Confessions of John D Lee / Mormonism Unveiled - John D Lee - Chapters 17-25
CHAPTER XVII.
LEE IS TREATED BADLY BY THE "BRETHREN."
I HAD brought home with me about all that my team could haul of supplies, clothing, groceries, etc., which soon made my family comfortable. I had met President Young and shaken hands with him, but had not made my report or delivered the money to him. The next morning the President called to see me, and notified me that the Council would meet nine o'clock at Dr. Richards', and for me to be there and make my report. He appeared greatly ashamed at the manner my family had been treated. I said:
"President Young, how does this compare with your promises to me, when I trusted all to you? I took my life in my hands and went into that Indian country, on that perilous trip, a distance of two thousand two hundred miles, through savage foes, to carry out your orders. I have found things as I feared they would be. When I started I asked you to care for my family, and you promised all that I asked of you. Now I see all my family exposed to the storm; they, of all the camp, are without houses. My best cattle have been butchered and eaten, but not by my family. The choice beef has been given to your favorites, and the refuse given to my wives and children. The President replied:
"Brother John, I am ashamed of the conduct of this people. I have mentioned the situation of your family several times, but the brethren did not feel like building houses for others until they had their own houses completed. I was intending this very day to call a meeting and have the brethren turn out and build houses for your family. Do not blame me, Brother John, for I have done the best that I could." Then putting his hand on my shoulder, he said: "Don't feel bad about it. You will live through, and the day will come when we can look back and see what we have endured for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake, and will rejoice that we have passed through it." Then he wound up by saying, "Lord bless you, Brother John. You can now begin and make your family more comfortable than nine-tenths of these people, for it does not take you long to put things in shape. Come, cheer, up, and you shall have $100 of the money for your services, and you can make a thousand out of it." But this, like all his other promises, fell to the ground, for I never got a cent of the money.
I met the Council, and made my report, and handed over the checks for the money sent home by the soldiers. I received blessings without end, but all of them to come in the future, and also on condition that I remained faithful to the end.
Allow me to jump from 1847 to 1877, just thirty years, and let the future tell my experience of that time, and what my prospects are to-day. As I said, my promised blessings were all to be received in the future, and that too upon condition that I remained faithful to the end. I was adopted by Brigham Young, and was to seek his temporal interests here, and in return he was to seek my spiritual salvation, I being an heir of his family, and was to share his blessings in common with his other heirs. True to my pledges, I have at all times tried to do his bidding. I have let him direct my energies in all things. And now the time has come for me to prepare to receive my reward. An offering must be made, and I must prepare the wood and build the altar; then, as Abraham of old did with his son Isaac, be placed upon the altar as the sacrifice. But the Lord, or Abraham, had a ram tied in the thicket, when the hand of the Lord stretched forth and staid the fatal blow. But I doubt whether my father Brigham has been as thoughtful as Abraham was, I think not; I must meet my fate without murmuring or complaining. I must tamely submit, and be true to the end. I must not speak a word against the Lord's anointed, for if I do, I must lose the blessings promised for all that I have done. If I endure firm to the end, I will receive the martyr's crown, and my son will represent me here on earth, and carry on my work for an eternal state. This, to me, appears to be a hard way to receive my pay. I would rather lose the debt, and begin anew, if I could. But it is now too late for escape from the fate that awaits me. It is said that experience teaches a dear school, and that fools will learn at no other. I fear that I have paid a little too much for mine.
My first duty was to build some comfortable houses for my family. Soon afterwards I was sent to St. Joseph to cash the checks and purchase some goods to supply the wants of the people. I was directed to purchase a lot of salt and potatoes from a Frenchman at Trading Point. I did so, and bought $300 worth on credit and sent them back to the settlement. I had to borrow the money from Mrs. Armstrong to pay the $300 debt. But she was afterwards sealed to me, and it was then all in the family, and I never asked Brigham Young for it and he never offered to pay it. He owes it to me yet. On that trip to St. Joseph I bought $1,500 worth of goods, such as were needed at the settlement. I advanced $700 of my own money and the remainder was from the money sent home by the Mormon Battalion. I took the goods back and we opened a store at winter quarters. A. P. Rockwood acted as chief clerk and salesman. We sold the goods at a great advance. What cost us seven cents at St. Joseph, we sold at sixty-five cents, and everything was sold at a similar profit. I kept the stock up during the Winter and did a good business. One drawback was this: many of the families of the men who were in the Mormon Battalion had no money, and we had to let them have goods on credit, but I had to stand the loss myself, for few of the men ever paid a dollar due me when they returned. Andrew Little was in the battalion, and at the request of Brigham Young I let his family have $258 worth of goods, and Brigham said I should have my money when Little returned, but I never got any of it. Little was also an adopted son of Brigham Young, and consequently did about as he pleased. James Pace, Thomas Woolsey, and a few others of the soldiers, paid me when they returned, for what I had advanced their families, but the majority never paid. When I returned from Santa Fe I found David Young, his wife and two daughters, lying sick and helpless; really in want. I took care of them and supplied them with food and such articles as they required, until the death of the father, mother and one son, which took place in a short time - a few months after my return home. I had baptized this family in Putnam County, Tennessee, and felt a great interest in them. The two girls were sealed to me while we staid at winter quarters, and became members of my family. They are both still living. By them I have three sons and three daughters. They were sealed to me in 1847. I was also sealed to Nancy Armstrong the same evening that I took the Young girls to wife. A few evenings afterwards I was sealed to Emmeline Woolsey. She was my thirteenth wife. Nancy Armstrong's maiden name was Gibbons. She was the wife of a wealthy merchant by the name of Armstrong, who owned a large establishment in Louisville, Kentucky, and another in Carlisle, Kentucky, at which places he did business as wholesale and retail dealer in dry goods. I became acquainted with the family at Carlisle, Overton County, Tennessee, while preaching there. The people of Carlisle were bitter enemies of the Mormon Church, and a mob threatened to tar and feather me one night, when Armstrong took me home with him and protected me. He was not a believer in any religion, but I always considered him a high-minded, honorable man. I afterwards stopped at the house often. His wife, and sister Sarah were believers in the Mormon faith, but as Mr. Armstrong was not, I advised his wife not to become a member of the Church, and refused to baptize her until such time as her husband would consent to it. Elder Smoot afterwards baptized Sarah Gibbons and Nancy Armstrong.
Brother Smoot had taken his wife with him on the mission, and she laid the plan to get Sarah to go to Nauvoo. A wagon was sent to take Sarah Gibbons' goods to Nauvoo, and in it Mrs. Armstrong sent her valuable clothing and jewelry, amounting to some two thousand dollars. She intended to join the Saints at the first chance. A few months after Sarah had gone Mrs. Armstrong got the consent of her husband that she might pay a visit to her sister and the Church at Nauvoo; he fitted her up in fine style, sending two serving maids to wait on her. Soon after she left home, the friends of Armstrong advised him to stop his slaves at St. Louis, if he wanted to keep them, for his wife would never return to him. Armstrong stopped the slaves, and his wife went on to Nauvoo, where she staid until the Saints left that place after the death of the Prophet. I am satisfied that Smoot laid the plan to get Mrs. Armstrong to Nauvoo, so he could be sealed to her and get her property. Sarah Gibbons was sealed to Elder Smoot, but Mrs. Armstrong would not consent to take him as her husband, but she lived in the family until she got disgusted with Smoot's cruel treatment of her sister. She loaned him nearly all her money and he never paid it back; he wanted the rest of it, but she refused to let him have it; he then refused to take her with him across the Plains. She told her griefs to my wife Rachel, and Rachel brought about the marriage between her and myself.
Mrs. Armstrong said to Rachel that I was the first man on earth to bring the gospel to her, and that she had always had a great regard for me since she first saw me, but that I appeared to treat her coldly. Rachel told her that I always spoke kindly of her, and that the reason I had not been more friendly, Was because I had thought she wanted to become a member of Brother Smoot's family; that she had heard me speak of her in terms of praise many times. Finally she came to my house and I asked her in the presence of my wives, if she wished to become a member of my family. She said she did. My wives advised me to be sealed to her, and as the matter was agreeable all round, I did so. Brigham Young sealed her and the Young girls to me. She was a true, affectionate woman. My whole family respected her. She was forty-eight years of age when she was sealed to me, and she was a true wife until her death. In all matters of this kind I tried to act from principle and not from passion. Yet I do not pretend to say that all such acts were directed by principle, for I know they were not. I am not blind to my own faults. I have been a proud, vain man, and in my younger days I thought I was perfection. In those days I did not almost make due allowance for the failings of the weaker vessels. I then expected perfection in all women. I know now that I was foolish in looking for that in anything human. I have, for slight offences, turned away good meaning young women that had been sealed to me and refused to hear their excuses, but sent them away heart-broken. In this I did wrong. I have regretted the same in sorrow for many years. Two of the young women so used, still have warm hearts for me, notwithstanding my unnatural conduct toward them. They were young and in the prime of life when I sent them from me. They have since married again, and are the mothers of nice families. They frequently send letters to comfort me in my troubles and afflictions, but their kind remembrances only serve to add to my self-reproach for my cruel treatment of them in past years. I banished them from me for less offences. than I had myself been guilty of. Should my history ever fall into the hands of Emmeline Woolsey or Folly Ann Workman, I wish them to know that, with my last breath, I ask God to pardon me for the wrong I did them, when I drove them from me, poor young girls as they were.
President Young built a grist mill during the Winter, and ground meal for the people, charging a heavy toll for all that the mill ground. In the Spring I was ordered to go out and preach, and raise thirty-three wagons and the mules and harness to draw them. I succeeded in getting thirty of the teams. Brigham Young told me to go again, that he asked for thirty- three teams, not for thirty. I went again, and preached so that I soon had the other teams. I then turned the whole outfit over to Brigham Young, so be could send his pioneers out to look up a new home for the Saints. I then offered to go with the company, but Brigham Young said:
" I cannot spare you; I can spare others better than you."
He then directed me to take my family and a company, and go and raise corn for the people. He said:
"I want you to take a company, with your family, and go up the river, and open up a farm, and raise grain and vegetables to feed the needy, and the soldiers' families, for we cannot depend on hauling our substance from Missouri, to feed so many as we have on our hands. I want so much grain raised that all will be supplied next Winter, for we must feed our animals grain if we wish them to cross the plains next Spring. There is an old military fort about eighteen miles above here, where the land was once farmed, and that land is in good condition for farming now. We will leave Father Morley in charge of the various settlements. Brother Heber C. Kimball will send some of his boys and make another farm this side of there."
Then turning to Father Morley, he said:
"I want John to take charge of the farming interests and the settlement, at my place, and you must counsel and advise with him from time to time. I want you and all the brethren to understand that the land nearest the settlement is to be divided between John and his wives, for they are all workers, and the others are to go further for their land."
I said that kind of an arrangement would not give satisfaction to the people, and that there were some of his adopted sons now jealous of me, and I feared the consequences, and preferred that the land be divided nearer equal.
He said, "Who are they that are jealous of you?"
I named several persons to him. In reply he said, naming a man, he would work all day under the shade of a tree. Another, he said, could work all day in a half-bushel. Then he said:
" Such men will do but little; let them go to some outside place for their land. I want those who will work to have the best land. Let each family have an acre near by for a garden and truck patch. And now, Father Morley, I want you to See that John and his family have all the cleared land that they can tend, for I know they will raise a good crop, and when it is raised we can all share it with him. I want a company to follow Brother Lee, about the first of May, when the grass is good, of such men as can fit themselves out comfortably. My brother, John Young, will lead them, and Jedde Grant will be the Captain."
Then he turned to me and said:
"Brother John D., I want you to fit my brother John out. If he needs oxen let him have them, and I will pay them back again; see that he gets a good outfit. When he leaves here Father Morley will take charge of the Church. I want the Brethren to do as John D. tells them; he carries a good influence wherever he goes; no evil reports follow him from his field of labor; all respect him, and that is good evidence to me that he carries himself straight."
I then settled up my business at the winter quarters. President Young was indebted to the firm $285; of course he had not the money to settle the account, and he was just starting to look out a resting place for the Saints. His first adopted son, A. P. Rockwood, our salesman, could not spare a dollar to help his Father, Brigham Young, so the loss of that sum of money fell on me.
I told my adopted father, Brigham Young, that he was welcome to the $285. Before he left for the new land of promise, he said to me,
"My son John, what shall I do for you?"
I said, "Select me an inheritance when you find the resting-place."
"I will remember you. May Heaven bless you. I bless you. Be a good boy. Keep an account of how each man, under your charge, occupies his time, while I am gone."
He then said I was to have half of all the improvements that were made, and half of the crop that was raised by the company that I fitted out with teams, seed and provisions. The pioneer company started April 1st, 1847. We moved to our new location, and called it Summer Quarters. We laid out a fort to protect us from the Indians, as they were troublesome. We then laid off our land. I found out that if I obeyed orders, it would require all the cleared land for my family, so I took and laid off three acres for each family - there were thirty-seven families - for gardens, and I took the balance. Although I had given each family three times as much land, for a garden and truck-patch, - as Brigham Young had ordered, still the people found a great deal of fault with me. Mrs. Armstrong had some money left, and she told me to take it, and send for supplies and seed-corn. I did take it, and sent four teams to Missouri for seed-corn and provisions, and then put all hands to work building the fort, putting the land in order for the crop, etc. About the first of May, thirty-eight warriors of the Oto tribe came to our camp. They were in full paint, and on the war-path. They came in on the yell, and at full speed. It was just after daylight; I was laying the foundation of a house when they came to me. I threw logs against them the same as if I did not see them, but most of the brethren kept out of sight. The Indians began to build a fire in my garden, and one of them raised his gun to shoot one of my oxen, which the boys were then driving up. The majority of the Indians then formed a half-circle, holding their bows fully sprung, and commenced a regular war dance. We were told not to shoot Indians, but to take sticks and whale them when they commenced any depredations. As the Indian took the leather-casing from his gun, so that he could shoot, I rushed at him with a heavy club, with the intention of knocking down as many of them as I could. I could speak their language some, so I told them I would kill them all if they shot my ox. They saw that I meant what I said. Then the two chiefs held out their hands, and yelled to the warrior not to shoot. He lowered his gun and returned to the crowd, but he was very angry. The other Indians seemed amazed, and stood as if they were paralyzed. Old man A. K. Knight followed me with a club, and stood by me all the time. Joseph Busby said:
"Hold on, Brother Lee, they out-number us."
"Out-number h-l," said I, "there are not Indians enough in their whole nation to make me stand by and see them shoot down my oxen before my eyes."
Busby then ran into the house to load my gun, but he was so frightened he could not get the powder in the gun, so my wife, Rachel, loaded it for him. I looked around to see how things were, and I saw seven of my wives standing with guns in their hands, ready to shoot if I was attacked.
I succeeded in driving the whole band of Indians away from the settlement.
Sometime after the Indians had gone away an old chief returned and brought an ax, that he said one of his braves had stolen. I gave him a little ammunition and some bread, and he left me as a friend. My firm stand saved the settlement at that time and secured it from molestation in the future. The Indians never bothered us at Summer Quarters again. In the Fall they made us a friendly visit, and called me a Sioux Captain. Near our settlement there was an abundance of wild game-deer, turkey, prairie chickens, ducks, geese, brant, squirrels, etc., which gave us much of our food during our stay there. We worked diligently and raised an abundant crop of corn and vegetables. We built good, comfortable houses, and made the floors and roofs of bass-wood, which was abundant, near by, and worked easily. In July the people were nearly all sick. The fever and plague were nearly a contagion. Other diseases were not uncommon. In August and September seventeen of our people died. During those months we had hardly a sufficient number of well people to attend to the sick. The most of my family were very sick. My little son, Heber John, the child of my first wife, Agatha Ann, died; also David Young, Sr., the father of my two wives, Polly and Louisa; also their brother, David Young, Jr. I also lay at the point of death for some time. I was in a trance about one hour and a half. While in this condition my wives, Rachel A. and Nancy G., stood over me like guardian angels, and prayed constantly for me. My spirit left the body and I was taken into another sphere, where I saw myriads of people - many of whom I was acquainted with and had known on earth. The atmosphere that they dwelt in was pure and hallowed. Pain and sorrow were unknown, or at least were not felt there. All was joy and peace. Each spirit was blest with all the pleasure its ability enabled it to comprehend and enjoy. They had full knowledge of the earthly doings and also of the sphere where they were so blest. The glory of God shone upon them, and the power of Heaven overshadowed them all, and was to them a perfect shield from all temptations and dangers. I was anxious to remain there, but the spirits told me that I must return to the body and remain in it until my appointed time for death - that my work on earth was not yet finished. I obeyed, but did so with great reluctance, and once more entered the body, then apparently lifeless upon the bed of sickness. After taking possession of the body again I lay some time in deep thought, contemplating the majesty of God's works. I then spoke to my faithful nurses, and told them of what I had done, heard and witnessed. I soon recovered from my sickness, but my life was for some time a misery to me. I longed to join that angelic host that I had so lately visited in their mansions of glory and pleasure, where I knew I was to go when I could escape from this body of earthly material. This feeling of anxiety to go to my eternal rest was greatly strengthened by the bitter, malignant actions of men who acted like demons toward me and mine. Every species of intrigue and meanness was resorted to by some of the brethren to injure and torment me. They were jealous of me and anxious to provoke me to violence. Everything that envy and hatred could suggest was tried, to break up and scatter my family. Finally they reported to Father Morley that nothing but a change of rulers in the settlement would bring peace again.
Father Morley came, with several Elders, and called a meeting, at which he heard all the parties state their grievances against me. He then told them that they had brought nothing against me that reflected upon me as presiding officer; that I had acted well and for the best interest of the entire people; that all the trouble was from the wrong acts of the people.
One of the brethren, C. Kennedy, proposed a change. He wanted a High Priest to preside instead of a Seventy. I was tired of my position and consented to the change. A man by the name of Fuller was selected by Kennedy to rule over the people. Father Morley put the question to a vote of the people, and said that all who wished for a change of rulers should hold up their hands. Only two hands were raised. Then he said that all who wished me to remain in charge should raise their hands, when every person present but two voted that I should still be the ruler of that people at Summer Quarters.
Father Morley then called upon the two brethren who voted against me to get up and tell what they had against me. They could give no good reason for wanting a change. They said they never lived by a better neighbor or kinder hearted man than I was, but that I was too kind; that I let the people run over me; that they voted for a change believing it would tend to unite the people and satisfy those who had been raising the fuss and finding fault.
Father Morley told them it was wrong to vote against a good man for such reasons. He then talked to the people on the principles of their religion for some time, and advised them to forsake their evil ways, for they were going in a way that led to hell, etc.
This ended my troubles for a short time, but I soon found out that my enemies had only let go their hold so they could spit on their hands and get a better one. They next asked to be allowed to organize a police force for the protection of the settlement. This was to be entirely separate from me. I granted their request. It was next decided to build an estray pound. A meeting was called and it was agreed that each man should build fence in proportion to the amount of stock that he owned, and that the public corral should be used for the estray pound. But no stock should be put into the pound until all the fencing was done, the gates set up, etc. I at once completed my fencing, but the grumblers had no time to work; they were kept busy finding fault. (This whole thing was a subterfuge to bother me; there was no need of a pound, as our cattle were all herded in day time and corralled at night. But I submitted, for I knew I could live by their laws as well as they could.) One evening soon after that, as the cattle were being driven up for the night, one of my oxen ran through a brush fence and got into a patch of corn. The herdsman ran him out in a moment. Instead of holding the herder responsible for the damage, or coming to me to make a complaint and demanding pay for the damage, they took my ox out of the corral, and, contrary to the vote of the people, took and tied him up to Wm. Pace's private corral. I was the only man there who had made his fence, as ordered by the meeting. I did not know that they had my ox tied up (for the work had not been done yet to justify putting any stock in the pound). Next morning I sent some of my boys out to yoke up my oxen, when they returned and informed me that one of my oxen was missing. I soon found the ox, and demanded its release. I was told I must pay $20 before I could have the ox, and that I must pay it in money. I saw this was done to worry me, so I sent word that I would pay in any kind of property that I had. They refused everything but money or butter. I had neither to spare, and they well knew it. I was still weak from my recent sickness, but I walked over and had a talk with Wm. pace and tried to reason with him, but all to no purpose. I told him he should take pay for damage done by stock in the kind of property that the stock injured, but no, I must pay money or butter, or lose my ox. I reflected a moment and concluded that forbearance had ceased to be a virtue; that unless I defended my rights I would soon be without anything worth protecting. I then walked into the yard and untied the ox, and told my boy to drive him home. Pace stood by the gate with a large cane, but made no resistance; in fact he was not a bad man, but was being misled by bad company. Kennedy, Busby, Dunn, and others, were a little way off. They saw me, and came running to me. Charles Kennedy was the bully of the camp, and the leader of those against me. He came up and said,
"If I had been here you would not have turned that ox out. I would have switched you if you had tried it."
I said, "Kennedy, I have lost property enough through the police without your oppressing me any more."
I had lost ten head of mules just before that by the dishonesty of the police. I then said I lost my mules by the failure of the police to do their duty, and I would not be imposed on in this way any more. He then shoved his fist under my nose. I parried his blow, and told him that he would do well to keep at a proper distance from me. He again made a pass at me. I then threw down my hat and said:
"If you attempt that again you must take what follows."
He came at me the third time, and as he did so I aimed to spoil his face, but he dropped his head as I struck, and the blow took effect on his eye-brow, and badly sprained my thumb. We were on a little knoll, full of the stumps of small trees that had been cut down. Kennedy caught hold of me and commenced shoving me back. I knew that my strength would not last long. I did not wish to risk having a tussle among the stumps. So I backed out towards the cleared ground. I fastened my left hand in his long black hair to steady myself, and as I reached the flat ground, I suddenly sprang back, breaking his hold, by tearing my shirt. I then jerked him forward to an angle of forty-five degrees, and planted my fist square in his face; stepping back, and drawing him after me, I kept gradually feeding him in the face with my fist, the blood spurting from him all over me. The crowd saw their bully getting the worst of it, so they ran in to help him. Brother Teeples caught me around the arms, to prevent me from striking any more. My Rachel, who was standing by, called to her brother, James Woolsey, and he came and took hold of Kennedy and separated us.
I was very sorry that this fight took place, for I was forced to admit that I had fearfully punished the bully, his face was badly bruised. This suited the people; I had shown violence, and now they could lay a charge against me that they thought would stand.
I was at once cited to appear before the High Council, and be dealt with according to the rules of the Church, for a breach of the peace and unchristian conduct. The whole people were not against me, only a few; but there were enough of them to keep up a constant broil. They then began consecrating my property to their own use; killed my cattle, and ate them, and stole nearly everything that was loose. They stole wheat from my graineries, had it ground and eat it, and bragged about it. Kennedy, by the evil influences he commanded, Induced my young wife, Emmeline, to leave me and go to his house and she went with his family to Winter Quarters. That was the reason that I turned her away and refused to take her back again. She repented and wished to come back, but I would not take her again. Similar influences were brought to bear on all of my family, but without much success. Such horrid treatment was not calculated to bind me to such a people, whose only aim appeared to be to deprive me of every comfort and enjoyment that made life endurable. I was in great trouble; in place of friends I had found enemies. There was a great struggle in my mind to decide what I should do. I looked upon those of my family that remained true and shared my persecutions, and knew that if I left the Church I could not keep and live with them; that if I left I must part with all but my first wife and her children - to do so was worse than death. I did not know what to do.
I finally appeared before the High Council to meet my accusers, who had formed a combination to destroy me. I had but few friends to defend me, and they were in a measure, powerless. They dared not speak their mind in my behalf. Father Morley was true to me to the last, though he was becoming unpopular on account of having so long supported me. Lieut. Samuel Gully was another true friend of mine; he said he would never turn against me until I had done something wrong, even if Brigham Young should desire him to do so. This at once lost him his influence in the Council. The most willful and damnable lies were brought up against me. Many things which had been said and done in moments of amusement and jocularity were brought as if I had said and done the things for wicked purposes. Everything that could be discovered or invented to injure me was laid to my charge. All who were against me had a full chance to talk. Then Aaron Johnson, who was there, but not as a member of the Council, was called upon to fill a vacancy occasioned by the absence of some member. He made a speech to the Council, and showed them where I had acted well; he then voted for my acquittal. James W. Cummings, who had been a member of the Council when I was first tried in the Summer, and who then took my part, now thought he would make himself popular with the people, so he volunteered his evidence and gave false evidence against me. This man's action was very wrong and uncharitable. I had been more than a brother to him in the past; I had supplied his family with food many times when they would have suffered but for the help I gave them. This man is still a pet of Brigham Young's. The result of that trial was that I was ordered to confess that I had been in fault, and that I was alone to blame, and must ask the people to forgive me. If I refused I was to be cut off from the Church. To a man in my situation it was equivalent to death to be cut off from the Church; my wives would be taken from me, my property consecrated to the Church, and I turned adrift, broken and disgraced, and liable to suffer death at the hand of any brother of the Church who wished to take my life, either to save my soul or for purposes of revenge.
I replied that in justice to myself I could not make such a confession, but that, if nothing else would do, I would say, as the Council demands me to say, I would make the confession. I was told that this would not do; that no whipping of the devil around a stump would do them; my confession must be full and unconditional. What the result would have been I cannot say, for just then a messenger returned, saying President Young was near at hand, on his return with the pioneers who had gone out with him to look for a resting place for the Saints. This stopped all further proceedings. The majority of the people rushed forth to meet Brigham Young.
I returned home, conscious of my own innocence and willing that the people should have the first show to talk to the President and give him their side of the case. I did this in part so could tell how much he could be stuffed. The people told their story and misrepresented me in every way; they told him how I had divided the land, and said that I and Father Morley both said that he had ordered me and my family to take the cleared land. This Brigham Young flatly denied, and he never told a meaner lie in his life than that one, for he had insisted upon my taking much more of it than I did. He accused Father Morley and myself of being liars.
After that there was nothing left undone by many of the people that would irritate or injure me or my family. My property was stolen, my fences broken down, and everything that mean men could imagine or work up by acting in combination in studying deviltry was done to make life a burden to me. I had raised over seven thousand bushels of corn, and every one had a good crop. I had a large lot filled up in the husk, and I let my cattle run to it so as to keep them fat during the Winter, that I might drive them over the plains in the Spring. The rotten-hearted police took advantage of my position, and drove my cattle from my own corn-pile and put them into the estray pound, and charged me fifty dollars for thus illegally putting my cattle in the pound. I offered to put all the corn I had into their hands as security, until I could have a meeting called to examine into the charge. I wanted my cows at home, for we needed the milk. I had a large family, and many little children that would suffer without milk. Half the men in the settlement offered to go my security for the payment of the fifty dollars, if a meeting decided that I should pay it; but all to no purpose. The police wanted the milk themselves, and so they kept my cows. I sent Lieutenant Gully to Brigham Young with a statement of the case, but he paid no attention to it. Gully was well acquainted with Brigham Young, and he was a fine man too. He insisted on giving Brigham the story in full, and demanded that he should go in person and see to the matter. But the President was immovable.
Things stood this way until Emmeline, one of Brigham's wives, took the matter to heart, and begged him to go and see about the affair, and asked him to bring her to my house, to visit her sister Louisa, then one of my wives. He came, but said little of the trouble, and soon left again.
Two days afterwards I wrote Brigham Young a kind letter, and invited him to come to my house and eat a turkey dinner with me. I sent this by L. Stewart. He met Brigham on his way to my house and gave him my letter. I did not expect he would come to see me, but he was there. He treated me most kindly. When supper-time came he said to one of my wives,
"Sister, I have come for a bowl of good milk, but skim the cream off."
She replied, "We have no milk."
"How is that? said he. "I thought Brother John always had milk."
I then told him that the police had my cows in the pound.
He said, "What on earth are they doing with your cows?"
I then told him the whole story in a few words. He scarcely waited to hear me, but called to his carriage driver, George D. Grant, and said,
"Come, George, I will go and see about this matter."
He returned quite soon, saying, "Your cows will soon be here, and I do not think the police will meddle with them again."
He then asked me where my turkey was. I told him my friend Kennedy had robbed me of all my turkeys, but perhaps I could borrow one from him. I then sent Brother Gully to ask Kennedy to loan me a couple of fat turkeys; that I had President Young at my house and wanted them for his supper. He sent back word that President Young was welcome to all the turkeys he wanted, at his house. I then told President Young I would go out hunting and get him a nice one for dinner the next day. I went out that night with Gully and hunted some time, but the snow was a foot deep or more, and a crust had frozen on the top of it, so it was difficult hunting. At last we found a large drove of turkeys at roost in the tall cottonwood timber. I shot two of them by star light; one fell in the river, and we lout it, but the other fell dead at the roots of the tree. This was a very large and fat turkey. I considered it would do, and we returned home with it. We had been gone only a little over an hour. Brigham Young staid at my house while I was gone. We sat by the fire and talked until near midnight. I unbosomed myself to him; I told him of all my ill treatment, and asked him if I had failed in any respect to perform the duties of my mission that he gave me before he started with the pioneers across the plains. I told him of the great crop we had raised; that we had it in abundance to feed the poor and for every purpose; so much in fact that there was no sale for it. He said,
"You have done well, and you shall be blessed for it."
I said I hoped my blessings would be different from what I had been receiving. He replied,
"Jesus has said, In this world you shall have tribulation, but in me you shall have peace - that is, if you bear these things patiently, without murmuring."
N0TE. - The time having arrived for John D. Lee to start to the place of execution, he laid down his pen and left his manuscript just as I have given it to the reader. Fate decreed that his Autobiography should be left in this unfinished state, but fortunately he had previously dictated a full confession to me, embracing all the principal events of his life from the time that his Autobiography closed up to his death; which, being added to his own manuscript, makes his life complete. The Confession is given just as he dictated it to me, without alteration or elimination, except in a few cases where the ends of justice might have been defeated by premature revelations.
Extracts from this Confession have heretofore been given to the press, but the entire Confession has not been published anywhere except in this book.
WM. W. BISHOP.
LAST CONFESSION AND STATEMENT OF
JOHN D. LEE.
CHAPTER XVIII
WRITTEN AT HIS DICTATION AND DELIVERED TO WILLIAM W. BISHOP,
ATTORNEY FOR LEE, WITH A REQUEST THAT THE
SAME BE PUBLISHED
AS A DUTY to myself, my family, and mankind at large, I propose to give a full and true statement of all that I know and all that I did in that unfortunate affair, which has cursed my existence, and made me a wanderer from place to place for the last nineteen years, and which is known to the world as the MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE.
I have no vindictive feeling against any one; no enemies to punish by this statement; and no friends to shield by keeping back, or longer keeping secret, any of the facts connected with the Massacre.
