This week on bad things in history, we’re
going to look at the time a group of settlers
passing through Utah on their way to California
were attacked and killed by the Mormon Militia
and a group of Native Americans.
Stick around to learn how the West was really
won.
Early Mormon History
Mormonism came into existence during the 1820s
in New York.
Joseph Smith, in his 20s at the time, said
that God came to him in a vision.
God told Smith that he shouldn’t visit any
of the existing churches because they were
wrong.
Smith was also told that God would use him
to re-establish the true Christian church,
and the Book of Mormon would be the source
for a new doctrine.
Smith dictated the text to an assistant who
wrote down the words.
God, Smith claimed, sent golden plates with
Egyptian writing on them.
Joseph Smith, of course, was the only one
who could translate the writing.
The plates returned to God when the translation
was done.
Very few people within the Mormon faith ever
saw them.
If, indeed, anybody ever saw them.
The church was formally organized in 1830.
This strange addition to the Christian faith
was not welcomed by many.
Most Americans in the early 19th century were
not feeling affectionate toward the people
of this new religion known as Mormons.
Tensions were a problem in New York, then
followed the group as they migrated to Ohio.
Later they settled in Missouri.
That went badly as the Missouri governor actually
issued an “extermination order” to have
them killed.
The Mormons then moved to Illinois where they
lived in relative peace for several years.
In 1844, tensions between the Mormons and
other Christians became an insurmountable
problem.
Joseph Smith was arrested and while being
held for trial was attacked and killed by
a mob.
In the chaos that followed, Brigham Young
rose to become new President of the Mormon
church, or the Church of Latter Day Saints
as it is officially called today.
He was largely responsible for moving the
Mormons from Illinois to what would become
Utah in the late 1840s.
For this Young was remembered as the “Moses”
of his people.
Mormons In Utah
Once in Utah, the practice of polygamy was
established.
Men within the church could and did take multiple
wives.
The Mormon system of government was referred
to as a democratic theocracy, which was one
in which religious rules were enforced even
though leaders were selected democratically.
The Mormons were able to live in Utah for
several years without interference from the
outside world.
Then the Mexican-American War started in 1846.
After it ended in 1848, the United States
was in control of the Utah territory.
The Mormons once again found themselves in
conflict with other Christians.
This time it would take nearly a decade to
reach its climax.
In 1857 President Franklin Pierce sent US
troops to occupy parts of Utah territory.
This made Mormons concerned they were being
invaded, and Brigham Young was extremely unhappy
about the development.
He declared martial law, and ordered the Utah
militia to attack US troops.
This marked the official beginning of the
Utah War.
The war would end the following year, with
no major battles taking place.
But it did have casualties, and almost all
of them were civilians.
Arkansas Settlers Travel West
In early 1857, several groups of people in
northwest Arkansas decided to travel to California
for better economic opportunities.
As these people passed through Arkansas and
Missouri, they picked up other members and
eventually became known as the Baker-Fancher
party.
The exact number of individuals in the party
isn’t known, but it was over 120.
The Baker-Fancher party arrived in Utah in
August 1857.
At this point, tensions between the Mormons
and the United States were very high.
It was the worst possible time for a group
of outsiders to be in Utah.
The party originally planned to restock their
supplies in Salt Lake City.
Between the declaration of martial law and
the local population being suspicious of outsiders,
they were unable to secure more supplies.
The Baker-Fancher party wasn’t sure what
to do after their resupply plans failed.
But they started traveling south out of Salt
Lake City.
On August 25, the Mormon Apostle George A.
Smith camped near the party.
He was a member of the ruling council of the
church, and had been traveling through southern
Utah passing along orders from Brigham Young.
The party was 165 miles south of Salt Lake
City when Smith came upon them.
He suggested that the party, with their full
wagon train, continue to Mountain Meadows
and rest their cattle there.
The area had good grass for grazing, and was
also near Smith’s land.
The settlers took his advice and made the
trip there.
As the party traveled south to Mountain Meadows,
they passed near other Mormon communities.
Two of them included William H. Dame and Isaac
C. Haight, who were regional leaders in the
Mormon militia.
They were also prominent in the local church
councils.
After Sunday services, meetings were held
in the communities to discuss how to implement
Young’s martial law order and how to deal
with the settlers passing through Utah.
Haight suggested that they attack the settlers
and kill them, but make it look like Native
Americans were responsible.
Not all of the council members agreed.
Haight responded by sending one rider north
to ask Brigham Young what to do.
Another rider was sent south to John D. Lee,
who was also a prominent member of the church
and an official Indian Agent.
Indian Agents were authorized to deal with
Native Americans on behalf of the federal
government.
While the debate over their fate continued,
the Baker-Fancher party successfully reached
their destination.
They planned to rest at Mountain Meadows until
early September, then cover the remaining
40 miles to finally exit Utah.
The Attack
On September 7, the settlers at Mountain Meadows
were attacked.
The aggressors appeared to consist of Native
Americans from the Paiute people.
Members of the Baker-Fancher party also noticed
that there were many white people dressed
as Native Americans scattered among the attackers
as well.
The settlers circled their wagons and dug
trenches.
They managed to hold their ground, but the
attacks continued for five days.
Seven members of the party were killed during
the fighting.
Sixteen more were wounded.
During those five days, the settlers also
had no access to food or fresh water.
In the meantime, organization among the local
Mormon leaders began to break down.
Since the Baker-Fancher party defended itself
successfully, that meant they had seen their
attackers.
The local Mormon militia leaders were worried
that the party knew that they weren’t really
being attacked by Native Americans.
