THE MORMON MASSACRE.
Trial of the Mountain Mea-dow Assassins.
A Horrible Account of Men, Women and Children Piled Dead Upon the Plain.
WOLVES AND VULTURES.
The Dying and the Dead of the Emigrant Train.
A Vivid Picture of The Deed.
BEAVER, Utah, July 23.—The Lee trial was resumed to-day. The inter-est of the people is at fever heat. Lee's wives and a number of Gentile women are in the Court. U. S. Attorney Cary eloquently made a statement of the expected proof. He drew a vivid pic-ture of the rich emigrant train bound for California entering Utah; there- fused supplies; attacked by Indians; entrenched; seige of days; then the coming of Lee with troops; the flag of truce; treachery and butchery of men, women and children; the prop-erty taken to the tithing house; the sale of goods; the bodies laying un-buried for weeks; the following and killing of those who escaped; the re-port of the deed to Brigham Young; his orders to sell the property, and never mention the deed which accounts for the want of knowledge of the trans-action on the part of the Mormons on the jury list. All these things he would prove. The witnesses were sworn and put under rule. A recess was then taken until two o'clock.
The defense is greatly discomposed by the publication of the outlines of Lee's confession, obtained by your re-porter, as it gives a clear idea of Lee's confessed guilt and destroys the in-tended theory that the massacre is chargeable to Indians. It is not an-nounced what new theory of defense will be set up. No one expects a ver-dict from the jury as composed. The prosecution say their desire is to get the facts before the people and a pop-ular verdict against the powerful Mor-mon Church, and think that the trial will break the backbone of this priest-ly confederacy. The defense say they expect no verdict, but neither can there be a conviction. It is now open-ly charged that the Mormon authori-ties are aiding Lee's defense, notwith-standing his excommunication. The feeling of indignation is great over the jurors swearing to no knowledge of the massacre, though old residents. The comments are loud and severe, es-pecially over the attempt of the son-in-law of one of the defendants to sit on the jury. On the other hand, the Mormons claim that they are taking no part in the defense; that the jurors live in remote regions seldom discuss-ing public matters, and honest in saying that they have no opinion or knowledge of the massacre. They declare that Judge Cradlebaugh held Court at Cedar City in May, 1858, and had all the facts of the case before him, with Johnson and his army to aid him, but took no steps; that Lee lived there sixteen years, but no at-tempt was made to take or prosecute him; that the church takes no part in the trial, and defy proof that it had a part in the massacre.
At 2 p. m., the first witness called was Robert Keys. He came to Utah October 2d, 1857, through Mountain Meadow; saw two piles of bodies; the women and children were piled pro-miscuously ; there were about sixty to seventy; the children were from eight months to twelve years old; the small-er oiles were torn by the wolves and crows, and some of the bodies were shot, some with their throats cut, and some stabbed; they were all torn by wolves, except one woman a little way off, who appeared as if asleep; there was a ball hole in her left side; it ap-peared as if the bodies had been dead fifteen days; seven of us saw it; there was a pile of men's bodies further on; didn't go to see them; there was no clothing on the bodies, except the leg of one sock on a man.
Asael Bennett was called.—Was at the Meadows in December, 1857; saw the bones; it was a horrible sight; there were skeletons of men, women and children, with curls and long tresses of hair clotted with blood; the children were from ten to twelve years old; some of the skulls had the flesh dried on them; the bodies had been covered up, but the wolves had evidently dug them up.
