War hysteria preceding the Mountain Meadows massacre
Encyclopedia
The Mountain Meadows massacre
was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War
, an 1858 invasion of the Utah Territory
by the United States Army
which ended up being peaceful. In the summer of 1857, however, Mormons experienced a wave of war hysteria, expecting an all-out invasion of apocalyptic
significance. From July to September 1857, Mormon leaders prepared Mormons for a seven-year siege predicted by Brigham Young
. Mormons were to stockpile grain, and were prevented from selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan
and Cedar City
became isolated and vulnerable outposts. Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Indian tribes in fighting the "Americans", encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains, and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army.
In August 1857, Mormon apostle George A. Smith
, of Parowan, set out on a tour of southern Utah, instructing Mormons to stockpile grain. Scholars have asserted that Smith's tour, speeches, and personal actions contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, and influenced the decision to attack and destroy the Baker–Fancher emigrant train near Mountain Meadows, Utah. He met with many of the eventual participants in the massacre, including W. H. Dame, Isaac Haight, and John D. Lee. He noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight, and that some of them were anxious to "fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States". On his return trip to Salt Lake City, Smith camped near the Baker-Fancher party. Jacob Hamblin
suggested the Fanchers stop and rest their cattle at Mountain Meadows. Some of Smith's party started rumors that the Fanchers had poisoned a well and a dead ox, in order to kill Indians, rumors that preceded the Fanchers to Cedar City.. Most witnesses said that the Fanchers were in general a peaceful party that behaved well along the trail.
Among Smith's party were a number of Paiute Indian chiefs from the Mountain Meadows area. When Smith returned to Salt Lake, Brigham Young met with these leaders on September 1, 1857 and encouraged them to fight against the "Americans". The Indian chiefs were reportedly reluctant. Some scholars theorize, however, that the leaders returned to Mountain Meadows and participated in the massacre. However, it is uncertain whether they would have had time to do so.
region started their trek to California, joining up on the way and known as the Baker-Fancher party. This group was relatively wealthy, and planned to restock its supplies in Salt Lake City
, as most wagon trains did at the time. The party reached Salt Lake City with about 120 members. In Salt Lake, there was an unsubstantiated rumor that the revered martyr Parley P. Pratt's widow recognized one of the party as being present at her husband's murder.
For the decade prior to the Fanchers' arrival there, Utah Territory
existed as a theocracy
led by Brigham Young
. As part of Young's vision of a pre-millennial
"Kingdom of God", Young established colonies along the California
and Old Spanish Trails
, where Mormon officials governed by "lay[ing] the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity", while preserving individual rights. Two of the southern-most establishments were Parowan
and Cedar City
, led respectively by Stake Presidents William H. Dame and Isaac C. Haight
. Haight and Dame were, in addition, the senior regional military leaders of the Mormon militia
. During the period just before the massacre, known as the Mormon Reformation
, Mormon teachings were dramatic and strident. The religion had undergone a period of intense persecution
in the American midwest, and faithful Mormons made solemn oaths to pray for vengeance upon those who killed the "prophets" including founder Joseph Smith, Jr. and most recently apostle Parley P. Pratt
, who was murdered in April 1857 in Arkansas
.
In July 1857, while the Baker-Fancher party was en route to Utah Territory
, Mormons began hearing rumors that the United States
had launched an expedition to invade
the territory and depose
its theocratic government. For almost a decade, relations between Utah and the federal government had deteriorated over the issue of polygamy
and the role of Mormon institutions versus that of federal ones in the territory. By July 1857, Young's replacement, Alfred Cumming
, was appointed, and a fourth of the entire U.S. army
, some 2,500 dragoons, were already on the march.
As news of the approaching army spread, the coming invasion took on apocalyptic
significance. Mormons saw it as a threat to their existence. Members of the First Presidency
framed the confrontation as a battle between the Kingdom of God and minions of the Devil. Some Mormons in southern Utah taught that the invasion was the beginning of the Millennium
, and the prevailing understanding there was that the U.S. Army intended to wipe out the Mormons as a people. In preparation for a seven-year siege predicted by Brigham Young, Mormon leaders began accelerating an existing program for stockpiling grain. Mormons were told to sell their clothing to buy as much grain as possible, and not to use grain as animal feed nor sell it to emigrants for this purpose.
