BGuthrie Photos: UT -- Mountain Meadows Historic Site (Mountain Meadows Massacre)

UT -- Mountain Meadows Historic Site (Mountain Meadows Massacre):

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MMM_160713_010.JPG: Mountain Meadows Massacre Site has been designated a National Historic Landmark This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America 2011 National Park Service United States Department of the Interior
2. MMM_160713_020.JPG: THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE Led by Captains John T. Baker and Alexander Fancher, a California-bound wagon train from Arkansas camped in this valley in the late summer of 1857 during the time of the so-called Utah War. In the early morning hours of September 7th, a party of local Mormon settlers and Indians attacked and laid siege to the encampment. For reasons not fully understood, a contingent of territorial militia joined the attackers. This Iron County Militia consisted of local Latter-day Saints (Mormons) acting on orders from their local religious leaders and military commanders headquartered thirty-five miles to the northeast in Cedar City. Complex animosities and political issues intertwined with deep religious beliefs motivated the Mormons, but the exact causes and circumstances fostering the sad events that ensued over the next five days at Mountain Meadows still defy any clear or simple explanation. During the siege, fifteen emigrant men were killed in the fighting or while trying to escape. Then late Friday afternoon, September 11th, the emigrants were persuaded to give up their weapons and leave their corralled wagons in exchange for a promise of safe passage to Cedar City. Under heavy guard, they made their way out of the encirclement. When they were all out of the corral and some of them more than a mile up the valley, they were suddenly and without warning attacked by their supposed benefactors. The local Indians joined in the slaughter, and in a matter of minutes fourteen adult male emigrants, twelve women, and thirty-five children were struck down. Nine hired hands driving cattle were also killed along with at least thirty-five other unknown victims. At least 120 souls died in what became known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Seventeen children under the age of eight survived the ordeal and were eventually returned to Arkansas. One or more other children may have remained in Utah.
3. MMM_160713_027.JPG: THE BURIAL SITES The Baker-Fancher emigrants buried the bodies of ten men killed during the five-day siege somewhere within the circled wagons of the encampment located west of the current monument in the valley. Most of the Baker-Fancher party died at various locations northeast of the 1859 memorial. In May 1859, Brevet Major James H. Carleton, commanding some eighty soldiers of the First Dragoons from Ft. Tejon, California, gathered scattered bones representing the partial remains of thirty-six of the emigrants, interred them near the wagon camp, and erected a stone cairn at the site. Before Carleton's arrival, Captains Reuben T. Campbell and Charles Brewer along with 207 men from Camp Floyd, Utah, collected and buried the remains of twenty-six emigrants in three different graves on the west side of the California Road about one and one-half miles north of the original encampment. Brewer reported that "the remains of [an additional] 18 were buried in one grave, 12 in another and 6 in another." Since the erection of the memorial by Major Carleton, several local families, including the Platts, Lytles, and Burgesses, have preserved and protected the graves in this area from being desecrated by souvenir hunters, land developers, curiosity seekers, and other intruders. In 1999, the Mountain Meadows Association collaborated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in erecting the new monument over the spot of the original 1859 grave. On August 3rd, 1999, workers excavating for the wall around the new monument accidentally uncovered the Carleton grave. On September 10th, 1999, the remains recovered from that grave were re-interred in a burial vault inside the new wall. The monument was dedicated the following day, September 11th, 1999.