Phillip Klingensmith, a defendant, of San Bernardino, Cal., was called.—The prosecution entered a uolle prosequi as to himself. Lived in Cedar City in 1857; the Meadows is 45 miles south of Cedar, on the Calafornia road; was at the massacre in September, 1857; heard of the emigrants coming; the people were forbidden to trade with them; felt bad about it; saw few of them at Cedar; this was Friday; some swore and Higby fined them; they went on; heard rumors of trouble; on Sunday it was the custom to have meetings of the President and Council of Bishops; the matter came up for discussion as to their destruction; Haight, Higbee, Morrill, Allen, Willis, myself and others were present; some of the brethren opposed the destruc-tion; I did; Haight jumped up and broke up the meeting; I asked what would be the consequences of such an act; then Higby got mad; the Indians were to destroy them; on Monday Hig-by, Haight, White and I met; the same subject came up again; I opposed the destruction; Haight relented and told White and I to go ahead and tell the people the emigrants should go through safe; we did so; on the road we met John D. Lee; told him where we were going; he replied, "I have something to say about that matter;" we passed the emigrants at Iron Springs; next morning we passed them again as we came back; they had 20 or 30 wagons; there were over one hundred people, old and young, wo-men and children; near home met Ira Allen; he said the emigrants' doom was sealed, the die was cast for their destruction, and that Lee had orders to take men and go out and intercept them; Allen was to go on and coun-teract what we did; I went home; three days after Haight sent for me; he said orders had come from camp; they didn't get along and wanted re-inforcements ; that he had been to Parowan and got further orders from Col. W. H. Dame to finish the massa-cre, and spare only the small children who could not tell the tale; I went off; met Allen, our first runner, and others; Higby came out and said, “You are ordered out armed and equipped; as I went Hopkins, Higby, John Willis and Sam Purely went along; had two baggage wagons; got to Hamblin's ranch in the night, three miles from the emigrants; there met Lee and others from the general camp, where the largest number of men were; it was then found that the emigrants were not all killed; Lee called me out one side for consultation; he told me the situation; the emigrants were strongly fortified, and there was no chance to get them out; that Higby had been ordered to decoy them out as best he could; the command was given to John D, Lee to carry out the whole plan; they; went to the camp; Lee called all the soldiers together in a hollow square and addressed them; they were all white men; about fifty in all; the Indians were in another camp; saw there Slade and his son, Jim Pierce and probably his sons too; all these were from Cedar, and Bill Stewart and Jacobs; think Dan Mc-Farlane too; Slade and I were enraged but we said, "what can we do, we can't help ourselves; just then an or-der to march was given, and we had to go; were put in double file; Higby had command of part of the men; it was the Nauvoo legion, organized from tens up to hundreds; marched in sight of the emigrants; either Bateman or Lee went out with a white flag; a man from the emigrants met them; Lee and the man sat down on the grass and had a talk; don't know what they said; Lee went with the man into the intrenchments; after some hours they came out and the emigrants came up with their wounded in wagons; ahead of the wounded were those hurt in the three days previous fight; they said the Mormons and Indians couldn't oust the emigrants; next came the wo-men and next the men; as the emi-grants came up the men halted and the women, children and wounded went on ahead with John D. Lee; the soldiers had orders to be all ready to shoot at the word; when the word halt came the soldiers fired; I fired once; don't know if I killed any; the men were not all killed the first shot; saw the women afterwards, dead with their throats cut; I saw as I came up to them a man kill a young girl; the men were marched in double file first and then thrown in single file, with the soldiers along side; heard the emi-grants congratulating each other on their safety from the Indians; at last John M. Higby came and ordered my squad to fire; Lee, like the rest, had firearms; no emigrants escaped; saw soldiers on horseback to take on the wing those who ran; saw a man run, and saw Bill Stuart on a horse go after and kill him; saw one wounded man beg for his life, and Higby cut his throat; after I shot was told to gather up the little children; as I went I saw a large woman running towards the men crying "my husband, my hus-band ;" a soldier shot her in the back and she fell dead; as I went on I found the wagons with the wounded all out on the ground, dead, with their throats cut; went on and found the children, put them in the wagon and took them to Hamblin's house; saw no more; the soldiers dispersed then; two of the children were wounded; one died at Hamblin's; think I had to leave it there; many of the soldiers were from the counties south whom I didn't know; next day I, McCurdy and Wil-lis took the children to Cedar City, leaving one at Pinto creek; on the road met a freight train of wagons, the men living here in Beaver now; I went to old Mrs. Hopkins' and told her I had children; she rustled around and got places for them; I took one girl baby home; my wife suckled it; afterwards I gave it to Birk Beck, he having no children; they were well treated and I believe good places were got for them, where there were few-children.
The question of allowing the state-ments of the co-conspirator as to the disposal of the emigrants' property after the massacre was here argued for an hour. The Court held it admissible on the ground of the case of the peo-ple vs. Trima, a California case. Dur-ing the argument of the subject the defense bitterly said that it was an at-tempt to fix the crime on some one else, Lee being only a figure-head.
Baskin, for the prosecution, replied that he wanted but the truth, whoever it implicated; that Sutherland feared his real client would be reached. (De-cided sensation, it being known that Brigham Young was meant).
