Zum Inhalt springen

Mountain-Meadows-Massaker

aus Wikipedia, der freien Enzyklopädie
Dies ist eine alte Version dieser Seite, zuletzt bearbeitet am 10. Januar 2007 um 00:44 Uhr durch en>Visorstuff. Sie kann sich erheblich von der aktuellen Version unterscheiden.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre was a mass killing of between 54 and 140[1] people, mostly from Arkansas, at Mountain Meadows, a stopover along the Spanish Trail in southwestern Utah, on Friday, September 11, 1857. The causes and circumstances remain highly controversial.

Fancher party

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

In the spring of 1857 approximately forty families of European ancestry, mostly from Marion, Crawford, Carroll, and Johnson counties in Arkansas, assembled into a wagon train at Beller's Stand, south of Harrison, Arkansas for the purpose of emigrating to southern California. This group was initially referred to as both the Baker train and the Perkins train but after being joined by other Arkansas trains and making its way west, was soon called the Fancher train (or party) after "Colonel" Alexander Fancher who, having already made the journey to California twice before, had become its main leader.[2] By contemporary standards the Fancher party was prosperous, carefully organized and well-equipped for the journey.[3] They were subsequently joined along the way by families and individuals from other states, including Missouri.[4]

Travel through Utah

They arrived in Utah Territory in July with over 900 head of cattle but were running low on some supplies and reached Salt Lake City in early August, only days after Mormon leader Brigham Young had declared martial law,[5] in response to potential hostilities with the United States government.[6] Under orders of President Buchanan, United States Army toops were advancing towards Utah, resulting in what would later be called the Utah War (and Buchanan's Blunder).

The Fancher party set out on the northern route to California, but because of the lateness of the season turned back and took the southern route, which led them into southwestern Utah. The Mormons they encountered along the way were suspicious and most declined to trade with them for several reasons, including Young's declaration of martial law, his orders discouraging the trading of food with immigrants and his orders forbidding people from traveling through the territory without a pass, which the Fancher party did not have.[7] The wagon train had been joined by a group of men who called themselves "Missouri Wildcats." Some of them reportedly taunted, vandalized and "caused trouble" for Mormons and Native Americans along the route (by some accounts claiming they had the gun that "shot the guts out of Old Joe Smith"[8]) and stories of this spread through Mormon communities.[9] Moreover, popular Mormon leader Parley P. Pratt had been murdered in Arkansas a few months earlier (by the ex-husband of one of Pratt's plural wives[10]) and news of his death had only recently begun to arrive in the area.[11] These rumors, martial law, threats of war and limited supplies all likely influenced individual Mormons who didn't sell food to the Fancher party.

Cedar City meetings

As the Fancher party approached Mountain Meadows, several meetings were held in Cedar City and nearby Parowan by local LDS leaders pondering how to implement Young's declaration of martial law.[12] They decided to "eliminate" the Fancher wagon train, but hesitated and sent a rider to Salt Lake City (a six day round trip on horseback) for Brigham Young's advice. Meanwhile, organization among the local Mormon leadership reportedly broke down.[13]

Mountain Meadows

The hungry, somewhat dispirited Fancher party found water and fresh grazing for its livestock after reaching grassy, mountain-ringed Mountain Meadows, a widely known stopover on the old Spanish Trail, in early September. They anticipated several days of rest and recuperation there. On September 7 the party was attacked by a group of Native American Paiutes and Mormon militiamen dressed as Native Americans.[14] The Fancher party defended itself by encircling and lowering their wagons, wheels chained together, along with digging shallow trenches and throwing dirt both below and into the wagons, which made a strong barrier. Seven emigrants were killed during the opening attack and were buried somewhere within the wagon encirclement. Sixteen more were wounded. The attack continued for five days, during which the besieged families had little or no access to fresh water or game food and their ammunition was depleted.[15]

On Friday, September 11 two Mormon militiamen approached the Fancher party wagons with a white flag and were soon followed by indian agent and militia officer John D. Lee.[16] Lee told the battle weary emigrants he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for leaving all their livestock and supplies to the Native Americans.[17] Accepting this, they were split into three groups. Seventeen of the youngest children along with a few mothers and the wounded were put into wagons, which were followed by all the women and older children walking in a second group. Bringing up the rear were the adult males of the Fancher party, each walking with an armed Mormon militiaman at his right. Making their way back northeast towards Cedar City, the three groups gradually became strung out and visually separated by shrubs and a shallow hill. After about 2 kilometers, all of the men, women, older children and wounded were massacred by Mormon militia and Paiutes who had hidden nearby. A few who escaped the initial slaughter were quickly chased down and killed. Two teenaged girls, Rachel and Ruth Dunlap, managed to clamber down the side of a steep gully and hide among a clump of oak trees for several minutes. They were spotted by a Paiute chief from Parowan, who took them to Lee. 18 year old Ruth Dunlap reportedly fell to her knees and pleaded, "Spare me, and I will love you all my life!"[18] (Lee denied this). 50 years later, a Mormon woman who was a child at the time of the massacre recalled hearing LDS women in St. George[19] say both girls were raped before they were killed.