I believe that I must tell all that I do know, and tell everything just as the same transpired. I shall tell the truth and permit the public to judge who is most to blame for the crime that I am accused of committing. I did not act alone; I had many to assist me at the Mountain Meadows. I believe that most of those who were connected with the Massacre, and took part in the lamentable transaction that has blackened the character of all who were aiders or abettors in the same, were acting under the impression that they were performing a religious duty. I know all were acting under the orders and by the command of their Church leaders; and I firmly believe that the most of those who took part in the proceedings, considered it a religious duty to unquestioningly obey the orders which they had received. That they acted from a sense of duty to the Mormon Church, I never doubted. Believing that those with me acted from a sense of religious duty on that occasion, I have faithfully kept the secret of their guilt, and remained silent and true to the oath of secrecy which we took on the bloody field, for many long and bitter years. I have never betrayed those who acted with me and participated in the crime for which I am convicted, and for which I am to suffer death.
My attorneys, especially Wells Spicer and Wm. W. Bishop, have long tried, but tried in vain, to induce me to tell all I knew of the massacre and the causes which led to it. I have heretofore refused to tell the tale. Until the last few days I had in tended to die, if die I must, without giving one word to the public concerning those who joined willingly, or unwillingly, in the work of destruction at Mountain Meadows.
To hesitate longer, or to die in silence, would be unjust and cowardly. I will not keep the secret any longer as my own, but will tell all I know.
At the earnest request of a few remaining friends, and by the advice of Mr. Bishop, my counsel, who has defended me thus far with all his ability, notwithstanding my want of money with which to pay even his expenses while attending to my case, I have concluded to write facts as I know them to exist.
I cannot go before the Judge of the quick and the dead with out first revealing all that I know, as to what was done, who ordered me to do what I did do, and the motives that led to the commission of that unnatural and bloody deed.
The immediate orders for the killing of the emigrants came from those in authority at Cedar City. At the time of the massacre, I and those with me, acted by virtue of positive orders from Isaac C. Haight and his associates at Cedar City. Before I started on my mission to the Mountain Meadows, I was told by Isaac C. Haight that his orders to me were the result of full consultation with Colonel William H. Dame and all in authority. It is a new thing to me, if the massacre was not decided on by the head men of the Church, and it is a new thing for Mormons to condemn those who committed the deed.
Being forced to speak from memory alone, without the aid of my memorandum books, and not having time to correct the statements that I make, I will necessarily give many things out of their regular order. The superiority that I claim for my statement is this:
ALL THAT I DO SAY IS TRUE AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.
I will begin my statement by saying, I was born on the 6th day of September, A. D. 1812, in the town of Kaskaskia, Randolph County, State of Illinois. I am therefore in the sixty-fifth year of my age.
I joined the Mormon Church at Far West, Mo., about thirty-nine years ago. To be with that Church and people I left my home on Luck Creek, Fayette County, Illinois, and went and joined the Mormons in Missouri, before the troubles at Gallatin, Far West and other points, between the Missourians and Mormons. I shared the fate of my brother Mormons, in being mistreated, arrested, robbed and driven from Missouri in a destitute condition, by a wild and fanatical mob. But of all this I shall speak in my life, which I shall write for publication if I have time to do so.
I took an active part with the leading men at Nauvoo in building up that city. I induced many Saints to move to Nauvoo, for the sake of their souls. I traveled and preached the Mormon doctrine in many States. I was an honored man in the Church, and stood high with the Priesthood, until the last few years. I am now cut off from the Church for obeying the orders of my superiors, and doing so without asking questions--for doing as my religion and my religious teachers had taught me to do. I am now used by the Mormon Church as a scape-goat to carry the sins of that people. My life is to be taken, so that my death may stop further enquiry into the acts of the members who are still in good standing in the Church. Will my death satisfy the nation for all the crimes committed by Mormons, at the command of the Priesthood, who have used and now have deserted me? Time will tell. I believe in a just God, and I know the day will come when others must answer for their acts, as I have had to do.
I first became acquainted with Brigham Young when I went to Far West, Mo., to join the Church, in 1837. I got very intimately acquainted with all the great leaders of the Church. I was adopted by Brigham Young as one of his sons, and for many years I confess I looked upon him as an inspired and holy man. While in Nauvoo I took an active part in all that was done for the Church or the city. I had charge of the building of the "Seventy Hall;" I was 7th Policeman. My duty as a police man was to guard the residence and person of Joseph Smith, the Prophet. After the death of Joseph and Hyrum I was ordered to perform the same duty for Brigham Young. When Joseph Smith was a candidate for the Presidency of the United States I went to Kentucky as the chairman of the Board of Elders, or head of the delegation, to secure the vote of that State for him. When I returned to Nauvoo again I was General Clerk and Recorder for the Quorum of the Seventy. I was also head or Chief Clerk for the Church, and as such took an active part in organizing the Priesthood into the order of Seventy after the death of Joseph Smith.
After the destruction of Nauvoo, when the Mormons were driven from the State of Illinois, I again shared the fate of my brethren, and partook of the hardships and trials that befell them from that day up to the settlement of Salt Lake City, in the then wilderness of the nation. I presented Brigham Young with seventeen ox teams, fully equipped, when he started with the people from Winter Quarters to cross the plains to the new resting place of the Saints. He accepted them and said, "God bless you, John." But I never received a cent for them--I never wanted pay for them, for in giving property to Brigham Young I thought I was loaning it to the Lord.
After reaching Salt Lake City I stayed there but a short time, when I went to live at Cottonwood, where the mines were afterwards discovered by General Connor and his men during the late war.
I was just getting fixed to live there, when I was ordered to go out into the interior and aid in forming new settlements, and opening up the country. I then had no wish or desire, save that to know and be able to do the will of the Lord's anointed, Brigham Young, and until within the last few years I have never had a wish for anything else except to do his pleasure, since I became his adopted son. I believed it my duty to obey those in authority. I then believed that Brigham Young spoke by direction of the God of Heaven. I would have suffered death rather than have disobeyed any command of his. I had this feeling until he betrayed and deserted me. At the command of Brigham Young, I took one hundred and twenty-one men, went in a southern direction from Salt Lake City, and laid out and built up Parowan. George A. Smith was the leader and chief man in authority in that settlement. I acted under him as historian and clerk of the Iron County Mission, until January, 1851. I went with Brigham Young, and acted as a committee man, and located Provo, St. George, Fillmore, Parowan and other towns, and managed the location of many of the settlements in Southern Utah.
In 1852, I moved to Harmony, and built up that settlement. I remained there until the Indians declared war against the whites and drove the settlers into Cedar City and Parowan, for protection, in the year 1853.
I removed my then numerous family to Cedar City, where I was appointed a Captain of the militia, and commander of Cedar City Military Post.
I had commanded at Cedar City about one year, when I was ordered to return to Harmony, and build the Harmony Fort. This order, like all other orders, came from Brigham Young. When I returned to Harmony and commenced building the fort there, the orders were given by Brigham Young for the reorganization of the military at Cedar City. The old men were requested to resign their offices, and let younger men be appointed in their place. I resigned my office of Captain, but Isaac C. Haight and John M. Higbee refused to resign, and continued to hold on as Majors in the Iron Militia.
After returning to Harmony, I was President of the civil and local affairs, and Rufus Allen was President of that Stake of Zion, or head of the Church affairs.
I soon resigned my position as President of civil affairs, and became a private citizen, and was in no office for some time. In fact, I never held any position after that, except the office of Probate Judge of the County (which office I held before and after the massacre), and member of the Territorial Legislature, and Delegate to the Constitutional Convention which met and adopted a constitution for the State of Deseret, after the massacre.
I will here state that Brigham Young honored me in many ways after the affair at Mountain Meadows was fully reported to him by me, as I will more fully state hereafter in the course of what I have to relate concerning that unfortunate transaction.
Klingensmith, at my first trial, and White, at my last trial, swore falsely when they say that they met me near Cedar City, the Sunday before the massacre. They did not meet me as they have sworn, nor did they meet me at all on that occasion or on any similar occasion. I never had the conversations with them that they testify about. They are both perjurers, and bore false testimony against me.
There has never been a witness on the stand against me that has testified to the whole truth. Some have told part truth, while others lied clear through, but all of the witnesses who were at the massacre have tried to throw all the blame on me, and to protect the other men who took part in it.
About the 7th of September, 1857, I went to Cedar City from my home at Harmony, by order of President Haight. I did not know what he wanted of me, but he had ordered me to visit him and I obeyed. If I remember correctly, it was on Sunday evening that I went there. When I got to Cedar City, I met Isaac C. Haight on the public square of the town. Haight was then President of that Stake of Zion, and the highest man in the Mormon priesthood in that country, and next to Wm. H. Dame in all of Southern Utah, and as Lieutenant Colonel he was second to Dame in the command of the Iron Military District. The word and command of Isaac C. Haight were the law in Cedar City, at that time, and to disobey his orders was certain death; be they right or wrong, no Saint was permitted to question them, their duty was obedience or death.
When I met Haight, I asked him what he wanted with me. He said he wanted to have a long talk with me on private and particular business. We took some blankets and went over to the old Iron Works, and lay there that night, so that we could talk in private and in safety. After we got to the Iron Works, Haight told me all about the train of emigrants. He said (and I then believed every word that be spoke, for I believed it was an impossible thing for one so high in the Priesthood as he was, to be guilty of falsehood) that the emigrants were a rough and abusive set of men. That they had, while traveling through Utah, been very abusive to all the Mormons they met. That they had insulted, outraged, and ravished many of the Mormon women. That the abuses heaped upon the people by the emigrants during their trip from Provo to Cedar City, had been constant and shameful; that they had burned fences and destroyed growing crops; that at many points on the road they had poisoned the water, so that all people and stock that drank of the water became sick, and many had died from the effects of poison. That these vile Gentiles publicly proclaimed that they had the very pistol with which the Prophet, Joseph Smith, was murdered, and had threatened to kill Brigham Young and all of the Apostles. That when in Cedar City they said they would have friends in Utah who would hang Brigham Young by the neck until he was dead, before snow fell again in the Territory.. They also said that Johnston was coming, with his army, from the East, and they were going to return from California with soldiers, as soon as possible, and would then desolate the land, and kill every d--d Mormon man, woman and child that they could find in Utah. That they violated the ordinances of the town of Cedar, and had, by armed force, resisted the officers who tried to arrest them for violating the law. That after leaving Cedar City the emigrants camped by the company, or cooperative field, just below Cedar City, and burned a large portion of the fencing, leaving the crops open to the large herds of stock in the surrounding country. Also that they had given poisoned meat to the Corn Creek tribe of Indians, which had killed several of them, and their Chief, Konosh, was on the trail of the emigrants, and would soon attack them. All of these things, and much more of a like kind, Haight told me as we lay in the dark at the old Iron Works. I believed all that he said, and, thinking that he had full right to do all that he wanted to do, I was easily induced to follow his instructions.
Haight said that unless something was done to prevent it, the emigrants would carry out their threats and rob every one of the outlying settlements in the South, and that the whole Mormon people were liable to be butchered by the troops that the emigrants would bring back with them from California. I was then told that the Council had held a meeting that day, to consider the matter, and that it was decided by the authorities to arm the Indians, give them provisions and ammunition, and send them after the emigrants, and have the Indians give them a brush, and if they killed part or all of them, so much the better.
I said, "Brother Haight, who is your authority for acting in this way?"
He replied, "It is the will of all in authority. The emigrants have no pass from any one to go through the country, and they are liable to be killed as common enemies, for the country is at war now. No man has a right to go through this country without a written pass."
We lay there and talked much of the night, and during that time Haight gave me very full instructions what to do, and how to proceed in the whole affair. He said he had consulted with Colonel Dame, and every one agreed to let the Indians use up the whole train if they could. Haight then said:
"I expect you to carry out your orders."
I knew I had to obey or die. I had no wish to disobey, for I then thought that my superiors in the Church were the mouth pieces of Heaven, and that it was an act of godliness for me to obey any and all orders given by them to me, without my asking any questions.
My orders were to go home to Harmony, and see Carl Shirts, my son-in-law, an Indian interpreter, and send him to the Indians in the South, to notify them that the Mormons and Indians were at war with the "Mericats" (as the Indians called all whites that were not Mormons) and bring all the Southern Indians up and have them join with those from the North, so that their force would be sufficient to make a successful attack on the emigrants.
It was agreed that Haight would send Nephi Johnson, another Indian interpreter, to stir up all the other Indians that he could find, in order to have a large enough force of Indians to give the emigrants a good hush. He said, "These are the orders that have been agreed upon by the Council, and it is in accordance with the feelings of the entire people."
I asked him if it would not have been better to first send to Brigham Young for instructions, and find out what he thought about the matter.
"No," said Haight, "that is unnecessary, we are acting by orders. Some of the Indians are now on the war-path, and all of them must be sent out; all must go, so as to make the thing a success.
It was then intended that the Indians should kill the emigrants, and make it an Indian massacre, and not have any whites interfere with them. No whites were to be known in the matter, it was to be all done by the Indians, so that it could be laid to them, if any questions were ever asked about it. I said to Haight:
"You know what the Indians are. They will kill all the party, women and children, as well as the men, and you know we are sworn not to shed innocent blood."
"Oh h--l!" said he, "there will not be one drop of innocent blood shed, if every one of the d--d pack are killed, for they are the worse lot of out-laws and ruffians that I ever saw in my life."
We agreed upon the whole thing, how each one should act, and then left the iron works, and went to Haight's house and, got breakfast.
After breakfast I got ready to start, and Haight said to me:
"Go, Brother Lee, and see that the instructions of those in authority are obeyed, and as you are dutiful in this, so shall your reward be in the kingdom of God, for God will bless those who willingly obey counsel, and make all things fit for the people in these last days."
I left Cedar City for my home at Harmony, to carry out the instructions that I had received from my superior.
I then believed that he acted by the direct order and command of William H. Dame, and others even higher in authority than Colonel Dame. One reason for thinking so was from a talk I had only a few days before, with Apostle George A. Smith, and he had just then seen Haight, and talked with him, and I knew that George A. Smith never talked of things that Brigham Young had not talked over with him before-hand. Then the Mormons were at war with the United States, and the orders to the Mormons had been all the time to kill and waste away our enemies, but lose none of our people. These emigrants were from the section of country most hostile to our people, and I believed then as I do now, that it was the will of every true Mormon in Utah, at that time, that the enemies of the Church should be killed as fast as possible, and that as this lot of people had men amongst them that were supposed to have helped kill the Prophets in the Carthage jail, the killing of all of them would be keeping our oaths and avenging the blood of the Prophets.
In justice to myself I will give the facts of my talk with George A. Smith.
In the latter part of the month of August, 1857, about ten days before the company of Captain Fancher, who met their doom at Mountain Meadows, arrived at that place, General George A. Smith called on me at one of my homes at Washington City, Washington County, Utah Territory, and wished me to take him round by Fort Clara, via Pinto Settlements, to Hamilton Fort, or Cedar City. He said,
"I have been sent down here by the old Boss, Brigham Young, to Instruct the brethren of the different settlements not to sell any of their grain to our enemies. And to tell them not, to feed it to their animals, for it will all be needed by ourselves. I am also to instruct the brethren to prepare for a big fight, for the enemy is coming in large force to attempt our destruction. But Johnston's army will not be allowed to approach our settlements from the east. God is on our side and will fight our battles for us, and deliver our enemies into our hands. Brigham Young has received revelations from God, giving him the right and the power to call down the curse of God on all our enemies who attempt to invade our Territory. Our greatest danger lies in the people of California--a class of reckless miners who are strangers to God and his righteousness. They are likely to come upon us from the south and destroy the small settlements. But we will try and outwit them before we suffer much damage. The people of the United States who oppose our Church and people are a mob, from the President down, and as such it is impossible for their armies to prevail against the Saints who have gathered here in the mountains."
He continued this kind of talk for some hours to me and my friends who were with me.
General George A. Smith held high rank as a military leader. He was one of the twelve apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and as such he was considered by me to be an inspired man. His orders were to me sacred commands, which I considered it my duty to obey, without question or hesitation.
I took my horses and carriage and drove with him to either Hamilton Fort or Cedar City, visiting the settlements with him, as he had requested. I did not go to hear him preach at any of our stopping places, nor did I pay attention to what he said to the leaders in the settlements.
The day we left Fort Clara, which was then the headquarters of the Indian missionaries under the presidency of Jacob Hamblin, we stopped to noon at the Clara River. While there the Indians gathered around us in large numbers, and were quite saucy and impudent. Their chiefs asked me where I was going and who I had with me. I told them that he was a big captain.
"Is he, a Mericat Captain?"
"No," I said, "he is a Mormon."
The Indians then wanted to know more. They wanted to have a talk.
The General told me to tell the Indians that the Mormons were their friends, and that the Americans were their enemies, and the enemies of the Mormons, too; that he wanted the Indians to remain the fast friends of the Mormons, for the Mormons were all friends to the Indians; that the Americans had a large army just east of the mountains, and intended to come over the mountains into Utah and kill all of the Mormons and Indians in Utah Territory; that the Indians must get ready and keep ready for war against all of the Americans, and keep friendly with the Mormons and obey what the Mormons told them to do--that this was the will of the Great Spirit; that if the Indians were true to the Mormons and would help them against their enemies, then the Mormons would always keep them from want and sickness and give them guns and ammunition to hunt and kill game with, and would also help the Indians against their enemies when they went into war.
This talk pleased the Indians, and they agreed to all that I asked them to do.
I saw that my friend Smith was a little nervous and fearful of the Indians, notwithstanding their promises of friendship. To relieve him of his anxiety I hitched up and started on our way, as soon as I could do so without rousing the suspicions of the Indians.
We had ridden along about a mile or so when General Smith said,
"Those are savage looking fellows. I think they would make it lively for an emigrant train if one should come this way."
I said I thought they would attack any train that would come in their way. Then the General was in a deep study for some time, when he said,
"Suppose an emigrant train should come along through this southern country, making threats against our people and bragging of the part they took in helping kill our Prophets, what do you think the brethren would do with them? Would they be permitted to go their way, or would the brethren pitch into them and give them a good drubbing?"
I reflected a few moments, and then said,
"You know the brethren are now under the influence of the late reformation, and are still red-hot for the gospel. The brethren believe the government wishes to destroy them. I really believe that any train of emigrants that may come through here will be attacked, and. probably all destroyed. I am sure they would be wiped out if they had been making threats again our people. Unless emigrants have a pass from Brigham Young, or some one in authority, they will certainly never get safely through this country."
My reply pleased him very much, and he laughed heartily, and then said,
"Do you really believe the brethren would make it lively for such a train?"
I said, "Yes, sir, I know they will, unless they are protected by a pass, and I wish to inform you that unless you want every train captured that comes through here, you must inform Governor Young that if he wants emigrants to pass, without being molested, he must send orders to that effect to Colonel Wm. H. Dame or Major Isaac C. Haight, so that they can give passes to the emigrants, for their passes will insure safety, but nothing else will, except the positive orders of Governor Young, as the people are all bitter against the Gentiles, and full of religious zeal, and anxious to avenge the blood of the Prophets."
GEORGE A. SMITH.
The only reply he made was to the effect that on his way down from Salt Lake City he had had a long talk with Major Haight on the same subject, and that Haight had assured him, and given him to understand, that emigrants who came along without a pass from Governor Young could not escape from the Territory.
We then rode along in silence for some distance, when he again turned to me and said,
"Brother Lee, I am satisfied that the brethren are under the full influence of the reformation, and I believe they will do just as you say they will with the wicked emigrants that come through the country making threats and abusing our people."
I repeated my views to him, but at much greater length, giving my reasons in full for thinking that Governor Young should give orders to protect all the emigrants that he did not wish destroyed. I went into a full statement of the wrongs of our people, and told him that the people were under the blaze of the reformation, full of wild fire and fanaticism, and that to shed the blood of those who would dare to speak against the Mormon Church or its leaders, they would consider doing the will of God, and that the people would do it as willingly and cheerfully as they would any other duty. That the apostle Paul, when he started forth to persecute the followers of Christ, was not any more sincere than every Mormon was then, who lived in Southern Utah.
My words served to cheer up the General very much; he was greatly delighted, and said,
"I am glad to hear so good an account of our people. God will bless them for all that they do to build up His Kingdom in the last days."
General Smith did not say one word to me or intimate to me, that he wished any emigrants to pass in safety through the Territory. But he led me to believe then, as I believe now, that he did want, and expected every emigrant to be killed that undertook to pass through the Territory while we were at war with the Government. I thought it was his mission to prepare the people for the bloody work.
I have always believed, since that day, that General George A. Smith was then visiting Southern Utah to prepare the people for the work of exterminating Captain Fancher's train of emigrants, and I now believe that he was sent for that purpose by the direct command of Brigham Young.
I have been told by Joseph Wood, Thomas T. Willis, and many others, that they heard George A. Smith preach at Cedar City during that trip, and that he told the people of Cedar City that the emigrant's were coming, and he told them that they must not sell that company any grain or provisions of any kind, for they were a mob of villains and outlaws, and the enemies of God and the Mormon people.
Sidney Littlefield, of Panguitch, has told me that he was knowing to the fact of Colonel Wm. H. Dame sending orders from Parowan to Maj. Haight, at Cedar City, to exterminate the Fancher outfit, and to kill every emigrant without fail. Littlefield then lived at Parowan, and Dame was the Presiding Bishop. Dame still has all the wives he wants, and is a great friend of Brigham Young.
The knowledge of how George A. Smith felt toward the emigrants, and his telling me that he had a long talk with Haight on the subject, made me certain that it was the wish of the Church authorities that Francher and his train should be wiped out, and knowing all this, I did not doubt then, and I do not doubt it now, either, that Haight was acting by full authority from the Church leaders, and that the orders he gave to me were just the orders that he had been directed to give, when he ordered me to raise the Indians and have them attack the emigrants.
I acted through the whole matter in a way that I considered it my religious duty to act, and if what I did was a crime, it was a crime of the Mormon Church, and not a crime for which I feel individually responsible.
I must here state that Klingensmith was not in Cedar City that Sunday night. Haight said he had sent Klingensmith and others over towards Pinto, and around there, to stir up the Indians and force them to attack the emigrants.
On my way from Cedar City to my home at Harmony, I came up with a large band of Indians under Moquetas and Big Bill, two Cedar City Chiefs; they were in their war paint, and fully equipped for battle. They halted when I came up and said they had had a big talk with Haight, Higby and Klingensmith, and had got orders from them to follow up the emigrants and kill them all, and take their property as the spoil of their enemies.
These Indians wanted me to go with them and command their forces. I told them that I could not go with them that evening, that I had orders from Haight, the big Captain, to send other Indians on the war-path to help them kill the emigrants, and that I must attend to that first; that I wanted them to go on near where the emigrants were and camp until the other Indians joined them; that I would meet them the next day and lead them.
This satisfied them, but they wanted me to send my little Indian boy, Clem, with them. After some time I consented to let Clem go with them, and I returned home.
When I got home I told Carl Shirts what the orders were that Haight had sent to him. Carl was naturally cowardly and was not willing to go, but I told him the orders must be obeyed. He then started off that night, or early next morning, to stir up the Indians of the South, and lead them against the emigrants. The emigrants were then camped at Mountain Meadows.
The Indians did not obey my instructions. They met, several hundred strong, at the Meadows, and attacked the emigrants Tuesday morning, just before daylight, and at the first fire, as I afterwards learned, they killed seven and wounded sixteen of the emigrants. The latter fought bravely, and repulsed the Indians, killing some of them and breaking the knees of two war chiefs, who afterwards died.
The news of the battle was carried all over the country by Indian runners, and the excitement was great in all the small settlements. I was notified of what had taken place, early Tuesday morning, by an Indian who came to my house and gave me a full account of all that had been done. The Indian said it was the wish of all the Indians that I should lead them, and that I must go back with him to the camp.
I started at once, and by taking the Indian trail over the mountain, I reached the camp in about twelve miles from Harmony. To go round by the wagon road it would have been between forty and fifty miles.
When I reached the camp I found the Indians in a frenzy of excitement. They threatened to kill me unless I agreed to lead them against the emigrants, and help them kill them. They also said they had been told that they could kill the emigrants without danger to themselves, but they had lost some of their braves, and others were wounded, and unless they could kill all the "Mericats," as they called them, they would declare war against the Mormons and kill every one in the settlements.
I did as well as I could under the circumstances. I was the only white man there, with a wild and excited band of several hundred Indians. I tried to persuade them that all would be well, that I was their friend and would see that they bad their revenge, if I found out that they were entitled to revenge.
My talk only served to increase their excitement, and being afraid that they would kill me if I undertook to leave them, and I would not lead them against the emigrants, so I told them that I would go south and meet their friends, and hurry them up to help them. I intended to put a stop to the carnage if I had the power, for I believed that the emigrants had been sufficiently punished for what they had done, and I felt then, and always have felt that such wholesale murdering was wrong.
At first the Indians would not consent for me to leave them, but they finally said I might go and meet their friends.
I then got on my horse and left the Meadows, and went south.
I had gone about sixteen miles, when I met Carl Shirts with about one hundred Indians, and a number of Mormons from the southern settlements. They were going to the scene of the conflict. How they learned of the emigrants being at the Meadows I never knew, but they did know it, and were there fully armed, and determined to obey orders.
Amongst those that I remember to have met there, were Samuel Knight, Oscar Hamblin, William Young, Carl Shirts, Harrison Pearce, James Pearce, John W. Clark, William Slade, Sr., James Matthews, Dudley Leavitt, William Hawley, (now a resident of Fillmore, Utah Territory,) William Slade, Jr., and two others whose names I have forgotten. I think they were George W. Adair and John Hawley. I know they were at the Meadows at the time of the massacre, and I think I met them that night south of the Meadows, with Samuel Knight and the others.
The whites camped there that night with me, but most of the Indians rushed on to their friends at the camp on the Meadows.
I reported to the whites all that had taken place at the Meadows, but none of them were surprised in the least. They all seemed to know that the attack was to be made, and all about it. I spent one of the most miserable nights there that I ever passed in my life. I spent much of the night in tears and at prayer. I wrestled with God for wisdom to guide me. I asked for some sign, some evidence that would satisfy me that my mission was of Heaven, but I got no satisfaction from my God.
In the morning we all agreed to go on together to Mountain Meadows, and camp there, and then send a messenger to Haight, giving him full instructions of what had been done, and to ask him for further instructions. We knew that the original plan was for the Indians to do all the work, and the whites to do nothing, only to stay back and plan for them, and encourage them to do the work. Now we knew the Indians could not do the work, and we were in a sad fix.
I did not then know that a messenger had been sent to Brigham Young for instructions. Haight had not mentioned it to me. I now think that James Haslem was sent to Brigham Young, as a sharp play on the part of the authorities to protect themselves, if trouble ever grew out of the matter.
We went to the Meadows and camped at the springs, about half a mile from the emigrant camp. There was a larger number of Indians there then, fully three hundred, and I think as many as four hundred of them. The two Chiefs who were shot in the knee were in a bad fix. The Indians had killed a number of the emigrants' horses, and about sixty or seventy head of cattle were lying dead on the Meadows, which the Indians bad killed for spite and revenge.
Our company killed a small beef for dinner, and after eating a hearty meal of it we held a council and decided to send a messenger to Haight. I said to the messenger, who was either Edwards or Adair, (I cannot now remember which it was), "Tell Haight, for my sake, for the people's sake, for God's sake, send me help to protect and save these emigrants, and pacify the Indians."
The messenger started for Cedar City, from our camp on the Meadows, about 2 o'clock P. M.
We all staid on the field, and I tried to quiet and pacify the Indians, by telling them that I had sent to Haight, the Big Captain, for orders, and when he sent his order I would know what to do. This appeared to satisfy the Indians, for said they,
"The Big Captain will send you word to kill all the Mericats."
Along toward evening the Indians again attacked the emigrants. This was Wednesday. I heard the report of their guns, and the screams of the women and children in the corral.
This was more than I could stand. So I ran with William Young and John Mangum, to where the Indians were, to stop the fight. While on the way to them they fired a volley, and three balls from their guns cut my clothing. One ball went through my hat and cut my hair on the side of my head. One ball went through my shirt and leaded my shoulder, the other cut my pants across my bowels. I thought this was rather warm work, but I kept on until I reached the place where the Indians were in force. When I got to them, I told them the Great Spirit would be mad at them if they killed the women and children. I talked to them some time, and cried with sorrow when I saw that I could not pacify the savages.
CHAPTER XIX.
CONFESSION CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED, MARCH 16, 1877, SEVEN
DAYS PRIOR TO HIS EXECUTION
COLONEL DAME then blest the brethren and we prepared to go to our homes. I took my little Indian boy, Clem, on the horse behind me, and started home. I crossed the mountains and returned the same way I had come.
When I got in about two miles of Harmony, I overtook a body of about forty Indians, on their way home from the massacre. They had a large amount of bloody clothing, and were driving several head of cattle that they had taken from the emigrants.
The Indians were very glad to see me, and said I was their Captain, and that they were going to Harmony with me as my men. It was the orders from the Church authorities to do everything we could to pacify the Indians, and make them the fast friends of the Mormons, so I concluded to humor them.
I started on and they marched after me until we reached the fort at Harmony. We went into the fort and marched round inside, after which they halted and gave their whoop of victory, which means much the same with them as the cheers do with the whites. I then ordered the Indians to be fed; my family gave them some bread and melons, which they ate, and then they left me and went to their tribe.
I will here state again that on the field, before and after the massacre, and again at the council at the emigrant camp, the day after the massacre, orders were given to keep everything secret, and if any man told the secret to any human being, he was to be killed, and I assert as a fact that if any man had told it then, or for many years afterwards, he would have died, for some "Destroying Angel" would have followed his trail and sent him over the "rim of the basin."
From that day to this it has been the understanding with all concerned in that massacre, that the man who divulged the secret should die; he was to be killed, wherever he was found, for treason to the men who killed the emigrants, and for his treason to the Church. No man was at liberty to tell his wife, or any one else, nor were the brethren permitted to talk of it even among themselves. Such were the orders and instructions, from Brigham Young down to the lowest in authority. The orders to lay it all to the Indians, were just as positive as they were to keep it all secret. This was the counsel from all in authority, and for years it was faithfully observed.
The children that were saved were taken to Cedar City, and other settlements, and put out among different families, where they were kept until they were given up to Dr. Forney, the Agent of the United States, who came for them.
I did not have anything to do with the property taken from the emigrants, or the cattle, or anything else, for some three months after the massacre, and then I only took charge of the cattle because I was ordered to do so by Brigham Young.
There were eighteen wagons in all at the emigrant camp. They were all wooden axles but one, and that was a light iron axle; it had been hauled by four mules. There were something over five hundred head of cattle, but I never got the half of them. The Indians killed a large number at the time of the massacre, and drove others to their tribes when they went home from Mountain Meadows. Kingensmith put the Church brand on fifty head or more, of the best of the cattle, and then he and Haight and Higbee drove the cattle to Salt Lake City and sold them for goods that they brought back to Cedar City to trade on.
The Indians got about twenty head of horses and mules. Samuel Knight, one of the witnesses on my trial, got a large sorrel mare; Haight got a span of average American mules; Joel White got a fine mare; Higbee got a good large mule; Klingensmith got a span of mules. Haight, Higbee and Allen each took a wagon. The people all took what they wanted, and they had divided and used up much over half of it before I was put in charge.