Witness—resumed. After—several days Haight sent me to Iron Springs, where the wagons, cattle and goods of the emigrants were, to get them and put them in the tithing house; I was to brand the cattle too; found there John Urie and Hunter and Allen; I put the goods in the church tithing office cellar; left the wagons in front of the tithing office, and branded the cattle with the church brand—a cross; Lee was in in the cellar with me, and saw the goods; Haight and Higby told me a council had been held and Lee deputed to go to the President, Brigham Young, and report all the facts of the massacre; Lee went; I followed Lee to attend a conference on October 6th at Salt Lake City; met Lee at Salt Lake, and asked him if he had reported to Brigham Young; he said yes, every particular; the same day I, Lee and Charley Hopkins called on Brigham Young; he there, in the presence of them, said: "You have charge of that property in the tithing office, turn it over to John D. Lee, and what you know of this say nothing of it—dont talk of it even among your-selves ;" I had to go to the Vegas lead mines to get ore; while I was gone Lee took the property, had an auction, and sold it off, so Haight and Higby told me; Haight sold part of the cat-tle to Hooper, Utah's Congressional delegate afterwards, for boots and shoes; there were Indians at the mas-sacre; the hills were pretty full of them; they were deputed to kill the women; saw one Indian cut a little boy's throat; heard no effort to re-strain the Indians; several Indians were wounded, and three died of wounds; the Indians came back to Ce-dar, where they lived; one was called Bill and one Tom; both were chiefs; saw some of the emigrants' property with the Indians; saw Lee get dresses and jeans from the tithing office out of the emigrant plunder; learned from Allen that Lee was the one to gather up the Indians to attack the emigrants; talked with Lee about it afterwards; Lee was Indian agent at Harmony Agency; traded with the tribes and issued the goods and rations of the Government to the Indeans.
Court here adjourned to 9 a. m. to-morrow. After to-day night sessions are to be held. The court warned the citizens not to speak to the jurors from the street, and declared they would arrest and punish such offense. During the time Klingensmith was tes-tifying, giving horrible details of blood, the suspense was terribl pain-ful, Lee's square, hard, low-browed face and neck became fairly purple and black, and his wives scarcely breathed, straining forward to catch each syllable. The excitement in town is intense. I am prepared to state that Klingensmith's story, in all material details, is the same as Lee's suppressed confession as to the massa-cre. Klingensmith's reputation here is that of a man of truth, and lie could not be impeached save by facts.
BEAVER CITY, Utah, July 24.—To-day the Mormon population are cele- the 26th anniversary of their entrance into this Territory. Salutes were fired at sunrise, flags ran up, and bands playing. The band went to the jail and serenaded Lee. Large numbers of young men, inflamed with liquor, pa-raded the streets last night, seeking disturbances. To-day some of them flourished weapons, threatening openly to hang witness Klingensmith. The better Mormon citizens seek to quiet them, and say their utterances are only those of fools and drunkards. In the afternoon the children held their an-nual jubilee. At night the adults had a ball. This part of the celebration was very pleasing. The visitors to the town are increasing, and an addi-tional company of soldiers has arrived in Camp Cameron. The noted Bill Hickman is expected in hourly with important witnesses. Marshal Max-well has left town after a needed wit-ness. Two more new witnesses have been heard from as coming.
Witness Klingensmith resumed:—The commander of the Nauvoo legion for Southern Utah, and the first coun-sellor to Brigham Young, was Geo. A. Smith. Lee was commander at the massacre; Dame was Colonel; Haight, Lieut. Colonel; Higbee, Major.
