Scholars debate whether senior Mormon leadership, including Brigham Young, directly instigated the massacre or if responsibility lay only with the local leaders in southern Utah. Critics charge that the massacre was typical of Mormon "culture of violence," and claim that Church leaders—possibly as high as Brigham Young—approved of, or even ordered the killing. [25] Nevertheless, Cradlebaugh conducted a tour of the Mountain Meadows area with a military escort. The militia members assured the emigrants they were protected, and after handing over their weapons, the emigrants were escorted from their hasty fortification. Among Smith's party were a number of Paiute Native American chiefs from the Mountain Meadows area. [24][96], In 1955, to memorialize the victims of the massacre, a monument was installed in the town square of Harrison, Arkansas. [75], 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 was peaceful. "Territorial Dispatches: the Sentence of Lee", Diary of Daniel Davis, July 8, 1849, the LDS archives - as quoted in. The Indians we expect will do as they please but you should try and preserve good feelings with them. [100], In 2014, archaeologist Everett Bassett discovered two rock piles he believes mark additional graves. United States Office of Indian Affairs Papers Relating to Charges Against Jacob Forney, U.S. National Register of Historic Places, History of the National Register of Historic Places, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountain_Meadows_Massacre&oldid=991106799, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from August 2020, Articles with incomplete citations from August 2020, Pages using infobox event with blank parameters, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 November 2020, at 08:38. Following the massacre, Young stated in public forums that God had taken vengeance on the Baker–Fancher party. The men were paired with a militia escort. Sixteen more were wounded. Whitman)", "THE POWERS OF THE PRIESTHOOD NOT GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD--THE NECESSITY OF LIVING BY REVELATION--THE ABUSE OF BLESSINGS", "To the Honorable Judge of the Court, in the town of Van Buren, State of Arkansas, May 12, 1957 (Mrs. Pratt's Letter to the Judge)", "Further Particulars of the Murder - To Brother Orson (A letter from Eleanor McLean Pratt)", "Murder of Parley P. Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", "Fulfilment of Prophecy—Wars and Commotions", "Malinda (Cameron) Scott Thurston Deposition", "The Mountain Meadows Massacre: An Aberration of Mormon Practice", "Correspondence: Trip to the Santa Clara", "Mountain Meadows Massacre affidavit linked to Mark Hofmann", "Mountain Meadows Massacre Artifact Now Believed To Be A Fake", "Mountain Meadows affidavit Hofmann forgery? Black Friday Sale! [40] Brigham Young stated that Lee's fate was just, but not a sufficient blood atonement, given the enormity of the crime.[41]. [62], The sermons, blessings, and private counsel by Mormon leaders just before the Mountain Meadows massacre can be understood as encouraging private individuals to execute God's judgment against the wicked. A guy named Will Bagley wrote a book ominously called, Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, in which he tries to make a case to prove Brigham was the man behind the curtain. Forney concluded that the Paiutes did not act alone and the massacre would not have occurred without the white settlers,[23] while Carleton's report to the U.S. Congress called the mass killings a "heinous crime",[9] blaming both local and senior church leaders for the massacre. Lee's first trial began on July 23, 1875, in Beaver, before a jury of eight Mormons and four non-Mormons. [77] He noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight, and that some of them were eager to "fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States. [I]f those who are there will leave let them go in peace. The attackers, promising safe conduct, persuaded the emigrants to lay down their arms. "[91][92] In 1932 citizens of the surrounding area constructed a memorial wall around the remnants of the monument. Mountain Meadows Massacre, (September 1857), in U.S. history, slaughter of a band of Arkansas emigrants passing through Utah on their way to California. [8] Brevet Major James Henry Carleton led the first federal investigation of the murders, published in 1859. "[26] Possibly as a protective measure against the mistrusted federal court system, Mormon territorial probate court judge Elias Smith arrested Young under a territorial warrant, perhaps hoping to divert any trial of Young into a friendly Mormon territorial court. Mountain Meadows Massacre Summary : In September 1857 a group of Mormons in southern Utah killed all adult members of an Arkansas wagon train that was headed for California. He claimed that he reluctantly participated in the massacre and only to bury the dead who he thought were victims of an Indian attack. [10] Eventually fear spread among the militia's leaders that some emigrants had caught sight of white men, and had probably discovered who their attackers really were. [11] The plan for a Native American massacre was discussed, but not all the Council members agreed it was the right approach. Historians have ascribed the massacre to a number of factors, including strident Mormon teachings in the years prior to the massacre, war hysteria, and alleged involvement of Brigham Young. But, he also included a statement from an investigator who did not believe the Fancher party was capable of poisoning the spring, given its size. Eventually Young issued a declaration of martial law. "When she left San Francisco she left Hector, and later she was to state in a court of law that she had left him as a wife the night he drove her from their home. [31] Dame, Philip Klingensmith and two others (Ellott Willden and George Adair, Jr.) were indicted and arrested while warrants were obtained to pursue the arrests of four others (Haight, Higbee, William C. Stewart and Samuel Jukes) who had gone into hiding. [87][88], The first monument for the victims was built two years after the massacre, by Major Carleton and the U.S. Army. [101] Other descendant groups have been more hesitant in accepting the sites as legitimate grave markers. [97], In 2007, the 150th anniversary of the massacre was remembered by a ceremony held in the meadows. [44] National newspapers covered the Lee trials closely from 1874 to 1876, and his execution in 1877 was widely covered. However, they debate whether Young knew about the planned massacre ahead of time and whether he initially condoned it before later taking a strong public stand against it. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Mountain-Meadows-massacre, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture - Mountain Meadows Massacre, National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Mountain Meadows Massacre and “poisoned springs”: scientific testing of the more recent, anthrax theory, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lee's second trial began September 13, 1876, before an all-Mormon jury. Haight and Dame were, in addition, the senior regional military leaders of the Mormon militia.