Talk:Mountain Meadows massacre/draft

The Mountain Meadows Massacre was a mass killing of approximately 140 European-Americans at Mountain Meadows, a stopover along the Spanish Trail in southwestern Utah, on Friday, September 11, 1857. The causes and circumstances remain highly controversial.

Map depicting Mountain Meadows and the surrounding region of southwestern Utah in 1857, showing path of the Spanish Trail

Fancher party

In the spring of 1857 approximately forty families of European ancestry, 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. cite 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. cite

Travel through Utah

They arrived in Utah Territory in July with over 900 head of cattle but were running low on some supplies. Reaching Salt Lake City in early August, only days after Mormon leader Brigham Young had declared martial law in response to potential hostilities with the United States government. cite The Fancher party set out on the northern route to California, but because of the lateness of the season turned back and took the southern route, which led them into southwestern Utah. The Mormons they encountered along the way were wary and declined to trade with them for several reasons including: Young's declaration of martial law; Young's orders discouraged trading food with immigrants; and his orders forbidding people from traveling through the territory without a pass, which the Fancher party did not have. cite

Moreover, popular Mormon leader Parley P. Pratt had been murdered in Arkansas a few months earlier and news of this had only recently begun to arrive in Utah. cite Finally, the United States Army was advancing troops towards Utah, cite to wiki page on utah war. Rumors of taunting and misconduct by members of the Francher Party against Mormons and Native Americans circulated through Mormon communities. cite These rumors, martial law, threats of war and limited supplies all likely influenced the individual Mormons who didn't sell food to the Francher party.

Cedar City meetings

As the Fancher party approached Mountain Meadows, several meetings were held in Cedar City and nearby Parowan by local LDS leaders pondering how to implement Young's declaration of martial law. cite They decided to "eliminate" the Fancher wagon train, but hesitated and sent a rider to Salt Lake City (a six day round trip on horseback) for Brigham Young's advice. Meanwhile, organization among the local Mormon leadership reportedly broke down. cite

Mountain Meadows

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. cite 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. cite

On Friday, September 11 two Mormon militiamen approached the Fancher party wagons with a white flag and were soon followed by John D. Lee, an official scribe of the Council of 50 and a friend of both Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young. Lee told the battle weary emigrants he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for leaving all their livestock and supplies to the Native Americans. cite Accepting this, they were split into three groups. Seventeen of the youngest children along with a few mothers and the wounded were put into wagons, which were followed by all the women and older children walking in a second group. Bringing up the rear were the adult males of the Fancher party, each walking with an armed Mormon militiaman at his right. Making their way back northeast towards Cedar City, the three groups gradually became strung out and visually separated by shrubs and a shallow hill. After about 2 kilometers, all of the men, women, older children and wounded were massacred by almost 50 Mormon militia and 200 Paiutes who had hidden nearby. cite A few who escaped the initial slaughter were quickly chased down and killed. Two teenaged girls, Rachel and Ruth Dunlap, managed to clamber down the side of a steep gully and hide among a clump of oak trees for several minutes. They were spotted by a Paiute chief from Parowan, who took them to Lee. 18 year old Ruth Dunlap reportedly fell to her knees and pleaded, "Spare me, and I will love you all my life!" [1] (Lee denied this). 50 years later, a Mormon woman who was a child at the time of the massacre recalled hearing LDS women in St. George say both girls were raped before they were killed.

The many dozens of bodies were hastily dragged into gullies and other low lying spots, then lightly covered with surrounding material which was soon blown away by the weather, leaving the remains to be scavenged and scattered by wildlife. cite