Defiant against the United States, Brigham Young warned "mobocrats", particularly past Mormon persecutors and the "priests, editors, and politicians who have howled so long about us", to stay away from the territory, or "we will attend to their cases". He stated that if such persons entered the territory, "they will find a 'Vigilance Committee
'" and they will "find the Danites". But Young denounced plans by Mormons to rob "innocent" emigrant trains, saying that such robbers themselves would "be overtaken by a 'Vigilance Committee'". He wanted to ensure that "the good and honest may be able to pass from the Eastern States to California...in peace".
Young ordered pioneer settlements furthest afield to pull up stakes–evacuating colonies in San Bernardino
(now southern California), Las Vegas
(southern Nevada), Carson Valley
(western Nevada), and Fort Bridger
(western Wyoming). Thereafter, the farthest remaining outpost of Mormonism were the outlying Mormon colonies at Cedar City
(led by Stake President-Major Isaac C. Haight) and Parowan
(led by Stake President-Colonel William H. Dame), two infant fortress-villages near Mountain Meadows where the massacre took place. These settlements were nearly 300 miles from the Salt Lake City
headquarters, and only reachable by a three days' journey on horseback, the messenger's changing mounts at various settlements along the way. Mormons in the area were to be the first defense against a feared "southern invasion" The word from Mormon headquarters was that the approaching U.S. Army
had orders to murder every believing Mormon, and that the troops were coming directly from Missouri
,
On August 5, 1857, Brigham Young declared martial law
. All borders were to be sealed to further travel through Utah by emigrants. Young also made it illegal to travel through Utah without a permit, but no safe conduct pass was made available to the Baker-Fancher train by Territorial or local officials. The party would not have been aware of Young's decree as it was only made public on September 15, 1857.
Emigrant trains arriving from the east presented an opportunity for Mormons to trade or sell foodstuffs and other supplies, and until the Utah War
, most were friendly and willing to help travelers pass through the Utah Territory
. The Baker-Fancher train encountered residents along the way who were obeying Young's recent order to stockpile supplies in expectations of all-out war with approaching U.S. troops. The Mormons were directed not to sell any food to the enemy, as the emigrant train was labeled.
left Salt Lake City to visit the southern Utah communities. He arrived at Parowan
on August 8, 1857, and on August 15, 1857, he set off on a tour of Stake President-Colonel W. H. Dame's military district. During the tour, Smith gave military speeches and counseled Mormons that they prepare to "touch fire to their homes, and hide themselves in the mountains, and to defend their country to the very last extremity." Smith instructed Mormons to stockpile grain, and not to sell it to emigrants for animal feed. Scholars have asserted that Smith's tour, speeches, and personal actions contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, and influenced the decision to attack and destroy the Baker-Fancher emigrant train near Mountain Meadows, Utah. John D. Lee
accompanied Smith on part of this tour, during which Smith addressed a group of Native Americans in Santa Clara, counseling them that "the Americans" were approaching with a large army, and were a threat to the Native Americans as well as the Mormons. Riding in a wagon afterwards, Lee said he warned Smith that the Native Americans would likely attack emigrant trains, and that Mormons were anxious to avenge the blood of the prophets, and according to Lee, Smith seemed pleased, and said "he had had a long talk with Major Haight on the same subject".
Major Isaac C. Haight
, the stake president of Cedar City
, met with Smith again on August 21. Haight told Smith he had heard reports that 600 troops were already approaching Cedar City from the East, and that if the rumors were true, Haight would have to act without waiting for instructions from Salt Lake City. Smith agreed, and "admired his grit". Smith later said he was uncomfortable, perhaps "on account of my extreme timidity", because some of the militia members were eager that "their enemies might come and give them a chance to fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States", such as the Haun's Mill massacre
.
On his return to Salt Lake City, Smith was accompanied by a party including Jacob Hamblin
of Santa Clara
, a newly appointed Mormon missionary to the Natives in the region who also ran a federally funded Indian farm near Mountain Meadows.
Also traveling north with the Smith party were several Native chiefs from southern Utah Territory On August 25, 1857, Smith's group camped next to the Baker-Fancher party, headed the opposite direction, at Corn Creek (now Kanosh
). Smith later said he had no knowledge of the Baker-Fancher party prior to meeting them on the trail. When the Baker-Fancher party inquired about places to stop for water and grazing, Jacob Hamblin directed them to Mountain Meadows, near his home and, the Indian farm, a regular stopover on the Old Spanish Trail
.
