White County record., 1922-10-05
MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE

NNE of the little known chapters of
 American history-an episode which Is cloaked in mystery even to- day-concerns itself with the massa- ere of party of emigrants, which took place near Mountain Meadow, In Utah, in September, 1857, and for participa- ton in which John D. Lee was exc cuted some twenty years later.
 About a hundred and forty men, women and children were crossing the continent at the time, on their way from Missouri to the coast, and stopped In Mountain Meadow, about 350 miles west of Salt Lake City, to rest their horses and to permit the members of the party to recuperate from the strain of their Journey up to this point. Fa- miliar with the dangers of cross-coun- try travel, they arranged their wagons In circle with the women and chill dren inside, and the men taking turns at watching for signs of possible at tack. Two days passed without any indication of trouble, and the emigrants were on the point of setting out on the next portion of their trip when their outposts reported that apparently hostile Indians had made their ap- pearance at number of points near by
 Little by little the enemy's scouts crept closer, and then, as one of the Missourians forced the issue by hold ing up his hand as signal for a peace full conference, the sharp crack of a rifle shot made 1t plain that the h. dlans were intent upon an attack, rather than a barley or the exchange Of goods. Hardly an hour of the en- counter had passed, however, before 1t became plain that fully half of the hos tile force were not Indians, but whites -Mormons who had joined forces with the redskins In order to effect an ex- termination of the visitors who. they feared, would undermine their infiu- ence In this section of the country.
 The combination of Indian cunning and a constant stream of ammunition supplied by the whites, was almost too much for the little band of emigrants. but, having been careful to pitch their camp in a spot which commanded all the available approaches, they stood by their guns and resisted the siege for four full days and nights. Finally. on the fifth day, they left the shelter of their wagons under the promise of protection by John D. Lee, Mormon bishop and Indian agent. Within the hour, however, all the adults and chill dren over seven years of age had been slaughtered in cold blood, and IT of the younger children were then dis tributed among Mormon families, but were afterwards restored to their rel atives through the action of the gov ernment.
 When, after m investigation of the matter by officials of the War depart ment, Lee was arrested and charged with murder, he implicated a number of the highest officials in the Mormon church in his confession of treachery, claiming that Brigham Young himself had full knowledge of the intended massacre, and had taken no steps to prevent it.
 "Goyernoe Young told me-" de clared Lee that if I would stand up and shoulder full responsibility for the affair, it would be'a feather in my cap some day, and that I should achieve celestial salvation, but he add. ed that the man who shrunk from a responsibility of this kind would be certain to be consigned to Hades for ever."
 Despite his confession, and the mani ing alone in the laying of the plans for the cold-booded massacre, Lee was executed on March 23, 1877, twenty years later. Government investiga- tors developed clearly the fact that Lee had been only a catspaw in the whole matter, but when they attempt ed to place the blame where it be- Ionged, they were frustrated at every turn by the far-fung machinery of the Mormon church.
 The identity of the real leaders in the Mountain Meadow massacre has never been definitely decided, and con- temporary historians state that Lee would never have been convicted had 1t not been for the fact that he had been ostracized by the Mormon church, Brigham Young having instructed his adherents to facilitate the progress of this prosecution, for reasons best known to themselves.
 WHO WAS JAMES ORD?