MORMON HISTORY.
How a Council of Sixteen Carried Out God's Will as Expressed Through the Protest of Brigham.
[From the San Francisco Chronicle.]
The recent attempted assassination in South-ern Utah of Philip Kligen Smith, the Mormon Bishop who participated in the Mountain Meadow massacre, and then turned State's evidence, has brought to light a diabolical deed which was committed by Brigham's agents in September, 1857. The following story is from the Truckee Republican of December 22d, and was related to the editor of that journal about a year ago by one of the proph-et's favorite assassins: The Aiken party, composed of the Aiken brothers, a man known as "Colonel," one named Buck and two others, started east from California just as Johnson's army was entering Utah. They were wealthy gentlemen of an adventurous, speculative turn, and had the " finest outfit of mules, equipments, guns, pistols, etc., ever seen in Salt Lake City. They carried with them about $30,000 in gold. On the Humboldt they fell in with a train going East, and traveled with the emigrants until they reached the Utah settlements. Near Ogden they were ar-rested as spies, brought to Salt Lake City, and closely confined. Utah was under martial law, and this fact was the pretext for this outrage. The emigrant train came along and Vouched for the men as being good honest gentlemen, but without effect. Their money was too tempting a prey. Af-ter being incarcerated some time, two were left in prison, and four others sent by the Mormons to California, under an escort. The apparent fairness of this move vanishes when we learn that the escort was Porter Rockwell, John Lot and One-eyed Miles, three of the blackest-hearted villians that ever lived. When the party arrived at Nephi, a council was called among the Mormons, and sixteen men were appointed to "use up" the Aiken party. The few who opposed the cold-blood-ed plot were silenced by the argument that it was God's will expressed through his prophet Brigham. At midnight a team was fitted out and driven on ahead of the Aiken party, who were asleep at Naphi. The next evening, just as the victims were camping at the Sevier river, a party of men drove up from the op-posite direction and asked permission to camp with them. The plot of the murder was well planned. The Aiken party never suspected that these men were assassins, who had been in Nephi the night before. They were pleased to have company, and the camp fires were built side by side. The Mormons outnumber-ed their victims four to one, yet were too cowardly to make the attack until sleep ren-dered their victims helpless; then they pounc-ed upon the sleeping, defenseless fellows and struck them on the head with king-bolts, clubs, and iron bars. The colonel bounded up, and bruised and bleeding as he was, escaped in the bushes. A second one of the Aiken boys sprang to his feet, but was shot down. The other two were brained where they lay. The three lifeless bodies were thrown into the river, and the brother who was shot down revived when he came in con-tact with the cold stream. Poor fellow, a night of horror awaited him which was worse than a thousand deaths. Crawling over the cruel, pebbly bottom of the river, drenched, bleeding and half dead, the man reached the willows near the camp. Here he lay shivering with fear and heard the murderers boast of the brutal deed. Summoning all his strength, the wounded man crawled away through the bushes and started back to Nephi. It snowed lightly during the previous day, and that night there was a bitter, biting frost. Aiken had on nothing but his pants and shirt. The crisp snow and the sharp stones cut his feet until he could hardly endure the pain. Weak from loss of blood, dazed and stunned by blows on his head, cold, deserted and lonely, weary and worn out, the man traveled all nightlong. Naught but thoughts of a mur-dered brother lying mangled and unburied in the black waters of the Sevier gave him strength to press forward to where he vainly hoped for assistance. Just at dawn he com-pleted his twenty-six mile journey, and fell exhausted at the foot of the little hill in the outskirts of Nephi. He had fallen in front of a house, and from the inmates he learned that one of his comrades had likewise escaped, and had ascended the hill only a few mo-ments before. Wild with the hope that it was his brother, he struggled to his feet and staggered onward. In spite of all his efforts he fell heavily four or five times, and could not rise until he had lain still and rested for a few moments. When he reached the hotel he found the colonel instead of his brother. The poor, half-murdered men uttered not a word, but, locked in each other's arms, fell swoon-ing to the ground. Even the Mormons who looked upon the scene were affected to tears. Cold-blooded assassination awaited these brave fellows, after all. Thoughtlessly they told that they recognized some of their "mur-derers. The hotel was guarded day and night by the Mormons, lest the victims should escape. The hotel-keeper was in league with the assassins. His team had hauled the mur-derers to the Sevier. When three weeks had passed, the wounded men had so far recov-ered as to wish to return to Salt Lake City. The hotel-keeper refused to let them go until his bill was paid. They had escaped with nothing but a gold watch and a silver-mounted Colt's revolver. Their money and valuable property was lying in the Nephi Tithing of-fice—in God's store-house. They offered the hotel-keeper the watch, worth $250, for their bill, but he demanded the revolver instead. As he took the pistol, Aiken said: "There goes our last friend. We'll never leave this valley alive." Disarmed, wounded and utterly helpless, these men were put in a wagon and driven to an old stable a few miles out of Nephi. The driver backed his wagon up close to this stable and unhitched the horses, saying he wanted to feed them. The hind end of the wagon had been taken out before starting, and as soon as the horses were out of the way a volley of buckshot, fired from the stable, fairly riddled the bodies of the two Californians. The party of cowardly wretches concealed in the stable continued to fire until every muscle in the victims’s bodies ceased to quiver. They then stripped off the clothing and threw the bodies into one of those round springs or natural wells which seem to have no bottom, and filled it in with large stones. To this day the place is known as "Murderer's Spring." Suffi-cient proof is in the possession of the United States officials at Salt Lake to convict the per-petrators of this crime, if justice could be obtained in Utah. Timothy B. Foot is the hotel-keeper's name; Wolfe is the man who drove the fatal wagon, and Bishop Bryant presided over the council at Nephi that passed the sentence of death. Actual participants in the crime have confessed, and, if protected, would testify to all the particulars. From one of the murderers I obtained part of my information. I have not colored any por-tion of the narrative; the bare facts are before you.