Some members of Smith's party later testified that during their encampment they saw the Baker-Fancher party poison a spring and a dead ox, with the expectation that Native Americans would be poisoned. Silas S. Smith, the cousin of George A., testified that the Baker–Fancher party suspiciously asked whether the Native Americans would eat a dead ox. Although the poisoning story supported the Mormon theory that Native Americans had been poisoned and therefore conducted a massacre on their own, Modern historians generally discount the testimony and rumors about the poisoned ox and spring as false. Nevertheless, the poisoning story preceded the Fanchers on their trip southward.
The Mormons considered the emigrants of an alien status
because of Young's orders forbidding travel through Utah without a required pass – which the Baker–Fancher party did not have. However, Captains Baker and Fancher may not have been aware of Young's martial law order since it was not made public until September 15, 1857.
The Fancher and Duke parties (respectively from Arkansas and Missouri) having assisted each other on their western journeys, it was believed by some locals that the Fancher party was joined by eleven members of a Missouri militia calling itself the "Wildcats". (Yet there is debate on whether these miners and plainsmen stayed with the slow-moving Baker-Fancher party after leaving Salt Lake City, or actually existed.)
Meanwhile the Mormons that the Baker-Fancher train encountered along the way were obeying Young's order to stockpile supplies in expectations of all-out war with approaching U.S. troops and declined to trade with the Fanchers. This friction was added to by the "range war
" that would be expected to erupt between local populations and any emigrants' leading vast herds of cattle – and indeed, both the Fancher and Duke parties' stock would compete with locals' for grazing and sometimes would break through the Mormon colonists' fences. With the murder and the expulsion of U.S. Government surveyors, there was no demarcation of the territorial lands claimed by Native Americans, Mormons, and those that the Americans purchased from Mexico (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
). Yet in the war panic, such mundane complaints escalated into more ominous charges.
For example, according to John D. Lee, "They swore and boasted openly... that Buchanan's whole army was coming right behind them, and would kill every God Damn Mormon in Utah.... They had two bulls which they called one "Heber" and the other "Brigham", and whipped 'em through every town, yelling and singing... and blaspheming oaths that would have made your hair stand on end."
While Jacob Hamblin
was in Salt Lake City he heard that the Fanchers had "behaved badly [...and had] robbed hen-roosts, and been guilty of other irregularities, and had used abusive language to those who had remonstrated with them. It was also reported that they threatened, when the army came into the north end of the Territory, to get a good outfit from the weaker settlements in the south."
John Hawley traveling to his home in Washington, U.T., overtook the Fancher Party 150 miles South of Provo and traveled with them 3 days. Hawley found them to be men of families and a large drove of cattle all going to locate in California. The captain told him they had trouble with the Mormons at Salt Creek and Provo when their cattle crossed into the Mormon's herd ground and a Dutchman in their party would not obey the authorties. The captain told him that they intended to obey all the laws and rules of the territory. Hawley went on to say "I am satisfied the Saints gave them more trouble than they ought".
In his report of his investigation of the massacre, Superintendent for Indian Affairs in Utah Territory, Jacob Forney said: "I [...made] strict inquiry relative to the general behavior and conduct of the company towards the people of this territory ..., and am justified in saying that they conducted themselves with propriety."
In Forney's interview with David Tullis who had been living with Jacob Hamblin
, Tullis related that "[t]he company passed by the house...towards evening.... One of the men rode up to where I was working, and asked if there was water ahead. I said, yes. The person who rode up behaved civilly."
In addition, William Rogers later related where Shirts related he "saw the emigrants when they entered the valley, and talked with several of the men belonging to it. They appeared perfectly civil and gentlemanly."
, built strong diplomatic ties with the area's Native American tribes
. When it became clear there would be an invasion by U.S. troops, he sought to enlist them to join Mormons in fighting the "Americans".
On August 4,1857, Young notified Jacob Hamblin
that he was appointed President of the Santa Clara Indian Mission and instructed him to to continue a concilitory policy towards the Indians. "..they must learn that they either got to help us, or the United States will kill us both".
Young sent his trusted interpreter Dimick B. Huntington
to various tribes with wagon loads of food. Huntington told Native Americans that the Utah War
was a battle, prophesied in the Book of Mormon
, between Mormons and Native Americans, on the one hand, and "gentiles" (non-Mormon whites) on the other. Young's message for the tribes was that they should "be at peace with all men except the Americans". Scholars disagree whether Young intended the Native American tribes to fight all non-Mormon Americans, including emigrants, or just the approaching U.S. Army.