4. MMM_160713_037.JPG: THE OLD SPANISH TRAIL and THE CALIFORNIA ROAD An arduous 1,200-mile route between Santa Fe and Los Angeles, the "Old Spanish Trail" passed through Mountain Meadows during its heyday, between 1830 and 1848. The trail served traders who loaded their pack mules with woolen goods from Santa Fe each fall and returned from Californian each spring with Chinese goods and mules and horses for markets in Missouri. The trail followed along the west side of the Mountain Meadows to a campsite at the south end of the valley, then down Magotsu Creek. Attempts to blaze this trade route began as early as 1765, when Juan Maria de Rivera explored from Santa Fe to the Gunnison River, in Colorado. Fathers Athanasio Dominguez and Velez de Escalante were turned back by heavy snows in 1776 in an attempt to reach California. Traveling as far north as the Provo area, they gave up the venture while camped between modern Milford and Cedar City. Later, Spanish traders made frequent visits from New Mexico to barter with the Utes for pelts and slaves. Jedediah Smith explored the western stretch of the trail from Utah to California in 1826-27. The first to complete the circuit from Santa Fe to Los Angels was Mexican trader Antonio Armijo in the winter of 1829-30. Ewing Young's trapping party from Taos may have followed the trail about the same time. In 1830-31 William Wolfskill proved its utility for pack trains, and a brisk trade flourished for a dozen years. After 1848, the trail fell rapidly into disuse. Discharged members of the Mormon Battalion en route to Salt Lake City from San Diego drove the first wheeled vehicles over the trail in 1848. This opened a new emigrant wagon route know as the "California Road." It was used by gold seekers and other California emigrants and by Mormon travelers. The wagon road shifted to the east side of the meadows to avoid Magotsu Creek. It was this route to California that brought the Baker-Fancher party to Mountain Meadows in September 1857.
5. MMM_160713_043.JPG: Mountain Meadows Massacre Approximate Routes
6. MMM_160713_046.JPG: MOUNTAIN MEADOWS Historic Sites View Finders View No. 1: Camp Site: The viewer on your left is directed toward the historic campsite at the south end of the valley. This was a traditional stopping place for pack mule trains traversing the Old Spanish Trail. At this site, the Baker-Fancher Train camped in 1857 and on September 7 the initial siege of the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place. Stone monuments with plaques were erected in 1859 and 1932 and a new plaque in 1990. View No. 2: Massacre Site: Travelers entered Mountain Meadows from the north crossed the rim of the basin near the location seen through the viewer on your right. Pack trains stayed to the far (west) side of the valley, buy wagons chose a less marshy route nearer this side. Most of the Baker-Fancher Party were killed on September 11, 1857, as they were being escorted out of the valley heading north. The viewer locates the approximate site of the massacre and of an 1859 stone monument marking one of the burial sites. The piece of stone embedded in the concrete walkway behind you is native granite from Little Rock, Arkansas
7. MMM_160713_051.JPG: They obviously need to do some vegetation cutting here
8. MMM_160713_056.JPG: View No. 1: Camp Site: The viewer on your left is directed toward the historic campsite at the south end of the valley. This was a traditional stopping place for pack mule trains traversing the Old Spanish Trail. At this site, the Baker-Fancher Train camped in 1857 and on September 7 the initial siege of the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place. Stone monuments with plaques were erected in 1859 and 1932 and a new plaque in 1990.
9. MMM_160713_060.JPG: In memoriam In the valley below between September 7 and 11, 1857, a company of more than 120 Arkansas emigrants led by Capt. John T. Baker and capt. Alexander Fancher was attacked while en route to California. this event is known in history as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
10. MMM_160713_063.JPG: Those believed to have been killed at or near the Mountain Meadows were: William Allen Aden, 19 George W. Baker, 27 Manerva A. Beller Baker, 25 Mary Lovina [Baker], 7 Wards of George and Manerva Baker: Melissa Ann Beller, 14 David W. Beller, 12 John T. Baker, 52 Abel [Baker], 19 John Beach, 21 William Cameron, 51 Martha Cameron, 51 Tillman [Cameron], 24 Isom [Cameron], 18 Henry [Cameron], 16 James [Cameron], 14 Martha [Cameron], 11 Larkin [Cameron], 8 William Cameron's niece, Nancy, 12 Allen P. Deshazo, 20 Jesse Dunlap, Jr., 39 Mary Wharton Dunlap, 39 Ellender [Dunlap], 18 Nancy M. [Dunlap], 16 James D. [Dunlap], 14 Lucinda [Dunlap], 12 Susannah [Dunlap], 12 Margerette [Dunlap], 11 Mary Ann [Dunlap], 9 Lorenzo Dow Dunlap, 42 Nancy Wharton Dunlap, 42 Thomas J. [Dunlap], 17 John H. [Dunlap], 16 Mary Ann [Dunlap], 13 Talitha Emaline [Dunlap], 11 Nancy [Dunlap], 9 America Jane [Dunlap], 7 William M. Eaton Silas Edwards [AGE 26] Alexander Fancher, 45 Eliza Ingrum Fancher, 32 [AGE 42] Hampton [Fancher], 19 William [Fancher], 17 Mary [Fancher], 15 Thomas [Fancher], 14 Martha [Fancher], 10 Sarah G. [Fancher], 8 Margaret A. [Fancher], 7 (s/b age 8) James Mathew Fancher, 25 Frances ["Fanny"] Fulfer Fancher [NOT A VICTIM] Robert Fancher, 19 Saladia Ann Brown Huff William [Huff] Elisha [Huff] Two other sons [John Huff, James K. Huff, Mary E. Huff & Unknown Son Huff] John Milum Jones, 32 Eloah A[ngeline] Tackitt Jones, 27 One daughter [Sophronia Jones, 4] Newton Jones Lawson A. McEntire, 21 Josiah (Joseph) Miller, 30 Matilda Cameron Miller, 26 James William [Miller], 9 Charles R. Mitchell, 25 Sarah C. Baker Mitchell, 21 John [Mitchell], Infant Joel D. Mitchell, 23 John Prewit, 20 William Prewit, 18 Milum L. Rush, 28 Charles Stallcup, 25 [NOT A VICTIM] Cynthia Tackitt, 49 Marion [Tackitt], 20 Sebron [Tackitt], 18 Matilda [Tackitt], 16 James M. [Tackitt], 14 Jones M. [Tackitt], 12 Pleasant Tackitt, 25 Armilda Miller Tackitt, 22 Richard Wilson Solomon R. Wood, 20 William Wood, 26 Others Unknown (Notes from https://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/inmemory.htm )
11. MMM_160713_066.JPG: In memoriam In the valley below between September 7 and 11, 1857, a company of more than 120 Arkansas emigrants led by Capt. John T. Baker and capt. Alexander Fancher was attacked while en route to California. this event is known in history as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. This memorial erected September 1990 by the state of Utah and the families and friends of those involved and those who died.
12. MMM_160713_069.JPG: The following children survived and were returned to their families in northwest Arkansas in September, 1859: Children of George and Manerva Baker: Martha [ACTUALLY "MARY"] Elizabeth, 5 Sarah Frances, 3 William Twitty, 9 months Daughters of Jesse and Mary Dunlap: Rebecca J., 6 Louisa, 4 Sarah E., 1 Daughters of Lorenzo Dow and Nancy Dunlap: Prudence Angeline, 5 Georgia Ann, 18 months Children of Alexander and Eliza Fancher: Christopher "Kit" Carson, 5 Triphenia D., 22 months Daughter of Peter and Saladia Huff: Nancy Saphrona, 4 Son of John and Eloah Jones Felix Marion, 18 months Children of Josh and Matilda Miller: John Calvin, 6 Mary, 4 Joseph, 1 Sons of Pleasant and Armilda Tackitt: Emberson Milum, 4 William Henry, 19 months At least one other survivor remained in Utah [APPARENTLY THIS IS NOT ACCURATE]
13. MMM_160713_072.JPG: The Caravan Included: (George D.?) Basham (Tom?) Farmer (Thomas?) Hamilton (James C.?) Haydon (David?) Hudson Lafoon Family (Mordecai?) Stevenson (Charles H.?) Morton Family Poteet Family Poteet Brothers (John Perkins?) Reed (Alf?) Smith (Mordecai?) Stevenson
14. MMM_160713_075.JPG: Those believed to have been killed at or near the Mountain Meadows were: William Allen Aden, 19 George W. Baker, 27 Manerva A. Beller Baker, 25 Mary Lovina [Baker], 7 Wards of George and Manerva Baker: Melissa Ann Beller, 14 David W. Beller, 12 John T. Baker, 52 Abel [Baker], 19 John Beach, 21 William Cameron, 51 Martha Cameron, 51 Tillman [Cameron], 24 Isom [Cameron], 18 Henry [Cameron], 16 James [Cameron], 14 Martha [Cameron], 11 Larkin [Cameron], 8 William Cameron's niece, Nancy, 12 Allen P. Deshazo, 20 Jesse Dunlap, Jr., 39 Mary Wharton Dunlap, 39 Ellender [Dunlap], 18 Nancy M. [Dunlap], 16 James D. [Dunlap], 14 Lucinda [Dunlap], 12 Susannah [Dunlap], 12 Margerette [Dunlap], 11 Mary Ann [Dunlap], 9 Lorenzo Dow Dunlap, 42 Nancy Wharton Dunlap, 42 Thomas J. [Dunlap], 17 John H. [Dunlap], 16 Mary Ann [Dunlap], 13 Talitha Emaline [Dunlap], 11 Nancy [Dunlap], 9 America Jane [Dunlap], 7 William M. Eaton Silas Edwards [AGE 26]
15. MMM_160713_082.JPG: Alexander Fancher, 45 Eliza Ingrum Fancher, 32 [AGE 42] Hampton [Fancher], 19 William [Fancher], 17 Mary [Fancher], 15 Thomas [Fancher], 14 Martha [Fancher], 10 Sarah G. [Fancher], 8 Margaret A. [Fancher], 7 (s/b age 8) James Mathew Fancher, 25 Frances ["Fanny"] Fulfer Fancher [NOT A VICTIM] Robert Fancher, 19 Saladia Ann Brown Huff William [Huff] Elisha [Huff] Two other sons [John Huff, James K. Huff, Mary E. Huff & Unknown Son Huff] John Milum Jones, 32 Eloah A[ngeline] Tackitt Jones, 27 One daughter [Sophronia Jones, 4] Newton Jones Lawson A. McEntire, 21 Josiah (Joseph) Miller, 30 Matilda Cameron Miller, 26 James William [Miller], 9 Charles R. Mitchell, 25 Sarah C. Baker Mitchell, 21 John [Mitchell], Infant Joel D. Mitchell, 23 John Prewit, 20 William Prewit, 18 Milum L. Rush, 28 Charles Stallcup, 25 [NOT A VICTIM] Cynthia Tackitt, 49 Marion [Tackitt], 20 Sebron [Tackitt], 18 Matilda [Tackitt], 16 James M. [Tackitt], 14 Jones M. [Tackitt], 12 Pleasant Tackitt, 25 Armilda Miller Tackitt, 22 Richard Wilson Solomon R. Wood, 20 William Wood, 26 Others Unknown