The first time I heard that a messenger had been sent to Brigham Young for instructions as to what should be done with the emigrants, was three or four days after I had returned home from the Meadows. Then I heard of it from Isaac C. Haight, when he came to my house and had a talk with me. He said:
"We are all in a muddle. Haslem has returned from Salt Lake City, with orders from Brigham Young to let the emigrants pass in safety."
In this conversation Haight also said:
"I sent an order to Highee to save the emigrants, after I had sent the orders for killing them all, but for some reason the message did not reach him. I understand the messenger did not go to the Meadows at all."
I at once saw that we were in a bad fix, and I asked Haight what was to be done. We talked the matter over again.
Haight then told me that it was the orders of the Council that I should go to Salt Lake City and lay the whole matter before Brigham Young. I asked him if he was not going to write a report of it to the Governor, as he was the right man to do it, for he was in command of the militia in that section of country, and next to Dame in command of the whole district. I told him that it was a matter which really belonged to the military department, and should be so reported.
He refused to write a report, saying:
"You can report it better than I could write it. You are like a ember of Brigham's family, and can talk to him privately and confidentially. I want you to take all of it on yourself that you can, and not expose any more of the brethren than you find absolutely necessary. Do this, Brother Lee, as I order you to do, and you shall receive a celestial reward for it, and the time will come when all who acted with us will be glad for the part they have taken, for the time is near at hand when the Saints are to enjoy the riches of the earth. And all who deny the faith and doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints shall be slain--the sword of vengeance shall shed their blood; their wealth shall be given as a spoil to our people."
At that time I believed everything he said, and I fully expected to receive the celestial reward that he promised me. But now I say, Damn all such "celestial rewards" as I am to get for what I did on that fatal day.
It was then preached every Sunday to the people that the Mormons were to conquer the earth at once, and the people all thought that the millennium had come, and that Christ's reign upon earth would soon begin, as an accomplished fact.
According to the orders of Isaac C. Haight, I started for Salt Lake City to report the whole facts connected with the massacre, to Brigham Young. I started about a week or ten days after the massacre, and I was on the way about ten days. When I arrived in the city I went to the President's house and gave to Brigham Young a full, detailed statement of the whole affair, from first to last--only I took rather more on myself than I had done.
He asked me if I had brought a letter from Haight, with his report of the affair. I said:
"'No, Haight wished me to make a verbal report of it, as I was an eye witness to much of it."
I then went over the whole affair and gave him as full a statement as it was possible for me to give. I described everything about it. I told him of the orders Haight first gave me. I told him everything. I told him that "Brother McMurdy, Brother Knight and myself killed the wounded men in the wagons, with the assistance of the Indians. We killed six wounded men."
He asked me many questions, and I told him every particular, and everything that I knew. I described everything very fully. I told him what I had said against killing the women and children.
Brigham then said:
"Isaac (referring to Haight) has sent me word that if they had killed every man, woman and child in the outfit, there would not have been a drop of innocent blood shed by the brethren: for they were a set of murderers, robbers and thieves."
While I was still talking with him, some men came into his house to see him, so he requested me to keep quiet until they left. I did as he directed.
As soon as the men went out, I continued my recital. I gave him the names of every man that had been present at the massacre. I told him who killed various ones. In fact I gave him all the information there was to give.
When I finished talking about the matter, he said:
"This is the most unfortunate affair that ever befell the Church. I am afraid of treachery among the brethren that were there. If any one tells this thing so that it will become public, it will work us great injury. I want you to understand now, that you are never to tell this again, not even to Heber C. Kimball. It must be kept a secret among ourselves. When you get home, I want you to sit down and write a long letter, and give me an account of the affair, charging it to the Indians. You sign the letter as Farmer to the Indians, and direct it to me as Indian Agent. I can then make use of such a letter to keep off all damaging and troublesome enquiries."
I told him that I would write the letter. (I kept my word; but, as an evidence of his treachery, that same letter that he ordered me to write, he has given to Attorney Howard, and he has introduced it in evidence against me on my trial.)
Brigham Young knew when he got that letter just as well as I did, that it was not a true letter, and that it was only written according to his orders to throw the public off of the right trail. He knew that it was written simply to cast all the blame on the Indians, and to protect the brethren. In writing that letter I was still obeying my orders and earning that Celestial reward that had been promised to me.
He then said, "If only men had been killed, I would not have cared so much; but the killing of the women and children is the sin of it. I suppose the men were a hard set, but it is hard to kill women and children for the sins of the men. This whole thing stands before me like a horrid vision. I must have time to reflect upon it."
He then told me to withdraw and call next day, and he would give me an answer. I said to him,
"President Young, the people all felt, and I know that I believed I was obeying orders, and acting for the good of the Church, and in strict conformity with the oaths that we have all taken to avenge the blood of the Prophets. You must either sustain the people for what they have done, or you most release us from the oaths and obligations that we have taken."
The only reply he made was,
"Go now, and come in the morning, and I will give you an answer."
I went to see him again in the morning. When I went in, he seemed quite cheerful. He said,
"I have made that matter a subject of prayer. I went right to God with it, and asked Him to take the horrid vision from my sight, if it was a righteous thingthat my people had done in killing those people at the Mountain Meadows. God answered me, and at once the vision was removed. I have evidence from God that He has overruled it all for good, and the action was a righteous one and well intended.
"The brethren acted from pure motives. The only trouble is they acted a little prematurely; they were a little ahead of time. I sustain you and all of the brethren for what they did. All that I fear is treachery on the part of some one who took a with you, but we will look to that."
I was again cautioned and commanded to keep the whole thing as a sacred secret, and again told to write the report as Indian Farmer, laying the blame on the Indians. That ended our interview, and I left him, and soon started for my home at Harmony.
Brigham Young was then satisfied with the purity of my motives in acting as I had done at the Mountain Meadows. Now he is doing all he can against me, but I know it is nothing but cowardice that has made him turn against me as he has at last.
When I reported my interview with Young to Haight, and gave him Brigham's answer, he was well pleased; he said that I had done well. He again enjoined secrecy, and said it must never be told.
I remember a circumstance that Haight then related to me about Dan McFarland. He said:
"Dan will make a bully warrior."
I said, "Why do you think so?"
"Well," said he, "Dan came to me and said, 'You must get me another knife, because the one I have got has no good stuff in it, for the edge turned when I cut a fellow's throat that day at the Meadows. I caught one of the devils that was trying to get away, and when I cut his throat it took all the edge off of my knife.' I tell you that boy will make a bully warrior."
I said, "Haight, I don't believe you have any conscience."
He laughed, and said, "Conscience be d--d, I don't know what the word means."
I thought over the matter, and made up my mind to write the letter to Brigham Young and lay it all to the Indians, so as to get the matter off of my mind. I then wrote the letter that has been used in the trial. It was as follows:
LETTER OF JOHN D. LEE TO BRIGHAM YOUNG.
HARMONY, WASHINGTON Co., U. T.,
November 20th, 1857. }
To His Excellency, Gov. B. Young, Ex-Officio and Superintendent of Indian Affairs:
DEAR SIR: My report under date May 11th, 1857, relative to the Indians over whom I have charge as farmer, showed a friendly relation between them and the whites, which doubtless would have continued to increase had not the white mans been the first aggressor, as was the case with Capt. Fancher's company of emigrants, passing through to California about the middle of September last, on Corn Creek, fifteen miles south of Fillmore City, Millard County. The company there poisoned the meat of an ox, which they gave the Pah Vant Indians to eat, causing four of them to die immediately, besides poisoning a number more. The company also poisoned the water where they encamped, killing the cattle of the settlers. This unguided policy, planned in wickedness by this company, raised the ire of the Indians, which soon spread through the southern tribes, firing them up with revenge till blood was in their path, and as the breach, according to their tradition, was a national one, consequently any portion of the nation was liable to atone for that offense.
About the 22d of September, Capt. Fancher and company fell victims to their wrath, near Mountain Meadows; their cattle and horses were shot down in every direction, their wagons and property mostly committed to the flames. Had they been the only ones that suffered we would have less cause of complaint. But the following company of near the same size had many of their men shot down near Beaver City, and had it not been for the interposition of the citizens at that place, the whole company would have been massacred by the enraged Pah Vants. From this place they were protected by military force, by order of Col. W. H. Dame, through the Territory, beside. providing the company with interpreters, to help them through to the Los Vaagus. On the Muddy, some three to five hundred Indians attacked the company, while traveling, and drove off several hundred head of cattle, telling the company that if they fired a single gun that they would kill every soul. The interpreters tried to regain the stock, or a portion of them, by presents, but in vain. The Indians told them to mind their own business, or their lives would not be safe. Since that occurrence no company has been able to pass without some of our interpreters to talk and explain matters to the Indians.
Friendly feelings yet remain between the natives and settlers and I have no hesitancy in saying that it will increase so long as we treat them kindly, and deal honestly toward them. I have been blest in my labors the last year. Much grain has been raised for the Indians.
I herewith furnish you the account of W. H. Dame, of Parowan, for cattle, wagons, etc.
From the above report you will see that the wants of the Natives have increased commensurate with their experience and practice in the art of agriculture.
With sentiments of high consideration,
I am your humble servant,
JOHN D. LEE,
Farmer to Pah Utes Indians.
Gov. B. Young, Ex-officio and Superintendent of Indian affairs.
I forwarded that letter, and thought I had managed the affair nicely.
I put in the expense account of $2,220, just to show off, and help Brigham Young to get something from the Government. It was the way his Indian farmers all did. I never gave the Indians one of the articles named in the letter. No one of the men mentioned had ever furnished such articles to the Indians, but I did it this way for safety. Brigham Young never spent a dollar on the Indians in Utah, while he was Indian Agent. The only money he ever spent on the Indians was when we were at war with them. Then they cost us some money, but not much.
Brigham Young, well knowing that I wrote that letter just for the protection of the brethren, used it to make up his report to the Government about his acts as Indian Agent. I obeyed his orders in this, as I did the orders of Haight at the Mountain Meadows, and I am now getting my pay for my falsehood. I acted conscientiously in the whole matter, and have nothing to blame myself for, except being so silly as to allow myself to be duped by the cowardly wretches who are now seeking safety by hunting me to the death.
The following winter I was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, that met in Salt Lake City to form a constitution, preparatory to the application of Utah for admission into the Union. I attended during the entire session, and was often in company with Brigham Young at his house and elsewhere, and he treated me all the time with great kindness and consideration.
At the close of the session of the Convention, I was directed by Brigham Young to take charge of all the cattle, and other property taken from the emigrants, and take care of it for the Indians. I did as I was ordered. When I got home I gathered up about two hundred head of cattle, and put my brand on them, and I gave them to the Indians, as they needed them, or rather when they demanded them. I did that until all of the emigrant cattle were gone.
This thing of taking care of that property was an unfortunate thing for me, for when the Indians wanted beef, they thought they owned everything with my brand on it. So much so, that I long since quit branding my stock. I preferred taking chances of leaving them unbranded, for every thing with my brand on was certain to be taken by the Indians. I know that it has been reported that the emigrants were very rich. That is a mistake. Their only wealth consisted in cattle and their teams. The people were comfortably dressed in Kentucky jean, and lindsey, but they had no fine clothing that I ever saw.
They had but few watches. I never owned or carried one of the watches taken from the emigrants in my life, or had anything to do with any of their property, except to take care or the cattle for the Indians, as ordered to do by Brigham Young, as I have before stated in this confession.
There is another falsehood generally believed in Utah, especially among the Mormons. It is this. It has generally been reported that Brigham Young was anxious to help Judge Cradlebaugh arrest all the guilty parties. There is not one word of truth in the whole statement. Brigham Young knew the name of every man that was in any way implicated in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He knew just as much about it as I did, except that he did not see it, as I had seen it.
If Brigham Young had wanted one man, or fifty men, or five hundred men arrested, all he would have had to do would have been to say so, and they would have been arrested instantly. There was no escape for them if he ordered their arrest. Every man who knows anything of affairs in Utah at that time knows this is so.
It is true that Brigham made a great parade at the time, and talked a great deal about bringing the guilty parties to Justice, but he did not mean a word of it--not a word. He did go South with Cradlebaugh, but he took good care that Cradlebaugh caught no person that had been in the massacre.
I know that I had plenty of notice of their coming, and so did all the brethren. It was one of Brigham Young's cunning dodges to blind the government. That this is true I can prove by the statement of what he did at Cedar City while out on his trip with Judge Cradlebaugh to investigate the matter and arrest (?) the guilty parties.
Judge Cradelbaugh and his men were working like faithful men to find out all about it, but they did not learn very much. True, they got on the right track, but could not learn it all, for Brigham Young was along to see that they did not learn the facts.
While at Cedar City, Brigham preached one night, but none of the Judge's party heard him. In his sermon, when speaking of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, he said:
"Do you know who those people were that were killed at the Mountain Meadows? I will tell you who those people were. They were fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins and children of those who killed the Saints, and drove them from Missouri, and afterwards killed our Prophets in Carthage jail. These children that the government has made such a stir about, were gathered up by the government and carried back to Missouri, to St. Louis, and letters were sent to their relatives to come and take them; but their relations wrote back that they did not want them--that they were the children of thieves, outlaws and murderers, and they would not take them, they did not wish anything to do with them, and would not have them around their houses. Those children are now in the poor house in St. Louis. And yet after all this, I am told that there are many of the brethren who are willing to inform upon and swear against the brethren who were engaged in that affair. I hope there is no truth in this report. I hope there is no such person here, under the sound of my voice. But if there is, I will tell you my opinion of you, and the fact so far as your fate is concerned. Unless you repent at once of that unholy intention, and keep the secret of all that you know, you will die a dog's death, and be damned, and go to hell. I do not want to hear of any more treachery among my people."
These words of Brigham Young gave great comfort to all of us who were out in the woods keeping out of the way of the officers. It insured our safety and took away our fears.
There has been all sorts of reports circulated about me, and the bigger the lie that was told the more readily it was believed.
I have told in this statement just what I did at the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The evidence of Jacob Hamblin is false in toto. Hamblin lied in every particular, so far as his evidence related to me.
It is my fate to die for what I did; but I go to my death with a certainty that it cannot be worse than my life has been for the last nineteen years.
FACTS THAT I KNOW TO BE FACTS.
As I have been in some respects a prominent man in the Mormon Church, the public may expect from me a statement of facts concerning other crimes and other things besides the Mountain Meadows Massacre. I do know some facts that I will state.
I could give many things that would throw light on the doings of the Church, if I had my journals, but as I said, nearly all of my journals have been made way with by Brigham Young; at least I delivered them to him and never could get them again.
I have delivered to my Counsel, Wm. W. Bishop, such journals as I have, and shall leave the one that I am now keeping in prison, when I am released by death from the necessity of writing down my thoughts from day to day, and he can make such use of it as he thinks best.
My statement of outside matters must be brief, but such as they are, the public can rest certain of this thing, they are true.
As many people think that Brigham Young cut me off from the Church, and refused to recognize me a short time after the massacre, I will relate a circumstance that took place ten years after all the facts were known by him.
In 1867 or 1868, I met President Brigham Young and suite, at Parowan, seventy miles from Washington, the place where a part of my family resided. Lieut. James Pace was with me. The Prophet said to me, that he wanted uncle Jim Pace to go with me and prepare dinner for him and his suite at Washington, within three days. We were to go by my herd on the plains and in the valleys, and take several fat kids along and have a good dinner for them by the time they got there.
His will was our pleasure. We rode night and day, and felt thankful that we were worthy of the honor of serving the Prophet of the Living God. We did not consider the toil or loss of sleep a sacrifice, in such a laudable undertaking.
The time designated for dinner was one o'clock. The company arrived at eleven o'clock, two hours ahead of time. The Prophet drove up in front of Bishop Covington's house, on the same block where I lived; he halted about five minutes there, instead of driving direct to my house according to the previous arrangement. Then he turned his carriage around and got out with Amelia, his beloved, and went into the Bishop's house, leaving his suite standing in the streets. The peevish old man felt his dignity trampled on, because I was not present to the minute to receive him with an escort, to welcome and do homage to him upon entering the town.
As soon as I learned of his arrival I hastened to make apologies.
The Prophet heard my excuses, and said his family and brethren, all except himself and wife, could go to my house to dinner, that he would not eat until about two o'clock.
He then whispered to me and said, "Cut me a chunk off the breast of the turkey, and a piece of the loin of one of the fat kids, and put some rich gravy over it, and I will eat it at 2 P.M."
At two o'clock I again made his will my pleasure, and carried his dinner to him as requested, when he did me the honor of eating it. The rest of the company went to my house and took dinner.
Among my guests that day were George A. Smith, Bishop Hunter, John Taylor, W. Woodruff, several of the Prophet's sons and daughters, and many others. At dinner, George A. Smith and others of the Twelve Apostles laughed about the anger of Brigham, and said if the Old Boss had not got miffed, they would have lost the pleasure of eating the fat turkey. The party enjoyed themselves very much that day, and had many a laugh over the Prophet's anger robbing him of an excellent dinner.
I had part of my family at Washington, but I also had quite a family still living at Harmony, where several of my wives were staying.
The next morning the Prophet came to me and asked me if I was going to Harmony that night. I told him I did intend going.
"I wish you would go," said he, "and prepare dinner for us."
He then gave me full instructions what to prepare for dinner, and how he wanted his meat cooked, and said the company would be at my house in Harmony the next day at one o'clock, P. M.
I at once proceeded to obey his instructions. I rode to Harmony through a hard rain-storm, and I confess I was proud of my position. I then esteemed it a great honor to have the privilege of entertaining the greatest man living, the Prophet of the Lord.
My entire family at Harmony were up all night, cooking and making ready to feed and serve the Lord's anointed, and his followers.
I killed beeves, sheep, goats, turkeys geese, ducks and chickens, all of which were prepared according to instructions, and were eaten by Brigham Young and his party the next day.
Prompt to time, the Prophet, the President of the Church and his suite, and an escort on horseback, came into the Fort. There were seventy-three carriages, besides the escort. I entertained the entire party, giving them dinner, supper and breakfast.
In 1858 Governor Young called upon me to go and locate a company of cotton growers, of which Joseph Ham was captain. This company was sent out by Governor Young and the leading men of Salt Lake City, to test the growing of cotton on the Santa Clara and Rio Virgin bottoms. In obedience to counsel, I located the company at the mouth of the Santa Clara River, about four miles south from where St. George now stands.
In 1859 or 1860, the first trip that ex-Gov. Young took from Salt Lake City to Southern Utah, he went by way of Pinto, Mountain Meadows, Santa Clara and Washington. I was then at Washington, building a grist mill, some two miles west of the town, when he came along.
I was sitting on a rock about thirty steps from the road. His carriage was in the lead, as was usual with him when traveling. When he came opposite where I was sitting, he halted and called me to his carriage, and bid me get in, I did so. He seemed glad to see me, and asked where I lived. I told him I lived on the same block that Bishop Covington did, that he would pass my door in going to the Bishop's, as I then thought he would put up with the Bishop, and not with a private person.
In crossing the creek, on the way into town, the sand was heavy. I went to jump out and walk. He objected, saying,
"Sit still. You are of more value than horse-flesh yet."
When we neared my residence, he said:
"Is this where you live, John?"
I said, "It is," pointing at the same time to the east end of the block, and said, "That is where the Bishop lives."
The old man made no reply, but continued on. Then he said,
"You have a nice place here. I have a notion to stop with you."
I said, "You are always welcome to my house."
Then he said to the company, which consisted, I think, of seventy-three carriages, "Some of you had better scatter round among the brethren."
About half the company did so. The rest, with the Prophet, stayed at my house.
The next day, the whole company went on to Tokerville, twenty miles from my residence. I went with them to that place. In the evening all went to St. George, and held a two-days' meeting. At the close of the meeting, the Prophet called me to the stand, and said,
"John, I will be at New Harmony on Wednesday next." (By way of explanation, I will here say, the town of Harmony changed its location three times. The first fort was built at the crossing of the north fork of Ash Creek, in 1852, and was abandoned in 1853, during the war with the Ute Indians. In 1855, a new site was selected, four miles north-west of Harmony No. 1, and an adobe fort was built two hundred feet square, and twenty-two feet high. In 1860, Harmony No. 2 was demolished by a rain-storm, which continued twenty-eight days without stopping. At once after that, a site was selected at the head of Ash Creek, where a new settlement was started, which was called New Harmony.) "I want you to go and notify the Saints, and have a Bowery built, and prepare for our reception."
Jas. H. Imday was then President of that place, and was at the meeting. I here again tried to make the will of the Prophet my pleasure. I traveled all night, and reported the orders of the Prophet to the people.
Great preparations were made for his reception. A committee of arrangements was appointed, also a committee to wait on his Honor. Also an escort of fifteen men was selected to accompany this committee. They went out fifteen miles, where they met the Prophet and his followers and made a report of proceedings. He thanked them, and said, "I am going to stop with Brother John D.," as he often called me. I took no part in the proceedings except to report the will of the Prophet to the people. I went on horseback alone, and met the President, as he is now called. I met him a mile or more outside of the town. As I rode up he halted and said,
"John, I am going to stop with you."
I replied, "You know you are always welcome."
He then drove to the center of the town and halted; then he said,
"John, where do you live?"
I pointed across the field about half a mile.
Said he, "Have they fenced you out? You take the lead, and we will break a road to your house."
It being his will, we started and went to my house, sixteen carriages going along with us. Quite a number of the President's company had gone by Kanab, to Cedar City, to hold meetings in the settlements they would go through. The arrangements of the committee were treated with indifference, if not contempt by the President and his party. All the company but one carriage went to my house, that one stopped at James Pace's. During their stay at my house all were friendly. Brigham Young asked me to go with them to Cedar City, which I did.
In 1870, sometime in the Fall, I went from Parowan, by way of Panguich, up the Severe River with Brigham Young, on a trip to the Pareah country. On this trip I was appointed a road commissioner, with ten men to go ahead, view out and prepare the road for the President and his company to travel over.
While at Upper Kanab, I had a private interview with the Prophet, concerning my future destination. Brigham said he thought I had met with opposition and hardships enough to entitle me to have rest the balance of my life. That I had best leave Harmony, and settle in some of those good places farther South; build up a home and gather strength around me, and after a while we would cross over into Arizona Territory, near the San Francisco Mountains, and there establish the order of Enoch, or United Order. We were to take a portable steam saw mill to cut lumber with which to build up the Southern settlements, and I was to run the mill in connection with Bishop L. Stewart. This I then considered an additional honor shown me by the Prophet.
From Upper Kanab, I was sent across the mountains to Lower Kanab, to Bishop Stewart's, to have him carry supplies to the Prophet and company. I had to travel sixty miles without a trail, but I was glad of a chance to perform any duty that would please the Prophet. I again met the company, and went with the party to Tokerville, where I closed arrangements with President Young about the saw mill. All was understood and agreed upon, and we parted in a very friendly manner.
About two weeks after leaving President Young and party at Tokerville, I was notified that I had been suspended from the Church.
The following Spring, I visited the Prophet at St. George, and asked him why they had dealt so rashly with me, without allowing me a chance to speak for myself; why they had waited seventeen years and then cut me off; why I was not cut off at once if what I had done was evil.
He replied, "I never knew the facts until lately."
I said, "President Young, you know that is not true. You know I told the whole story to you a short time after it happened, and gave you a full statement of everything connected with the massacre, and I then put more on myself than I was to blame for; and if your late informants have told you a story different from the one that I gave you soon after the massacre, when I reported the facts to you by order of Major Haight, they have lied like h--l, and you know it. I did nothing designedly wrong on that occasion. I tried to save that company from destruction after they were attacked, but I was overruled and forced to do all that I did do. I have had my name cast out as evil, but I know I have a reward awaiting me in Heaven. I have suffered in silence, and have done so to protect the brethren who committed the deed. I have borne the imputation of this crime long enough, and demand a rehearing. I demand that all the parties concerned be brought forward and forced by you to shoulder their own sins. I am willing to bear mine, but I will not submit to carry all the blame for those who committed the massacre.
The reply he made was this:
"Be a man, and not a baby. I am your friend, and not your enemy. You shall have a rehearing. Go up to the office and see Brother Erastus Snow, and arrange the time for the hearing."
I did so. We arranged the time of meeting. It was agreed that if the telegraph wires were working, all parties interested were to be notified of the meeting, and required to be present at St. George, Utah, on the following Wednesday, at 2, P. M.
All parties agreed to this, and after talking over the whole thing, I again parted with President Young, in a very friendly manner.
I went to Washington and stayed at my house and with my family there. The next morning I started for Harmony, to visit my family there, and make arrangements for the rehearing that was to me of the greatest of importance. I then considered that if I was cut off from the Church I had better be dead; that out of the Church I could find no joys worth living for.
Soon after I left Washington, Erastus Snow, one of the twelve apostles, arrived at my house and asked for me. My family told him that I had gone to Harmony to arrange for the new hearing and trial before the Church authorities. He appeared to be much disappointed at not meeting me, and told my family that Brigham Young had reconsidered the matter, and there would be no rehearing or investigation; that the order cutting me off from the Church would stand; that he would send a letter to me which would explain all the matter, and that the letter would reach Harmony about as soon as I did.
On the next Tuesday night an anonymous letter was left at my house by one of the sons of Erastus Snow, with orders to hand it to me. The letter read as follows:
"JOHN D. LEE, of Washington:
"Dear Sir: If you will consult your own interest, and that of those that would be your friends, you will not press an investigation at this time, as it will only serve to implicate those that would be your friends, and cause them to suffer with, or inform upon you. Our advice is to make yourself scarce, and keep out of the way."
There was no signature to the letter, but I knew it came from apostle Snow, and was written by orders of Brigham Young.
When I read the letter I knew I had nothing to hope for from the Church, and my grief was as great as I could bear. To add to my troubles, Brigham Young sent word to my wives that they were all divorced from me and could leave me, if they wished to, do so. This was the greatest trouble that I ever had in my life, for I loved all my wives.
As the result of Brigham's advice, eleven of my wives deserted me, and have never lived with me since that time. I gave them all a fair share of the property that I then owned. I afterwards lost my large ferry-boat at my ferry on the Colorado River. Brigham Young was anxious to have the ferry kept in good condition for passing the river, for he did not know what hour he might need it, so he sent parties who put in another boat, which I afterwards paid him for.
I visited Brigham Young at his house in St. George in 1874, and never was received in a more friendly manner. He could always appear the saint when he was meditating treachery to one of his people. He then promised to restore me to membership in a short time.
Soon afterwards I was arrested (on or about the 9th of November, 1874), and taken to Fort Cameron, in Beaver County, Utah Territory, and placed in prison there. A few days after my arrest I was visited in prison by General George A. Smith, Orson Hyde, Erastus Snow, A. F. McDonald, and many other leaders of the Church. They each and all told me to stand to my integrity, and all would come out right in the end.
At this time the Prophet was stopping with Bishop Murdock, in Beaver City. My wife Rachel went at night to see him and have a talk about my case. He received her with the utmost kindness, saying:
"Sister Rachel, are you standing by Brother John?"
"Yes, sir, I am," was her reply.
"That is right," said he. "God bless you for it. Tell Brother John to stand to his integrity to the end, and not a hair of his head shall be harmed."
This kindness was continued by the Churchmen until I was released on bail, in May, 1875.
And I will here say, I did not believe, until I was released on bail, that any member of the Church would desert me. I had every confidence that Brigham Young would save me at last. I knew then, as I know now, that he had the power, and I thought he had the will, to save me harmless. No man can be convicted in Utah if Brigham Young determines to save him, and I had his solemn word that I should not suffer. But now, when it is too late for me to help myself, I find I am selected by him as a victim to be offered up to keep the Gentiles from prosecuting any of his pets for murder or other crimes.
When I gained my freedom after nearly two years of imprisonment, I found that some of the good Saints had been tampering with my wife Emma, to get the ferry out of my hands. The "One-Eyed Pirate," as the Tribune calls him, told her that I was not a brother in the Church, and had tried to alienate her affections from me. Up to this time I had always tried to make the will of the Priesthood my pleasure, but this last act of their kindness towards a brother who had been in prison for nearly two years, began to shake my faith in the anointed of the Lord.
The loss of the ferry--for I virtually lost control of it by their treachery--was a great blow to me in my destitute condition. I then felt that the time was near approaching when they would sacrifice and sell me to screen their pets and cover up their own sins.
When I came before the court, on the 11th day of September, 1876, I was met with the same hypocritical smile and whisper, as on other occasions, and told to "Stand to your integrity. Let the will of the Lord's anointed be your pleasure. My mouth is sealed, but I know you will come out all right."
So they talked to me, the leaders of the Church and its prominent men, all telling me the same thing, while at the same time those low, deceitful, treacherous, cowardly, dastardly sycophants and serfs had combined to fasten the rope around my neck. No doubt they thought they could lull me to sleep, until they could kill and make a scape-goat of me, to atone for the sins of the whole Church, which fully endorsed this treacherous treatment, as has been established by the oaths given by the false, treacherous, sneaking witnesses who came on the stand by order and command of the Church, to consummate the vile scheme formed for my destruction.
This last act of their charitable kindness let me out with them. All that I have made by making their will my pleasure, and yielding myself to their wishes, is the loss of my reputation, my fortune, my near and dear supposed friends, my salvation, and my all. My life now hangs on a single thread.
But is there no help for the widow's son? I can no longer expect help from the Church, or those of the Mormon faith. If I escape execution, it will be through the clemency of the nation, many of whose noble sons will dislike to see me sacrificed in this way. I acknowledge that I have been slow to listen to the advice of friends, who have warned me of the danger and treachery that awaited me. Yet I ask pardon for all the ingratitude with which I received their advice. When the people consider that I was ever taught to look upon treachery with horror, and that I have never permitted one nerve or fibre of this old frame to weaken or give way, notwithstanding the fact that I have been cut loose, and cast off and sacrificed by those who from their own stand-point, and according to their own theory, should have stood by me to the last, they may have some compassion for me. Perhaps all is for the best.
As it now stands, I feel free from all the obligations that have hitherto sealed my mouth, so far as the deeds of which I stand accused are concerned. I now consider myself at liberty to, and I now will state all the facts in the case, with which I am familiar. I am no traitor; I am only acting just to my own reputation. I am not sorry for the stand which I have taken, or my long silence.
THE TRUTH ABOUT "DIRTY FINGERED JAKE" HAMBLIN
AND THE ACTS OF SOME GOOD SAINTS.
Jacob Hamblin, commonly called "Dirty Fingered Jake," when called as a witness, gave as a reason for his long silence, concerning what he says I told him, that he was waiting for the right time to come, and he thought it had come now.
This reminds me of a circumstance that was related by Joseph Knight and John Lay, who were missionaries to the Indians under President Jacob Hamblin, at his headquarters at Santa Clara Fort, in 1859. In the Fall of 1859 two young men, on their way to California, stopped at the fort to recruit their jaded animals, and expecting that while doing so they might be so fortunate as to meet with some train of people going to the same place, so they would have company to San Bernardino, the young men staid at the fort some two months, daily expecting a company to pass that way, but still no one came. Hamblin assured them that they could go through the country with perfect safety. At the same time he had his plans laid to take their lives as soon as they started. The Indians around the fort wanted to kill the men at once, but Hamblin objected, and told the Indians to wait until the men got out on the desert--that if they would wait until the right time came they might then kill the men.