No disapproval was expressed by Huntington when told by Shoshones that cows, horses, and mules had been stolen from Californians. Wilford Woodruff recorded Young's message to the Mormon apostles on August 26, 1857, "The Gentile emigrants [will] shoot the indians wharever they meet with them & the Indians now retaliate & will kill innocent People.", On August 30, 1857, Huntington gave a group of northern tribes "all the beef cattle & horses that was on the road to Cal[i]fornia, the North rout[e]".
On September 1, 1857, frontiersman James Gemmell was in Young's office with Hamblin, who had accompanied the group of tribal leaders (including Ammon, Kanosh
, Tutsegabit
, and Youngwids), and George A. Smith
on his return to Salt Lake, all of whom had camped near the Baker-Fancher party.
When Hamblin told Young that the Arkansas train was near Cedar City, Young said, according to Gemmell (whose statement derives from an 1896 posthumous source named Wheeler), that if he were in charge of the Nauvoo Legion he "would wipe them out." These chiefs then met with Huntington and Brigham Young, where the Native American leaders were given "all the cattle that had gone to Cal. the south rout[e]." The Native American leaders questioned this, because previously, the Mormons had told them not to steal cattle. Young acknowledged this, but said, "now they have come to fight us & you, for when they kill us then they will kill you." Modern scholars generally agree that Brigham Young was authorizing Native American leaders to steal emigrant cattle. And there is evidence that a policy that Native Americans should steal emigrants' cattle was put into effect against emigrant groups other than the Fancher–Baker party.
Mountain Meadows massacre
The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War
Utah War
The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858...
, an 1858 invasion of the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
which ended up being peaceful. In the summer of 1857, however, Mormons experienced a wave of war hysteria, expecting an all-out invasion of apocalyptic
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
significance. From July to September 1857, Mormon leaders prepared Mormons for a seven-year siege predicted by Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
. Mormons were to stockpile grain, and were prevented from selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan
Parowan, Utah
Parowan is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,790 at the 2010 census.Parowan became the first incorporated city in Iron County in 1851. A fort that had been constructed on the east side of Center Creek the previous year was an initial in the...
and Cedar City
Cedar City, Utah
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people, 6,486 households, and 4,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile . There were 7,109 housing units at an average density of 353.9 per square mile...
became isolated and vulnerable outposts. Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Indian tribes in fighting the "Americans", encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains, and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army.
In August 1857, Mormon apostle George A. Smith
George A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
, of Parowan, set out on a tour of southern Utah, instructing Mormons to stockpile grain. Scholars have asserted that Smith's tour, speeches, and personal actions contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, and influenced the decision to attack and destroy the Baker–Fancher emigrant train near Mountain Meadows, Utah. He met with many of the eventual participants in the massacre, including W. H. Dame, Isaac Haight, and John D. Lee. He noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight, and that some of them were anxious to "fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States". On his return trip to Salt Lake City, Smith camped near the Baker-Fancher party. Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Vernon Hamblin was a Western pioneer, Mormon missionary, and diplomat to various Native American Tribes of the Southwest and Great Basin. During his life, he helped settle large areas of southern Utah and northern Arizona where he was seen as an honest broker between Mormon settlers and the...
suggested the Fanchers stop and rest their cattle at Mountain Meadows. Some of Smith's party started rumors that the Fanchers had poisoned a well and a dead ox, in order to kill Indians, rumors that preceded the Fanchers to Cedar City.. Most witnesses said that the Fanchers were in general a peaceful party that behaved well along the trail.
Among Smith's party were a number of Paiute Indian chiefs from the Mountain Meadows area. When Smith returned to Salt Lake, Brigham Young met with these leaders on September 1, 1857 and encouraged them to fight against the "Americans". The Indian chiefs were reportedly reluctant. Some scholars theorize, however, that the leaders returned to Mountain Meadows and participated in the massacre. However, it is uncertain whether they would have had time to do so.
Background
In early 1857, several groups of emigrants from the northwestern ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
region started their trek to California, joining up on the way and known as the Baker-Fancher party. This group was relatively wealthy, and planned to restock its supplies in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, as most wagon trains did at the time. The party reached Salt Lake City with about 120 members. In Salt Lake, there was an unsubstantiated rumor that the revered martyr Parley P. Pratt's widow recognized one of the party as being present at her husband's murder.
For the decade prior to the Fanchers' arrival there, Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
existed as a theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
led by Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
. As part of Young's vision of a pre-millennial
Millennialism
Millennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
"Kingdom of God", Young established colonies along the California
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
and Old Spanish Trails
Old Spanish Trail (trade route)
The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route which connected the northern New Mexico settlements near or in Santa Fe, New Mexico with that of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately long, it ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is...
