THE MORMON MASSACRE,
Trial of the Assassins of the Emi-grants at Mountain Meadows.
BEAVER, July 26.—Witness Klingen-smith continued on the cross-examina-tions, but nothing new was elicited.
Re-direct examination.—Understood from Lee that the Indians at the mas-sacre were to help in it; saw them thickest where the women were.
Joel W. White sworn.—Am aged 44; live in Cedar Fort, Cedar valley in 1857 lived in Cedar City; heard of the emigrants in trouble at Cedar City ; the day after the Company passed through saw Haight, Higbee and Klingensmith; Haight asked me to take a letter into Creek, to the agent there, to pacify and let the emigrants pass ; Klingensmith volunteered to go with me; on the road met Lee; he asked us where we were going; we told him; he asked how the people felt about the emigrants; we told him our mission; he said he had something to do about that; delivered our letter to Richard Robin, the agent, and came home ; next day they were organized in companies of tens; each one had a baggage wagon ; they were often call-ed out on Indian troubles; in two or three days Higbee called on me and said the Indians and emigrants were fighting and must turn out my com-pany and wagon; I did so ; rode in the baggage wagon ; Jimmy William-son rode with me; they marched to a half mile of the emigrants and camped; the Indians were loafing around their camp; they came over and mixed with us, and were friendly with us; we had been there one or two days and were then ordered to march, to the emigrants' camp in sin-gle file; marches a quarter of a mile and halted; a flag of truce was sent; a man came out and Lee went to meet him; both went into the emigrant camp and were gone a long time; while waiting we were told that when the emigrants came out and marched beside us the word halt would be giv-en, and that was to be the signal for us to fire; a wagon went down and the emigrants' arms were loaded in it; then they came out and we marched beside them, both in single file, a quarter of a mile; then the word was giv-en to halt; we faced and tired; then the Indians broke out from behind a small hill and came just a whooping and yelling and finished up what we hadn't killed ; up to that moment I had not seen any Indians that day; didn't know where they had disap-peared to ; after the Indians came I saw the women killed; the Indians attacked only the emigrants and no Mormons were killed ; saw dead chil-dren there; saw one emigrant get away; the Indians followed, caught and killed him; heard of no one be-ing scalped; when all were dead we marched to camp, and next day went home; afterwards saw the emigrants' cattle on the range near Harmony in charge of Lee, who furnished the Indians with beef from them; heard Lee say a year alter that he had kept the books and had turned over to the In-dians all the property taken from the emigrants.
Cross-examined.—I still belong to the Mormon Church; the Indians were excited; they had been sending out runners, who said that the emi-grants had poisoned the spring on Corn creek; the Indians were much excited against the emigrants.
The defense here suggested the theory that the Mormons might have gone out on a merciful errand to save the emigrants, but under the muzzles of the Indians' guns in superior num-bers, they were compelled to do what they did do.
Witness.—I had no gun and so had charge of the baggage wagon; saw among the soldiers men from the coun-ties south ot us; there was firing be-tween the emigrants and Indians the two days the troops lay in camp in sight of the emigrants; we did not interfere; the cause of the muster was not discussed by the men nor under-stood ; the leaders did not discuss the matter with the men; we held a con-ference with the Indians; think there were fifty of them; remember of an address to the men by Lee in a hollow square.
Recess.
After the recess, witness White re-sumed, giving the details of the at-tack on the emigrants; Lee was in command. He further testified to an invitation to meet the defendant's attorneys during recess, which he re-fused.
Ann Elizabeth Hoag was next sworn.
—was present when Dame and Haight laid the plans for the murder of the emigrants; the reason assigned was that the emigrants had insulted Dame when they passed through Cedar City; Lee was to lead the Indians and sol-diers ; heard Lee tell about the sur-render of the emigrants; it was at a meeting called to hear Lee's report; he stood up and said he wanted the Indians to rush into the tents of the emigrants, but they would not; he then got help and marched in sight of the emigrants; Lee put a handkerchief on a stick ; a man came out and said, "what do you mean;" Lee promised peace if the emigrants would give up their arms; they at last agreed to it and marched out along side of the sol-diers, who shot them down at a signal, and the Indians killed the women; he said a man held a baby in his arms after the first fire, and Lee said, "give up that child;" the man replied, "If I die this child dies with me—I know you, John D. Lee, despite your paint;' Lee said he had to shoot the man, and at the same time killed the child, and thought the meeting ought to hold him guiltless of shedding innocent blood, because he couldn't kill the man without it; while Lee was yet report-ing, the return express from Young ar-rived ; saw the chiidren in the wagons in front of the meeting house; one boy eight years old pointed to Indian Joe and said, "That man killed my papa; he's got my papa's pants on now;" never saw the boy afterwards; Lee said we must not talk to the children, he wanted them to forget about the massacre.
Thos. P. Willis sworn.—Saw the goods of the murdered emigrants at Cedar; there were 15 or 20 wagons and 400 or 500 head of stock; heard Haight, before the attack, ask my father the best way to attack the train; father told him if he was going to make an attack to do it while the train was moving; Haight thought it best to have the Indians do it while in camp; father said if they attacked them in camp the emigrants would whip; after the massacre saw the property of the emigrants; the Indians had on clothing full of blood and bul-let holes; the wagons were in front of the tithing office; the Indians washed the bloody clothing right in the ditch at Cedar City; saw the children; Hig-bee had a boy 7 or 8 years old, my brother had one, Burbuck had one; saw them all in 1859 at the Indian re-servation, in care of Dr. Forney; the Mormons had a military organization ; the men all had to drill every Satur-day ; before the massacre the drills were not very regular, but you bet they were kept up after the massacre; the only Indians I saw were the Cold Creek Indians; the property of the emigrants at the tithing house was sold by Lee at auction.
