The "True" Story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

Location:  Southern Utah, quiet valley
Time: August 1857
What: 120 men and women in route to California were executed in cold blood, children captured.
Who and Why?   Let's find out...

Mountain Meadows was a Mormon settlement called Deseret, an independent republic.  The Mormons were prospering under Brigham Young until lJuly 24, 1857, when news reached them that the U.S.Army was marching toward them.  The reason?  Politics.  The Mormon territory was staunchly anti-slavery.  It was believed that by wiping out the Mormons the US Government could direct the national attention away from the issue of slavery.  The government replaced Brigham Young with Alfred Cummings without informing the Mormons of their switch.  A large army was sent instead to intimidate the church into submission. The Mormons prepared for war - stockpiling supplies and planning battle tactics, but keeping the neighboring Indians neutral and at peace with the Mormons...just in case they needed them.

Meantime, back in Arkansas, the Fancher party of settlers set out on their wagon train journey much later than normal for California via Salt Lake City.  The train consisted of 40 wagons, 100s of horses, 1000 cattle and by August had reached just outside Salt Lake City.  Hesitant to continue via the Donner Pass after the history of that route that late in the year, the Fancher party decided to follow the southern route through Mormon territory where they could replenish their supplies for the winter portion of the trip. 

Arriving at Salt Lake they found all the stores closed and the Mormons unwilling to offer any supplies for sale.  Western hospitality was such that any traveler was welcome to food and shelter, supplies and help.  It was expected and  depended on by settlers traveling in wagon trains.  Not this time.  No Mormon would open their store or offer any help.

Legend says that the party got angry, rude and boisterous when refused supplies, and it didn't help
that Captain Fancher bragged about driving the Mormons out of Illinois, or that he was there when Joseph Smith was killed. The party headed out without supplies and ran into the Paiute Indians whom they also argued with. 

Enter Mormon John D Lee to talk to the Indians who were bent on attacking the wagon train.  Brigham Young was contacted via letter (taking 6 days) for adivce and Fancher led his party about 30 miles further on the trail to a place of good water and grass, called Mountain Meadows.  It was here they were attacked.  After a few days, a handful of men were killed and a couple of Indian chiefs. 

One of the biggest mysteries of the American West followed...
Did the Indians ask the Mormon for help to defeat the settlers?
Or did John Lee encourage the Indians to attack?
Did the Paiutes threaten the Mormon unless they did help defeat the wagon train?

Next time..what really happened a Mountain Meadows (we think)

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 On This Day in History:  On April 13, 1866, Butch Cassidy, the last of the great western train-robbers, is born in Beaver,  Utah Territory