, where Mormon officials governed by "lay[ing] the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity", while preserving individual rights. Two of the southern-most establishments were Parowan
Parowan, Utah
Parowan is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,790 at the 2010 census.Parowan became the first incorporated city in Iron County in 1851. A fort that had been constructed on the east side of Center Creek the previous year was an initial in the...
and Cedar City
Cedar City, Utah
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people, 6,486 households, and 4,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile . There were 7,109 housing units at an average density of 353.9 per square mile...
, led respectively by Stake Presidents William H. Dame and Isaac C. Haight
Isaac C. Haight
Isaac Chauncey Haight , an early convert to Mormonism, was a colonist of the American West remembered as a major conspirator of the Mountain Meadows massacre....
. Haight and Dame were, in addition, the senior regional military leaders of the Mormon militia
Nauvoo Legion
The Nauvoo Legion was a militia originally organized by the Latter Day Saints to defend the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, . To curry political favor with the ambiguously-political Saints, the Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal city charter that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary...
. During the period just before the massacre, known as the Mormon Reformation
Mormon Reformation
The Mormon Reformation was a period of renewed emphasis on spirituality within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It took place in 1856 and 1857 and was under the direction of President of the Church Brigham Young. During the Reformation, Young sent his counselor Jedediah M...
, Mormon teachings were dramatic and strident. The religion had undergone a period of intense persecution
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....
in the American midwest, and faithful Mormons made solemn oaths to pray for vengeance upon those who killed the "prophets" including founder Joseph Smith, Jr. and most recently apostle Parley P. Pratt
Parley P. Pratt
Parley Parker Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt...
, who was murdered in April 1857 in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
.
Utah War
In July 1857, while the Baker-Fancher party was en route to Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, Mormons began hearing rumors that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
had launched an expedition to invade
Invasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
the territory and depose
Deposition (politics)
Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch. It may be done by coup, impeachment, invasion or forced abdication...
its theocratic government. For almost a decade, relations between Utah and the federal government had deteriorated over the issue of polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
and the role of Mormon institutions versus that of federal ones in the territory. By July 1857, Young's replacement, Alfred Cumming
Alfred Cumming (governor)
Alfred Cumming was appointed governor of the Utah territory in 1858 replacing Brigham Young following the Utah War...
, was appointed, and a fourth of the entire U.S. army
Regular Army
The Regular Army of the United States was and is the successor to the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional military establishment. Even in modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army...
, some 2,500 dragoons, were already on the march.
As news of the approaching army spread, the coming invasion took on apocalyptic
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
significance. Mormons saw it as a threat to their existence. Members of the First Presidency
First Presidency (LDS Church)
The First Presidency is the presiding or governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is composed of the President of the Church and his counselors. The First Presidency currently consists of President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors, Henry B...
framed the confrontation as a battle between the Kingdom of God and minions of the Devil. Some Mormons in southern Utah taught that the invasion was the beginning of the Millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
, and the prevailing understanding there was that the U.S. Army intended to wipe out the Mormons as a people. In preparation for a seven-year siege predicted by Brigham Young, Mormon leaders began accelerating an existing program for stockpiling grain. Mormons were told to sell their clothing to buy as much grain as possible, and not to use grain as animal feed nor sell it to emigrants for this purpose.
Defiant against the United States, Brigham Young warned "mobocrats", particularly past Mormon persecutors and the "priests, editors, and politicians who have howled so long about us", to stay away from the territory, or "we will attend to their cases". He stated that if such persons entered the territory, "they will find a 'Vigilance Committee
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
'" and they will "find the Danites". But Young denounced plans by Mormons to rob "innocent" emigrant trains, saying that such robbers themselves would "be overtaken by a 'Vigilance Committee'". He wanted to ensure that "the good and honest may be able to pass from the Eastern States to California...in peace".
Young ordered pioneer settlements furthest afield to pull up stakes–evacuating colonies in San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
(now southern California), Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
(southern Nevada), Carson Valley
Genoa, Nevada
Genoa is an unincorporated town in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. Founded in 1850, it was the first settlement in what became the Nevada Territory. It is situated within Carson River Valley and is about south of Reno....
(western Nevada), and Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
(western Wyoming). Thereafter, the farthest remaining outpost of Mormonism were the outlying Mormon colonies at Cedar City
Cedar City, Utah
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people, 6,486 households, and 4,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile . There were 7,109 housing units at an average density of 353.9 per square mile...