At last these young men started from the fort. Hamblin had told the Indians that the right time had come, and that he wanted the Indians to ambush themselves at a point agreed on near the desert, where the men could be safely killed. The Indians obeyed Hamblin's orders, and as the men came to the place of ambush the Indians fired upon them, and succeeded in killing one of the men. The other returned the fire, and shot one of Hamblin's right-hand men or pet Indians through the hand; this Indian's name was Queets, which means left-handed. By wounding this Indian he managed to escape, and returned to the fort, but doing so with the loss of the pack animals, provisions and the riding animal of his partner that lay dead upon the desert. The survivor stayed with Mr. Judd for a few days, when a company of emigrants passed that way, and with them he succeeded in making his escape from the death that Hamblin had planned for him.
CHAPTER XX.
ARREST OF JOHN D. LEE BY WM. STROKES, DEPUTY UNITED STATES
MARSHAL.
WISHING to give a correct account of the arrest of John D. Lee, by William Stokes, Deputy United States Marshal for the District of Utah, I wrote a letter to Mr. Stokes, on the 28th day of March, 1877, asking him to give the full facts, as many contradictory statements relating thereto had been in general circulation. The following letter was written by Mr. Stokes, and I know from the general character of the writer that the same is true in every particular. I give the letter in the language of the writer. It explains itself:
UNITED STATES MARSHAL'S OFFICE, DISTRICT OF UTAH,
BEAVER CITY, UTAH, April 1st, 1877.
WM. W. BISHOP, Pioche, Nevada:
My Dear Sir: Yours of the 28th of March at hand and contents noted. As requested, I send you all the facts of the arrest of John D. Lee, from the time the warrants were placed in my hands until I arrested him and brought him to Beaver City. I tell it in my own way, and you can use it as you see proper.
About the first of October, 1874, warrants were placed in my hands for the arrest of Lee, Haight, Higbee, Stewart, Wilden, Adair, Klingensmith and Jukes (the warrant for the arrest of Dame not being placed in my hands at that time.) I received instructions from General George R. Maxwell, United States Marshal for the District of Utah, that Lee was the most important one of all those indicted, and that he wanted him arrested first, if possible, but that it was a dangerous undertaking, for he was satisfied by what he could learn that he would never be taken alive. He wanted me to take him alive, if possible, but not at too great a risk; that he did not want to give me any plan of operations or particular instructions how to act, as he believed that I knew more about that kind of business than he did, and that he did not wish to give any officer under him any plans when he was sure, as he was in this case, that it would belaying a plan to have one of his own officers killed.
I took the case in hand, thinking at that time that I would have to go to Lee's place on the Colorado River. I was arranging for that trip.
On the 28th day of October, 1874, I started south from Beaver City, to summon jurors for the November term of the District Court for the Second Judicial District of Utah Territory, to be held at Beaver City. I also intended to procure a guide, if I could do so, and go to the Colorado River to make the arrest.
When I reached Parowan I learned that it was currently reported that Lee had come from the Colorado River, and was then in the southern counties of Utah. He was supposed to be at Harmony, because it was known that he had some accounts due him there, which he was then probably collecting, in the shape of provisions, to take back with him to the river.
I at once started on again, on my way south, determined to attempt to arrest him at Harmony, and to do so alone, for I did not know where reliable aid could be had. I considered there was no time to loge, and that I was taking no more chances to attempt the arrest alone than I would be taking if I found him at the Colorado River, at his stronghold, even if backed by a strong force.
On my way I met Thomas Winn. I told him what I was intending to do. I told him I was going to arrest Lee. Winn said he considered it almost madness, as it was reported that several of Lee's eons were with him, and all well armed. He kindly volunteered to go with me and take even chances.
We finally decided that he should go to Iron City and get help, as there were then several men there that we could depend on. He was to get these men and be at Harmony by daylight on the morning of the 30th of October. I was to go to Harmony and get there soon after dark the night of the 29th of October, and make the arrest, if I thought I could do so and get away in safety in the cover of the night. If not, I was to find out where he was, and wait for assistance.
When I got to Hamilton's Fort, eight miles south of Cedar City, I learned that Lee had left Harmony and gone back to the Colorado River, by the way of Toquerville, and was then several days ahead of me. I then sent a boy out on the Iron City road to stop Winn and send him back.
I proceeded on my way and summoned my jurors. I could hear nothing of Lee in the southern country. On my way back I stopped at Thomas Winn's house, and got him to go over on the Sevier River, to see if Lee had not gone by the way of Panguitch, and stopped there to lay in more supplies.
Winn started on the 5th day of November, and took Franklin R. Fish with him. They pretended to be looking for stock. They were to report to me at Parowan, on the night of the 7th of November. I returned to Beaver City, and made my returns.
On the morning of November 7th, I started for Parowan to meet my men, Winn and Fish.
That same day Brigham Young went from Beaver to Parowan. He passed me near the Buck Horn Springs. I have no doubt but that he thought I was there to assassinate him, for he had four of the best fighting men of Beaver City with him as a guard. They were armed with Henry rifles, and as they came up to me, the guard rode between me and their beloved Prophet's carriage; but they had no reason for alarm. Brigham Young was not the man that I was after at that time.
I met Winn and Fish at Red Creek. As they were coming out of Little Creek Canyon, Winn remarked:
"Your man is there!"
I was very much surprised, as I had but little hope of finding Lee nearer than the Colorado River, but I found he was at the town of Panguitch, and was liable to leave at any time.
As the men had found that Lee had made every thing ready for a start, we rode on to Parowan, where I arranged my plan of action. Fish was to go back over the mountains to Panguitch that night, with instructions to come out and meet us, in case Lee should start away from Panguitch; otherwise he was to remain there and have Lee located, so that he could guide us to where he was, when we should arrive the next morning. I was to start back toward Beaver City on Sunday morning, the 8th day of November. I was to go on in that way until I had passed Red Creek settlement, and then go up Little Creek Canyon. The others who were to go as my assistants, were Thomas Winn, Thomas LaFever, Samuel G. Rodgers and David Evans, (Franklin U. Fish having gone the night before.) They were to go into the mountains in different places, and all to meet near Thompson's Mill on Little Creek.
We followed this plan, and met at the mill. We then went over the mountains towards Panguitch.
WILLIAM STOKES.
(The Dep'y U. S. Marshall who arrested Lee.)
The snow on the way would average fully two feet in depth, and the night was very cold. We stopped at a place about three miles from Fanguitch for the night. I then sent David Evans into Panguitch to see Franklin B. Fish, and find out it all was right, and then he was to report to us before daylight next morning, when we got near the town. Long before daylight we saddled our horses and started on, for the night was bitter cold. We had no blankets with us, and dared not build much fire, for fear it would alarm Lee and notify him or his friends that we were there. We reached the place where David Evans was to meet us, some time before daylight; he was not there. We waited until after the sun was up, but still Evans did not come. Then thinking that my plans had been found out in some way, and that my two men, Fish and Evans, were captured, and more than likely blood atoned, I concluded to act quickly and effectually.
We mounted our horses and dashed into the town at full speed. We found Evans, and learned that Fish had not been able to locate Lee, but knew that he was in town. I then ordered my men to go to different parts of the town, and to keep a good look-out, and not to let any wagon go out of town until they had searched the wagon. I enquired of the citizens about Lee, but could learn nothing from them about him. Some said they never knew him, others that they never heard of such a man, had not even heard the name. The citizens soon came crowding around in disagreeable numbers. I saw I must resort to strategy, or I and my friends were in danger; so in order to disperse the crowd, I took out my book and pencil and took down the names of those around me. I then summoned them to assist me in finding and arresting John D. Lee. They each and all had some excuse, but I refused to excuse any of them and ordered them to go and get their arms and come back and aid me. This worked well, for in less than five minutes there was not a Mormon to be seen on the streets of Panguitch. About this time I rode near Thomas Winn, when he said,
"I believe I have Lee spotted. I asked a little boy where Lee's wife lived, and he showed me the house."
This was something to work on. I then rode around to the house that Winn had pointed out to me. As I turned the street corner, I saw a woman looking into a log pen, and when she saw me, she turned back towards the house, then turned and walked back to the pen, and appeared to be talking to some one in the pen. She seemed to be very much excited. I rode by the house and around the lot, and while doing so I saw a little girl go out and look into the pen for a little while; she then took up a handful of straw and went back into the house. I, like Winn, was then satisfied that Lee was in that pen. I then told Winn to keep the place in sight, but not appear to be watching it, while I was getting ready to search for Lee. I soon afterwards met Samuel Lee. I took down his name and ordered him to assist me in searching for and arresting John D. Lee.
"John D. Lee is my father, sir," said he.
I told him it made no difference to me if he was his grandmother, that I was going to search the house and wanted him with me.
He said be was going down to the threshing machine to see his brother Al, and started off.
I drew my revolver and told him to stop.
He walked right along, looking back over his shoulder at me all the time. I then spurred my horse and went in front of him. He said,
"You can shoot and be d-d. I am not heeled, but I am going down to see my brother Al."
While we were talking, Alma Lee came up and asked what was up.
Sam said, "This is the officer come to arrest father."
Al said, "H-l! is that all! I thought there was a dog fight, I saw so many gathered around here.
He then took Sam one side and talked to him for a time. Sam soon came back and said he was ready to go with me.
I then dismounted and had Winn do the same. I first went into the house, where I found several women. I searched the house thoroughly, but found no one in it that I wanted. I then said to Sam,
"We will go over to this other house."
Sam very cheerfully said, "All right, come on," and started out ahead of me.
When I got into the yard I stopped, saying, "Hold on; here is a corral out here, let us examine that."
At this Sam came to a stand-still, and was very much excited. was then very certain that my man was there. I had to urge considerably to get him to go up to the corral with me. Henry Darrow, one of Lee's son-in-law, followed us. I took a circle around the corral, and then walked up to the log pen, which was used for a chicken house. This pen was about seven feet wide, nine feet long, and four feet high in the clear. There was a hole close to the ground, just about large enough for a man to crawl through. I first went to this hole and looked through into the pen, but I could see nothing but some loose straw in the back end of the pen. I then discovered a little hole between the top logs, near the back end, where the straw covering was off. I went to this hole and put my eye down to it, and I then saw one side of Lee's face, as he lay on his right side; his face was partly covered with loose straw. I waited a few seconds, until Winn came near enough for him to hear me without my speaking over a whisper. I then said,
"There is some one in that pen."
Darrow said, "I guess not."
I said, "I am certain there is a person in there."
"Well, if there is, it is likely one of the children," said Darrow.
By this time Winn was in position and was holding his Henry rifle ready for instant use. Winn and myself were alone.
All my other men were in other parts of the town. Just then I saw Fish coming. I then said,
"Mr. Lee, come out and surrender yourself. I have come to arrest you."
He did not move. I repeated this several times, but no move was made by Lee. I then looked around to see if any of my men were coming. I saw that Fish was sitting on his horse right in front of the door, and had his gun in his hand. I motioned my hand for him to come to me, but he remained still and kept watch of the house, as if he was going to shoot, or expected danger from that quarter. His action rather surprised me, for he was a brave man, and quick to obey orders. I them looked at the house to see what was attracting his attention, and I soon saw there was enough there to claim his full time. I saw two guns pointed through the logs of the side of the house and aimed directly at me, and Fish was watching the people who held those guns. That looked like business. I instantly drew two pistols from my overcoat pocket, taking one in each hand. Up to this time I had not drawn a pistol. I put one pistol through the crack in the roof of the pen, with the muzzle in eighteen inches of Lee's head. I then said to Winn,
"You go in there and disarm Lee, and I promise you that if a single straw moves, I will blow his head off, for my pistol in not a foot from his head."
Winn said, "All right," and was going into the pen. Darrow then commenced to beg me not to shoot. Lee also spoke and said,
"Hold on boys, don't shoot, I will come out."
He then commenced to turn over to get out of the pen, at the same time putting his pistol (which he had all the time held in his hand and lying across his breast) into the scabbard. I said to Winn, "Stand back and look out, for there is danger from the house."
Darrow continued to beg us not to shoot, saying, "Lee is an old man," etc. I told Darrow that I would not hurt a hair of Lee's head if he surrendered peaceably, but that I was not going to die like a dog, nor would I permit Lee to get away alive.
Lee came out of the pen, and after straightening up, he said, very coolly, "Well, boys, what do you want of me?"
I said: "I have a warrant for your arrest, and must take you to Beaver with me."
I then took out the warrant and read it to him. When I got to that portion of the warrant which read "charged with murder," he said,
"Why didn't they put it in wholesale murder? They meant it."
He then asked me to show him the pistol that I put through the pen and pointed at his head. He said,
"It was the queerest looking pistol that I ever saw. It looked like a man's hand with the fingers cut off short."
I showed it to him. It was a dragoon pistol, with the barrel cut off short. He laughed when he saw it, and was not at all excited.
We then went to the house. The women seemed wild with excitement, some of them crying and all unreasonable in their language. Lee told his family to be quiet, and did all that he could to pacify them. He said he considered that the time had come when he could get a fair trial, etc.
I then sent and bought some wine, and took a pitcher of the liquid into the house to the women. They all took a drink.
When I got to one of his daughters, who was crying bitterly, she took the glass and said,
"Here is hoping that father will get away from you, and that if he does, you will not catch him again till h-l freezes over."
I said, "Drink hearty, Miss."
By the time all the family had taken a drink, a large number of people had gathered around the house. I think fully one hundred and fifty Mormons were there. I turned to one of my men and told him to try and find some place where we could get something to eat. Lee heard me, and at once apologized for not thinking to ask us to have something to eat before that time. "But," said he, "the women folks have been making so much fuss that I have thought of nothing."
He then ordered breakfast for us all. His sons gathered around him and told him that if he did not want to go to Beaver, to say so, and they would see that he didn't go. Lee then took me one side and told me what his friends proposed, and wanted to know what answer he should give them. I thought he did this to see if there was any chance to frighten me. I told him to tell the boys to turn themselves loose; that I knew I had no friends in that place, except those who came with me, but we were well armed, and when trouble commenced we would shoot those nearest to us at the first, and make sure of them, and then continue to make it lively while we lasted.
Lee said he did not want anything of that kind to happen, and would see that the boys behaved themselves - that he thought the time had come for him to have a fair and impartial trial, and he would go with me.
I then hired a team from Lee, and hired his son-in-law to drive it. We started from Fanguitch soon after breakfast. We put two of our animals in the team, making a four-horse team - Darrow drove. Lee and Rachel, one of his wives, and two of my men rode in the wagon. It was about 11, a. m., on Monday, the 7th day of November, 1874, when we left Panguitch with John D. Lee as a prisoner. We reached Fremont Springs that night at about 11 o'clock, and camped there until daylight. The roads were so bad that we had been twelve hours in making thirty miles. The night was dark and cold, and having no blankets with us we could not sleep, and to add to the discomfort, we had nothing to eat.
We left Freemont Springs at daylight, and reached Beaver about 10 o'clock, A. M., November 10th, 1874. We had been twenty-four hours without food. Lee and Rachel had fared better than we had, for they had a lunch with them. When we reached Beaver the people were almost thunder-struck with astonishment to know that John D. Lee had been arrested.
After the arrest Lee was in my custody the greater portion or the time that he was in prison. He never gave any trouble to me or his guards. He never tried to escape, but at all times assisted the guards to carry out the instructions that they had received from the officers.
This is a hasty sketch, but I trust will answer your purpose. Hoping you will meet with that success which you so richly deserve, I remain your most obedient servant,
WILLIAM STROKES.
CHAPTER XXI.
TRIAL OF LEE, AT BEAVER CITY, UTAH TERRITORY, SEPT., 1876.
A JURY was sworn to try the case on Thursday, September 14,1876. after which the court adjourned until the 15th. Friday morning, September 15, 1876. The court met. Present, Hon. Jacob S. Boreman, Judge; Sumner Howard, United States Attorney; Presley Denney, Deputy United States Attorney; James R. Wilkins, Clerk; John D. Lee, the defendant on trial, with his attorneys, Wells Spicer, J. C. Foster, and Wm. W. Bishop; Win. Nelson, United States Marshal, and the Deputies, Win. Stokes, Franklin Brown and Edward Keisel.
The parties having announced themselves ready for trial, the following proceedings were had:
James R. Wilkins, Clerk, read the indictment against Lee, impleaded with others, to the jury, and stated the plea of the defendant.
Sumner Howard stated the case to the jury, on behalf of the people.
William W. Bishop stated the case for the defendant.
On motion of Sumner Howard, the court appointed A. S. Patterson, Esq., as official court reporter in the trial of this cause, when the following proceedings were had:
DEPOSITION OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.
MR. HOWARD: If the Court please, I now propose to offer in evidence the deposition of Brigham Young; also the affidavit of Geo. A. Smith; also a letter written by John D. Lee to Brigham Young; also the report of Brigham Young to the Department of Indian Affairs, and also the proclamation of Brigham Young. These papers have been submitted to the attorneys for the defense, and they consent to their introduction. I now file them and place them in evidence to save time.
MR. BISHOP: May It please your Honor, while we deny that these documents are legal evidence of the fact in the indictment as charged, we still consent to the same being introduced, because we once came so near being placed in jail for offering the same papers, especially the deposition of Brigham Young and the affidavit of George A. Smith, as evidence at the former trial of this defendant. We wish to see what lengths the prosecution will go in this court, to convict the defendant on trial by law or without law. Our opinions as lawyers were against the admission of the evidence, but our client insists that the evidence be admitted. Contrary to our best judgment, we have consented. Let the evidence go in, and with it all besides that the authorities of the Church at Salt Lake City have unearthed for the perusal of our Brother Howard. We now know we are fighting the indictment, and also the secret forces and powers of the Mormon Church.
Mr. Howard then introduced the following documentary evidence:
TERRITORY OF UTAH,
BEAVERCOUNTY }SS.
In the Second Judicial District Court.
The People, etc.
vs.
John D. Lee, Wm. H. Dame,
Issac C. Haight, et al. }
Indictment for Murder.
September 16th, 1875
Questions to be propounded to Brigham Young on his examination as a witness in the case of Join D. Lee and others, on trial at Beaver City, this 30th day of July, 1875, and the answers of Brigham Young to the interrogatives hereto appended, were reduced to writing, and were given after the said Brigham Young had been duly sworn to testify the truth in the above entitled cause, and are as follows:
First - State your age, and the present condition of your health, and whether in its condition you could travel to attend in person, at Beaver, the court now sitting there? If not, state why not.
Answer - To the first interrogatory, he saith:
I am in my seventy-fifth year. It would be a great risk, both to my health and life, for me to travel to Beaver at this present time. I am, and have been for some time, an invalid.
Second - What offices, either ecclesiastical, civil, or military, did you hold In the year 1867?
Answer - I was the Governor of this Territory, and ex-officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, during the year 1857.
Third - State the condition of affairs between the Territory of Utah and the Federal Government, in the Summer and Fall of 1857.
Answer - In May or June, 1857, the United States mails for Utah were stopped by the Government, and all communication by mail was cut off, an army of the United States was en route for Utah, with the ostensible design of destroying the Latter-Day Saints, according to the reports that reached us from the East.
Fourth - Were there any United States Judges here during the Summer and Fall of 1857?
Answer - To the best of my recollection there was no United States Judge here in the latter part of 1857.
Fifth - State what you know about trains of emigrants passing through the Territory to the West, and particularly about a company from Arkansas, en route for California, passing through this city in the Summer or Fall of 1857?
Answer - As usual, emigrants' trains were passing through our Territory for the West. I heard It rumored that a company from Arkansas, on route to California, had passed through the city.
Sixth - Was this Arkansas company of emigrants ordered away from Salt Lake City by yourself or any one in authority under you?
Answer - No, not that I know of. I never heard of any such thing, and certainly no such order was given by the acting Governor.
Seventh - Was any counsel or instructions given by any person to the citizens of Utah not to sell grain or trade with the emigrant trains passing through Utah at that time? If so, what were those Instructions and counsel?
Answer - Yes, counsel and advice were given to the citizens not to sell grain to the emigrants to feed their stock, but to let them have sufficient for themselves if they were out. The simple reason for this was that for several years our crops had been short, and the prospect was at that time that we might have trouble with the United States army, then en route for this place, and we wanted to preserve the grain for food. The citizens of the Territory were counseled not to feed grain to their own stock. No person was ever punished or called In question for furnishing supplies to the emigrants, within my knowledge.
Eighth - When did you first hear of the attack and destruction of this Arkansas company at Mountain Meadows, In September, 1857?
Answer - I did not learn anything of the attack or destruction of the Arkansas company until some time after it occurred - then only by floating rumor.
Ninth - Did John D. Lee report to you at any time after this 0 massacre what had been done at that massacre, and if so, what did you reply to him in reference thereto?
Answer - Within some two or three months after the massacre he called at my office and had much to say with regard to the Indians, their being stirred up to anger and threatening the settlements of the whites, and then commenced giving an account of the massacre. I told him to stop, as from what I had already heard by rumor, I did not wish my feelings harrowed up with recital of detail.
Tenth - Did Philip Klingensmith call at your office with John D. Lee at the time Lee made his report, and did you at that time order Smith to turn over the stock to Lee, and order them not to talk about the massacre?
Answer - No. He did not call with John D. Lee, and I have no recollection of his ever speaking to me nor I to him concerning the massacre or anything pertaining to the property.
Eleventh - Did you ever give any directions concerning the property taken from the emigrants at the Mountain Meadows Massacre, or know anything as to its disposition?
Answer - No, I never gave any directions concerning the property taken from the company of emigrants at the Mountain Meadows Massacre, nor did I know anything of that property, or its disposal, and I do not to this day, except from public rumor.
Twelfth - Why did you not, as Governor, institute proceedings forthwith to investigate that massacre, and bring the guilty authors thereof to justice?
Answer - Because another Governor had been appointed by the President of the United States, and was then on the way to take my place, and I did not know how soon he might arrive, and because the United States Judges were not in the Territory. Soon after Governor Cummings arrived, I asked him to take Judge Cradelbaugh, who belonged to the Southern District, with him, and I would accompany them with sufficient aid to investigate the matter and bring the offenders to justice.
Thirteenth - Did you, about the 10th of September, 1857, receive a communication from Isaac C. Haight, or any other person of Cedar City, concerning a company of emigrants called the Arkansas company?
Answer - I did receive a communication from Isaac C. Haight, or John D. Lee, who was a farmer for the Indians.
Fourteenth - Have you that communication?
Answer - I have not. I have made diligent search for it, but cannot find it.
Fifteenth - Did you answer that communication?
Answer - I did, to Isaac C. Haight, who was then acting President at Cedar City.
Sixteenth - Will you state the substance of your letter to him?
Answer - Yes. It was to let this company of emigrants, and all companies of emigrants, pass through the country unmolested, and to allay the angry feelings of the Indians as much as possible.
(Signed) BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 80th day of July, A. D. 1875.
[L. S.] WM. CLAYTON,
Notary Public.
AFFIDAVIT OF GEORGE A. SMITH.
TERRITORY OF UTAH,
Beaver County, }SS.
In the Second Judicial District Court of the Territory of Utah.
The People, Etc.,
vs.
John D. Lee, Wm. H. Dame, Isaac
C. Haight, et al.,
Salt Lake Co. } SS.
Indictment for murder, committed September 16, 1857.
George A. Smith having been first duly sworn, deposes and says that he is aged fifty-eight years. That he is now and has been for several months suffering from a severe and dangerous illness of the head and lungs, and that to attend the court at Beaver, in the present condition of his health, would in all probability end his life.
Deponent further saith, that he had no military command during the year 1857, nor any other official position, except that of one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Deponent further saith, that he never in the year 1857, at Parowan or elsewhere, attended a council where Wm. H. Dame, Isaac C. Haight or others were present to discuss any measures for attacking, or in any manner injuring an emigrant train from Arkansas or any other place, which is alleged to have been destroyed at Mountain Meadows in September, 1857.
Deponent further saith, that he never heard or knew anything of a train of emigrants, which he learned afterwards by rumor was from Arkansas, until he met said train at Corn Creek on his way north to Salt Lake City, on or about the 25th day of August, 1857.
Deponent further saith, that he encamped with Jacob Hamblin, Philo T. Farnsworth, Silas S. Smith and Elijah Hoops, and there for the first time he learned of the existence of said emigrant train, and their intended journey to California.
Deponent further saith, that having been absent from the Territory for a year previous, he returned in the Summer of 1857, and went south to visit his family at Parowan, and to look after some property he had there, and also visit his friends, and for no other purpose, and that on leaving Salt Lake City he had no knowledge whatsoever of the existence of said emigrant train, nor did he acquire any until as before stated.
Deponent further saith, that as an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he preached several times on his way south, and also on his return, and tried to impress upon the minds of the people the necessity of great case as to their grain crops, as all crops had been short for several years previous to 1857, and many of the people were reduced to actual want and were suffering for the necessaries of life.
Deponent further saith, that he advised the people to furnish all emigrant companies passing through the Territory with what they might actually need for breadstuff, for the support of themselves and families while passing through the Territory, and also advised the people not to feed their grains to their own stock, nor to sell to the emigrants for that purpose.
Deponent further saith, that he never heard or knew of any attack upon said emigrant train until some time after his return to Salt Lake City, and that while near Fort Bridger he heard for the first time that the Indians had massacred an emigrant company at Mountain Meadows.
Deponent further saith, that he never at any time, either before or after that massacre, was accessory thereto; that he never directly or indirectly aided, abetted or assisted in it's perpetration, or had any knowledge thereof, except by hearsay; that he never knew anything of the distribution of the property taken there, except by hearsay as aforesaid.
Deponent further saith, that all charges and statements as pertaining to him contrary to the above are false and untrue.
(Signed) GEO A. SMITH.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of July, A. D. 1875.
(Signed,) WM. CLAYTON,
[L. S.] Notary Public.
PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR.
CITIZENS OF UTAH:
We are invaded by a hostile force, who are evidently assailing us to accomplish our overthrow and destruction.
For the last twenty-five years we have trusted officials of the Government, from Constables and Justices to Judges, Governors, and Presidents, only to be scorned, held in derision, insulted and betrayed. Our houses have been plundered and then burned, our fields laid waste, our principal men butchered while under the pledged faith of the Government for their safety, and our families driven from their homes to find that shelter in, the barren wilderness, and that protection among hostile savages, which were denied them in the boasted abodes of Christianity and civilization.
The constitution of our common country guarantees unto us all that we do now or ever claimed.
If the constitutional rights, which pertain unto us as American citizens, were extended to Utah, according to the spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and impartially administered, it is all that we could ask.
Our opponents have availed themselves of prejudices existing against us, because of our religious faith, to send out a formidable host to accomplish our destruction. We have had no privilege, no opportunity of defending ourselves from the false, foul and unjust aspersions against us before the Nation. The Government has not condescended to cause an investigating committee or other person to be sent to enquire into and ascertain the truth, as is customary in such cases. We know those aspersions to be false, but that avails us nothing. We are condemned unheard, and forced to an issue with an armed mercenary mob, which has been sent against us at the instigation of anonymous letter writers, ashamed to father the base, slanderous falsehoods which they have given to the public; of corrupt officials who have brought false accusations against us, to screen themselves in their own infamy; and of hireling priests and howling editors, who prostitute the truth for filthy lucres' sake.
The issue which has. been thus forced upon us compels us to resort to the great first law of self-preservation, and stand in our own defence, a right guaranteed unto us by the genius of the institutions of our country, and upon which the Government is based.
Our duty to our families requires us not to tamely submit to be driven and slain without an attempt to preserve ourselves. Our duty to our country, our holy religion, our God, to freedom and~ liberty, requires that we should not quietly stand still and see those fetters forging around, which are calculated to enslave and bring us into subjection to an unlawful military despotism, such as can only emanate (in a country of constitutional law) from usurpation, tyranny and oppression.
Therefore, I, Brigham Young, Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Utah, in the name of the people of the United Siates in the Territory of Utah,
First - Forbid all armed forces of every description from coming into this Territory, under any pretence whatever.
Second - That all the forces in said Territory hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's notice, to repel any and all such invasion.
Third - Martial law is hereby declared to exist in this Territory, from and after the publication of this Proclamation; and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass, into or through, or from this Territory without a permit from the proper officer.
Given under my hand and seal at Great Salt Lake City, Territory of Utah, this fifteenth day of September, A. D. eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the eighty-second.
(Signed) BRIGHAM YOUNG.
The letter and report of John D. Lee to Brigham Young, in regard to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, were here introduced as evidence. (See pages 255 and 256.)
REPORT OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.
OFFICE SUP'T OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, G. S. L. CITY,
September 12, 1857. }
HON. JAMES W. DENVER,Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C.:
SIR - Enclosed please find abstract account current and vouchers from 1 to 35, inclusive, (also, abstract of employee) for the current quarter up to this date, as owing to the stoppage of the mail I have deemed it best to avail myself of the opportunity of sending by private conveyance, not knowing when I may have another chance. The expenditures, as you will observe by the papers, amount to $6,411.38, for which I have drawn my drafts on the department, favor of Hon. John M. Bernhisel, Delegate to Congress from this Territory. You will also observe that a portion of those expenditures accrued which may need a word of explanation. Santa Clara is in Washington County, the extreme southern county of this Territory, and this labor was commenced and partly performed, seeds, grain, etc., furnished prior to the time that Major Armstrong visited those parts of the Territory, hence failed to find its way into his reports, and failed being included in mine because the accounts and vouchers were not sooner brought in, and hence not settled until recently. But little has been effected in that part of the Territory at the expense of the Government, although much has been done by the citizens in aiding the Indians with tools, teams and instructions in cultivating the earth.
The bands mentioned are parts of the Piede tribe of Indians, who are very numerous, but only inhabit this Territory. These Indians are more easily induced to labor than any others in the Territory, and many of them are now engaged in the common pursuits of civilized life. Their requirements are constant for wagons, ploughs, spades, hoes, teams and harness, etc., to enable them to work to advantage.
In like manner the Indians in Cache Valley have received but little at the expense of the Government, although a sore tax upon the people. West and along the line of the California and Oregon travel they continue to make their contributions, and I am sorry to add, with considerable loss of life to the travelers. This is what I have always sought, by all means in my power, to avert, but I find it the most difficult of any portion to control. I have for many years succeeded better than this. I learn by report that many of the lives of the emigrants and considerable quantities of property have been taken.
This is principally owing to a company of some three or four hundred returning Californians, who traveled those roads last Spring to the Eastern States, shooting at every Indian they could see, a practice utterly abhorrent to all good people, yet, I regret to say, one that has been indulged in to a great extent by travelers to and from the Eastern States and California, hence the Indians regard all white men alike as their enemies, and kill and plunder whenever they can do so with impunity, and often the innocent suffer for the deeds of the guilty.
This has always been one of the greatest difficulties that I have had to contend with in the administration of Indian affairs in this Territory.
It is hard to make an Indian believe that the whites are their friends, and that the Great Father wishes to do them good, when perhaps the very next party which crosses their path shoots them down like wolves.
