The Mountain Meadows Massacre

In their earliest decades, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, better known as the Mormons, were a group on the fringe. By 1847, under the leadership of the second President of the Church, Brigham Young, the vast body of the Mormon church had come to settle in Utah.

Under Brigham Young's leadership, the Utah territory became a theocracy. Young was not only head of the church, he was also governor of the territory. The federal government, worried about this sort of theocratic government with its strange and unpopular doctrines (not the least of which was polygamy), sought to wrest back control of the territory from the Mormons.

Amidst this broiling tension in the mid-1850's, Brigham Young pushed the church into the Reformation. The religion of Brigham Young became more bloody, with doctrines such as blood atonement entering the official canon. The Mormon doctrine of blood atonement taught that some sinners were so bad it was a duty to kill them, for that is the only way they could be saved.

By 1857, Young had become even more entrenched and paranoid. He recreated the Utah militia, which was known as the Nauvoo Legion. (Nauvoo, Illinois is where the LDS Church's founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered). They began harassing federal agents working in Utah, and all save one federal agent ultimately fled the territory.

Seeing what was essentially a theocratic takeover of the territory, President James Buchanan ordered that a new governor be installed in the territory, under force of federal troops if need be. This sent Young over the edge, and he declared martial law in the territory of Utah.

The Francher Party

Unknowing of the rising crisis that was taking place in Utah, a group of some forty families got together in Arkansas and formed a wagon train in the spring of 1857. Their destination was California. The party would become known as the Francher Party when control of the group was taken over by Colonel Alexander Francher.

Along the way the wagon train would pass through the territory of Utah. The Francher Party thought little of it, as it was the most direct route from Arkansas to California and was well traveled. There was no way for the train to know that the trip through Utah would never be completed and cost them all their lives.

The Francher Party in Utah

On August 3, 1857, the Francher Party arrived in the Utah territory. There were some 140 individuals in all, after picking up new travelers along the way in Missouri. They had about 900 head of cattle but supplies were running low and the party needed a place to rest.

What the Francher Party did not realize was that martial law had just been declared in Utah. At the same time a federal army was also making its way towards the territory, to rest control from Brigham Young and install the new governor in what would come to be known as the Utah War.

Stories also began to circulate among the Mormons about this new wagon train passing through their lands. They said that some of the party members had harassed Mormons in Missouri, even killing them. Whether or not these stories were true is unknown, but the Mormons of 1857 certainly believed them. It was decided that the Francher Party needed to be taken care of.

Attack at Mountain Meadows

The Francher Party took a time to rest at a common resting area on the route to California at Mountain Meadows. It was a well-known spot and was popular among travelers along the old Spanish Trail. They arrived sometime in early September.

From this point history is a bit unclear as to who exactly did what. What is known is that the Francher Party found themselves under attack. Some claim that the attackers were Paiute Indians, who had been goaded into the fight by the Mormons, while others (such as the famed writer Mark Twain) claim it was Mormons who had dressed themselves up as Paiutes.

The battle lasted for five days. The wagon train encircled their wagons and laid low, digging trenches for defense. 7 of the Arkansan emigrants were killed in the fighting, while another 16 were wounded.

On Friday, September 11, two members of the Nauvoo Legion along with Indian Agent John D. Lee approached the train under the white flag of truce. They informed the emigrants that a truce had been settled with the Paiutes. The Francher Party would give up its arms, weapons and cattle and in return receive safe passage. The Party agreed.

The emigrants were split into three groups. The youngest children, along with the wounded, were loaded into wagons. They were followed by the women and older children. The third group was made up of all the men. For each man one member of the Nauvoo Legion was assigned.

After walking part of the 35 miles to Cedar City, the closest city to Mountain Meadows, the men began to fall behind the women and children. The militiamen stopped the emigrant men in their march, turned and shot each and every one of them. At the same time the militiamen guarding the women and children also turned and shot them dead. Some ran, militiamen chased them down and clubbed them to death. All in all there were only 17 survivors, young children none of whom were over 7 years of age.

The bodies of the 120 slain emigrants were buried in three large heaps, and there was nothing even resembling a proper burial until Army forces arrived. As for the belongings of the Francher Party, some was taken by the Paiutes. The rest was taken to Cedar City, where it eventually came into the hands of the local population. The surviving children were taken into Mormon families.

Mountain Meadows Massacre Aftermath

Reports vary on just what role Brigham Young had to play in the affair. Some sources say he authorized it, others say he did not know about it, others say that a request had been sent to him on whether or not to go through with the deed, and his negative response did not arrive until afterwards. According to John D. Lee, the main orchestrator of the massacre, Young knew nothing of it and was at first worried it would look bad on the Mormons, but quickly decided he had come to peace with the matter and was more worried about traitors than the murderers who had done this deed.

Only one man, John D. Lee, was ever brought to trial for the crimes committed at Mountain Meadows on September 11 1857. And it was 20 years before even he was brought to trial. The trial followed two decades of lies and coverups on the part of the Mormon community, trying to pin all of the blame on the Paiutes for the battle and the massacre. John D. Lee finally confessed to the crimes and published a confession which portrays his role in the massacre.

Federal forces arrived in Utah shortly after the massacre, and the Utah War began. Brigham Young was replaced as governor, and federal control was reasserted in Utah. It would take many years for much of what happened in the Massacre to come to light, and there are many questions remaining about what really happened to this day.