16. MMM_160713_083.JPG: View No. 2: Massacre Site: Travelers entered Mountain Meadows from the north crossed the rim of the basin near the location seen through the viewer on your right. Pack trains stayed to the far (west) side of the valley, buy wagons chose a less marshy route nearer this side. Most of the Baker-Fancher Party were killed on September 11, 1857, as they were being escorted out of the valley heading north. The viewer locates the approximate site of the massacre and of an 1859 stone monument marking one of the burial sites.
17. MMM_160713_118.JPG: Mountain Meadows Massacre Site has been designated a National Historic Landmark This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America 2011 National Park Service United States Department of the Interior
18. MMM_160713_127.JPG: MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE GRAVE SITE MEMORIAL MARKER Built and maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Out of respect for those who died and were buried here and in the surrounding area following the massacre of 1857. Dedicated 11 September 1999
19. MMM_160713_141.JPG: MEMORIALS 1859 The original monument at this site was established by the U.S. Army. It consisted of a stone cairn topped with a cedar cross and a small granite marker set against the north side of the cairn and dated 20 May 1859. Military officials marked some other burial sites in the valley with simple stone cairns. 1932 The Utah Trails and Landmarks Association built a protective stone wall around the 1859 grave site in September 1932. The association president was George Albert Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and later President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1936 The Arkansas Centennial Commission and Arkansas History Commission placed a cast iron historical marker on Highway 7 about three miles south of Harrison, Arkansas. The marker, near the William Beller home and what is now known as Milum Spring, identifies the area as the departure place for some members of the caravan. 1955 On 4 September 1955, the Richard Fancher Society of America unveiled a granite memorial to the victims in a park at Harrison Arkansas. 1990 The State of Utah, families of the victims, and local citizens erected the Mountain Meadows Memorial on a nearby hill. The granite marker lists the known victims and surviving children. President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the memorial on 14 September 1990 during a meeting in Cedar City. 1999 Under the direction of President Gordon B. Hinckley and with the cooperation of the Mountain Meadows Association and others, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints replaced the 1932 wall and installed the present Grave Site Memorial. President Hinckley dedicated the memorial on 11 September 1999
20. MMM_160713_168.JPG: In Memory of Milam Lafayette Rush Echoes of a distant past can be heard throughout these meadows. The sounds of innocent victims which will never be forgotten. Each life was more than just a name inscribed on a monument, They were loving family members, friends and neighbors. The story of their lives should be recorded, shared and cherished. And, we must share these stories of our forefathers that will forever last. Not only for our ancestors passed of long ago, but for all our descendants to come. For, we cannot live our future without looking at our past. Every joy and sorrow, every triumph and loss bears witness to their struggles. These lives will never be lived in vain: they will forever live on in our hearts. By: Billy Hightower Descendant of Milam Lafayette Rush
21. MMM_160713_171.JPG: EVER REMEMBERED In honor of those who rest in this field. They were innocent and died in unjust attacks that began on September 7, 1857. They were defending their friends and families, who buried them before leaving the protection of their camp. To the other victims of the Mountain Meadows Massacre who lie in unknown graves, rest in peace, and be assured you are remembered.
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Wikipedia Description: Mountain Meadows massacre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mountain Meadows massacre involved a mass slaughter of the Fancher-Baker emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows in the Utah Territory by the local Mormon militia in September 1857. It began as an attack, quickly turned into a siege, and eventually culminated on September 11, 1857, in the execution of the unarmed emigrants after their surrender. Local Paiute tribesmen recruited by the militia also participated in both the attack and the massacre.