This trouble with the Indians only exists along the line of travel west, and beyond the influence of our settlements. The Shoshones are not hostile to travelers as far as they inhabit this Territory, except perhaps a few called "Snake Diggers," who inhabit, as before stated, along the line of travel west of the settlements.
There have, however, been more or less depredations the present season north, and more within the vicinity of the settlements, owing to the causes above mentioned, and I find it of the utmost difficulty to restrain them. The sound of war quickens the blood and nerves of an Indian. The reports that troops were wending their way to this Territory has also had its influence upon them. In one or two instances this was the reason assigned why they made the attack which they did upon some herds of cattle. They seemed to think that as it was to be war they might as well commence, and begin to lay in a supply of food while they had a chance.
If I am to have the direction of the Indian affairs of this Territory, and expected to maintain friendly relations with the Indians, there are a few things that I would most respectfully request to be done.
First - That travelers omit their infamous practice of shooting them down when they happen to see one. Whenever the citizens of this Territory travel the road they are in the habit of giving the Indians food, tobacco and a few other presents, and the Indians expect some such trifling favors, and they are emboldened by this practice to come up to the road with a view of receiving much presents. When, therefore, travelers from the States make their appearance, they show themselves in might with the same view, and when they are shot at and some of their numbers killed, as has frequently been the case, we cannot but expect them to wreak their vengeance upon the next train.
Secondly - That the Government should make more liberal appropriations to be expended in presents. I have proven that it is far cheaper to feed and clothe the Indians than to fight them. I find, moreover, that after all, when the fighting is over, it is always followed by extensive presents, which, if properly distributed in the first instance, might have averted the fight. In this case, then, the expenses of presents are the same, and it is true in nine-tenths of the oases that have happened.
Third - The troops must be kept away, for it is a prevalent fact that, wherever there are the most of these, we may expect to find the greatest amount of hostile Indians and the least security to persons and property.
If these items could be complied with I have no hesitation in saying that, so far as Utah is concerned, travelers could go to and from, pass and repass, and no Indian would disturb or molest them or their property.
In regard to my drafts, it appears that the department is indisposed to pay them, for what reason I am at a loss to conjecture.
I am aware that Congress separated the office of Superintendent of Indian Affairs from that of Governor; that the salary of Governor remained the same for his Gubernatorial duties, and that the Superintendent's was fifteen hundred. I do think that, inasmuch as I performed the duties of both offices, that I am entitled to the pay appropriated for it, and trust that you will so consider it.
I have drawn again for the expenditure of this present quarter as above met forth. Of course you will do as you please about paying, as you have with the drafts for the two last quarters.
The department has often manifested its approval of the management of the Indian affairs in this Superintendency, and never its disapproval.
Why, then, should I be subjected to much annoyance in regard to obtaining the funds for defraying its expenses? Why should I be denied my salary? Why should appropriations made for the benefit of the Indians of this Territory be retained in the Treasury, and individuals left unpaid?
These are questions I leave for you to answer at your leisure, and meanwhile submit to much course in relation thereto as you shall see fit to direct.
I have the honor to be, most respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Governor and Ex-Officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs, U. T.
Certified to by JAMES JACK, Notary Public of Utah Territory, at Salt Lake City, August 15th, 1878.
ABSTRACT FROM REPORT ON BRIGHAM YOUNG.
The following is an abstract from a letter under heading and date as follows:
OFFICE OF SUPT. OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
G. S. L. CITY, U. T., January 6, 1858. }
HON. JAMES W. DENVER, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington City, D. C.:
SIR: On or about the middle of last September a company of emigrants traveling the southern route to California, poisoned the meat of an ox that died, and gave it to the Indiana to eat, causing the immediate death of four of their tribe, and poisoning several others. This company also poisoned the water where they were encamped. This occurred at Corn Creek, fifteen miles south of Fillmore City. This conduct so enraged the Indians, that they Immediately took measures for revenge. I quote from a letter written to me by John D. Lee, farmer to the Indians in Iron and Washington counties. "About the 22d of September, Capt. Fancher & Co. fell victims to the Indians' wrath near Mountain Meadows. Their cattle and horses were shot down in every direction; their wagons and property mostly omitted to the flames. Lamentable as this case truly is, it is only the natural consequence of that fatal policy which treats the Indians like the wolves, or other ferocious beasts. I have vainly remonstrated for years with travelers against pursuing so suicidal a policy, and repeatedly advised the Government of its fatal tendency. It is not always upon the heads of the individuals who commit such crimes that such condign punishment is visited, but more frequently the next company that follows in their fatal path become the unsuspecting victims, though peradventure perfectly innocent. Of this character was the massacre of Capt. Gunnison and party in 1858. He was friendly and unsuspecting, but the emigrant company that immediately preceded him had committed a most flagrant act of injustice and murder upon the Indians, escaped unscathed, causing the savage feeling and vengeance which they had so wontonly provoked to be poured upon the head of the lamented Gunnison. Owing to these causes, the Indians upon the main traveled roads leading from this Territory to California have become quite hostile, so that it has become quite impossible for a company of emigrants to pass in safety. The citizens of the Territory have frequently compromised their own safety and other peaceful relations, by interfering in behalf of travelers; nor can they be expected to be otherwise than hostile, so long as the traveling community persist in the practice of indiscriminately shooting and poisoning them, as above set forth. In all other parts of the Territory, except along the north and south routes to California, as above mentioned, the Indians are quiet and peaceful. It is owing to the disturbed state of our Indian affairs that the accounts of this quarter have been so considerably augmented. It has always been my policy to conciliate the native tribes by making them presents and treating them kindly, considering it much more economical to feed and clothe them than to fight them. I have the satisfaction of knowing that this policy has been most eminently successful and advantageous, not only to the settlements, but to the Government, as well as to the emigrants and travelers. But the most uniform, judicious and humane course will sometimes fail in holding ignorant, wild and revengeful Indians by the wrist, to be indiscriminately murdered. We trust, henceforward, such scenes may not be re-enacted, and the existing bad feeling among the native tribes may become extinguished by a uniform, consistent, humane and conciliatory course of superior acts, by those who profess superior attainments.
Respectfully, I have the honor to remain your obedient servant,
BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Gov. and Supt. of Indian Affairs, U. T.
Certified as correct by James Jack, Notary Public of Utah Territory, at Salt Lake City, August 15, 1876.
The following circular, issued by Brigham Young and Daniel H. Wells, was then read in evidence:
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY,
Sept. 14th, 1857. }
COL. WILLIAM H. DAME, Parowan, Iron County:
Herewith you will receive the Governor's proclamation declaring martial law.
You will probably not be called out this Fall, but are requested to continue to make ready for a big fight another year. The plan of operations is supposed to be about this. In case the United States Government should send out an overpowering force, we intend to desolate the Territory, and conceal our families, stock and all of our effects in the fastnesses of the mountains where they will be safe, while the men waylay our enemies, attack them from ambush, stampede their animals, take the supply trains, cut of detachments and parties sent to the canyons for wood, or on other service. To lay waste every thing that will burn-houses, fences, trees, fields and grass, so that they cannot find a particle of anything that will be of use to them, not even sticks to make a fire to cook their supplies. To waste away our enemies and lose none; that will be our mode of warfare. Thus you see the necessity of preparing first; secure places in the mountains where they cannot find us, or if they do, where they cannot approach in force, and then prepare for our families, building some cabins, caching flour and grain. Flour should be ground in the latter part of the Winter, or early in the Spring to keep. Sow grain in your fields as early as possible this Fall, so the harvest of another year may come off before they have time to get here. Conciliate the Indians and make them our fast friends.
In regard to letting the people pass or repass, or travel through the Territory, this applies to all strangers and suspected persons. Yourself and Brother Isaac C. Haight, in your district, are authorized to give such permits. Examine all such persons before giving to them permits to pass. Keep things perfectly quiet, and let all things be done peacefully, but with firmness, and let there be no excitement. Let the people be united in their feelings and faith, as well as works, and keep alive the spirit of the reformation. And what we said in regard to saying the grain and provisions we say again, let there be no waste. Save life always when it is possible. We do not wish to shed a drop of blood if it can be avoided.
This course will give us great influence abroad.
(Signed)
{ BRIGHAM YOUNG.
DANIEL H. WELLS.
Certified to under seal, by James Jack, Notary Public, August 16th, 1876.
CHAPTER XXII.
TRIAL OF LEE CONTINUED.
WHILE documentary evidence was being read, the people had been gathering in large numbers, so much that many were unable to obtain admission to the court room, to hear the statements of the witnesses.
It was by this time well understood by all parties, that the command of secrecy, which the Church had imposed on its members, had been countermanded, so far as related to John D. Lee, the defendant on trial, it was then a certainty that the witnesses would swear to as much as the prosecution was willing to hear. The result proved that these surmises were correct.
The witnesses for the prosecution were then called and sworn, after which they testified in the order and language as follows:
TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES.
DANIEL H. WELLS.
Sworn for the prosecution.
HOWARD - How long have you resided in this Territory? Since the fall of 1848.
Do you know John D. Lee? Yes, sir.
Did you know him in 1857? Yes, sir. What position did he occupy at that time - official position? I don't know of any position except it was farmer to the Indians in the southern part of the Territory. He had been a Major in the military. I don't remember whether he was at that time or not. At that particular time, I think not. I think he had been suspended. I wish to ask you the question, What, from your personal knowledge, was the influence of John D. Lee over the Indians to whom he had been appointed farmer - was he interpreter also? Well, I think he understood the language imperfectly; could probably converse with the Indians.
State if he was a man of influence with the Indians, a man popular with them? He was so considered.
Cross examination waived.
DANIEL H. WELLS.
LABAN MORRILL.
Sworn for the prosecution.
Where do you reside? Iron County, at what is called Fort Johnson. How long have you lived in the Territory? Since 1852. Do you know the location of Mountain Meadows? No, sir. I never was there. Where did you live in 1857? I think I lived at Cedar City. How far is Cedar City from Beaver? About thirty miles. Did you, in 1857, know any thing about an emigrant train, known as the Arkansas emigrant train, passing through the Territory to Southern California, or starting to pass? By report only. Did you have any thing to do as an officer or citizen, at Cedar City, with regard to the passage of those emigrants? If you did, state what you know about their passage, in your own way. Merely by report, that there was a company come through Cedar City. I lived off at a place called Fort Johnson, six miles and a halt. I was engaged at that time some little in seeing what was called the best locality, or what would do the best good for some three or four little places, Cedar City, Fort Johnson and Shirts' Creek. We had formed a kind of a custom to come together about once a week, to take into consideration what would be the best good for those three places. I happened on Sunday to come to Cedar City, as I usually came, and there seemed to be a Council. We met together about four o'clock, as a general thing, on Sunday evening after service. I went into the Council, and saw there was a little excitement In regard to something I did not understand. I went in at a rather late hour. I enquired of the rest what was the matter. They said a company had passed along toward Mountain Meadows. There were many threats given concerning this company.
SPICER - for Defendant - We object to these conversations, in which the witness has not shown that the defendant was present.
HOWARD - for the People - We expect to connect Mr. Lee with it in this way: We propose to show that at that council a report was made that the Indians bad stopped this train of emigrants, or were about to stop them; and we propose to show further that at that time, in consequence of the condition of the country, it was claimed by some people that they should be held until a message could be sent to Salt Lake and their passage secured; that Mr. Morrill appeared there - others being in favor of stopping the emigrants, and perhaps doing more than that. Mr. Morrill appeared there and insisted that no interference should be had with them until orders came from Brigham Young - from head quarters - and at first insisting that they should be allowed to pass unmolested. That the Indians should not be allowed to molest them if it could be avoided. That they should be prevented by all means from interfering with them. Mr. Morrill made several speeches to that council in favor of that proposition, and that finally an agreement was made that the emigrants should not be interfered with, and suspend all proceedings in regard to even stopping them until a message should come from Brigham Young. At that time Brigham Young was not only the President of the Church, but Governor of the Territory, and Indian Agent. We propose to follow it up by showing that an agreement teas made and a messenger sent post-haste to Salt Lake. We propose to follow it up by showing that a messenger was sent to see that the Indians did not interfere with the emigrants. We propose to follow it up by showing that John D. Lee received that word. That that was the agreement of that council, and that he must not allow those emigrants to be interfered with. That he not only received that word, but that he made the remark that he had something to say about it. The man who carried the message was told that he had better get out of the way himself, or he would get hurt. There has been an effort made to show that others besides John D. Lee commenced this attack. We propose to show to this jury that the attack was made in defiance of the authorities. That they not only held the lives of those emigrants secure; were not only anxious that they should be allowed to pass, but that they should be protected from the Indians, in order to show their sincerity and do what was right in view of the circumstances, made a solemn agreement there among themselves that the emigrants should not be interfered with until a dispatch, could be sent to Governor Young and returned. We propose to show that that dispatch was sent to Governor Young by that messenger, with instructions not to spare horse-flesh, but to ride there day and night; that before this messenger returned, John D. Lee, in defiance of that council, massacred the emigrants.
SPICER - the gentleman propose to prove that Lee did anything contrary to the orders of the Church Council, we will withdraw our objections. But we know the prosecution will fail ill the effort. Lee did nothing that was contrary to Council, and the fact is, he obeyed orders.
HOWARD - Mr. Morrill, the Court directs that you state what was done at that Council?
Ans. - As I said, there appeared to be some confusion in that Council. I enquired in a friendly way what was up. I was told that there was an emigrant train that passed along down to near Mountain Meadows, and that they had made threats in regard to us as a people - said they would destroy every d-d Mormon. There was an army coming on the south and north and it created some little excitement. I made two or three replies in a kind of debate of measures that were taken into consideration, discussing the object, what method we thought best to take in regard to protecting the lives of the citizens.
My objections were not coincided with. At last we touched upon the topic like this: We should still keep quiet, and a dispatch should be sent to Governor Young to know what would be the best course. The vote was unanimous. I considered it. so. It seemed to be the understanding that on the coming morning, or next day, there should be a messenger dispatched. I took some pains to enquire and know if it would be sent in in the morning. The papers were said to be made out, and Governor Young should be informed, and no hostile course pursued till his return. I returned back to Fort Johnson, feeling that all was well. About eight and forty hours before the messenger returned - business called me to Jedar City, and I learned that the job had been done, that is, the destruction of the emigrants had taken place. I can't give any further evidence on the subject at present.
What was the name of the messenger sent to Salt Lake? James Haslem.
Cross-Examined by W. W. Bishop. - You think that about forty-eight hours before the messenger returned from Salt Lake, you learned that the job was done, the people killed at Mountain Meadows. Do you mean by that, the killing that had been talked of at that Council? I suppose it was, sir. Who wan present at that Council that you recollect? Mr. Smith. Give me the name of any there that you can call to mind? I think Isaac C. Haight was there. Was John D. Lee present? No, sir, not to my knowledge. Did you see that messenger start to Brigham Young? I did not. Did you see the message that be took to Brigham Young? I did not. Did you ever read it? I did not. Did you know, or have any knowledge that any written communication was given by the Council to any one to carry to President Young? The understanding of the Council was that one should be written out for him prior to his starting.
Do you know of your own knowledge that one was written out? I didn't see Mr. Haight, but he should have made it out in time. I didn't see the paper.
Then the understanding of the Council, as I take it, was this, that different parties presented different plans for having the people follow the emigrants; that after all this argument it was agreed by the parties there that a messenger should go to Brigham Young for instructions as to how the people should treat the emigrants in that train, and nothing should be done with those emigrants until that messenger returned? That was the agreement - I understood it so.
Who else did they agree to send a messenger to? I heard of no other but Governor Young. That was my proposition.
Then you never heard of a messenger being sent to any other place, or to any other party, from that Council? No, I did not pay any attention to any other point, or what was considered; only the one point that a messenger should go to President Young.
Re-Direct by Howard - Did you understand that a messenger was to be sent down to John D. Lee? I did, but I did not see him start. I understood that at the same time a messenger was to be sent.
What did you understand? I understood that there was to be word sent down towards Pinto Creek.
For what purpose? To have the thing stayed according to contract, to agreement made.
What do you mean by the thing being stayed? Was the massacre of that emigrant train discussed there at all? It was, sir; and some were in favor of it, and some were not.
Who were they? Bishop Smith, I considered, was the hardest man I had to contend with.
Who else spoke about it? Isaac Haight and one or two others. I recollect my companions more than any one else.
They were very anxious and rabid were they not? They seemed to think it would be best to kill the emigrants. Some of the emigrants swore that they had killed old Joseph Smith; there was quite a little excitement there.
You have given us the names of two who were in favor of killing those emigrants - who were the others? Those were my companions, Isaac C. Haight and Klingensmith. I recollect no others.
You remember that Council, and the agreement that they would not do anything until word came back from President Young? Yes, sir.
Although you didn't see either of those messengers start, you understood messengers were sent each way? Yes, sir; to stay the opposition until that messenger returned.
Re-Cross Examination - You say you understood a messenger was to be sent to Pinto Creek. Did John D. Lee live at Pinto Creek? He lived at Harmony.
Was it mentioned in that Council that a messenger was to be sent to Pinto Creek to stay the thing until the other messenger got back? Understand me, there was nothing said in that Council in regard to Pinto, only that the thing should be stayed. They took such measures to stay it as they thought proper. After the messenger, Mr. Haslem, returned I asked Mr. Haight about it, and he said he had sent word to let them pass, of course. That was the end of my experience in regard to it.
Howard - Where did John D. Lee live at that time? He lived at Harmony.
How far is Harmony from Pinto Creek? I don't know.
What was his position at that time? He was a man of some influence among the Indians, and also held a position in the military.
Was he not Indian Farmer? I think he had done something towards it. One thing I passed over at that Council; I inquired by what authority they were doing it, and they said by their own authority. Says I, has Dame got a letter here; is there anything from Mr. Dame of Parowan? They said no. I demanded a written letter or order from him before I would act; they said they had none.
James Halem testified that he went as a messenger from Haight to Brigham Young, and that Brigham Young sent back word that "those men must be protected and allowed to go in peace," He got back with the message Sunday after the massacre and reported to Haight, who said, "It is too late."
JOEL WHITE
Sworn for the prosecution.
Where did you live In 1857? I lived In Cedar City, Iron County.
Do you remember the Mountain Meadows band of emigrants? Yes, sir.
Did you at that time know John D. Lee? Yes, sir.
And Klingensmith? Yes, sir.
Were you ever entrusted by anybody with a message to John D. Lee, or to any other person? No, sir, not to John D. Lee. During the delivery of which you met John D. Lee? Yes, sir. I was away from home at the time the emigrants passed through Cedar City. I came home just before night. I can't recollect. the day or date, nor anything of that kind; but Mr. Haight called me as I was passing, and said he wanted a message taken to Pinto Creek, and wanted to know if I would go. I asked if it had to go to-night. He said it had, that the emigrants would pass Pinto to-morrow. He told me the nature of the dispatch. It was to the man in charge there at Pinto, to pacify the Indians it possible, and let the emigrants pass. Klingensmith was standing by and volunteered to go with me, and I accepted his company.
Did you start with that message? Yes, sir.
Tell what occurred. When I got down to the lower corner of the field, after we had started, probably a mile and a half, or such matter, I don't recollect the distance now, I met John D. Lee. It was about dark; he was coming toward Cedar. He asked us what the calculation of the people was in regard to those emigrants - in regard to letting them pass.
Did he ask you where you were going? I don't recollect. I told him - we both told him, but I told him in particular - the conclusion was to let them pass, and that I was going to Pinto with a letter to that effect, to have the Indians pacified as much as possible, to let them pass. Mr. Leo spoke up and said, "I don't know about that, or, "I have something to do about that, I don't exactly recollect the words, and drove on.
Where were the emigrants at that time? They were camped on a little stream in the mountains, between Cedar City and Pluto just off the road. We saw them Indistinctly as we passed them, in the night, but as we came back next day we met them on the travel.
What place was that? Iron Springs. A very little spring, I hardly remember the locality.
The emigrants hadn't yet reached Pinto? No, sir, because we met them. The first time I had ever seen them I saw them coming up along there.
Cross-examined - In which direction was Lee coming? He was coming up the road towards Cedar City.
What day was it? I don't recollect neither the day of the week nor the month.
You say it was about dark? It was about dusk then.
How long was it before the massacre? I could not say about that for certain.
About how many days? Probably four or five, may be six, may be not so long; I could not say.
You passed the emigrants then on your way that night? We passed, but didn't see them.
Who was the man that you were carrying the message to? It was the man in charge of them there in Pinto Creek at that time. I can't recollect his name.
Was not his name Richard Robinson? That is my Impression, but I will not be sure, as there were several changes. There was Rufus Allen, Richard Robinson, Thornton, and different one that had charge along about that time. I can't recollect, but I think it was Richard Robinson.
When did you move to Cedar City? I moved there in the Fall of 1853.
How long did you live there? I left there in the Summer of 58. I left there and came to Beaver, and from there went north.
Where do you reside now? I live at what is called Cedar Fort, Cedar Valley, in Utah County, five miles from Camp Floyd.
You say you passed by near the emigrants' camp, but didn't them? Yes, sir. We saw them next day on the travel.
You afterwards saw those emigrants, I believe, at the Meadows? Yes, sir, a portion of them.
You were present at the Meadows at the time of the massacre? Yes, sir.
Re-Direct - You don't remember the day nor the date, but on your way back, after delivering the message, you met these same emigrants, and you know they were the Mountain Meadows emigrants? Yes, sir.
Re-Cross-examined - You know they were the same ones from passing them and afterwards seeing them at the Meadows after they were killed? Klingensmith was with me, and he had seen the emigrants when they had passed through Cedar City, and there were some of the principal ones that he pointed out to me as we passed by them.
Why did he point them out to you? One man that had made these threats that he had helped kill Joe Smith, and so forth.
Did you see that same party at the Meadows afterwards? I don't recollect the same party. I saw the same band of emigrants, I suppose at any rate no others had passed.
SAMUEL KNIGHT.
Sworn for the prosecution.
Where do you live? I live at Santa Clara.
How long have you lived there? In the neighborhood of twenty-two years.
Where did you live in 57? I lived at Santa Clara; that was my house. I lived on the Mountain Meadows. I was stopping on the Mountain Meadows that Summer.
Will you state how you came up to Mountain Meadows, and how you were situated there? My family was sick at the time, and I moved my family up on account of the hot weather. I was herding stock at the Meadows and milking cows.
Who was with you? Jake Hamblin and myself were proprietors.
Describe that locality to the Court and Jury? The location is at the north end of what is termed Meadow Valley.
How long is the Meadow Valley? Four miles long, and about one mile wide.
Is it entirely surrounded by mountains and hills? Yes, sir, it is entirely surrounded, except a gap at this end - the gap at which Hamblin's Ranch was situated, and the gap at the other end leads you out on the desert. It has a stream that leads to the Santa Clara stream.
On the first of September, 1857, you say you were stopping there with your wife, who was out of health? A few days before she had been confined, and was lying nearly at the point of death; we were living in a wagon-box by the side of Jake Hamblin's board shanty.
Did you about that time go down to your place at Santa Clara? Yes, sir, from Mountain Meadows. I went down a few days previous to this occurrence - this massacre-to see to some business down there - about watering the crop there.
What time did you return? It is not in my memory, the day of the week.
With reference to the general massacre? It was the evening after it had been done in the morning - that is, the first attack.
I mean with reference to the general massacre of the women and children? That was nearly a week, I think.
You are sure about that, are you? I don't exactly remember, but it was several days.
What do you mean by the first attack, and from whom did you get your information? What information I got was from John D. Lee.
State the particulars? As I said before, I was on my way to where I was staying at the time from my home at Santa Clara. From the ranch to Santa Clara settlement was thirty-five miles.
How far below the lower mountain of the Mountain Meadows? About ten miles to where I met John D. Lee. I think he had on a hickory shirt, a straw hat, and home-spun pants.
Did you have any conversation? Yes, sir. As I was riding along he hailed me.
Who was with you? I don't know that it is proper for me to state.
Had you up to that time known any thing about the attack on the emigrants? No, sir, I had not.
Did you notice any thing peculiar about John D. Lee at that time? He showed me some bullet holes in his clothing, and may be one or two in his hat.
State the conversation. All the conversation? You can tell what you recollect. I think he told me that he had made an attack with the Indians, and got repulsed.
When did he say he had made it? I think that morning at daylight, or near daylight.
Do you know whether he told you so or not? I am pretty positive he did.
Did be tell you any thing about any escape that he had had? He said he had run a narrow escape, showing me the holes in his hat and shirt, where he had narrowly escaped being shot.
State all the conversation. He rode along with us up to some eight or ten miles of where his camp was. When I saw him it was getting dusk, and we rode along together as far as the camp.
Was he alone when he met you? Yes, sir, as far as I know.
Did he tell you whether any other white man had been with him in the attack? I am not certain. I got the impression from what he told me that there was not.
Did he tell you from whom he got the bullets through his clothes, or not? I took it, of course.
Did he say he got it on that assault on the emigrants? I can't give the exact language.
What was the substance of what he told you about it? I collected from what he said that he had attacked the camp of theme emigrants with the Indians, and that in making the attack he received the shots from the camp, that the bullets had come near to him, one through his shirt and another through his hat.
Did he may anything about having a narrow escape? I think he did.
What camp did be refer to? The camp of the Mountain Meadows emigrants.
You say he came back part of the way to the Mountain Meadows? I don't know but what he went clear across the Meadows, I am not positive. I know he rode back with me. He rode back to where the camp was, at least, but whether he stopped there or not I will not be positive.
Did you see him go towards the Indian camp afterwards? I didn't know where the Indian camp was. It was in the night. He came to me about dusk. It was eight or nine o'clock when we got to where the camp was located. I went right over to my home.
State whether you noticed anything peculiar about Mr. Lee's person, aside from his dress. No, nothing more than what I have stated.
State whether he had any paint on him. I didn't notice any. It was between sundown and daylight. It was nearly dusk when I first saw him. We hadn't talked but a few minutes, when it was dark.
How long a time passed until the general massacre? Some five or six days.
Did you remain there with your wife during all that time? Yes, sir, with the exception of being out after my stock once or twice.
Had you anything to do with Lee, or see him after that time? He was over at Hamblin's ranch a few times.
What was he there for? I don't know.
Did he come alone? He was there with other men, but how he came I don't know.
Did he at any time come to you to get your teams? Yes, sir.
What day was that with reference to the massacre of the men, women and children? It was the day it was done.
What time? I think it was a little before 12 o'clock, the middle of the day.
Who came with him? I think it was Klingensmith.
Where were you, and what were you doing? I was at home waiting upon my sick wife, who was there in the wagon, and doing chores necessary to be done about home.
State the conversation that took place between you and Lee, or you and Klingensmith, in the presence of Lee, about what they came for? They told me they came to get my team and wagon to go over and haul away the sick and wounded from the train, and take them back to the settlements where they could care for them, as wagons were scarce. I didn't consent at first, I told them that I didn't want to go, that my family needed my presence at home. They insisted that I should go and said that duty called me to go. I said if the team went I should go myself with it. My team was a young team and had just been broke a few days, and the horses were fractious.
From that point what was done? Well, I went over. I hitched up my team and went over. Went with a common lumber wagon and box on it.
Did you leave your wife there? Yes, sir.
Where did you go? I went right on to the Mountain Meadows, right on to the south end of the Mountain Meadows, or near there. I drove up to a camp of Indians and men camped somewhere to the left of the road, probably half a mile, may be not so far, at a little spring to the left of the road, and waited there a little while. I stopped some four or five rods from this camp and stood by my team until I was told to drive down towards the camp.
Who told you? It is not in my memory.
Did you drive down towards the camp? I did.
What camp? The emigrant camp.
Did any other conveyance go down at the same time? Yes, sir, another wagon, I went behind it.
Did you see Lee there? Yes, sir.
Tell what he did from the first time you saw him that morning on that particular piece of ground? I don't know what he did all the time. While I was waiting at the camp I don't know that I saw him while I was there.
How far was that from the emigrants? I think nearly half a mile.
Did you see anybody go to that emigrant camp? No, sir. I saw a man carrying a white flag.
Who was that man? I could not tell.
Was anybody with him? Yes, sir, I think John D. Lee was with him, or near him, and walked down to the camp.
What occurred there? They walked with this white flag near the camp, and another man met them with a white rag on a stick. He came from the emigrant camp, and they met some distance from the camp, and held a consultation for a few minutes, and then we were told to drive along, or motioned to.
Did any other man besides this man and John D. Lee go? Not any distance. I don't remember that they did.
Who held that consultation? I was not acquainted with them, and was some distance from them, but I think It was John D. Lee, the man that carried the flag, and one or two who came from the emigrant camp.
Who motioned for you to go along after the consultation? I can't tell, but the whole fraternity up there moved along with the wagons.
When you got down to the camp what occurred? My wagon was loaded with some guns, some bedding, and a few individuals. Who superintended that loading up? John D. Lee.
What guns were loaded into your wagons? The guns from the emigrant camp.
When the emigrants came out afterwards, were they armed or not? They were not; not that I saw.
What did they load into your wagon? Guns, bedding, and some clothing of different kinds, and several persons got in. I think three or four got in.
What were those persons? As near as I can recollect, there were two men, one woman, and, I think, some children.
State whether those men were wounded then, sick men, or what? I think they were wounded, but I stood holding my team.
State whether it was quite necessary for you to give all your attention to your team? I considered it so.
Then what occurred? After they were loaded in we were told to drive on towards home.
By whom? I can't recollect.
Did you drive along? We did.
Do you know what was put into the other wagon? Mostly people.
Were both those wagons loaded from the. emigrant camp? Yes, sir. I started towards my home, north across the Meadows, lengthwise of the Meadows. It led to the north.
After you started, how close did the other wagon follow? I followed it; it went ahead.
What followed you? The men, women and children; coming along after we drove out a little ways.
Did you understand, from what you saw there, that the emigrants vacated that camp and followed you? I did, sir.
As you passed along, did you go with them, or did you go faster? We traveled a little faster.
How far in advance of them did you get? I think we got, may be, a quarter of a mile. It might not have been that far, but quite a little distance.
What order did those emigrants march in, whether single file, two abreast, or how? I could not give any testimony on that. I did not look back to see.
Who accompanied you with your wagon, who came along? I remember John D. Lee being along with the wagons.
Ahead of the emigrants? Yes sir.
Did anything occur after you had got up to the point designated as, perhaps, a quarter of a mile ahead of those emigrants? The first thing that I heard had occurred. I heard a gun fired.
Where was that gun? I don't know the locality exactly. It was behind me.
Was it near you, or down where the emigrants were? It was below.
How far behind you? I should judge nearly a quarter of a mile, the first gun I heard.
What occurred then? I looked around and saw the Indians rising up from behind the brush, and went to butchering these emigrants.
Did you see anything of them? I didn't see anything of the emigrants.
Did you see any of those emigrants in your wagon interfered with? No, sir; not after I heard the first sound of the gun. I leaped from my wagon to see to my team.