All of the Mormon participants in the massacre were then sworn to secrecy.[20] The many dozens of bodies were hastily dragged into gullies and other low lying spots, then lightly covered with surrounding material which was soon blown away by the weather, leaving the remains to be scavenged and scattered by wildlife.[21]

Surviving children

Approximately seventeen children were deliberately spared because of their young ages.[22] In the hours following the massacre Lee directed Philip Kingensmith and possibly two others[23] to take the children (a few of whom were wounded) to the nearby farm of Jacob Hamblin, a local indian agent.[24] Later, under the direction of Jacob Forney, the non-Mormon Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah, the children were placed in the care of local Mormon families pending an investigation of the matter and notification of kin. However, some accounts relate that Lee sold or bartered the children to whatever Mormon families would take them. One survivor Sarah Francis Baker, who was three years old at the time of the massacre, later said: "They sold us from one family to another."[25]

Aftermath

The Pauites reportedly received most of the Fancher party's significant livestock holdings as compensation for their part in the massacre, which represented the tribe's historical end as a cohesive social group when its members scattered into surrounding states and territories, fearing retribution.Vorlage:Fact Many of the murdered emigrants' other belongings (including blood stained and bullet-riddled clothing stripped from the victims' corpses) were brought to Cedar City and stored in the cellar of an LDS warehouse as "property taken at the siege of Sebastopol."[4] There are conflicting accounts as to whether these items were auctioned off or simply taken by members of the local population. Some of the surviving children subsequently claimed to have seen Mormons wearing their dead parents' clothing and jewelry. Vorlage:Fact

In 1859, two years after the massacre, Brevet Major James Henry Carleton arrived in the area to investigate. He and Hamblin went to Mountain Meadows where they found women's hair tangled in sage brush and the bones of children still in their mothers' arms.[26] Carleton later said it was "a sight which can never be forgotten." After gathering up the skulls and bones of those who had died, Carleton's troops buried them and erected a rock cairn inscribed with the words, Here 120 men, women, and children were massacred in cold blood early in September, 1857. They were from Arkansas, along with a cross bearing the words, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.

Replica of the original Mountain Meadows Massacre Monument in Carrollton, Arkansas.

Meanwhile Forney and Governor Cummings directed Hamblin and Carleton to gather up the surviving children from local families and transport them to Salt Lake City, after which they were united with extended family members in Arkansas and other states. [27] Several Mormon families claimed and received financial compensation from the federal government for the children's care and even protested that the amounts paid were insufficient although the conditions some of the children lived under were severely criticised.[28]

Carleton issued a scathing report to the United States Congress, blaming local and senior church leaders for the massacre, however years later only Lee was charged with murder for his involvement. Lee's first trial ended in a mistrial but he was convicted on re-trial and executed by firing squad at Mountain Meadows.

The causes and circumstances of the Mountain Meadows Massacre remain contested and highly controversial. Although there is no evidence that Brigham Young ordered or condoned the massacre, the involvement of various church officials in both the murders and concealing evidence in their aftermath is still questioned.[29] Moreover, while by all accounts native American Paiutes were present, historical reports of their numbers and the details of their participation are contradictory.

Starting in 1988 descendants of both the Fancher party victims and the Mormon participants collaborated to design and dedicate a monument to replace the neglected and crumbling marker on the site. There are now three monuments to the massacre. Two of these are at Mountain Meadows. Mountain Meadows Association built a monument in 1990 which is mantained by the Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation. In 1999 the Mormon Church built and agreed to mantain a second monument. [5] [6] [7]. A monument in Arkansas is a replica of Carleton's original marker maintained by the Mountain Meadows Massacre Monument Foundation Inc[8].