Cross-examined.—Am a Pennsylva-nian; at 22 went to Indiana; at 26 to Michigan; thence to Nauvoo in 1844; left there with the Mormons in. 1846 to go to Iowa; thence to Council Bluffs, and in 1849 to Salt Lake; thence to Sanpete and raised two crops; thence to Parowan; then to Cedar City in 1852 and staid till 1859; then went to Tokerville; thence to Beaver, and staid a year and a half; then to Rio Virgin and staid two years; then back to Tokerville and staid six months; then went on a ranch and staid a year; thence to Parowan and staid, one year; thence to the river Merin and staid part of two years; left in 1865, went back to Parowan and staid there over a year; then to Meadow Valley, Lin-coln county, Nevada, and live there yet, but go out prospecting; at Nauvoo was an elder, and belonged to the 9th quorum of the seventies at Cedar City; in 1857, was Bishop over Cedar; my only duty was to act in temporal af-fairs, collect tithing and see to making fields and water ditches; was under the presidency of Haight, to whom I was subordinate; the people held coun-cils with us; James Whittaker and old daddy Morris were my counsellors; the first i heard of the emigrants was their being ordered out of Salt Lake; Pres-ident Haight gave out to the people not to supply the emigrants; he gave the order at an afternoon meeting of officials; Haight preached on the sub-ject; he said the emigrants were to be destroyed; Allen and Higbee agreed to it; no particular reasons were given ; as many opposed as favored it; Morrill, myself and the counsellors opposed it; I had a right of appeal to the higher power, but took none; knew of no power that I could then resort to; Haight preached to the people not to furnish the emigrants supplies; I first heard of the emigrants coming only three or four days before they came; a year before Haight preached to the people not to supply any emigrants; do not know that the Indians had been gathering to destroy that train; had they been so gathering I must have known it; I did hear that the Indians were to go to the Meadows ahead and do the work; I never knew why the emigrants were to be killed, either be-fore or after; no reason was ever given; Sam Jackson sold the emigrants wheat at Cedar City; don't know if he was cut off from the church for it or was ever charged in the church for it, or hurt for it; did not try to rally the people to prevent the massacre; had no power to do it; went as far as I could; protested against it; did not try to prevent any man from going to the massacre; had I undertaken that it would have been bad with me (sen-sation in the court); I was afraid of both the church and military authori-ties; if a man then didn't walk up to orders it wouldn't have been well for him; I feared personal violence; feared I would be killed the same way as others were; I had power only in small temporal cases; I had to obey Haight and his counsel, composed of Higbee and the younger Morris; I knew my fears from long knowledge of the discipline of the church, and knew what I heard said; I think I know of one man being put out of the way; I heard of others and believed it; heard of Erasmus Anderson being put away for adultery and believed it; heard of three others put away; I do not know how Anderson was killed. or whether that was done by order of the counsel; I did not see his throat cut or his body cast into the river; did I not go with his executioners into his house in the darkness, nor take him from his house and assist in his execu-tion because of wrong I believed he did to my family; no, not so (sensa-tion in the court).
The court declared no more such questions could be asked. The law-yers knew better, and such things would no longer be permitted.
Witness.—Was ordered to the mas-sacre by Higsby, at Cedar City; I made no reply; had only to do as told; twelve or fifteen went from Cedar City; I was enrolled a private in the legion; Haight commanded my hundred; or-ders to decoy the emigrants came from Higbee; he told Lee it was his duty; did not hear Lee's address to the men in the hollow square, as I was on one side; I did say to the council on the field that if its orders were from due authority, to go on and carry them out; Higbee said, as we went to the front, that two emigrants had escaped from the camp, and that they were overtaken at Richards Springs, and that one had been killed and one wounded and had escaped; he did not say it was necessary to exterminate the emigrants to prevent the news going to California of the killing at Rich-ards Springs, and thus prevent incur-sions of Californians to take revenge; heard those say who came for more troops that during the first three days the whites and Indians together fought the emigrants; I was ten feet from an emigrant opposite me when I fired; can't say if I hit him; I obeyed or-ders; no motive of robbery moved me; do not know the motive for sav-ing the seventeen children; the oldest was a boy of two or three and a half yearsr I kept one, Higbee got the eld-est boy, Hamblin got the wounded ones, and Ingams got one; don't re-member who got the rest; didn't talk to Brigham Young of the massacre; told Charles Dalton of it in Salt Lake; had no right to speak to Young, Can-non, or Geo. A. Smith of it unless they asked me; I first made public about the massacre three years ago, at Bul-lionville, in an affidaArit to Charles Wand all, sworn to before the County Clerk at Pioche; was out of the Mor-mon church five years ago; resigned as Bishop in 1858 or 1859; never con-sidered myself in full fellowship after that; am not now a Mormon, and never expect to be; Haight sent me to the Vegas lead mines, and brought ore to Cedar, smelted it, and sent the lead to Salt Lake; do not know if the Indians had gathered at Cedar just before the massacre and had a dance and feast, nor that they did after the massacre; gave no wounded children to the In-dians to be killed; neither Dame nor any one else ever said to me they had rather have Buchanan hear of the death of all the men in Utah than of the killing of women and children, nor did I reply, "if you breakout that way we will have to take care of you;" I have talked with the U. S. Attorney; am a witness voluntarily; it was promised me a nolle prosequi wonld be entered as to me; I came to see it out, if I was in or out of it; didn't come on promise not to prose-cute; no promises were made to me to testify.
The court adjourned till Monday.