Did you see John D. Lee do anything to any of those emigrants? I saw John D. Lee raise something in the act of striking a person - I think it was a woman. I saw that person fall, but my attention was attracted at the same time to my team jumping and lunging.
What became of that woman? I could not say.
Will you state to the jury the manner of that striking? Well, as near as I can recollect it, it was done as though he had a club or gun in his hands, but which of the two I cannot tell. She was falling when I first saw her. When I turned my eyes away she was falling.
You know he struck that woman? Yes, sir.
Either with a gun or with a club? Yes, sir.
Your team, you~ say, became very fractious. Is that all you saw John D. Lee do? That is all I could be positive about.
What was he doing besides that? I could not be positive what he was doing all the time? State whether all of those people were killed there and then? They were; those in the wagon were all killed.
Was it in your wagon or the one behind you that John D. Lee struck that woman? It was in the one ahead of me.
Was that woman killed? I think she was. They were all killed.
How many cattle had this emigrant train? I don't know, sir. Should judge three or four hundred head.
Do you know who drove these cattle away from that ground? No, sir; I do not.
Do you know whose men drove them off? No, sir; only by report - by rumor.
Did you see Lee drive any of them? No, sir; I did not.
Did you hear him say anything about it? I did not.
Did Lee remain there until all in the wagons were killed? I think he did.
Where did you go then? I drove immediately home.
Which way did Lee go? I don't know - he was on the ground when I left.
Do you know the names of any of those parties who were killed there? No, sir; I do not.
Cross-Examined - How many people were present around the wagons when you say you saw Lee strike the woman? I don't know how many.
Were there any others there except Lee and yourself? I have an impression that there were, but I don't know who they were. I have always had an idea that there were one or two more men.
Don't you know, as a matter of fact, that there were? Yes, sir; there was another man that drove the other wagon, but how many more I don't know.
You don't know the names of the men? Not that I recollect of.
Were any Indians around there? Yes, sir.
Any around the wagons? Yes, sir.
Did you see them take any part in the killing? Yes, sir; they took some part in the killing. There were not more than one or two men there, John D. Lee and the men that drove the wagon.
How many Indians? I can't tell.
Isn't it a matter of fact that about that time you wanted to get away from there, and to see as little as possible? I paid just as little attention as I possibly could.
Didn't you make an effort to see as little of it as you could? I did, sir.
That explains why you did not see all of it? Yea, sir, I took all the pains I could to see as little as I could.
Did not the Indians raise a yell, and make a rush for the wagon before you jumped out? Yes, sir, or about that time.
Were they not surrounding the wagons at the time you saw Lee strike? Yes, sir.
There were Indians all around and close to you at the time? Yes, sir, there were Indians all round; quite a number all round there.
Did they rush toward the people in the wagons with hostile intentions? Yes, sir, with apparently hostile intentions.
You saw them kill a number of people - didn't they kill that woman? It was my impression that John D. Lee killed her.
Do you know? Yes, sir, I do.
That much you did see? Yes, sir, I did.
Who was that man with you at the Meadows, the first time you saw John D. Lee, the night after the first attack? I decline to tell.
Re-Direct - State where those cattle of the emigrants were at the time of the massacre. They were north a little; up this way.
How soon after that were they driven away? I think next day.
Do you know whose men drove them away? I do not.
Were the emigrants' wagons destroyed there on the ground, or were they taken away? I don't know. They passed along.
Was the field cleared of the emigrant property? Yes, sir, cattle and everything.
Were any wagons burned or destroyed? No, sir, not that I know of.
How long did you stay there after that? Nearly a month.
SAMUEL M'MURDY.
Sworn for the prosecution.
Where do you live now? I live in Cache County, Paradise.
Did you live in any other place than Paradise in 1857? I lived at Cedar City. I don't recollect dates. Did you live there at the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre? Yes, sir.
State whether you were called upon to go to Mountain Meadows? I was called upon to go and take my team and wagon.
By whom? I believe it was John M. Higbee that called me.
State from that point the circumstances? I was threshing my grain. I had my grain spread out in the yard, and was tramping it with horses at the time I was called upon. I was notified to leave in two hours' notice. It was sometime in the afternoon that I was called upon.
Of what day? I could not state.
With reference to the date of the general massacre? I think it was a day prior to it. Was it stated to you for what purpose you were to go there? No, sir.
Did you know? No, sir.
Did you go? Yes, sir.
Who went with you? There were a number that went in the wagon with me. Some I can recollect, Klingensmith for one, man by the name of Hopkins, and two or three more besides that went during the time that I went down, I understood from the men that were in the wagon. I asked them what was the matter. They told me that the emigrants had been attacked, and we had to go down and arrest the attack, if possible. That was the purpose that I expected to go for - was to preserve the emigrants from the Indians.
What time did you get there? It was in the afternoon when we started - late. It must have been way in the night when we got there. I could not tell you the time. We traveled a good many hours in the night. Got there and turned out the horses and camped.
Did you stay until morning? Yes, sir; staid there till morning, and during the next day I got up my horses.
Anybody give you orders? Yes, sir.
Who? John D. Lee. He told me to take the wagon and follow him to camp.
What camp? The camp of the emigrants.
The emigrants that were afterwards killed? Yes, sir.
Did you go? I did.
State what you saw. I went with him to camp, and there was another wagon, if I recollect right. The man that drove the wagon was a stranger to me. I never saw him before. When we got within a short distance of the camp there was a man with a flag of truce sent out.
Who was that man? His name was Mr. Bateman.
Where is he? Dead.
Where was he sent from? Sent from where we stood with the wagons.
Who went with him? John D. Lee followed immediately afterwards.
What occurred? A man came out from the camp and had an interview with John D. Lee.
What was the substance of that conversation? I was too far off to tell. I saw Lee and this man talking.
Did you hear any of the talking? Not anything I could distinguish.
After they talked what was done? After they talked they seemed to come to an understanding, ten, fifteen or twenty minutes, then Lee ordered us to drive up the wagons. We drove up the wagons. The emigrants, assisted by Lee, loaded the wagons. My wagon was loaded with some bedding, some truck of different kinds, belonging to the people that got in. Some would have their things with them, as if they were going a journey. A number got in, men, women and children, from the emigrant camp, some of them apparently wounded. I could not say how many, it is so long ago. I never charged my memory with it. I could not state how many there were.
Go on. We were ordered to start out by John D. Lee, and we started out from that place.
State whether the other wagon was loaded also? It was.
Were there any guns put into either wagon? There were not in mine.
Did you at any time leave your team? No, sir.
When John D. Lee directed you to drive, what took place? We proceeded some distance on the Meadows. Mine was the head team.
Who accompanied you? John D. Lee was walking behind the wagon, between the two wagons.
By the Court - Were there any persons in those two wagons? Yes, sir. They were loaded up with persons and things.
Were both of those wagons loaded with men, women and children from that camp of emigrants? Yes, sir, and other things besides.
How many got into your wagon? I could not say. It is impossible for me to tell. I should think half a dozen.
What were they - men and women; any children in your's? I think there were some small children.
And as you started on you saw Lee take a position between the two wagons and walk on behind you? Yes, sir. How far behind you? I could not tell you. I had as much as I could do to attend to my team. We must have been quite a little distance ahead of the other team. My team was a very fast walking team. Lee checked me up several times. I had to hold on to the lines.
Did he give you any reasons for it? No, sir. I out-walked him. We walked very fast. How many times did he tell you not to walk so fast? Several times.
By Howard - What occurred from that point? He called to me to halt after we got out of sight of the camp.
Who did? John D. Lee. When we got out of sight, over the hill, there Is where we passed out of sight of everything. There is a rising ground there. We were this side of it, and everything back towards the emigrants was out of sight. When we got to this place Lee ordered me to halt. At that instant I heard the sound of a gun. I turned and looked over my shoulder, and Lee had his gun to his shoulder, and when the gun had exploded I saw, I think it was a woman, fall backwards. I had to tend to my team at the time.
Who discharged that gun? John D. Lee must have discharged it.
Did he hold it in his hand? Yes, sir. He must have hit her in the back of the head. She fell immediately.
Go on. I turned round. It seemed to me like I heard sounds of striking with a heavy instrument, like a gun would make, but I never saw any striking done. But I turned round to the other side a few minutes afterwards, and saw Lee draw his pistol and shoot from two to three in the head of those who were in the wagon.
Did he kill them? He must have killed them.
What were those he shot - men, women or children? Men and women.
And they fell off underneath the wagon, then and there? I could not say then and there. They must have been all killed.
Did you go back at all? No, sir.
Never wanted to go back? No, sir - never.
Who fired the first gun - which was the first gun fired? It would be impossible for me to tell. The first gun I heard was the first gun fired right at the back of me that attracted my attention.
You looked around and saw the gun in Lee's hands? Yes, sir; that was the first gun I heard.
Were there immediately volleys of firing? Yes, sir; I heard firing immediately afterwards.
Was that the signal to begin firing? Yes, sir, that was the beginning.
How long after Lee told you to halt was that firing? It was instantly done.
And you looked around and saw the gun? Yes, sir.
Cross Examined - You say that you got your orders from Higbee to go down there? I believe it was from Higbee, but I am not sure. I am almost positive it was from him.
Did Higbee go with you'? I don't recollect.
Where did you camp that night? On the Meadows.
How many men were there? I could not say.
About how many men were there? I could not give it, because I went in the dark, and had my team to hunt next morning. I turned them out, and it took up all my attention.
Next morning how many men did you see there? I don't recollect anything about it.
You did not see anybody there except yourself, and John D. Lee, and the man that carried the flag, did you? I saw a good many there, but they were strangers to me.
You can't tell about how many were there? I might if I had counted them, and impressed my memory with it.
Do you think there is anything you saw, during the time you were absent from home, but what is burned Into your memory, so that it is impossible for you to forget it? Yes, sir, a number of things.
One of the principal things that you cannot recollect is the names of your friends who were there? I don't know that I had any friends there, any more than I have here.
Can you give me the names of any of the men that you saw there that day? Well, sir, I could not really recollect. I suppose not? I might if I was to sit down and think for a while. A little thing like that you would not recollect.
Will you please tell me the name of the parties that were present on the ground, at the time you started to drive down to the emigrant camp? It is impossible for me to do it.
How many men were in sight at the time you started to drive down - of your friends, parties from Cedar City or elsewhere? Well, sir, I could not say. I don't recollect seeing any of them. I was too much absorbed in my team and in my own surroundings.
What caused you to be so much absorbed? Any man that had a team to attend to under circumstances of firing of guns -
Were any guns firing then? Not then.
You did not get roused up until after they had loaded your wagon. Had anything happened to excite you previous to the loading up of your wagon at the emigrant camp? I am not aware of anything particularly.
You had not even heard that any one was to be killed? No, sir.
You thought you were on an errand of mercy? Yes, sir.
You thought you had gone there in good faith to help those emigrants back to Cedar City? Yes, sir, that was my understanding.
You had driven down across the valley to the emigrant camp, and the only men you saw during that entire time were John D. Lee and this man that carried the flag? I saw a lot of emigrants around there.
I am speaking now of the people who lived in that vicinity? Outside of the men that lived at Cedar City, they were strangers to me, and I could not tell who they were.
You saw them the night before? No, sir, I did not.
Didn't you see them on the ground before you started to drive down to the emigrant camp? I could not say that I did. I don't recollect of seeing any quantity of men where I was, at all.
You didn't see any Indians that morning? No, sir.
No Indians at the time of the killing? I could not say about that. I believe there were Indians around.
Well, do you know? I don't recollect.
You do not recollect to have seen any Indians? Yes, sir, I saw Indians around there, but at the precise moment of time I could not say.
Did you see more than one or two Indians? I saw a great many Indians there after the firing commenced.
Where did those Indians come from? I don't know.
What were they doing? I could not tell.
Did you see them commit any acts of hostility? I don't recollect. I don't doubt but they did, but I can't recollect of their doing anything of the kind.
You pretend to say now that at the time the gun was fired, and from that time on, your excitement and fear were so great that you can't recollect all that did happen? Yes, sir, that's about true.
How far did you haul those people after they were killed? Left them right there.
Who took them out? John D. Lee.
Don't you think he killed a dozen? I could not tell.
Give us your best impression? My impression is that there might be half a dozen.
You did not help kill any one - did you kill any one there? I had nothing to do with it at all.
Then you did not raise your hand against any one at that time, or do any of the killing of the emigrants? I believe I am not upon trial, sir.
I ask if you refuse to answer the question? No answer.
Did you upon that occasion, on the day when the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place, kill any person upon that ground or assist in the killing of any person? I don't wish to answer.
You say every person that was in the wagons was killed? To my best recollection and knowledge.
Don't you know, as a matter of fact, that there were some seventeen children in those wagons that were not killed? I don't recollect the number.
Don't you know there were a number of children that were not killed? Yes, sir.
Explain what you mean? I mean all of the grown persons were killed, the children were saved, sir. I believe I assisted to haul them away, to take them off.
Re-Direct - How many children were saved from the massacre? I have no recollection.
Where did you take them to - those that you had? They were distributed around; one went to one house, and another to another.*
*See Confession where Lee describes the murderous actions and cool-blooded manner with which McMurdy proceeded to butcher people for "The sake of the Kingdom." Page 241.
CHAPTER XXIII.
TRIAL OF LEE CONTINUED.
JACOB HAMBLIN
Sworn for the prosecution.
HOWARD - Where did you live in August and September, 1857? My home was supposed to be at Clara, but I occupied the Mountain Meadows in the Summer with my stock.
What county was Mountain Meadows in at that time? It was considered in Iron County. It was before Washington County was organized.
It is in Washington County now? Yes; I believe it is.
Do you remember the time of this massacre? I was not at home; I left before it happened, and I got back seven or eight days after.
How long before it happened was it that you left home? I don't know; I met the company at Corn Creek, and camped with them there.
You were going north, to the city? Yes.
When you returned had the massacre taken place? Yes, sir; It was done before I got home - I heard of it before I got home.
When you got home, what did you find there on the ground? Well, there were the bodies of the company lying about there.
Were they dead or alive? I didn't see any live ones lying there.
How many dead ones did you see? I suppose over one hundred.
Did you count the skulls there? The next Spring, I took my man and we buried over one hundred and twenty skulls - skeletons; I don't remember exactly, something like one hundred and twenty. Two of us gathered up the bones.
Did you count the skulls? Yes, sir; we counted them.
Can you now remember how many there were? I think it was one hundred and twenty odd; I am satisfied it was over that, but I don't just remember the number.
After the massacre did you have any conversation with John D. Lee about it? I don't know as I did after I got home.
Did you see him before you got home on that trip? I did. I met him at Fillmore.
Was that after the massacre? Yes, sir; It was this side of Fillmore. I told him I heard a rumor of it among the Indians, and he told me about it.
State whether he had any boasts to make about it, or communications concerning it. If so what and how? I asked him how it came up, or something of that kind. He said that the emigrants passed through and threatened to make their outfit out of those outlying settlements, and that he could not keep the Indians back, and he had to go and lead the next attack, and he got a bullet-hole through his hat and shirt, and then afterwards got more Indians and had to decoy them out.
Tell me the whole conversation? I will if you will let me. That was the conversation. I talked about it with him, and he justified himself in this way: That the Indians made him go out and go and lead the next attack; afterwards they called on the Clara Indians, and that he decoyed them out, and they massacred them.
Did be say where he decoyed them out? Decoyed them out of the emigrant camp. Did he say why the massacre took place? Yes, I believe he gave reasons for it.
What were they? Well, that the attack had been made by the Indians, and that they could not keep them back, and it was supposed expedient. That there was an army right on our border. That they would lead to giving the people much bother and trouble, and that they would testify against them, and so on, and it was thought best to use them up - all that could tell tales, that is as near as I can remember.
Who did he say concluded that? I don't think he mentioned any names.
Did he tell you whether any other white men were with him or not at the time he led the attack? He said that there was no one with him.
Did he tell you how it happened that he got down there and was there alone? Yes; I told you. He went out to watch them and keep them from making their outfit from the outlying settlements, and the Indians could not be restrained.
How long did he say that attack was made before the massacre? It ran along three or four days, he told me.
Cross-Examined - In the conversation that you had with Lee, did he not state to you that after the attack had been made by the Indians upon the emigrants, that word had been sent to Cedar City for assistance to save the emigrants from the Indians? Yes, sir - said they sent word there.
Who did he tell you sent word to Cedar City? He did - he sent word.
What did he tell you that word was that be sent to Cedar City? He sent word that the emigrants had been attacked - that the Indians were very mad, and he didn't know how to keep them down.
Give, as near as you can, the conversation that you had with Mr. Lee at the time you refer to? I believe I have.
Didn't he tell you that Haight or Higbee sent back word that the emigrants must be destroyed, because of the fact that Stewart had killed Alden at the Springs? Didn't he mention something of that kind to you in that same conversation? I don't remember as he did. He spoke of some man being shot at Little Pinto in the course of the evening. It was after the Indians had attacked, if I remember right, that some men left the camp and undertook to go to Cedar City, and were killed on the way - one or two I think, and one or two came back.
Go on and tell all that he told you about it, about the killing of that man at Pinto - how it was done, and all about it. I don't know that I can. I remember that be said that there was one killed there that went out to see if they could get help from Cedar City. Two or three went, and one was killed and one or two came back in the night. I don't know but that they got back to camp.
Did he tell you what word was sent back to him from Cedar City after that time? Yes; he told me something about the message that came there.
Tell me what was said about it? One message came to not disturb the emigrants, and after the message went that they had been attacked, I think he said that there was one that they be all killed or used up.
Go on and tell what he said was in that last message - he was explaining it to you? I am satisfied the message was - it commenced that they should be used up, or something like that.
Did he tell you who that message was from? I don't think he did.
Did he tell you where it was from, whether from Cedar City or elsewhere? No, he used the language that he got word.
Re-Direct.
Do you believe what he said, that he got a message to use up those emigrants, from any authority? I don't know that I do.
Don't you know that he lied about it? No answer.
Don't you think he did? No answer.
He was telling you this in justification after the massacre? Yes, he told me that. I asked what called for such an act, and he told what the reason was.
He gave you that reply in his justification? He said he got word to use them up, that this army was on the borders.
He got word that being commenced, that on account of the army being on the borders, that he had better finish it? Yes.
Did you understand that that came from Higbee or Haight - that word? I don't think he said.
Do you know the relations existing between Higbee, Haight and Lee, so as to know from whom it came? I would expect it would come from Isaac C. Haight, if any word was sent from Cedar City; if it was north, it would be from Parowan, but I don't think he told me where it was from.
Klingensmith was in a position, I suppose, to send such word, if any was sent? Klingensmith was presiding Bishop. If it was orders in a military capacity it would be somebody else.
If it was in a military capacity, who would it have been from? The way I understand it, it would be Dame.
If he told the truth, and authority came to him from a superior military officer - and if it came from an ecclesiastical, who would it have been from? It would have been from Klingensmith.
JACOB HAMBLIN.
Re-called.
HOWARD - I am not in the habit, your Honor, of recalling a witness this way, but I was not fully posted in regard to all the facts that Mr. Hamblin would testify to. I have found he knows some additional facts, and I will ask leave to examine him further.
How far above this place, Beaver, was it that you had a conversation with John D. Lee? It was about some springs, this side of Fillmore, probably seven or eight miles.
How far is Fillmore from here? About sixty miles.
How far is Cedar City from here? Supposed to be fifty-five miles - fifty-three to fifty-five miles.
Is there any other place called Cedar City, except Cedar City? No, sir, I don't know any. It is called Cedar or Cedar City.
How far is it from Cedar City to Paroan? Eighteen miles, I used to suppose it was. I have heard it called that.
How far is it from Parowan to Harmony? About thirty-five miles, it is supposed to be.
Is Harmony on the road, or is it off of the road from Cedar City to the Meadows? It is twelve miles south of the road.
Where do you leave the road going from Parowan to the Meadows, to go to Harmony? We leave it two and a half miles below Cedar City.
Then it is off to the left as you are going? Yes, sir.
Where is Pinto? It would be within seven miles of the north end of the Meadows, where my ranch was. What was the condition of the Meadows at that time, with regard to being a good stopping-place for travelers? At that time it had a very luxuriant growth of grass all over the valley, and springs at each end. It was considered a good stopping-place for companies, and was occupied by myself and two or three others at the north end. We had then formed a settlement called the Clara.
In this conversation that you had with Mr. Lee, did he say anything to you about the manner in which, or by whom, the men had been drawn into that massacre? It he did, will you state all he said, in your own way? It was a long while ago, but I recollect him telling me that there were white men there, and that they didn't know what they were going for until they got there, and some would not act and some would.
What do you know about the disposition of the property of those emigrants? There was none on the Meadows when I got there, that I saw. I saw two or three young men driving two or three hundred head of cattle, going to the Iron Springs. Afterwards I saw them on the Harmony range - that drove of Texas cattle.
Whose range was the Harmony range? It belonged to the Harmony settlement - the citizens of Harmony.
Do you know of Mr. Lee using any of those cattle, butchering or using any of them? He had charge of them.
BISHOP - To save time and trouble, we will admit the corpus delicti. Of course it is understood that counsel cannot admit anything against his client in a criminal case. But there will be no question raised about it. It is an undisputed fact that something like one hundred and twenty people were killed about that time and at that place. And that the number of people charged In the indictment were killed there will be no question. That they were killed at that place there will be no question. We will never argue before any court that there has not been a killing as charged in the indictment, except that we will always argue that the defendant did not do it.
Calling your attention back to that conversation, I will ask you to tell the court and jury, in your own way, what Mr. Lee told you in regard to his personal participation in that killing, if he told you anything? Well, I believe I told it here yesterday - that he spoke of white men being engaged in it, and that he made an attack at daylight; that he could not keep the Indians back. They were so mad because one of their men got killed, and another wounded, that he led the attack and got a bullet through his hat and another through his shirt. The talk was something like this: They went out there to watch the emigrants and see that they should not get their outfit from the outlying settlements; that the Indians made the attack at daylight, and one of them got killed and another wounded, and that raised their temper to such a pitch that they went for him and compelled him to lead the attack, which he did once or twice - once anyway - and got the bullet through his hat and one through his shirt. The emigrants were so strongly entrenched they could do nothing with them. And afterwards they were under the necessity of decoying them out with a flag of truce. And they came along in the Meadows to where the Indians were lying in ambush, and they rose up and massacred them. The emigrants were unarmed.
Tell what else he told you? Well, he spoke of many little Incidents.
Mention any of those Incidents? There were two young ladies brought out.
Whom by? By an Indian Chief at Cedar City, and he asked him what he should do with them, and the Indian killed one and he killed the other.
Tell the story as he told you. That is about it.
Where were those young girls brought from - did he say? From a thicket of oak brush, where they were concealed. It was an Indian Chief from Cedar City.
Tell just what he said about that. The Indian killed one and he cut the other one's throat, is what he said.
Who cut the other's throat? Mr. Lee.
Tell me what Mr. Lee said; state the circumstances of that killing, what conversation passed between that Indian Chief and Lee, and the conversation between the woman and himself? I don't know that I could.
Tell all you can remember about it; you say the Chief brought him the girls. I think I have told it about all.
Go over it again; tell us all the details of the conversation of the killing. Well, he said they were all killed - all, as he supposed; that the Chief of Cedar City then brought out the young ladies.
What did he may the Chief said to him? Asked what he should do with them.
What else did the Chief say? He said they didn't ought to be killed.
Did the Chief say to Lee why they should not be killed? Well, he said they were pretty and he wanted to save them.
What did he tell you that he said to the Chief? According to the orders that he had that they were too old and too big to let live.
Then what did he say took place - what did he say he told the Chief to do? The Chief shot one of them. Did he say he told the Chief to shoot her? He said he told him to.
What did he say the girl did when he told the Chief to shoot her? I don't know.
Did she cover her face? No; he didn't say she covered her face.
Did he say she pulled her bonnet down over her face? He didn't tell me so.
Who did he say were by when that shooting took place? Indians standing round - a good many.
After the Chief shot that one did he tell you what the other one said or did to him, Lee? I don't think Mr. Lee did tell me.
Did he tell you himself who killed the other one? I told you that he said it was a Cedar City Chief that killed one. Who killed the other? He did it, he said. How? He threw her down and cut her throat. Did he tell you what she said to him? No.
Who did tell you that? The Indians told me a good many things.
Didn't Mr. Lee tell you that she told him to spare her life, and she would love him as long as she lived? Lee didn't tell me that.
Did you ascertain in that conversation, or subsequently, where it was that they were killed? When I got home I asked my Indian boy, and he went out to where this took place, and he saw two young ladies lying there with their throats cut.
How old was he? Sixteen or seventeen.
What was the condition of those bodies? They were rather in a putrid state; their throats were cut; I didn't look further than that.
What were their ages? Looked about fourteen or fifteen. At what point were their bodies from the others? South-east direction, towards some thickets of oak. How far off? About fifty yards.
Were those bodies up a little ravine, a little way? Yes, on a rise of ground.
What were their ages, about? Thirteen to fifteen, I would suppose.
Did you learn from the children, or from any other source, their names? Well, I suppose I did.
What name? There was a little girl at my house, I found with my family that was in that company; she said their names were Dunlap; she claimed to be their sister.
How old was she? Eight years old, she said.
Did you go up there and find those bodies yourself, with the assistance of the Indian boy? I walked over the ground, looked at it all pretty much and saw these two bodies.
He told you where those two bodies were to be found, did he? Yes, sir. The others had been buried slightly, but those two hadn't been; there was quite a number scattering around there.
What became of the children of those emigrants? How many children were brought there? Two to my house, and several in Cedar City. I was acting sub-agent for Forney. I gathered the children up for him; seventeen in number, all I could learn of.
Whom did you deliver them to? Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah.
Were there any of the wagons or other property burned there on the ground? I never saw any sign of burning, and never heard of any being burned.
Cross-Examined-Bishop: What day in September was it that you had this conversation with John D. Lee, about seven or eight miles this side of Fillmore? I don't recollect the date, I left the city about the 14th, and came directly there.
Who was present at that conversation? A man by the name of Bishop.
That was not me? No; that man had two good eyes, and you have but one.
What Bishop was that, was he a Mormon Bishop? No, he was not a Mormon Bishop; he was a merchant. He had been hauling goods from California, and dealing here some in these settlements.
Can you give me his other name? No, sir; I never heard it.
Was it Jesse Bishop? I don't know his other name.
Lee told you and this man Bishop all about it - got you two together and told you? I don't think Bishop heard the conversation, or much of it.
Did Bishop hear any of it? I don't know that he did, or that he didn't.
Then why did you say that he told you and this man Bishop? I said he was there.
You heard the conversation? Yes, I heard it; but I don't know as any other man heard it.
There was a man present by the name of Bishop? He was in the same camp.
Where were you at the time this conversation took place? I was five or six miles this side of Fillmore, at the Springs.
What time of day was it? It was afternoon sometime.
Which way was John D. Lee traveling at the time you saw him? Going north, to the city.
You were going South? Yes, sir.
Tell me what he said about the orders that he had. You have said that he told the Chief to kill the little girl, and that he killed the other, because his orders were that they were all to be used up. He said he had orders to use up all that company that could tell tales.
Where did he get these orders from? Did he tell you that? I told you no, that I don't remember that he did.
Do you recollect that he didn't? If he did I don't recollect it.
I want to get as full a statement of facts as possible. I want you to tell me everything that you think he said, or that he did say. When did he tell you that he got those orders from Cedar City? It was my impression that he got them from Cedar City, but I could not say what the man said about it, but I had that idea.
Who else did he tell you was on the ground aiding in this killing? The names I don't know as he mentioned. I think he mentioned Bishop Klingensmith being there.
Who else? He mentioned Higbee being there.
Who else did he mention? He mentioned my brother being there, bringing some Indians there. He sent him word to bring the Indians up there. Sent him word of this affair taking place, and for him to go and get the Indians, and bring up the Clara Indians.
Your brother, then, brought the Indians to the Meadows, and then left there? Yes, he told me so.
Now, how was it about the Indians making an attack about daylight? Were they repulsed? Yes.
One killed and another wounded? Yes, sir.
That enraged the Indians, and so Lee led the next attack? Yes, sir.
Who do you mean were so enraged - the Indians? Yes, the Indians. He claimed the idea that he had to do it to save his own life. They were very mad, and wanted him to help use up that company.
Did he not tell you in that same conversation that he tried to appease the Indians and keep them from attacking the train? I don't remember just the words, but he said he could not keep them from attacking them just at daylight.
Didn't he tell you that he tried to keep them off? I don't think so. I think he said he could not keep them off.
Did he say anything about the Indians calling him any names because he would not go? He went off towards the Clara and cried, and they called him crier - yah guts.
Why did they call him this? Because he cried.
That was before he led the attack? I don't know.
Are you positive that he told you that he cut that woman's throat? Yes, I am positive of that, or I would not have told it.
How long is it since you have told anybody that John D. Lee had told you that? It has been about three seconds.
Where have you lived since the Mountain Meadows Massacre? My family has been at the Clara the most of the time; the last six years have been at Kanab.
You have lived in Utah all that time? My home has been in Utah.
That has been your home? My home has been in Utah.
Didn't Lee tell you more than you have told? Didn't he tell you about a council that was held on the field before the massacre? He told me. We had a good deal of conversation about it.
Tell me if he did not inform you that a council was held on the field, on Mountain Meadows, by the people from Cedar City, before the massacre, and that he opposed the killing of the emigrants until he found that he could do no good? After we had talked some time I asked the necessity of such a thing, or why it was, and he told me that he had orders to do so.
Did he not tell you that there was a council held there at the Meadows, and that it was then decided that they should be killed? No, I never heard that there was a council held there to make any decision, or to decide anything but the subject or counseling how to decoy them out.
Who counseled with them? There was Klingensmith, the Bishop of Cedar City.
Who else counseled with him? I think he said John M. Higbee. I am satisfied it was.
Did he tell you how long before the massacre it was that they talked this over? I don't think that he did.
You were a sub-agent and Indian interpreter at that time, were you not? Right away after that Forney appointed me as sub-agent. At that time I was no agent, nor in any particular office, unless a missionary in the south country to establish some settlements on the Clara.
What reason did Lee give you in that conversation for the killing of the emigrants? He must have given you some reason why it was necessary to commit such a deed? I asked what called for it, why they did it. He said that attack at daylight would have thrown censure upon this people.
On what people? The people that were living here.
Do you mean the whites that were living here at the time? Yes, sir.
Go on and tell all he said. I want you to make it as bad as you can - tell all that you said, all that he said? I would not undertake that.
Tell all that you can recollect? I have, the substance of it.
There must have been a good deal said about the reasons for doing this thing? The cause that he always gave to me was that which I told you. That after they came through there and behaved very rough, and said that they helped kill old Joe Smith, and were going to be ready there at the Meadows when their teams got recruited, and when Johnston commenced on the north end, they would on the south end, and he was asked by authority - Haight or Dame - to go and watch those emigrants and see that they didn't molest those weak settlements. When I asked him what it was for - that in doing so, when they got there the Indians made this attack at daylight.
The Indians then made the first attack? He said they made it voluntarily - they made the first attack.