So an order was given to kill everyone in
the party, except for children too young to
identify the attackers.
The last thing they wanted was for the US
government to become aware of what was happening
and start a full scale war.
On September 11, 1857 two members of the Mormon
militia approached the party flying a white
flag of truce.
They were followed by John Lee, the militia
officer and Indian agent.
Lee told members of the Baker-Fancher party
that he had negotiated a truce with Paiutes.
The settlers would be escorted safely to nearby
Cedar City on the condition they gave all
livestock and supplies to the Natives.
The settlers - tired, thirsty, and hungry
- reluctantly agreed.
The settlers were led out of the fortifications
they hastily built.
As they were led out by the militia, the adult
men were separated from the women and children.
A signal was given, and the militia members
turned and shot all of the men beside them.
Other militia members that were hiding emerged
and killed most of the women and children.
The children that were considered too young
to remember the event were taken and given
to local Mormon families.
Nobody knows how many children were taken.
But at least 120 people were killed during
the massacre, all of them from the Baker-Francher
party.
The Mormon History Foundation records that
the rider sent by Isaac Haight to seek counsel
from Brigham Young arrived the same day that
the settlers were killed.
Young reportedly sent a letter to Haight telling
him that the Baker-Fancher party should be
allowed to go in peace.
That letter arrived two days too late.
Some of the property left behind by the settlers
was taken by the Native Americans.
Most of it was taken by the Mormons, and John
Lee certainly took his share as well.
Aftermath
Once news of the massacre spread, it certainly
didn’t help relations between the Mormons
and the United States.
Brigham Young performed his own investigation
in 1857, which mostly included questioning
John Lee.
Young sent a letter to the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs blaming the event entirely
on Native Americans.
The United States could not begin investigating
right away because of the Utah War.
When that ended, the US Army began its own
attempt in 1859 to figure out what happened.
One of the investigators sent to examine the
claims was Major James Henry Carleton.
Carleton went to the site of the massacre
and reported that he found the hair of women
in sage brush.
And he also found the bones of children that
were still in the arms of their mothers.
It was a sight Carleton said no one could
ever forget.
The Army collected the various bones and other
remains then gave them a proper burial.
Carleton’s report blamed the Mormon church
leaders for the massacre and stated that the
Natives could not have done it on their own.
A Federal Judge, John Cradlebraugh, was brought
into the Utah territory and convened a Grand
Jury.
The Grand Jury, who consisted entirely of
Mormons, was unwilling to indict fellow Mormons.
Cradlebraugh blamed Brigham Young as an “accessory
before the fact”.
The local Mormons arrested Young before the
US government could, presumably to try and
make sure his trial would stay in Mormon territory.
Cradlebraugh also tried to have John Lee,
Isaac Haight, and others arrested.
The men fled before his order could be executed.
When charges against Brigham Young never appeared,
Young was subsequently released from confinement.
The investigation and its attempts to hold
leaders accountable was interrupted in 1861
due the Civil War.
While the North and South fought each other,
the United States government didn’t have
the resources to hold Mormon leaders accountable
for their actions.
Time, however, is a cruel mistress.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre would not be
forgotten.
One of the militia members who had been present
for the attack was named Philip Klingensmith.
At the time of the massacre, he was a Bishop
in the local church.
In the 1870s he left the church and moved
to Nevada.
In 1871, US prosecutors continued with the
investigation and acquired an affidavit from
Klingensmith.
Brigham Young, either to save the church or
himself, removed some participants of the
massacre from the church in 1870.
Isaac Haight and John Lee were two of the
most notable leaders to be forced out of their
positions.
The US government posted bounties for Haight,
Lee, and a few other participants while choosing
not to prosecute others.
Accountability
Several participants in the massacre were
arrested in 1874.
Klingensmith was arrested, but was given immunity
in exchange for testifying.
John Lee would be the main target for the
prosecutors.
As far as they were concerned, he was most
responsible for what happened.
The first trial for Lee was in July of 1875.
The jury consisted of eight mormons and four
non-mormons.
This led to a hung jury, and Lee was not convicted.
A second trial took place in August, and in
this one Lee called no witnesses.
Nobody is really sure why he didn’t offer
a more rigorous defense.
But Lee was found guilty, and the sentence
was death.
Lee was allowed to choose his method of execution,
as required by Utah territory law at the time.
He could be shot, hanged, or beheaded.
Lee chose to be shot.
John D. Lee was executed by firing squad at
Mountain Meadows on March 23, 1877.
Lee claimed, right before being killed, that
he was simply a scapegoat for others involved
in the massacre.
Brigham Young reportedly said that Lee’s
fate was just, but not a sufficient atonement
given how horrendous the crime was.
Lee was the only member of the church to be
executed for the massacre.
So although he was responsible for killing
the settlers, he was not wrong about being
a scapegoat.
But his trial and execution did have the desired
effect.
There were no more massacres, and Utah was
finally admitted as a state in 1896.
In modern times, the Church of Latter Day
Saints has publicly condemned the massacre.
In 2007, the church published an article marking
the 150th anniversary of the event.
So modern Mormons, at least, do not celebrate
the event nor do they try to justify the church’s
behavior.
So, what do you think about the massacre?
Was it simply the result of a few bad apples
in the Church?
Or, could it have been because of persecution
the Mormons suffered in previous decades?
Was the massacre the result of bad people
and bad choices, or the inevitable result
of fear and paranoia?
Please let us know what you think in the comments.
And thank you for watching bad things in history.
