Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-10-06
MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE
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MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE
nNE of the little known chapters OF
" American HISTORIAN episode
which is cloaked in mystery even to-
Gay-concerns itself with the massa-
ere of party Of emigrants, which took
place near Mountain Meadow, in Utah,
Ia September, 1857, and for participa-
ton In which John D. Lee was exc
cuted some twenty years later.
About hundred and forty men,
women and children were crossing the
continent at the time, on their way
from Missouri to the coast, and stopped
III Mountain Meadow, about $50 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-
Iniliar with the dangers Of cross coun-
try travel, they arranged their wagons
In a circle with the women and chill
dren inside, and the men taking turns
at watching for signs of a 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 peace
full conference the sharp crack of a
rifle shot made it plain that the In
dams were intent upon an attack,
rather than parley 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 inf1u-
ance 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, a 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 II of
the younger children we're then dis
tributed among Mormon families, but
were afterwards. restored to their rel
atives through the action of the gov
eminent.
When, after an investigation of the
matter by officials of the War depart
ment, Lee was arrested and charged
with murder, he implicated 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.
governor Young told me-" de-
clared Lee, ''that if would stand up
and shoulder full responsibility for
the affair. it would be feather in my
cap some day, and that | 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
fest evidence that he was far from be-
ing alone in the laying of the plans for
the Ncold-blooded massacre, Lee was
executed on March %, 1877, twenty
years later. Government inyestiga-
tors developed clearly the fact that
Lee had been only catspaW in the
whole matter. but when they attempt
ed to place the blame where it be-
longed, 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
it 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.