You spoke of General Johnston's army marching towards Utah. Where was it? At Fort Bridger then.
Who was it understood that Johnston was understood to be marching against them? The understanding and feeling was that he was marching against the Mormons as a people, Church or nation, and was going to try to burst up the whole concern. That was what we expected.
You expected, then, that Johnston with the army of the United States, was leading that army against this people? Yes, sir.
With the intention of exterminating them or compelling them to abandon their religion? Yes, sir, that was my belief - to do away with the Mormon religion.
How long before that had it been that this same feeling of fear or anxiety had been felt by this people, occasioned by Johnston's approach? I think it had been two or three months, It came south at the time. I think it was the 24th of July when a celebration was held in one of the canyons, that word came that Johnston was on his way.
After that 24th of July, did that report have any effect on this people to cause them to organize as a military people? No, that was organized before that, as far as I knew and was acquainted with the counsel.
From that time on up to the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, tell me if the people were organized as a militia, and enrolled as such? The instructions we had from George A. Smith, who was sent as representing President Young's mind, was to save everything like breadstuff, and use it when we wanted it.
Did the people ever meet and drill, have exercises and musters, so as to make them understand the use of arms, and make them familiar with military tactics? Yes, sir, there used to be drills, sometimes, those days.
Was it not a general occurrence for them to meet and drill? Yes, they drilled at Fillmore and Cedar - I don't know about Harmony - using as much effort as possible to perfect themselves in military tactics. They were always doing that; they did that in Illinois.
Did you not understand that all the men between eighteen and sixty years of age were enrolled in the militia? Yes, I understood it so.
Who was the highest military officer in this division? William H. Dame was first in command in the southern country. He was Colonel of the Iron Militia, as I understood it. I was out a good deal.
Who was the highest military officer at Cedar City? Well, that I could not testify to, but I think it was Isaac C. Haight, but I would not testify to it, because I don't know.
State if you know whether John M. Higbee belonged to the militia or not? Well, he belonged to the militia, but whether as private or officer, I don't know.
How many men did John D. Lee tell you had gone from Cedar City to the Mountain Meadows, and that were present at the time of the Massacre? Well, if he told me I have forgotten.
Did you ever have a conversation with him, or with any other person, as to how many or about how many were there? No, I don't know that I had. I heard there was something like fifty in all from Cedar City and from below there, but that is nothing but an idea - not founded on fact - as reports.
You spoke about Lee telling you that there was a necessity for killing those young girls, because they were older than those that his orders permitted him to save. State now if he did not tell you in that conversation some reason for the killing of the grown people. The reason was what I told you.
Did he not say that if they were permitted to go they would tell the tale in California, about what had been done there by the Mormons? His talk was and his excuses were that it would be a bad thing for the people here in Utah, if it was known, and got out in such a troublous time. It would bring much trouble on the Mormons as a people.
Was not that trouble to come from their notifying the people of California of what had been done? Well, yes. When I interrogated him about that he said - I think he said - It would have a tendency to bring trouble from California.
Did he not tell you that that was the understanding of the people, that if they were permitted to go, that it would call an army from the south, and that was the reason these instructions were sent as they were? He didn't say anything about the people.
Did be not tell you why the instructions came to him as they did? He did not tell who it came from, he said he did it by authority.
Did he not tell you that he did it by authority and the reason that authority gave was that these parties, if permitted to go, would raise a war cloud in California? I don't know as he did. He said it would lead to bringing an army down upon us; that is what he told me.
Did he tell you anything further? I think I have told you all that was important that John D. Lee said.
Did not John D. Lee tell you in that same conversation, that after the Indians made the attack the first time, that one or more men started from the emigrant camp for Cedar City, and met some men going to the emigrant camp from Cedar City; that they met at the springs, and that then Young Aiden was killed by William C. Stewart? He gave me an account of it.
Tell me what he said about it? I can't do that.
Then give the substance of it. It would be from memory, and there might be an error in it. He told me - he spoke of three men starting back to go to Cedar City to get assistance and to give information of what was going on after the first Indian attack. During that time there were three men went out in the night, and one was killed at Little Pinto, four miles this side of the Meadows. I don't know who he said killed them. I don't know as he said that he knew. I think one was killed there, and the other got back to their camp. They wounded one in the night, and the thought was this would lead to trouble if they were permitted to go, on account of this man being wounded and telling how it was done, and what had happened in the past, was about his language; what had happened would lead to bringing trouble, perhaps an army on the southern people, and especially that action at the springs, in the killing that man.
Did Lee tell you who was at the springs at that time? No, if he did, I don't remember.
Did he say this to you - that it was understood by the authorities that one man was wounded at the springs, and one man killed by Stewart, and if those people were permitted to go to California they would notify the people of California that the whites had made an attack in conjunction with the Indians; that they would lead an army from the south and west, and that for safety they considered it necessary as a war measure to kill those people? I think he told you that, Mr. Bishop. I told you that when I asked him, he told me that that would lead to bringing an army here. I am satisfied that is what he said. But as to the particulars of the killing at Little Pinto I could not say, only that a man was killed there and one wounded, and they had got back; that the attack at daylight was the cause of the emigrants being killed.
Mr. Hamblin, have you now detailed to the jury all of the conversation that you had with John D. Lee, at the time that you met him seven or eight miles this side of Fillmore? I think I have, that I recollect distinctly enough to mention here. I may think of something else.
You say you saw some of the cattle on the Harmony range. How many people used that range for their cattle? I think something like twenty families.
Do you know who took charge of the stock immediately after the massacre? I met two young men driving it - between two and three hundred head.
Who were they? They lived at Cedar City. I did not know them. They said they were going to drive them to the Iron Springs, and then afterwards I learned that John D. Lee took them.
Who were those young men? I do not know. I was not acquainted with them. I was not much acquainted at Cedar City. They lived there, they said.
How far did you live from Cedar City at that time? My family was then twenty-eight miles from Cedar City, at the Meadows.
Did you spend any time at Cedar City soon afterwards? When I came through I stopped about ten minutes. I was on an express.
Where were you carrying the express? I was going to overtake another company. Colonel Dame was afraid they would jump into them, and wanted me to go and see to it.
Afraid who would jump into them? The Indians.
Where did you get that express? From him.
Where at? At Wild Cat Canyon, eight or ten miles north of here.
That was when you were coming from Salt Lake? That was.
After you had left John D. Lee? Yes, sir.
Who were you carrying that express to? To the Indians - if there were any. He said he had learned they were following up this company.
What company? The company that was following up the company that was massacred. They were stopped here a while, and the Indians wounded one, or killed one, or something.
Have you ever given this conversation that you had with Lee, to any one, to the public generally? I do not ask if you have stated it to the counsel in the case, but to others? I have no recollection of it.
Have you ever given it to any court or jury, or given a statement of it? No, sir, not at all - not until now.
Have you ever given a report of it to any of your superiors in the Church, or officers over you? Well, I did speak of it to President Young and George A. Smith.
Did you give them the whole facts? I gave them some more than I have here, because I recollected more of it.
When did you do that? Pretty soon after it happened.
You are certain you told it fuller than you have told it here on the stand? I told them everything I could.
Who else did you tell it to? I have no recollection of telling it to any one else.
Why have you not told it before this time? Because I did not feel like it.
Why did you not feel like it? You felt and knew that a great crime had been committed, did you not? I felt that a great crime had been committed. But Brigham Young told me that "as soon as we can get a court of justice, we will ferret this thing out, but till then don't say anything about it.
There have been courts of justice in this Territory ever since that time? I have never seen the effects of it yet. I have seen it tried.
Then this is the first time you have ever felt at liberty to tell it? It is the first time I ever felt that any good would come of it. I kept it to myself until it was called for in the proper place.
You feel now that the proper time has come? I do indeed.
I presume you have talked it over with friends, and they advised you that this would be a good time and place to tell it? I had an idea that if I came here that it would be a pretty good place to tell it.
And in pursuance of that idea you are going on to tell it? Yes, sir.
Are you certain that you have told all that you know about it? I am certain that I know all I tell.
Answer the other part? I think I have, all that is important.
Have you told it all? No, sir, I have not.
Then tell it? I will not undertake that now. I would not like to undertake it.
Re-Direct-Howard: How long have you known John D. Lee? Between thirty and forty years.
How long is it since Mr. Lee ceased to be so ardent in his feelings and religious zeal that he was willing to run the risk he did down there at the Mountain Meadows, to defend his religion? What I knew of him, he was always pretty zealous in what is called Mormonism - he was at that time. How is it now?
BISHOP - We object to the question; it is not expected that a man shall be called a criminal for giving up his belief in such a Church. It is wholly foreign to the question at issue. Objection sustained.*
*N0TE - To fully appreciate the evidence of this witness, Hamblin, read what Lee says about the acts of Hamblin and Nephi Johnson, in the stealing of the cattle from the Duke's train.
NEPHI JOHNSON.
Re-called by Prosecution.
HOWARD - I will introduce the question I have to ask, by asking you if you know anything about this subsequent company - the Duke's company? Yes, sir.
What do you know about that? Objected to upon the ground that it relates to a matter subsequent to the crime as charged in the indictment. Question withdrawn.
What conversation did you have with Mr. Lee, after the massacre? When I arrived at Harmony, John D. Lee was there.
How long was this after the massacre at the Meadows? Only few days.
Where did you go from? I started from this city to Cedar City at my father's ranch. Where were you going? Going with the company to see them safe through the country.
When you got to Harmony, did you see John D. Lee? Yes, sir.
Did you have any conversation with him? Yes, sir.
What conversation? He asked me to take the company into the mountains in the Santa Clara, and that he would follow with the Indians and kill them.
Did he tell you that he had authority to do that? No, sir; I said I would not do it. I said that I was sent to see the company safely through the country, and that I would do it or die. That there had been enough blood spilt at Mountain Meadows. He called me a great many names, and passed on.
Cross-Examined - You made up your mind, then, to die for the emigrants. Did you try to die for them at Mountain Meadows? No answer.
Nephi Johnson recalled.
HOWARD - By permission of counsel for defense I will ask one question.
BISHOP - Ask as many as you desire.
HOWARD - How long have you known John D. Lee? Since 1851.
Do you identify the prisoner at the bar as the John D. Lee spoken of by the witnesses and in your own testimony? Yes, sir.
Cross-examined - Where did you live in 1851? Parowan, Iron County.
What time did you go to Iron County, Parowan? In the Spring of '51.
Where did you come from when you went there? Came from Salt Lake Valley.
Where did you come from to Salt Lake? From Illinois.
What part? Knox County, Illinois.
When did you leave Knox County, Illinois, for Salt Lake? I think it was in 1849.
Then you have lived in Utah all the time since? Yes, sir.
The defendant introduced no witnesses, but rested his case upon the evidence that had been introduced by the prosecution.
The case was then argued for the prosecution by Howard and Denny, and for the defendant by Foster and Bishop. The Court instructed the jury at length.
The jury, after a few hours' deliberation, returned a verdict of "Guilty of murder in the first degree."
A motion was afterwards made and argued for a new trial. The court overruled the motion, denied the application for a new trial, and sentenced Lee to be shot.
The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Utah Territory, and argued in that Court by Hon. Frank Tilford and Sumner Howard for the people, and by Wm. W. Bishop for Lee.
The Supreme Court sustained the judgment and sentence or the District Court, and ordered the District Court to fix a day for carrying the judgment into effect. The District Court again sentenced John D. Lee to be shot to death, and fixed the day for execution on March 28d, 1877.
CHAPTER XXIV.
NAMES OF ASSASSINS CLAIMED BY LEE TO HAVE BEEN PARTICIPANTS
IN THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE, OR PRIVY THERETO.
NAMES of those who were on the ground, and aiding in or consenting to the killing of over one hundred and twenty men, women and children, at the Mountain Meadows.
1. George Adair, Jr.
2. Benjamin Arthur.
3. Ira Allen, (dead.) Member of High Council of Church and City.
4. Wm. Bateman, (dead.) Carrier of Flag of Truce.
5. John W. Clark, (dead.) Lived at Washington, Utah.
6. Thomas Cartwright, (dead.) Lived at Cedar City. Member City Council.
7. E. Curtis. Captain of "10." Cedar City.
8. Joseph Clews. Then of Cedar, now at Los Angelos, California.
9. Jabez Durfey. Cedar City.
10. - Edwards. Cedar City.
11. Columbus Freeman. Then of Cedar, now at Corn Creek, Utah.
12. John M. Higbee. 1st Counselor to Isaac C. Haight, and Major of Iron Militia. In command at Massacre.
13. Oscar Hamblin, (dead.)
14. Charles Hopkins, (dead.)
15. Wm. Hawley. Now residing in Fillmore, Utah Territory.
16. John Hawley. (Died in Indian Nation.)
17. Richard Harrison, of Pinto. Member of High Council of Church.
18. George Hunter, of Cedar City.
19. John Humphreys, of Cedar City.
20. Samuel Jukes, of Cedar City.
21. Nephi Johnson, of Cedar City. Indian Interpreter.
22. Swen Jacobs, of Cedar City.
23. John Jacobs, of Cedar City.
24. Philip Klingensmith. Bishop of Church at Cedar City.
25. Samuel Knight, of Cedar City.
26. - Knight.
27. Dudley Leavitt, of Cedar City.
28. A. Loveridge, of Cedar City.
29. Daniel McFarland, of Cedar City. Son-in-law of Isaac C. Haight, and acting Adjutant at time of massacre.
30. John McFarland. Attorney at law, St. George, Utah.
31. James Matthews, (dead.)
32. John Mangum, of Cedar City.
38. Samuel McMurdy, of Cedar City. 1st Counselor to Bishop Klingensmith. Assisted in killing wounded.
34. James Pearce, of Washington, Utah.
35. Harrison Pearce, of Washington, Utah.
36. Samuel Pollock, of Cedar City.
37. Dan. C. Shirts, of Harmony, now of Potatoe Valley, Utah. Son-in-law of John D. Lee, and Indian Interpreter.
38. William Slade, Sr., (dead,) of Cedar City.
39. William Slade, Jr., of Cedar City.
40. William C. Stewart, of Cedar City.
41. Joseph Smith, of Cedar City.
42. Arthur Stratton, of Virgin City.
43. -Tate, of Cedar City. Has since been a Captain of militia.
44. John Ure, of Cedar City.
45. Joel White, of Cedar City.
46. Elliott Wilden, of Cedar City.
47. Robert Wiley, of Cedar City.
48. Samuel White, of Cedar City.
49. Alexander Wilden, of Cedar City.
50. John Weston (dead), of Cedar City.
51. Wm. Young (dead), of Washington, Utah.
52. John D. Lee. Executed March 23, 1877.
ACCESSORIES BEORE THE FACT.
WILLIAM H. DAME, Bishop of the Church at Parowan, Colonel of the Iron Military District, and first man in authority in Southern Utah. He gave orders to Isaac C. Haight to have the emigrants exterminated, and did not deny the same when accused of it by Haight on the field after the massacre, while examining the dead bodies.
ISAAC C. HAIGHT, President of that "Stake of Zion at Cedar City, Utah Territory, Lieutenant Colonel of the Iron Military District - the man who directed Lee to see that the emigrants were exterminated.
GEORGE A. SMITH, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who preached a crusade against all who were opposed to the Mormon Church, through the settlements in Southern Utah, immediately before the Mountain Meadows Massacre. (Now dead, or so reported).
ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT.
BRIGHAM YOUNG, to whom John D. Lee made a full report of the massacre, giving names of persons engaged in the crime, and every fact within his knowledge, in less than a month after the same was committed.
The man who said "God had shown him that the massacre was right."
The man who ordered John D. Lee to keep the whole thing secret.
The man who pretended to aid Judge Cradlebaugh to discover the guilty parties, and while pretending to do so was preaching at Cedar City and elsewhere that damnation would be the fate of all who presumed to give evidence against the brethren who had committed the crime.
The man who gave offices and concubines to John D. Lee and Isaac C. Haight, as a reward for their acts at the massacre.
The man who controls the every act of the Mormon people and makes slaves of his followers.
The man who teaches the doctrine of Blood Atonement as a religious duty to be performed by the faithful Latter-Day Saints.
The man who assumes that he does nothing except by direct authority from Heaven.
The greatest criminal of the Nineteenth Century!
DANIEL H. WELLS, the man who has done everything that he could possibly do to carry out the will of Brigham Young and defeat the United States officers in their attempts to enforce the laws of the United States. The man who directed the witnesses that it was the will of God, as made known through Brigham Young, the Prophet, Priest and Revelator under the New Dispensation, that John D. Lee must be convicted, but that no evidence should be given that would implicate any others of the brethren who aided in the butchery at Mountain Meadows.
NEXT. Every Mormon who has tried to screen the guilty perpetrators from punishment, among whom may be named-
GEORGE Q. CANNON, who disgraces the Government of the United States by holding a seat as Delegate to Congress from the Territory of Utah, and who wrote many articles for publication, in the vain effort to prove that the massacre was an Indian massacre, without help or advice from the Church.
LASTLY. All who pretend that John D. Lee, and those who assisted him in the massacre, acted contrary to the orders of the Mormon Priesthood.
CHAPTER XXV.
EXECUTION OF JOHN D. LEE.
JOHN D. LEE was executed on Mountain Meadows, Washington County, Utah Territory, at the scene of the massacre, on the 28d day of March, 1877.
As to the reasons which prompted him to act as he did during his lifetime, we have nothing to say. Judging from his Life and Confessions, and our personal acquaintance with him, we believe him to have been an honest man, but so blinded by religious fanaticism and faith in his corrupt Church leaders, that his moral vision was perverted, and he committed crimes under the orders of his superiors, believing that he was doing right and working for the glory of God. It appears from his writings that he was used by Joe Smith, Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders, from the time that he became a member of the Church, as a tool to perform their dirty work, and when he was worn out and could no longer be of any service to them, they sacrificed him with as little compunction of conscience as a carpenter would throw away an old worn-out saw or chisel.
The only wonder is that Lee, who was an intelligent man, would allow himself to be so often and so grossly deceived, and still repose confidence in his leaders. The answer to this is, that he had the utmost faith - a fanatical faith - in the truth of the Mormon religion, and believed that no other doctrine would enable him to attain immortality and future happiness. In addition to this, he had married a number of wives, who had borne him children, for all of whom he seems to have entertained a warm, fatherly affection; and if he had left the Mormon Church the law would have compelled him to give up all his wives except the first one, and his children would have been branded as bastards. His life, too, would have been in danger from his former associates, as he says himself, and they would either have "blood atoned" him or reported his crime to the civil authorities and secured his conviction.
All these reasons kept him in the Church, and while there he felt that it was his duty, to himself, his family, and his God, to obey his rulers and those who were in authority over him.
The rulers of the Mormon Church teach their deluded followers that they are inspired men; that they act by direct authority from God, and that disobedience to their orders is rebellion against God. They also teach that those who carry out their orders in the commission of murders and other crimes, are only instruments to perform the will of God, and are not responsible for the sins which they commit in obeying the orders of their inspired rulers.
It is hard to believe that people of any intelligence whatever, could be so shamefully deceived, but when men and women are thoroughly imbued with religious fanaticism, they are capable of believing or doing almost anything, provided it is sanctioned by a "thus sayeth the Lord" from the lips of some "holy" man or prophet, pretending to have his authority from revelation. Christianity itself furnished too many sickening examples of this kind a few centuries ago.
Thus John D. Lee was led on, step by step, from one crime to another, until his leaders had made all the use of him they could, and then they sacrificed him to a felon's death, in order to save themselves and cover up the sins of the Church.
EXECUTION OF JOHN D. LEE.
On Wednesday preceding the day fixed upon for the execution, the guard having Lee In charge started from Beaver City, where Lee had been imprisoned, for Mountain Meadows, where it had been decided to carry the sentence into execution.
The party consisted of United States Marshal, William Nelson, a military guard, the prisoner, District Attorney Howard, a few newspaper correspondents, and about twenty private citizens.
The authorities had received information that an attempt to rescue Lee would be made by his sons and a body of his personal friends, and precautions were taken to prevent the success of any such attempt. The place of execution was kept a profound secret, except with the Marshal and a few trusted friends, and a strong guard was procured. Lee either knew nothing about the intended attempt at rescue, or else he placed no confidence in it, for he uttered no word or expression to indicate that he had any hope. He was cheerful and resigned to his fate, and seemed to have but little dread of death.
The party reached Mountain Meadows about ten o'clock Friday morning, and after the camp had been arranged, Lee pointed out the various places of interest connected with the massacre, and recapitulated the horrors of that event.
A more dreary scene than the present appearance of Mountain Meadows cannot be imagined. The curse of God seems to have fallen upon it, and scorched and withered the luxuriant grass and herbage that covered the ground twenty years ago. The Meadows have been transformed from a fertile valley into an arid and barren plain, and the superstitious Mormons assert that the ghosts of the murdered emigrants meet nightly at the scene of their slaughter and re-enact in pantomime the horrors of their massacre.
The ground is cut up into deep gullies, and the surface is covered with sage brush and scrub oak. Meadows Spring, where the emigrants were encamped when they were first attacked, is situated at the lower part of the plain. At the time of the massacre this spring was on a level with the surrounding country, but it has since been washed out until it forms a terrible gulch some twenty feet in depth and eight or ten rods wide.
About thirteen years ago, Lieutenant Price and a party of soldiers collected all the bones of the murdered emigrants that could be found on the field, and erected a monument of loose stones over them, on the banks of this ravine. The monument is about three feet high, oblong in shape, and some twenty feet in length. Many of the stones of which it was composed have fallen into the ravine, and the monument is in keeping with its surroundings - dreary, desolate and decaying. The curse rests upon the whole landscape. The Marshal's party removed some of the loose stones down to the level of the earth, but no trace of bones or human remains could be found. Decay and desolation mark everything. The accompanying illustration, engraved from a photograph taken a few minutes before Lee's execution, gives a correct view of the present appearance of the Meadows.
To this dreary spot, the scene of one of the most revolting crimes that ever disgraced humanity, John D. Lee had been conveyed to bid farewell to life and be suddenly hurled into the unknown realities of eternity. His sentence, doubtless, was just, but it so, what ought to be the fate of the men who counseled and commanded him to do what he did? Among the number Brigham Young stands head and foremost, by reason of his position, and if the curse which rests upon the scene of the butchery does not follow him with the horrors of the damned fate is unjust. He proved himself a traitor to his faithful friend and slave, as well as a murderer at heart, and as sure as there is a God in Heaven just so sure will the curse of that crime come home to him. If the law should fail to reach him with its retributions, the ghost of John D. Lee will haunt his lecherous pillow and scorch his sleepless brain with visions of everlasting woe.
As the party came to a halt at the scene of the massacre, sentinels were posted on the surrounding hills, to prevent a surprise, and preparations for the execution were at once begun.
The wagons were placed in a line near the monument, and over the wheels of one of them army blankets were drawn, to serve as a screen or ambush for the firing party. The purpose of this concealment was to prevent the men composing the firing party from being seen by any one, there being a reasonable fear that some of Lee's relatives or friends might wreak vengeance upon his executioners. The rough pine boards for the coffin were next unloaded from a wagon, and the carpenters began to nail them together. Meanwhile Lee sat some distance away, with Marshal Nelson, and quietly observed the operations going on around him. The civilians, and those specially invited as witnesses, were allowed to come within the military enclosure, but all others were required to station themselves at a considerable distance to the east of the ravine.
At 10:35, all the arrangements having been completed, Marshal Nelson began to read the order of the Court, and at its conclusion he turned to Lee and said:
"Mr. Lee, if you have anything to say before the order of the Court is carried into effect, you can now do so."
Lee replied:
"I wish to speak to that man," pointing to the photographer, (James Fennemore), who was adjusting his camera near by, preparatory to taking the group of which Lee was the central figure. "Come over here," said Lee, beckoning with his hand.
"In a second, Mr. Lee," replied Mr. Fennemore, but it was more than a minute before he could comply with the request. Lee, observing that the artist was occupied with his camera, said:
"I want to ask a favor of you; I want you to furnish my three wives each a copy," meaning the photograph about to be taken.
"Send them to Rachel A., Sarah C. and Emma B."
Hon. Sumner Howard, who was standing by the side of the instrument, responded for the artist, whose head at the moment was covered by the hood as he was adjusting the camera: "He says he will do it, Mr. Lee."
Lee then repeated the names of his three wives carefully, saying to the artist, who had just approached him, "Please forward them - you will do this?"
Mr. Fennemore responded affirmatively, at the same time shaking Lee by the hand.
Lee then seemed to pose himself involuntarily, and the picture was taken.
He then arose from his coffin, where he had been seated, and, looking calmly around at the soldiers and spectators, said, in an even and unexcited tone of voice:
LAST WORDS OF JOHN D. LEE.
"I have but little to say this morning. Of course I feel that I am upon the brink of eternity; and the solemnities of eternity should rest upon my mind at the present. I have made out - or have endeavored to do so - a manuscript, abridging the history of my life. This is to be published. In it I have given my views and feelings with regard to all these things.
"I feel resigned to my fate. I feel as calm as a summer morn, and I have done nothing intentionally wrong. My conscience is clear before God and man. I am ready to meet my Redeemer and those that have gone before me, behind the vail.
"I am not and infidel. I have not denied God and his mercies.
"I am a strong believer in these things. Most I regret is parting with my family; many of them are unprotected and will be left fatherless." (Here he rested two or three seconds.) "When I speak of these things they touch a tender chord within me." (Here his voice faltered perceptibly.) "I declare my innocence of ever doing anything designedly wrong in all this affair. I used my utmost endeavors to save these people.
"I would have given worlds, were they at my command, If I could have averted that calamity, but I could not do it. It went on.
"It seems I have to be made a victim - a victim must be had, and I am the victim. I am sacrificed to satisfy the feelings - the vindictive feelings, or in other words, am used to gratify parties.
"I am ready to die. I trust in God. I have no fear. Death has no terror.
"Not a particle of mercy have I asked of the court, the world, or officials to spare my life.
"I do not fear death, I shall never go to a worse place than I am now in.
"I have said it to my family, and I will say it to-day, that the Government of the United States sacrifices their best friend. That is saying a great deal, but it is true - it is so.
"I am a true believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not believe everything that is now being taught and practiced by Brigham Young. I do not care who bears it. It is my last word - it is so. I believe he is leading the people astray, downward to destruction. But I believe in the gospel that was taught in its purity by Joseph Smith, in former days. I have my reasons for it.
"I studied to make this man's [Brigham Young] will my pleasure for thirty years. See, now, what I have come to this day!
"I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner. (Lee enunciated this sentence with marked emphasis.) "I cannot help it. It is my last word - it is so.
"Evidence has been brought against me which is as false as the binges of hell, and this evidence was wanted to sacrifice me. Sacrifice a man that has waited upon them, that has wandered and endured with them in the days of adversity, true from the beginning of the Church! And I am now singled out and am sacrificed in this manner! What confidence can I have in such a man! I have none, and I don't think my Father in heaven has any.
"Still, there are thousands of people in this Church that are honorable and good-hearted friends, and some of whom are near to my heart. There is a kind of living, magnetic influence which has come over the people, and I cannot compare it to anything else than the reptile that enamors his prey, till it captivates it, paralyzes it, and it rushes into the jaws of death. I cannot compare it to anything else. It is so, I know it, I am satisfied of it.
"I regret leaving my family; they are near and dear to me. These are things which touch my sympathy, even when I think of those poor orphaned children.
"I declare I did nothing designedly wrong in this unfortunate affair. I did everything in my power to save that people, but I am the one that must suffer.
"Having said this I feel resigned. I ask the Lord, my God, if my labors are done, to receive my spirit."
Lee ceased speaking at 10:50, A. M. He was then informed that his hour had come and he must prepare for execution. He quietly and coolly looked at the small group of spectators. He was still very calm and resigned.
Rev. George Stokes, a Methodist minister who had accompanied Lee as his spiritual adviser, then knelt on the ground and delivered a short prayer. The minister was deeply affected by the solemnity of the occasion, and was very earnest in his supplications. The prisoner listened attentively.
At the conclusion of the prayer, Lee exchanged a few words with Mr. Howard and Marshal Nelson, saying to the latter:
"I ask one favor of the guards - spare my limbs and centre my heart."
He then shook hands with those around him, removed his overcoat and comforter, presenting the latter to Mr. Howard, and giving his hat to Marshal Nelson.
The Marshal then bound a handkerchief over the prisoner's eyes, but at his request his hands were allowed to remain free.
The doomed man then straightened himself up facing the firing party, as he sat on his coffin, clasped his hands over his head, and exclaimed:
"Let them shoot the balls through my heart! Don't let them mangle my body!"
The Marshal assured him that the aim would be true, and then stepped back. As he did so, he gave the orders to the guards:
"READY! AIM! FIRE!"
The five men selected as executioners promptly obeyed. They raised their rifles to their shoulders, took deliberate aim at the blind-folded man sitting upright on his coffin, about twenty feet in front of them, and as the fatal word "fire!" rang out clear and strong on the morning air, a sharp report was heard, and Lee fell back on his coffin, dead and motionless. There was not a cry nor a moan nor a tremor of the body.
There was a convulsive twitching of the fingers of the left hand, which had fallen down by the side of the coffin, and the spirit of John D. Lee had crossed over the dark river and was standing before the Judge of the quick and the dead.
His soul had solved the awful mystery, and the CURSE that hovers over Mountain Meadows had marked "ONE" upon its. list of Retribution.
THE END.
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
APPENDIX
LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.
ON THE 29th day of August, 1877, the telegraph brought the brief announcement of the death of Brigham Young, which occurred at Salt Lake City, at four o'clock on the evening of that day. This event, of peculiar importance to the religious denomination of which he was the head and main support, was not entirely unexpected, as the infirmities of age end the effects of licentious living had been making serious inroads upon his vigorous constitution during the last few years of his life. He had anticipated the event himself, and had about completed his arrangements for the transmission of his authority to other hands.
As there is nothing to admire in the character of this gross, selfish, lustful man, except his superior natural abilities and unyielding determination, it is difficult to collect sufficient material for an extended biography, for he had no loving friends to gather up the little incidents of his life and place them on record for the use of future historians. He ruled his people as a tyrant, not as a friend, and the title of the "Old Boss." by which he was familiarly known among the Mormons, indicates the estimation in which he was held by his own people.
The only record of his early life now in existence, is a brief account written by himself, from which we learn that he was born in Whittingham, Windham County, Vermont, June 1, 1801. When he was about eighteen months old his parents removed to Smyrna, Chenango County, N. Y., where they resided until 1818. Shortly after the commencement of the last war with Great Britain, they removed to Genoa, Cayuga County, N. Y., where Brigham lived until 1829. In 1830 he located in Mendon, Monroe County, where he remained but a short time, when he removed to Canandaigua, but returned to Mendon in 1832. He removed from there to Kirtland, Ohio, where he was "converted" to Mormonism, and his connection with that sect dates from that place and period.
He had four brothers, born in the following order: John, Joseph, Phineas H., and Lorenzo D., Brigham being next to the youngest. He also had five sisters.
His father's name was John Young, and his mother's maiden name was Nabby Howe.
