| What makes it historical? |
There was a lot of tension in the Territory of Utah during 1857. The leaders of the Mormon church wanted to enter the Union as the state of Deseret under the condition that they be allowed to govern themselves without interference from Washington. The problem with that was that East Coast leaders didn’t like the idea of a religiously run state, especially one that practiced polygamy, and sent troops out to put down what they perceived as treason!
It was into this fog of distrust that an Arkansas wagon train, led by Captains John Baker and Alexander Fancher, stumbled on their way to California. On September 7, 60 Mormon militiamen from Cedar City and the Paiute warriors they’d hired to fend off the US Army, laid siege to this wagon train for four solid days! On the morning of September 11th, after already killing ten of these emigrants, the militiamen raised the white flag of truce and entered the encircled wagons.
They convinced the leaders to put down their arms, then separated and men and older boys from the women and children. At a given signal, the Mormon militia executed all the men and boys, then turned to the rest of the wagon train. Of the 140 emigrants, only 17 young children survived and were installed in local Mormon houses, including those of their family’s murderers!
The bodies were left to the vultures, and it took two years until the US Army arrived on the scene to collect the remains and return the children to family members in Arkansas! It would be another 15 years before anyone was indicted for the murders, as the militiamen did their best to lay all blame on the Paiute. In 1870, the church excommunicated Isaac Haight and John D. Lee for their roles in the massacre, and in 1874, John Lee was brought back to this meadow and executed. |