Notes

  1. ↑ Brooks (1991) in the introduction of her paperback version of Moutain Meadows Massacre states that she revises her estimates to be between 54 and 57. James Lynch, in sworn testimony (1859), stated that their were 140 victims "murdered in cold blood". While indian superintendant, Jacob Forney stated about 115 people had been killed [1] The monument erected on the site stated 123.
  2. ↑ Bagley (2002), pp. 55-68; Finck (2005).
  3. ↑ Bancroft (1889) p. 545; Linn (1902) Chap. XVI, 4th full paragraph.
  4. ↑ Bancroft (1889) p. 544; Gibbs (1910) p. 12.
  5. ↑ See Young, Brigam (August 5, 1857). Proclamation by the Governor. Salt Lake City: Territory of Utah. Alternate location.
  6. ↑ Bagley (2002), pp. 95-99; Denton (2003), pp. 114-115.
  7. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 5
  8. ↑ Mountain Meadows Massacre in Tietoa Mormonismista Suomeksi.
  9. ↑ See http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/four/mountain.htm and http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no88.htm and http://www.youknow.com/chris/essays/misc/mtnmeadows.html
  10. ↑ "Pratt was called on a mission to the southern states and while he was on this mission, a lawsuit was filed by one Hector McLean, who accused Pratt of causing an estrangement between himself and his former wife, Eleanor. Although Pratt was exonerated by the court, McLean and two accomplices pursued Pratt to Alma, Arkansas, where they fired at and stabbed him. He died on 13 May 1857 and was quietly buried at what is now Fine Springs, Arkansas."[2] Hector was unhappy with the result of the lawsuit and was later convicted of Pratt's murder. See also http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/mtn_meadows/9.html and http://www.prattconference.org/area_info.htm.
  11. ↑ Bagley (2002), pp. 68-72, 80-81.
  12. ↑ Shirts (1994), Paragraph 6
  13. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 6
  14. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8
  15. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 8
  16. ↑ Lee was a scribe for the Council of 50 and a friend of both Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young
  17. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 9
  18. ↑ Gibbs (1910) p. 36.
  19. ↑ It should be noted that St. George is about 50 miles away from Cedar City, where the bulk of the information was known, about 15 miles from the Mountain Meadows, and outside of the Parowan Stake boundaries (the Mormon geographic area that Lee, Haight, Higbee and Hamblin belonged to). Most children were taken to families in Cedar City, New Harmony and Painter Creek, rather than St. George.
  20. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 11
  21. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 10
  22. ↑ Multiple sources claim that Lee protested and prohibited the death of all children that were assumed to be under the age of eight, and directed that they be placed in the care to one who was not involved in the massacre. See for example, http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/jdlconfession.htm. Not all of the young children were spared, however, at least one infant was killed in his fathers arms by the same bullet that killed the adult man.
  23. ↑ John D. Lee's Confessions state that he directed Knight and McMurdy to take charge of the children as well
  24. ↑ Testimony of Philip Klingensmith (July 23 - 24, 1875). First Trial of John D. Lee.
  25. ↑ Bagley (2002), Chapter 13, page 237 also Brooks (1950), Appendix X
  26. ↑ Alyssa Fisher: A Sight Which Can Never Be Forgotten. In: Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America, 16. September 2003 (archaeology.org [abgerufen am 7. Januar 2007]).
  27. ↑ After the massacre, the decision was made to take the children to the nearby Hamblin home; however, Hamblin was gone at the time of the killings. Hamblin's testimony in this regard is as following (Q=attorney in Lee's trial; A=Hamblin): "Q: What became of the children of those emigrants? How many children were brought there? A: Two to my house, and several in Cedar City. I was acting subagent for Forney. I gathered the children up for him; seventeen in number, all I could learn of. Q: Whom did you deliver them to? A: Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah." [3] Also, see the Carelton report, referenced elsewhere in this article.
  28. ↑ Carleton (1859), "these Mormons ...dared even to come forward and claim payment for having kept these little ones barely alive..."
  29. ↑ Shirts, (1994) Paragraph 11

References

Modern depictions in media

  • The play Fire In The Bones (1978) by Thomas F. Rogers is a depiction of the massacre from the perspective of John D. Lee, and is based heavily on Juanita Brooks' research.
  • The play Two-Headed (2000) by Julie Jensen depicts two middle-aged Latter Day Saint (Mormon) women reflecting on the massacre that occurred when they were children.
  • The film Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre (2004), directed by Brian F. Patrick, is a documentary of the event.
  • The film September Dawn (2006), directed by Christopher Cain, depicts a love story set at the time of the massacre.
  • the novel Red Water by Judith Freeman is a fictionalized account of John D. Lee's role in the massacre from the perspective of three of his nineteen wives.
Abgerufen von „https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountain-Meadows-Massaker&oldid=202039062“