Brigham's grandfather was a physician in the American army during the French and Indian wars, and was killed after the return of peace by a heavy rail falling upon his neck while climbing through a fence. Two of Dr. Young's sons, Joseph and John, fought in the American army during the Revolutionary War.
John Young, Brigham's father, was a farmer, and his social position seems to have been below the average. The future Prophet was reared in the humblest circumstances, and he often boasted in after-life that he had "only been eleven and a half days at school." His natural abilities were good, but these were neglected, the boy grew up in ignorance, and as a natural consequence the grosser attributes of his character predominated.
The Young family, with the exception of Brigham, were all devout Methodists, but their religion was freely tinctured with the superstitious ideas common to ignorant minds, and which were quite prevalent at that early date; and Brigham, who possessed a naturally strong and independent character, scouted their superstitions and was considered an infidel until his conversion to Mormonism. His parents, however, had an earnest faith in his future, and believed that he would become the main pillar of the family spiritually, as he was temporally.
In early life Brigham worked on his father's farm, but he afterward learned the trade of a painter and glazier, and followed this business for eighteen years. His occupation did not afford him constant employment, and he was often forced to seek hard manual labor to earn a support for himself and family. He asserted that he "had done many a hard day's work for six bits a day," and his early privations taught him a lesson of frugality and economy that he did not forget in his more prosperous days. The spirit of industry which he infused into the entire body of people over whom he presided, was one of his few redeeming qualities. He adopted the honey-bee as his motto, and permitted no idleness or extravagance to exist in his presence.
In 1824 he married his first wife, whose maiden name was Miriam Works. She died eight years afterward, leaving two daughters, who are still living, and members of the Mormon Church. One of the daughters married Edmund Ellsworth, a relative of the famous Colonel Ellsworth who warn killed during the war between the North and South. The other married Charles Dicker. The eldest is now about fifty years of age, and both are grand-mothers.
About 1830 Brigham Young first heard of Joe Smith's famous "golden plates" and the doctrine of Mormon. He also obtained some advance sheets of the book of Mormon, and, with the assistance of Heber C. Kimball, who afterward became one of the moat polygamous of the Mormon chiefs, began to investigate the new doctrine. He proceeded cautiously at first, and did not accept the faith until two years later. He was then baptized, and immediately afterward ordained an elder and sent on a mission to Canada. His wife having died, he placed his two children in the care of friends, and devoted himself exclusively to the ministry.
His previous poverty and habits of hard labor rendered the acceptance of Mormonism no sacrifice to him, and preaching "without purse or scrip" he felt was no lowering of his dignity. In truth he found the preaching of the new doctrine a much easier way of making a living than his former occupation, and, encouraged also by the influence and attention which his new dignity brought him, he threw his whole soul into the work, and almost immediately became one of the "bright lights." His manner of preaching was forcible and energetic, though utterly lacking in polish, and, seemingly or really in earnest himself, he conveyed the same impression to the minds of his audiences, and not only held their attention but converted hundreds of them to the new faith.
A writer of some distinction, referring to the early days of Mormonism, says:
"The preaching of the first elders was something like a resuscitation of the dispensation committed to the Apostolic fishermen of Galilee. With the acceptance of what they deemed the new revelation of Christ there was no sacrifice too great to make, and no self abnegation with which they would not strive to adorn their lives. They were earnest, fiercely enthusiastic, and believers in everything that had ever been written about 'visions,' 'dreams,' 'the ministering of angels,' 'gifts of the spirit,' 'tongues, and interpretations of tongues,' 'healings,' and miracles.' They wandered 'without purse or scrip' from village to village and from city to city, preaching in the public highways, at the firesides or in the pulpits - wherever they had opportunity."
These fanatics, crazed by religious fervor and excitement, had but little difficulty in gaining the attention of the ignorant and unlettered in the communities which they visited, and the animal magnetism engendered by their excited manner and fanatical earnestness, enabled them to win converts by the thousands. The barren, speculative, carefully prepared sermons of fifty weeks in the year, chilled in the presence of the energy and demonstration of the Mormon elders, and "the number of the disciples grew and multiplied."
Ministers of other denominations, also, seeing their own flocks. Invaded, and prospective members won from the ranks of the outside world, began to denounce and preach against the new doctrine. Religious persecution manifested itself, several Mormon elders were tarred and feathered at different places, and the converts of the new doctrine were ostracized and driven from the society of orthodox worshippers. The result was what might have been expected, "the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church," and Mormonism flourished wonderfully.
In the midst of this religious excitement Brigham Young visited Kirtland, Ohio, and for the first time met the Prophet Joseph. Heber C. Kimball and Joseph Young accompanied him on this. expedition, and they had a high time of rejoicing. Brigham was so "lifted up" by the spirit upon beholding the prophet, that he "spake in tongues," which was the first time that the "gift" had been demonstrated. It was a heathenish sort of gibberish that no one understood, but Joe Smith "interpreted" the unknown sounds, and assured those present that they were "the pure Adamic language - the language in which Adam courted Eve." Brigham often resorted to this device in after-times, and his ignorant followers were roused to frenzy while listening to senseless ejaculations, which they believed to be the primal language of the human race.
Brigham was soon upon the most intimate terms with Joe Smith, and the latter pronounced him a "chosen vessel of the Lord." Shrewd, ready, quick-witted, enthusiastic, and practical, the new convert speedily rose among his new associates. In a community where ignorance was the rule, his ignorance passed unnoticed, while his confidence in himself, his power to read the nature of his fellow-men like the pages of an open book, and his devotion to the religion of the Latter-Day Saints soon raised him into a commanding position. He had not long been a member of the Church before he was ordained an elder, and began to preach the most stirring sermons that the infant Church had ever listened to.
In May, 1834, Joe Smith received a "revelation from the Lord," commanding him to lead an army into Jackson County, Mo., to the assistance of the Mormon colony there who had got into trouble with the neighboring "Gentiles." Accordingly an "army" was organized at Kirtland, on the 7th of May, and Smith was chosen commander-in-chief. One hundred and thirty men composed this famous "army," but it received accessions from stragglers and vagrants on the route, until when it encamped in Missouri it numbered 205 men. It was divided into companies of twelve, and each company chose its own officers. Brigham Young accompanied the expedition as one of the leaders. The Prophet selected George A. Smith, his cousin, as his "armor-bearer," and the march was conducted with great pomp and splendor.
On the 19th of June the "Lord's army" reached the vicinity of Clay county, and encamped near a company of Missourians who were waiting to attack them. During the night a dreadful storm swept over the camp of the anti-Mormons, their tents were scattered to the winds, their horses stampeded, and one or them was killed by lightning.
This relieved Smith and his followers from immediate danger, and they remained in camp until the 21st, when the cholera broke out among them with terrible fierceness. So sudden and overpowering was the attack that the strongest men fell to the ground with their guns in their hands. In four days sixty-eight were attacked and fourteen of them died. Brigham was among the stricken ones, but he overcame the disease, as he afterward stated, by the force of his will, and was soon ready for duty again.
In this crisis Joe Smith proved himself to be a true leader, for instead of becoming panic-stricken, he went about laying on hands and "rebuking the destroyer, until he himself was prostrated. He ascribed this visitation to the disobedience of some of his followers, and he promised that if they would "humble themselves and obey him as the Prophet of the Lord," the plague should be stayed. The Mormon historians assert that "not another was stricken with cholera from that hour."
The expedition having proved to be an ignominious failure, the Prophet very conveniently received another "revelation," and learned that "the Lord," having changed his mind, no longer desired the redemption of the Missouri "saints," who were a rebellious and stiff-necked people, and needed to be chastised by their heathen neighbors in order that they might learn obedience. The "army" was therefore disbanded, the warriors were instructed to disperse among the settlements or, return to their homes, and Smith and Young, with the other leaders, returned to Kirtland.
In 1885 Brigham was ordained one of the Twelve Apostles, Smith having received a special revelation from heaven pointing him out as one of the pillars of the Church. The ordination consisted of the laying on of the hands of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon. It may be mentioned here parenthetically that these three Saints subsequently renounced Mormonism.
When the twelve were sent to preach the gospel according to Mormon to the outer heathen, Young traveled through the Eastern States, and was the most successful preacher of them all. His presence was commanding, his speech fluent, if not polished, and his vigor and earnestness contagious. If he did not believe what he preached he certainly acted his part so well that none could discover his secret.
Soon after the return from Missouri, Joe Smith, Brigham Young, and Sidney Rigdon organized a bank at Kirtland, which they called the "Safety Society Bank," and began to issue notes in unlimited quantities, "for the relief of the Saints." The names of Joseph Smith as cashier and Sidney Rigdon as president, were signed to the beautifully engraved bank-notes, and those who saw the notes with these names attached supposed the bank to be simply a savings institution in which the "saints" could deposit their earnings, which would be invested so as to pay interest, and that the notes represented actual money in the bank. The result was that the confidence of the people was gained, and the paper of the Safety Society Bank became a favorite medium of circulation with both saint and sinner.
Finally, however, other banks began to lose confidence in these notes, and the bankers of Pittsburg deputed one of their number to visit Kirtland and learn the real condition of the Safety Society Bank. This agent was a Mr. Jones, and his account of his interview with President Rigdon was decidedly racy. He first inquired about the success of "the Lord's cause," and evinced considerable interest in the Latter-Day religion. This be claimed was a matter of courtesy, but it was unfortunate, for upon opening his satchel and producing a huge bundle of Safety Society Bank paper, which he desired to have redeemed, the whole proceeding was denounced by brother Rigdon as the "march of a wolf in sheep's clothing." He flew into a passion and asserted that the paper of the bank had been put out as a "circulating medium for the accommodation of the people, that it would be an injury to them for the notes to come home and be redeemed, as they would then have no circulating medium! His bank would redeem nothing!" Mr. Jones pleaded for a deviation from the rule in his case, and pledged himself never to return with any more of the notes for redemption if he could only get his money this time. But Rigdon was faithful to the programme of the bank, and coolly informed Mr. Jones that they had never asked him or any one else to take their paper, and referred him to that important epoch in Biblical history where the profession to which Mr. Jones belonged were scourged out of the Temple at Jerusalem.
The agent returned to his employers and reported the facts, and immediately the notes of the Safety Society Bank began to depreciate. The inspired bankers, realizing what the end would be, determined upon flight, and Brother Brigham, more sagacious than the others, set out for Missouri with his family, three weeks in advance of the president and cashier. His discretion proved his superior wisdom, for his associates narrowly escaped arrest, being compelled to seek safety in flight during the night of January 12, 1838. They were pursued by their infuriated victims for more than two hundred miles, and frequently evaded them only by the superior mettle of their horses. They finally overtook Brigham and his family, and continued their journey to Missouri, or the "promised land," arriving in Far West on the 12th of March, 1838.
Prior to this, in 1836, Thomas B. Marsh, President of the Twelve Apostles, had resigned, and Brigham Young took his place, being delegated by Smith to "preach in tongues." He did preach "in tongues" now and then, and although none of the saints understood him his oratory was vastly admired.
In 1838 there were many schisms in the church. Orson Hyde apostatized and testified against Smith; Phelps deserted the cause, the Pratts were wavering, and Dr. Arvard, one of the Danites, exposed the hidden machinery of Mormonism. Smith was arrested Sept. 14, 1838, and to save his life, Brigham fled to Quincy, Ill. There be met the remainder of the twelve and some other brethren, and in the next year assisted to relay the foundation of the Mormon temple in Independence, Jackson County, Mo. The laying of the corner stone was done at midnight, and every man who participated in the ceremonies knew that his life was at the mercy of the enemies around him - the enemies who had already razed to the ground the habitations of the faithful. Still, there was no wavering, and not one jot of the ceremonial was neglected.
In 1839 Brigham, still faithful where so many had proved false, was sent by the Prophet to preach in England. He was penniless, friendless, and alone, and suffered much during the two years he spent in England. Still, supported by the charity of his audiences, he made thousands of converts, shipped 769 new Mormons to Smith, established the Millennial Star, a Mormon organ which lived for many years, and formed a number of churches.
Upon his return to the United States in 1841, Brigham joined his brethren at Nauvoo, being received with great enthusiasm. It was here that he first came in conflict with the Prophet; but such was his power among the people that he carried his point. At this time he preached throughout the summer and worked in the Winter.
The difficulties that environed the Saints at Nauvoo increased to such a degree that in 1842 Joe Smith prophesied that within five years they would remove to a new location in the Rocky Mountain region, and in the Spring of 1844 he sent a party to explore the unknown region, with a view to verifying his prophecy. In his private history, under date of February 20, 1844, he wrote:
"I instructed the Twelve Apostles to send out a delegation and investigate the localities, California and Oregon, and hunt up a good location where we can remove to after the Temple is completed and where we can build a city in a day and have a government of our own; get up into the mountains where the devil cannot dig us out, and live in a healthy climate where we can live as old as we have a mind to.
His idea was to found an independent State somewhere in the Rocky Mountain region, where his people could live to themselves and practice their peculiar doctrines unmolested by infidels and outside sinners. The plan was afterward successfully carried out by Brigham Young, subsequent to the death of the Prophet, so that the credit which has sometimes been bestowed upon Brigham as the originator of this fine strategic movement belongs of right to his predecessor.
On the 27th of June, 1844, Smith was shot by a mob while in the jail at Carthage, Ill. The twelve apostles were scattered far and wide, and Brigham Young was in Boston. Nauvoo was threatened by the Gentiles. Troops were in arms, and rumors of coming trouble flew thick and fast. Sidney Rigdon, who was the legal successor of Joseph Smith, assumed the mantle of the Prophet and began to peddle dispensations, confer endowments, and dictate in every way to the saints. It was the rule of a weak man, and was destined to be short lived. Suddenly Brigham appeared, and Rigdon's power crumbled into dust. He denounced Rigdon as a fraud and a hypocrite; declared that his revelations were from the devil; and finally hurled upon him anathema after anathema. The result was an election that wiped Rigdon out and made Brigham Young the Mormon ruler. those who had voted against him, the new Prophet cursed and cut off, and by a well-devised system of rewards and punishments he soon inspired love in the hearts of his friends and adherents and fear in the. hearts of his enemies. John D. Lee gives an account - and doubtless the only correct one ever published - of the manner in which Brigham secured his election to the presidency of the Mormon priesthood. It is decidedly rich and worth reading twice. (See page 155.)
Brigham began his administration with a reign of terror. If any person, whether Saint or Gentile, became obnoxious to him, a word or a sign to the Danites or his secret police was sufficient to seal the fate of the unfortunate offender, who would either be waylaid and murdered or enticed into some lonely place and there executed. If the offending person happened to be so prominent that his death or disappearance would cause inquiry and investigation, he would receive warning from Brigham's agent, that it was no longer healthy for him to remain in that locality, and the warning was sure to be heeded and acted upon, for the power of the new Prophet was soon understood and dreaded by all.
By this system of murdering and banishing his enemies Brigham soon had his authority firmly established, and his leading men were bound to him forever by the common fear of the penalties of the law if they should be detected or any of their number turned traitor. The Prophet felt so secure in their confidence that one day in council he openly dared them to betray him, plainly intimating that they were all in the same category and if he fell they must fall with him.
He also encouraged polygamy, both by precept and example, with the evident intention not only of gratifying his own lustful desires, but of causing his people to form peculiar social relations that could not be maintained elsewhere, and thus compelling them to remain forever a separate and distinct community. Polygamy had been taught and secretly practiced by Joseph Smith, but Brigham engrafted it upon the doctrines of the Church and caused it to become a leading feature of the new religion.
He furthermore hastened the completion of the Temple, and then administered the endowment rites to all the people. The ceremonies and obligations of these rites were of such a character as to leave a lasting impression upon the minds of those who received them, and after that but few ever had the hardihood to apostatize.
Having bound his people together by the various ties of murder, polygamy, and the endowment, more closely than any other community that ever existed, he began to make preparations to carry out the plan of his predecessor and found an independent State in the Rocky Mountain region. Their departure was hastened by the threatening attitude of the citizens of Illinois, who had endured the insolence and lawlessness of the Mormons so long that forbearance was at an end, and they had determined to drive them out by force of arms.
On the 5th of February, 1846, the first company crossed the Mississippi River on the ice, and on the following day the main body of Saints began to move. During the month of February about 1,200 wagons were transported to the Iowa shore, and started on the journey westward. Brigham Young took his departure on the 3d of March, and by the middle of May about 16,000 people were wending their way through Iowa to rendezvous on the banks of the Missouri River in the vicinity of Council Bluffs. Only about one thousand Mormons were left in Nauvoo, mostly on account of their inability, from poverty or sickness, to undertake the journey with the main body, while some were left to dispose of the property and settle the affairs of the Church. By the first of October all had taken their departure.
None knew their destination, but they faithfully followed their leader, trusting to his ability to find a resting place for them. They spent the Winter of 1846-7 in Iowa, In miserable hovels and tents, and endured great hardships on account of the lack of proper shelter to protect them against the severity of the weather.
Here the need of money began to be felt, and the U. S. Government having offered a bounty of $20,000 for a regiment to serve in the Mexican war, Brigham ordered his men to enlist, and a regiment five hundred strong was soon organized, equipped and started on the march to Santa Fe. With the money thus obtained Brigham was enabled to place his people in much more comfortable circumstances than they had previously been, and the following Spring he took 143 men and started on a prospecting tour to the West, having first organized the people into farming companies and directed them to raise a crop for their use during the coming Winter.
He and his party reached Salt Lake on the 24th of July, and there he determined to locate his colony. Leaving a portion of his company to begin farming operations, he returned with the remainder to Iowa, for the purpose of piloting his people across the plains. He found them in a sad condition, for during his absence dissensions had arisen among them, and cholera, fever and ague, and other diseases, had greatly thinned their ranks. But he went to work with his usual indomitable energy and soon restored order and good feeling, and as the Winter advanced the health of the people greatly improved.
Preparations for the journey across the plains were vigorously prosecuted, and early in the Spring of 1848 the people were ready to depart, and by the last of May they were all in route for the new "promised land."
The main body arrived in Great Salt Lake Valley in September and October, bringing with them a large amount of grain and agricultural implements, as well as the remnant of their property from Nauvoo with which to commence a new home. Great suffering was experienced during the trip, and hundreds died of disease and exposure, leaving the route dotted with graves. But the winter following their arrival at Salt Lake was mild, and the sufferings of the emigrants were greatly mitigated by that fact. During the following summer, however, their crops were damaged by drought and grasshoppers, and their sufferings during the preceding winter were almost unbearable. Indeed their condition did not materially improve until the third summer, when their harvests were abundant, and prosperity began to smile upon them.
In 1850 the Mormons became anxious for admission to the Union. They accordingly drew up a constitution of a State which they wished to call Deseret, and sent delegates to Washington. Congress granted them a territorial government under the name of Utah, and President Fillmore appointed Brigham the first Governor.
From 1850 to 1864 the growth of the Church was rapid, both as to numbers and wealth. Almost every country in Europe sent its quota to swell the number. Villages grew into towns, towns into cities. The capital, Salt Lake City, daily increased in size and importance. Brigham inculcated constant industry. In his creed to be idle was to be vicious; and so all worked.
In 1854 a Governor, not a Mormon, was appointed, and Brigham began to show an inclination to resist. For three years the Territory was in an unsettled condition. The saints, acting upon the orders of Brigham, committed many crimes, the most revolting of which was the Mountain Meadows Massacre. I 1857 President Pierce appointed Alfred Cummings Governor of Utah, and sent with him a force of 2,500 soldiers. Brigham submitted with a bad grace. As he controlled the courts, the juries, and all elective offices, the power of the new Governor was of the slightest. He could plan reforms, but he could not carry them out.
It was not until the Salt Lake colony had been fairly started that Brigham proclaimed the "celestial law of marriage," which sanctioned polygamy. He said that Joseph Smith had had a revelation in 1848 directing him to promulgate this doctrine; but that he had failed to do so because of the troubled times in the Church. Smith's widow and his sons pronounced this a falsehood, but the power of Brigham, chiming in with the wishes and inclinations of his people, soon made polygamy an institution. There was a schism in the Church, but the Smith faction were speedily driven to the wall.
Of Brigham's later years little need be said. Keen and farsighted he piloted his people through all their troubles into a haven of prosperity such as no people ever attained in so brief a space of time. He neither spared himself nor others. "Watch and work," not "Watch and pray," was his motto. Brigham Young was one of the most far-seeing and enterprising business men in the country. He never lost an opportunity. By the establishment of the Zion co-operative stores, the working of mines, the purchase of property in places likely to grow rapidly, and by his railroad operations he accumulated one of the largest fortunes in the United States. Good authorities say that there is scarcely a city or town in the region over which he so long ruled in which he did not own property. By a system of tithe collecting, he made the people contribute directly to his coffers. The tithes were for the Church, it is true, but Brigham was the Church. In the early days of the Pacific Railroad he took a deep interest in the scheme, and was afterwards a contractor for a portion of it. That he had confidence in the stability of the national Government is shown by the fact that he was a large holder of bonds purchased in the early years of the war.
In person the "Old Boss," as his people called him, was large and portly, with a steel-blue eye, a resolute mouth, a ruddy cheek, an imposing carriage and a very impressive manner. He was indeed a noticeable man, yet plain and simple in his dress, In his diet, and indeed all his habits. He had an excessive fondness for tobacco, and sometimes (his enemies said) took too stiff a dram of whisky; but he ate little, toast, bread and milk being his chief food. He rose early and attended to his multitudinous affairs with persevering industry, strict routine and systematic regularity. Among his intimates he was free, affable, pleasant; courteous to strangers, and full of plain, offhand, practical talk with every one. In council his power impressed every one by the cool, calm, deliberate, well-considered views he was always ready to express. In the pulpit he was still more a power, fascinating his hearers by what in the lips of others would seem mere swagger and rhodomontade. His manner was unstudied, unaffected; all deemed to see that he was talking to them from his heart, and that that heart was sincere. Indeed, the secret of Brigham Young's success lay just here, that he had - or feigned irresistibly to have - an intense conviction of the truth of his mission.
Brigham's lion could roar terribly enough upon occasion. His roar was loud enough without needing to be like those of the Danites, to echo it. In 1854 the crops failed, there was a famine and the people murmured. Brigham preached a series of startling famine sermons; told them they were cursed because they were unfaithful, they had sinned and the judgment was on them, they must bow to the yoke, and ended by cursing the murmurers. There was no more complaining. None of his follower dared differ from Brigham; they were sure to be brow-beaten to the very dust. His magnetism was irresistible, but this only made his anger the more terrible. He more than once showed himself implacable as granite with the Mormon offender against the Mormon law, the heretic, the traitor, the adulterer. "Gentiles" who have made trouble in the territory he has cursed from the pulpit, hustled and harried, plundered and maltreated them, until they were glad to flee naked and afraid for their lives. One of the Smiths in 1852 differed upon some point of doctrine from Brigham and attempted to set up a little Ebenezer of his own. Young bore it for awhile in silence, then suddenly, from his stand in the Tabernacle, denounced the intruder in the venacular: "I tell Albert Smith that he had better clear right out, and that right straight, too, or I will cut his damned throat, and send him to hell across lots! Needless to say, Smith fled at once.
On Thursday, August 28, 1877, Brigham Young was attacked with cholera morbus, said to be the result of making a hearty dinner of green corn and peaches. The attack was regarded as serious, but on Friday his physicians pronounced him convalescent. He had a relapse on Saturday afternoon, accompanied by severe pain. The symptoms yielded to the use of morphine, but on Sunday a condition of semi-stupor set in, which continued throughout the day and night. On Monday there was no change for the better. On Tuesday it became difficult to arouse him, but he retained his consciousness and recognized those about him, but experienced great difficulty in breathing, and artificial respiration was resorted to for about nine hours. His condition from this time until his death admitted of no doubt as to the result.
His last words, uttered on Tuesday night, were, "I feel better." He was able to say very little to the members of his family, as they came to bid him farewell on Sunday night. He then said, "It will make no difference whether I live or die. I am resigned." For the past few months he had enjoyed remarkable health; had preached sermons an hour in length, and been engaged actively in the reorganization of the Church in different settlements, and the appointment of new bishops preparatory, it was hinted, to the cutting off of the lukewarm or immoral members.
At 4 o'clock on the afternoon of August 29th he passed quietly away, seemingly unconscious of all his surroundings. The members of his family were generally gathered around his bedside, and evinced deep emotion. His sons, John W. and Brigham Junior, constantly attended him during his illness.
The funeral was an impressive demonstration. On Saturday morning the body was taken from the Lion House to the now Tabernacle, where it lay in state until noon the following day. Until after midnight on Saturday there was a constant stream of people to see the body, and at daylight the next morning the rush began again, continuing until the beginning of the funeral services. Nearly eighteen thousand persons saw the corpse, which was arrayed in the sacred temple or endowment robes, consisting of the garment, shirt, apron, robe, cap, and shoes, all of fine linen. The coffin was of California redwood, varnished, and without ornament. The lining was white satin. The corpse rested on a wool mattress. The arrangements were all in accordance with written instructions given by Brigham Young in 1873, which instructions were read at the funeral, as follows:
"I, Brigham Young, wish my funeral services to be conducted in the following manner: When I breathe my last, I wish my friends to put my body in as clean and wholesome a state as can conveniently be done, and preserve the same for one, two, three, or four days, or as long as my body can be preserved in good condition.
"I want my coffin made of plain one-and-a-quarter redwood boards, not scrimped in length, but two inches longer than I would measure, and from two to three inches wider than is commonly made for a person of my breadth and size, and deep enough to place me on a little comfortable cotton bed, with a good suitable pillow in size and quality. My body dressed in my Temple clothing, and laid nicely into my coffin, and the coffin to have the appearance that if I wanted to turn a little to the right or left I should have plenty of room to do so; the lid can be made crowning.
"At my interment I wish all my family present that can be conveniently, and the male members to wear no cape on their hats or coats; the females to buy no black bonnets or dresses nor black veils, but if they have them they are at liberty to wear them.
"And services may be permitted, an singing and a prayer offered, and if any of my friends wish to say a few words they are desired to do so.
"And when they close their services, to take my remains on a bier and repair to the little burying ground which I have reserved on my lot east of the White House on the hill. On the southeast corner of this lot I have a vault built of mason work large enough to receive my coffin, and that they may place in a box, if they choose, the same as the coffin - redwood - then place rocks over the vault sufficiently large to cover it, that the earth may be placed over it - as fine dry earth as can be had - to cover it until the walls of the little cemetery are hid, which will leave me in the southeast corner.
"I have done my work faithfully and in good faith. I wish this to be read at the funeral, provided that if I should die anywhere in the mountains I desire the above directions respecting my place of burial should be observed. But if I should live to get back to the church in Jackson County, Mo., I wish to be buried there.
BRIGHAM YOUNG,
"President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."
The tabernacle was heavily draped, and profusely decorated with flowers, the dome being festooned with roses, bouquets, and baskets of flowers, and wreaths were suspended from the pillars and the gallery. The coffin was placed in front of the elevated platform, resting on a modest catafalque. Two hours before the opening of the services the gallery and about half of the body of the building for the public were filled, and thousands of persons were unable to gain admission to the tabernacle. Ten tiers of seats in front of the stand were occupied by the family and relatives of the deceased Prophet, numbering several hundred. The arrangement was in accordance with the church rules. The stands in front of the organ were occupied by high church authorities. John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells, counsellors to Brigham, and Brigham Young, Jr., and George Q. Cannon were in the upper stand. Ten of the apostles were next below, and the High Council still lower. The bishops were on the north platform, and the City Council on the south. In front, behind the family, were the quorum of Seventies, high priests, elders, teachers, deacons, etc. There were not less than 12,000 persons in the building.
At 11½ the family gathered around and gazed for the last time on the corpse. All his wives and children, with few exceptions, were present, and there were scores of grandchildren and relatives more distant. The demonstrations of grief were few, although all seemed sad and full of mourning. Previous to the services, the coffin was elevated in full view of the entire assemblage. From 9 o'clock the organ had been playing appropriate pieces, "The Dead March in Saul," Mendelssohn's funeral march, and a march composed for the occasion by a Mormon. George Q. Cannon was master of ceremonies, and promptly at noon announced the beginning with the hymn, "Hark from Afar," which was sung by the Tabernacle choir of 220 voices. The opening prayer was offered by Apostle Franklin D. Richards, who thanked God that when he took Joseph Smith he gave the saints for a leader Brigham Young, one of the noblest and purest of the royal family of heaven. Then followed a hymn, after which brief addresses were delivered by Daniel H. Wells and Apostles Wilford Woodruff, Erastus Snow, Geo. Q. Cannon, and John Taylor. Contrary to expectation, nothing was said in reference to the succession. The speakers confined themselves to laudations of Brigham and exhortations to the saints to remember and obey his counsels and advice, to proceed with the erection of temples, the foundations for four of which have been laid. All the elders expressed joy that Brigham had defeated the purposes of his enemies, and had died in his own house, surrounded by his family and friends. Mr. Cannon said that, while Brigham Young had been the brains, the Eastern star, and the tongue of the saints for more than thirty years, he was only the agent of God, who would carry on the work of Mormonism always. It was a significant fact that John W. Young and Brigham Young, Jr., both aspirants for the Presidency of the Church, occupied the seats of their father and his counsellors. Many people thought they should have been with the family or with the apostles.
A hymn composed for the occasion and the benediction by Apostle Orson Hyde closed the services in the Tabernacle. The procession then formed and marched eight abreast to the cemetery, half a mile distant.
Four thousand persons were in the line, marching with uncovered heads. The ceremonies at the grave were brief, consisting only of a hymn sung by the Glee Club and a prayer by Apostle Woodruff, dedicating the vault, the coffin and the body. The coffin, enclosed in a rough box, was lowered into the vault, and the wives and children gathered around, but the lid was not removed. Brigham's first wife stood by the grave for some time, leaning on the arm of Amelia, the favorite. The spectators were then allowed to pass by the tomb, after which it was closed and sealed.
The vault is of cut sandstone, eight feet long, four feet wide, and three feet high, internal measurement. The stone blocks are laid in cement and pinned together with steel bars, sent through each block horizontally and vertically. The cover is of seven inch flagging, pinned to the walls with iron bars.
Brigham Young was the father of fifty-six children, forty-four of whom are now alive-sixteen sons and twenty-eight daughters. He leaves seventeen wives, not including Ann Eliza. He has left his family well provided for, apportioning property to each member. His estate is valued at from six to seven millions of dollars.
BRIGHAM'S SUCCESSORS.
On the evening of September 10, 1877, the Apostles of the Mormon Church, joined by John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells, late counsellors of Brigham Young, published a circular saying that on September 4 they held a meeting, and waited upon the Lord who blessed them, and who revealed to them the steps they should take. John Taylor, senior apostle, acting president of the twelve, is unanimously sustained in that position; also that a quorum of the Twelve Apostles shall he the authority of the Church. This was the plan pursued at the time of the death of Joseph Smith, and was so ordered by Smith and sustained by Brigham. To facilitate the transaction of business it was ordered that President John Taylor be assisted by John W. Young, Daniel H. Wells and Geo. Q. Cannon.
THE END.