(led by Stake President-Major Isaac C. Haight) and Parowan
Parowan, Utah
Parowan is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,790 at the 2010 census.Parowan became the first incorporated city in Iron County in 1851. A fort that had been constructed on the east side of Center Creek the previous year was an initial in the...
(led by Stake President-Colonel William H. Dame), two infant fortress-villages near Mountain Meadows where the massacre took place. These settlements were nearly 300 miles from the Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
headquarters, and only reachable by a three days' journey on horseback, the messenger's changing mounts at various settlements along the way. Mormons in the area were to be the first defense against a feared "southern invasion" The word from Mormon headquarters was that the approaching U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
had orders to murder every believing Mormon, and that the troops were coming directly from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
,
On August 5, 1857, Brigham Young declared martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
. All borders were to be sealed to further travel through Utah by emigrants. Young also made it illegal to travel through Utah without a permit, but no safe conduct pass was made available to the Baker-Fancher train by Territorial or local officials. The party would not have been aware of Young's decree as it was only made public on September 15, 1857.
Emigrant trains arriving from the east presented an opportunity for Mormons to trade or sell foodstuffs and other supplies, and until the Utah War
Utah War
The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858...
, most were friendly and willing to help travelers pass through the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. The Baker-Fancher train encountered residents along the way who were obeying Young's recent order to stockpile supplies in expectations of all-out war with approaching U.S. troops. The Mormons were directed not to sell any food to the enemy, as the emigrant train was labeled.
George A. Smith's circuit through southern Utah
On August 3, 1857, Mormon apostle George A. SmithGeorge A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
left Salt Lake City to visit the southern Utah communities. He arrived at Parowan
Parowan, Utah
Parowan is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,790 at the 2010 census.Parowan became the first incorporated city in Iron County in 1851. A fort that had been constructed on the east side of Center Creek the previous year was an initial in the...
on August 8, 1857, and on August 15, 1857, he set off on a tour of Stake President-Colonel W. H. Dame's military district. During the tour, Smith gave military speeches and counseled Mormons that they prepare to "touch fire to their homes, and hide themselves in the mountains, and to defend their country to the very last extremity." Smith instructed Mormons to stockpile grain, and not to sell it to emigrants for animal feed. Scholars have asserted that Smith's tour, speeches, and personal actions contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, and influenced the decision to attack and destroy the Baker-Fancher emigrant train near Mountain Meadows, Utah. John D. Lee
John D. Lee
John Doyle Lee was a prominent early Latter-day Saint who was executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows massacre.-Early Mormon leader:...
accompanied Smith on part of this tour, during which Smith addressed a group of Native Americans in Santa Clara, counseling them that "the Americans" were approaching with a large army, and were a threat to the Native Americans as well as the Mormons. Riding in a wagon afterwards, Lee said he warned Smith that the Native Americans would likely attack emigrant trains, and that Mormons were anxious to avenge the blood of the prophets, and according to Lee, Smith seemed pleased, and said "he had had a long talk with Major Haight on the same subject".
Major Isaac C. Haight
Isaac C. Haight
Isaac Chauncey Haight , an early convert to Mormonism, was a colonist of the American West remembered as a major conspirator of the Mountain Meadows massacre....
, the stake president of Cedar City
Cedar City, Utah
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people, 6,486 households, and 4,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile . There were 7,109 housing units at an average density of 353.9 per square mile...
, met with Smith again on August 21. Haight told Smith he had heard reports that 600 troops were already approaching Cedar City from the East, and that if the rumors were true, Haight would have to act without waiting for instructions from Salt Lake City. Smith agreed, and "admired his grit". Smith later said he was uncomfortable, perhaps "on account of my extreme timidity", because some of the militia members were eager that "their enemies might come and give them a chance to fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States", such as the Haun's Mill massacre
Haun's Mill massacre
The Haun's Mill massacre was an event in the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. It occurred on October 30, 1838 when a mob/militia unit from Livingston County attacked a Mormon settlement in eastern Caldwell County, Missouri, United States, after the Battle of Crooked River...
.
On his return to Salt Lake City, Smith was accompanied by a party including Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Vernon Hamblin was a Western pioneer, Mormon missionary, and diplomat to various Native American Tribes of the Southwest and Great Basin. During his life, he helped settle large areas of southern Utah and northern Arizona where he was seen as an honest broker between Mormon settlers and the...
of Santa Clara
Santa Clara, Utah
Santa Clara is a city in Washington County, Utah, United States. The population was 4,630 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.9 square miles , of which, 4.9 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles of it...