The Arkansas emigrants were traveling to California shortly before the Utah War started. Mormons throughout the Utah Territory had been mustered to fight the United States Army, which they believed was intending to destroy them as a people. During this period of tension, rumors among the Mormons also linked the Fancher-Baker train with enemies who had participated in previous persecutions of Mormons or more recent malicious acts.

The emigrants stopped to rest and regroup their approximately 800 head of cattle at Mountain Meadows, a valley within the Iron County Military District of the Nauvoo Legion (the popular designation for the militia of the Utah Territory).

Initially intending to orchestrate an Indian massacre, two men with leadership roles in local military, church and government organizations, Isaac C. Haight and John D. Lee, conspired to lead militiamen disguised as Native Americans along with a contingent of Paiute tribesmen in an attack. The emigrants fought back and a siege ensued. Intending to leave no witnesses of Mormon complicity in the siege and also intending to prevent reprisals that would complicate the Utah War, militiamen induced the emigrants to surrender and give up their weapons. After escorting the emigrants out of their fortification, the militiamen and their tribesmen auxiliaries executed approximately 120 men, women and children. Seventeen younger children were spared.

Investigations, interrupted by the U.S. Civil War, resulted in nine indictments in 1874. Only John D. Lee was ever tried, and after two trials, he was convicted. On March 23, 1877 a firing squad executed Lee at the massacre site.

Background:

Main article: Fancher party's and Mormons' backgrounds and the Mountain Meadows massacre

In early 1857, several groups of emigrants from the northwestern Arkansas region started their trek to California, joining up on the way and known as the Fancher-Baker party. The groups were mostly from Marion, Crawford, Carroll, and Johnson counties in Arkansas, assembled into a wagon train at Beller's Stand, south of Harrison, Arkansas for the purpose of emigrating to southern California. This group was initially referred to as both the Baker train and the Perkins train, but after being joined by other Arkansas trains and making its way west, was soon called the Fancher train (or party) after "Colonel" Alexander Fancher who, having already made the journey to California twice before, had become its main leader. By contemporary standards the Fancher party was prosperous, carefully organized and well-equipped for the journey. They were subsequently joined along the way by families and individuals from other states, including Missouri. This group was relatively wealthy, and planned to restock its supplies in Salt Lake City, as most wagon trains did at the time. The party reached Salt Lake City with about 120 members. In Salt Lake, there was a rumor that Parley P. Pratt's widow recognized one of the party as being present at her husband's murder. For the decade prior the Fancher party's arrival there, Utah Territory existed as a theocracy or theodemocracy led by Brigham Young. As part of Young's vision of a pre-millennial "Kingdom of God", Young established colonies along the California and Old Spanish Trails, where Mormon officials governed by "lay[ing] the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity", while preserving individual rights. Two of the southern-most establishments were Parowan and Cedar City, led respectively by Stake Presidents William H. Dame and Isaac C. Haight. Haight and Dame were, in addition, the senior regional military leaders of the Mormon militia. During the period just before the massacre, known as the Mormon Reformation, Mormon teachings were dramatic and strident. The religion had undergone a period of intense persecution in the American midwest, and faithful Mormons moved west to escape persecution from the midwest towns.

