Mormon families of the vicinity. June 29, 1859, fifteen of them were placed in charge of Maj. Whiting, United States Army, who reached Fort Leavenworth August 25, 1859. Here they were taken in charge by William c. Mitchell, special agent of the Go vernment, and reached Carrollton Sep tember Is, 1859 Two other children, John c. Miller and M. Tackett, were detained in Utah as witnesses In January, 1860, they were taken to Washington by Dr. Forney, and from there to Carrollton by Maj John Henry, of Van Buren, The following is list of the names, ages and resi-