, a newly appointed Mormon missionary to the Natives in the region who also ran a federally funded Indian farm near Mountain Meadows.
Also traveling north with the Smith party were several Native chiefs from southern Utah Territory On August 25, 1857, Smith's group camped next to the Baker-Fancher party, headed the opposite direction, at Corn Creek (now Kanosh
Kanosh, Utah
Kanosh is a town in Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 485 at the 2000 census.- Geography :Kanosh is located at ....
). Smith later said he had no knowledge of the Baker-Fancher party prior to meeting them on the trail. When the Baker-Fancher party inquired about places to stop for water and grazing, Jacob Hamblin directed them to Mountain Meadows, near his home and, the Indian farm, a regular stopover on the Old Spanish Trail
Old Spanish Trail (trade route)
The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route which connected the northern New Mexico settlements near or in Santa Fe, New Mexico with that of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately long, it ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is...
.
Some members of Smith's party later testified that during their encampment they saw the Baker-Fancher party poison a spring and a dead ox, with the expectation that Native Americans would be poisoned. Silas S. Smith, the cousin of George A., testified that the Baker–Fancher party suspiciously asked whether the Native Americans would eat a dead ox. Although the poisoning story supported the Mormon theory that Native Americans had been poisoned and therefore conducted a massacre on their own, Modern historians generally discount the testimony and rumors about the poisoned ox and spring as false. Nevertheless, the poisoning story preceded the Fanchers on their trip southward.
Interactions on road toward Mountain Meadows
Alien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
because of Young's orders forbidding travel through Utah without a required pass – which the Baker–Fancher party did not have. However, Captains Baker and Fancher may not have been aware of Young's martial law order since it was not made public until September 15, 1857.
The Fancher and Duke parties (respectively from Arkansas and Missouri) having assisted each other on their western journeys, it was believed by some locals that the Fancher party was joined by eleven members of a Missouri militia calling itself the "Wildcats". (Yet there is debate on whether these miners and plainsmen stayed with the slow-moving Baker-Fancher party after leaving Salt Lake City, or actually existed.)
Meanwhile the Mormons that the Baker-Fancher train encountered along the way were obeying Young's order to stockpile supplies in expectations of all-out war with approaching U.S. troops and declined to trade with the Fanchers. This friction was added to by the "range war
Range war
A range war is a type of conflict that occurs in agrarian or stockrearing societies. Typically fought over water rights or grazing rights to unfenced/unowned land, it could pit competing farmers or ranchers against each other...
" that would be expected to erupt between local populations and any emigrants' leading vast herds of cattle – and indeed, both the Fancher and Duke parties' stock would compete with locals' for grazing and sometimes would break through the Mormon colonists' fences. With the murder and the expulsion of U.S. Government surveyors, there was no demarcation of the territorial lands claimed by Native Americans, Mormons, and those that the Americans purchased from Mexico (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
). Yet in the war panic, such mundane complaints escalated into more ominous charges.
For example, according to John D. Lee, "They swore and boasted openly... that Buchanan's whole army was coming right behind them, and would kill every God Damn Mormon in Utah.... They had two bulls which they called one "Heber" and the other "Brigham", and whipped 'em through every town, yelling and singing... and blaspheming oaths that would have made your hair stand on end."
While Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Vernon Hamblin was a Western pioneer, Mormon missionary, and diplomat to various Native American Tribes of the Southwest and Great Basin. During his life, he helped settle large areas of southern Utah and northern Arizona where he was seen as an honest broker between Mormon settlers and the...
was in Salt Lake City he heard that the Fanchers had "behaved badly [...and had] robbed hen-roosts, and been guilty of other irregularities, and had used abusive language to those who had remonstrated with them. It was also reported that they threatened, when the army came into the north end of the Territory, to get a good outfit from the weaker settlements in the south."
John Hawley traveling to his home in Washington, U.T., overtook the Fancher Party 150 miles South of Provo and traveled with them 3 days. Hawley found them to be men of families and a large drove of cattle all going to locate in California. The captain told him they had trouble with the Mormons at Salt Creek and Provo when their cattle crossed into the Mormon's herd ground and a Dutchman in their party would not obey the authorties. The captain told him that they intended to obey all the laws and rules of the territory. Hawley went on to say "I am satisfied the Saints gave them more trouble than they ought".