Escalating tensions:

Main article: War hysteria preceding the Mountain Meadows massacre

The Mountain Meadows massacre was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War, an 1857 deployment toward the Utah Territory of the United States Army, whose arrival there ended up being peaceful. In the summer of 1857, however, the Mormons expected an all-out invasion of apocalyptic significance. From July to September 1857, Mormon leaders and their followers prepared for a seven-year siege that was predicted by Brigham Young. Mormons were required to stockpile grain, and were prevented from selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts. Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Indian tribes in fighting the "Americans", encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains, and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army.

In August 1857, Mormon apostle George A. Smith, of Parowan, set out on a tour of southern Utah, instructing Mormons to stockpile grain. He met with many of the eventual participants in the massacre, including W. H. Dame, Isaac Haight, and John D. Lee. He noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight, and that some of them were anxious to "fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States". On his return trip to Salt Lake City, Smith camped near the Fancher party. Jacob Hamblin suggested that the Fanchers stop and rest their cattle at Mountain Meadows. Some of Smith's party started rumors that the Fanchers had poisoned a well and left a dead ox behind, in order to kill Indians whom they would falsely accuse of the crime, rumors that preceded the Fanchers to Cedar City.". Most witnesses said that the Fanchers were in general a peaceful party whose members behaved well along the trail.

Among Smith's party were a number of Paiute Indian chiefs from the Mountain Meadows area. When Smith returned to Salt Lake, Brigham Young met with these leaders on September 1, 1857 and encouraged them to fight against the "Americans" in the anticipated clash with the U.S. Army. The Indian chiefs were reportedly reluctant. Some scholars theorize, however, that the leaders returned to Mountain Meadows and participated in the massacre. However, it is uncertain whether they would have had time to do so.

The wagon train may have been joined by a group of eleven miners and plainsmen who called themselves "Missouri Wildcats," some of whom reportedly taunted, vandalized and "caused trouble" for Mormons and Native Americans along the route (by some accounts claiming that they had the gun that "shot the guts out of Old Joe Smith") and stories of this spread through Mormon communities. However, it is uncertain whether the Missouri Wildcat group stayed with the slow-moving Fancher party after leaving Salt Lake City, or even existed. Either way, popular Mormon leader Parley P. Pratt had been murdered in Arkansas a few months earlier (by the husband of one of Pratt's "plural wives")

Rumors of Pratt's death at the hand's of the legal husband of one of his "plural wives" had only recently begun to arrive in Utah. These rumors, martial law, threats of war and limited supplies all likely influenced individual Mormons who didn't sell food to the Fancher party.

Conspiracy and siege:

Main article: Conspiracy and siege of the Mountain Meadows massacre

As the Fancher party approached Mountain Meadows, several meetings were held in Cedar City and nearby Parowan by local LDS ("Latter-Day Saints") leaders pondering how to implement Young's declaration of martial law. They decided to "eliminate" the Fancher wagon train. Nearly 12 hours after the attack was initiated, an express rider was sent to Salt Lake City to inform Brigham Young. Meanwhile, organization among the local Mormon leadership reportedly broke down.

The hungry, somewhat dispirited Fancher party found water and fresh grazing for its livestock after reaching grassy, mountain-ringed Mountain Meadows, a widely known stopover on the old Spanish Trail, in early September. They anticipated several days of rest and recuperation there. On September 7 the party was attacked by a group of Native American Paiutes and Mormon militiamen dressed as Native Americans. The Fancher party defended itself by encircling and lowering their wagons, wheels chained together, along with digging shallow trenches and throwing dirt both below and into the wagons, which made a strong barrier. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. Sixteen more were wounded. The attack continued for five days, during which the besieged families had little or no access to fresh water or game food and their ammunition was depleted.

Killings and aftermath of the massacre:

Main article: Killings and aftermath of the Mountain Meadows massacre

On Friday, September 11, 1857, two Mormon militiamen approached the Fancher party wagons with a white flag and were soon followed by Indian agent and militia officer John D. Lee. Lee told the battle-weary emigrants that he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for turning all of their livestock and supplies over to the Native Americans. Accepting this, the emigrants were led out of their fortification. When a signal was given, the Mormon militiamen turned and executed the male members of the Fancher party standing by their side. Reportedly, the militia let a group of Paiute Indians execute the women and children. The militia saved 17 small children who were deemed too young to relate the story. The bodies were gathered and looted for valuables, and were then left in shallow graves or on the open ground. Members of the Mormon militia were sworn to secrecy. A plan was set to blame the massacre on the Indians.