In his report of his investigation of the massacre, Superintendent for Indian Affairs in Utah Territory, Jacob Forney said: "I [...made] strict inquiry relative to the general behavior and conduct of the company towards the people of this territory ..., and am justified in saying that they conducted themselves with propriety."
In Forney's interview with David Tullis who had been living with Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Vernon Hamblin was a Western pioneer, Mormon missionary, and diplomat to various Native American Tribes of the Southwest and Great Basin. During his life, he helped settle large areas of southern Utah and northern Arizona where he was seen as an honest broker between Mormon settlers and the...
, Tullis related that "[t]he company passed by the house...towards evening.... One of the men rode up to where I was working, and asked if there was water ahead. I said, yes. The person who rode up behaved civilly."
In addition, William Rogers later related where Shirts related he "saw the emigrants when they entered the valley, and talked with several of the men belonging to it. They appeared perfectly civil and gentlemanly."
Brigham Young's attempt to enlist Native Americans to fight "the Americans"
Brigham Young, as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Utah TerritoryUtah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, built strong diplomatic ties with the area's Native American tribes
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. When it became clear there would be an invasion by U.S. troops, he sought to enlist them to join Mormons in fighting the "Americans".
On August 4,1857, Young notified Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Hamblin
Jacob Vernon Hamblin was a Western pioneer, Mormon missionary, and diplomat to various Native American Tribes of the Southwest and Great Basin. During his life, he helped settle large areas of southern Utah and northern Arizona where he was seen as an honest broker between Mormon settlers and the...
that he was appointed President of the Santa Clara Indian Mission and instructed him to to continue a concilitory policy towards the Indians. "..they must learn that they either got to help us, or the United States will kill us both".
Young sent his trusted interpreter Dimick B. Huntington
Dimick B. Huntington
Dimick Baker Huntington was a leading Indian interpreter in early Utah Territory. He also commissioned the Church History Panorama of C. C. A. Christensen to use in his presentations of the gospel to the Native Americans....
to various tribes with wagon loads of food. Huntington told Native Americans that the Utah War
Utah War
The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858...
was a battle, prophesied in the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
, between Mormons and Native Americans, on the one hand, and "gentiles" (non-Mormon whites) on the other. Young's message for the tribes was that they should "be at peace with all men except the Americans". Scholars disagree whether Young intended the Native American tribes to fight all non-Mormon Americans, including emigrants, or just the approaching U.S. Army.
No disapproval was expressed by Huntington when told by Shoshones that cows, horses, and mules had been stolen from Californians. Wilford Woodruff recorded Young's message to the Mormon apostles on August 26, 1857, "The Gentile emigrants [will] shoot the indians wharever they meet with them & the Indians now retaliate & will kill innocent People.", On August 30, 1857, Huntington gave a group of northern tribes "all the beef cattle & horses that was on the road to Cal[i]fornia, the North rout[e]".
On September 1, 1857, frontiersman James Gemmell was in Young's office with Hamblin, who had accompanied the group of tribal leaders (including Ammon, Kanosh
Kanosh (Pahvant Chief)
Kanosh was a nineteenth century leader of the Pahvant band of the Ute Indians.It is believed Kanosh was born in Spanish Fork Canyon, but this is not certain."Kanosh learned to speak good English for an Indian...
, Tutsegabit
Tutsegabit
Tutsegabit was a 19th century leader of the Piedes bands of the Paiute tribe.In 1857 Tutsegabit was the chief of six bands of Piedes.Some have accused Tutsegabit of being one of the people behind the Mountain Meadows massacre. However there is no evidence that he was anywhere close to Mountain...
, and Youngwids), and George A. Smith
George A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
on his return to Salt Lake, all of whom had camped near the Baker-Fancher party.
When Hamblin told Young that the Arkansas train was near Cedar City, Young said, according to Gemmell (whose statement derives from an 1896 posthumous source named Wheeler), that if he were in charge of the Nauvoo Legion he "would wipe them out." These chiefs then met with Huntington and Brigham Young, where the Native American leaders were given "all the cattle that had gone to Cal. the south rout[e]." The Native American leaders questioned this, because previously, the Mormons had told them not to steal cattle. Young acknowledged this, but said, "now they have come to fight us & you, for when they kill us then they will kill you." Modern scholars generally agree that Brigham Young was authorizing Native American leaders to steal emigrant cattle. And there is evidence that a policy that Native Americans should steal emigrants' cattle was put into effect against emigrant groups other than the Fancher–Baker party.