Investigations and prosecutions:

Main article: Investigations and prosecutions relating to the Mountain Meadows massacre

While taking into account evidence that Brigham Young did not order the murders and the lack of direct evidence that Young condoned them, historians still question the role that local Cedar City Mormon church officials played in ordering the massacre and Young's concealment of evidence in its aftermath. Young's use of inflammatory and violent language in response to the Federal expedition added to the tense atmosphere at the time of the attack. After the massacre, Young stated in public forums that God had taken vengeance on the Fancher party. It is unclear whether Young held this view because he believed that this specific group posed an actual threat to colonists or because he believed that the group was directly responsible for past crimes against Mormons. According to historian MacKinnon, "After the war, Buchanan implied that face-to-face communications with Brigham Young might have averted the conflict, and Young argued that a north-south telegraph line in Utah could have prevented the Mountain Meadows Massacre." MacKinnon suggests that hostilities could have been avoided if Young had traveled east to Washington D.C. to resolve governmental problems instead of taking a five week trip north on the eve of the Utah War for church related reasons.

Media coverage and public relations:

Main articles: Mountain Meadows massacre and the media and Mountain Meadows massacre and Mormon public relations

Although the massacre was covered to some extent in the media during the 1850s,, the first period of intense nation-wide publicity about the massacre began around 1872, after investigators obtained the confession of Philip Klingensmith, a Mormon bishop at the time of the massacre and a private in the Utah militia. In 1872, Mark Twain commented on the massacre through the lens of contemporary American public opinion in an appendix to his semi-autobiographical travel book Roughing It. In 1873, the massacre was a prominent feature of a history by T.B.H. Stenhouse, The Rocky Mountain Saints. National newspapers covered the Lee trials closely from 1874 to 1876, and his execution in 1877 was widely covered.

The massacre has been treated extensively by several historical works, beginning with Lee's own Confession in 1877, expressing his opinion that George A. Smith was sent to southern Utah by Brigham Young to direct the massacre. In 1910, the massacre was the subject of a short book by Josiah F. Gibbs, who also attributed responsibility for the massacre to Young and Smith. The first detailed and comprehensive work using modern historical methods was Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1950 by Juanita Brooks, a Mormon scholar who lived near the area in southern Utah. Brooks found no evidence of direct involvement by Brigham Young, but charged him with obstructing the investigation and for provoking the attack through his rhetoric.

Initially, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) denied any involvement by Mormons, and was relatively silent on the issue. In 1872, however, it excommunicated some of the participants for their role in the massacre. Since then, the LDS Church has consistently condemned the massacre, though acknowledging involvement by local Mormon leaders. In September 2007, the LDS Church published an article in its official publications marking 150 years since the tragedy occurred..

Remembrances:

Main article: Remembrances of the Mountain Meadows massacre

Starting in 1988 descendants of both the Fancher party victims and the Mormon participants collaborated to design and dedicate a monument to replace the neglected and crumbling marker on the site. There are now three monuments to the massacre. Two of these are at Mountain Meadows. Mountain Meadows Association built a monument in 1990 which is maintained by the Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation. In 1999 the Mormon Church built and maintains a second monument. . A monument in Arkansas is a replica of Carleton's original marker maintained by the Mountain Meadows Massacre Monument Foundation.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (UT -- Mountain Meadows Historic Site (Mountain Meadows Massacre)) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2012_UT_MMM: UT -- Mountain Meadows Historic Site (Mountain Meadows Massacre) (55 photos from 2012)
- 2006_UT_MMM: UT -- Mountain Meadows Historic Site (Mountain Meadows Massacre) (31 photos from 2006)
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2016 photos: Seven relatively short trips this year: two Civil War Trust conference (Gettysburg, PA and West Point, NY, with a side-trip to New York City), my 11th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including sites in Utah, Nevada, and California), a quick trip to Michigan for Uncle Wayne's funeral, two additional trips to New York City, and a Civil Rights site trip to Alabama during the November elections. Being in places where people died to preserve the rights of minority voters made the Trumputin election even more depressing. Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: just over 610,000.
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