Horrible Massacre of Arkansas and Missouri Emigrants.
OVER ONE HUNDRED PERSONS SLAUGHTERED BY INDIANS— MORMON INSTIGATION SUSPECTED.
From the Los Angeles Star Extra, Oct. 10.
A train of emigrants, from Missouri and Arkansas, for this State,were waylaid and cruelly-butchered on the route, at a place called Santa Clara canon, near the rim of the Great Basin, about 300 miles from Salt Lake City. The scene of the massacre is differently designated, as the Santa Clara canon, the Mountain Springs, and the Mountain Meadows ; but all agree in locating it near the rim of the Great Basin, and about fifty miles from Cedar City, the most Southern of the Mormon settlements. Of a party of about 130 per-sons, only fifteen infant children were saved. The account was given by the Indians themselves to the Mormons at Cedar City, to which place they brought the children, who were purchased from them by the people of that city. Whether the cause assigned is sufficient to account for the re-sult, or whether a different cause is at the bot-tom of the transaction, we will leave the reader to form his own conclusion. We can scarcely believe that a party traveling along a high-way way would act in the manner described—that is, to poison the carcass of an ox, and also the water, thus endangering the lives of those who were coming after them. Yet this is the story told by all who have spoken of the mas-sacre. "It is stated, the emigrants had an ox which died, and they placed poison in the body, and also poisoned the water standing in pools, for the pur-pose of killing the Indians ; that several of the tribe had died from this cause, and that the whole force mustered, pursued the train, and coming up with them at the above named place, which fa-vored their purpose, attacked and murdered the whole party, except a few infant children. The Indians state that they made but one charge on the party, in which they cut off the greater portion of the men, and then guarded the outlets of the canon, and shot the men and women down as they came out for water ; that one man was making his es-cape with a few children, and they followed him, killed him, and took the children, 15 in number, the eldest under five years of age. The report was brought to San Bernardino by Messrs. SIDNEY TANNER and W. MATHEWS.
The following letter from Mr. J. W. CHRISTIAN, of San Bernardino, to Mr. G. N. WHITMAN, of this city, has been kindly placed at our disposal, and we give it at length, as it is the fullest report of the massacre, and the cause which led to it, that has reached us. The writer seems to intimate that the Mormons will be held responsible for the murder, and in this respect he is fully borne out by present indications, for a general belief per-vades the public mind here that the Indians were instigated to this crime by the "Destroying An-gels" of the church, and that the blow fell on these emigrants from Arkansas, in retribution of the death of PARLEY PRATT, which took place in that State. The truth of the matter will not be known until the Government make an investiga- tion of the affair. This should be done, to place the blame in the right quarter, as well as to inflict chastisement on the immediate actors in the fear-ful tragedy, who are reported to be the Santa Clara tribe of Indians. The following is the letter:
SAN BERNARDINO, Sunday, Oct. 4, 1857.
I take this opportunity of informing you of the murder of an entire train of emigrants, on their way from Missouri and Arkansas to this State, vid Great Salt Lake City ; which took place, accord-ing to the best information I can possibly acquire, (which is, primarily, through Indians,) at the Moun-tain Meadows, which are at or near the rim of the Great Basin, and some distance south of the most southern Mormon settlements, between the 10th and 12th ultimo. It is absolutely one of the most horrible massacres I have ever had the painful ne-cessity of relating.
The company consisted of about 130 or 135 men, women, and children, and including some 40 or 45 capable of bearing arms. They were in possession of quite an amount of stock, consisting of horses, mules, and oxen. The encampment was attacked about daylight in the morning, so say the Indians, by the combined forces of all the various tribes immediately in that section of the country. It appears that the majority of them were slain at the first onset made by the Indians. The remaining forces formed themselves into the best position their circumstances would allow ; but before they could make the necessary arrange-ment for protecting themselves from the arrows, there were but few left who were able to bear arms. After having corralled their wagons, and dug a ditch for their protection, they continued to fire upon the Indians for one or two days, but the Indians had so secreted themselves that, according to their own statement, there was not one of them killed, and but few wounded. They (the emi-grants) then sent out a flag of truce, borne by a little girl, and gave themselves up to the mercy of the savages, who immediately rushed in and slaughtered all of them, with the exception of fif-teen infant children, that have since been pur-chased, with much difficulty, by the Mormon in-terpreters.
I presume it would be unnecessary, for all prac- tical purposes, to relate the causes which gave rise to the above described catastrophe, from the simple fact that it will be attributed to the Mor-mon people, let the circumstances of the case be what they may. But it seems from a statement which I received from Elders WM. MATTHEWS and WM. HYDE, who were in Great Salt Lake City at the time this train was there, recruiting their "fit [...] and were on the road to [...] at the time when they were murdered, [...] journey in the rear—somewhere about the Beaver Mountains which are between Parawan and Fillmore Cities, that the causes were something like these : The train camped at Corn Creek, near Fillmore City, where there is an Indian village, the inhabitants of which have raised a crop of wheat, and a few melons, etc. And in trading with the Indians they gave them cash for wheat, and they not knowing the value of coin were se-verely cheated. They wanted a blanket for a sack of wheat, but they gave them 50 cents, and told them that amount would buy a blanket. They also had an ox with them which had died, and they put strychnine in him for the purpose of poisoning the Indians ; and also put poison of some description in the water which is standing in holes. This occasioned several deaths among them, within a few days after the departure of the train. And upon this, it seems the Indians gath-ered themselves together, and had, no doubt chosen the place of attack and arranged every-thing before the train arrived at the place where they were murdered.
It was ascertained by some of the interpreters from a few of the Indians whowere left at Corn Creek, that most of the Indiana in the country had left, but they could not learn for what purpose, and before any steps could be taken to ascertain what was the cause, the story was told they were all killed.
Yours, truly, J. WARD CHRISTIAN.
Angeles (Oct. 14) Correspondence of the Alia.
This morning, while conversing with some im-migrants, who have lately arrived vid the Plains from Arkansas, and are living within a few miles of this place, related to them the circumstances of the late massacre. They immediately informed me that they knew who the parties were. They stated that there were three, and perhaps four, companies from Arkansas, while the balance of the company was made up from Missourians, who fell in with them ; and of these latter, they knew nothing, but the Arkansas companies consisted of Faziers, Camerons and the two Dunlaps, and per-haps Bakers. They were from the counties of Marion, Harrol and Johnson; They say when they saw them they were encamped six miles from Salt Lake City, that they had been there for some time, and that they intended to stay there until the weather got cool enough for them to come by the South Pass, expecting to make a stay of eight weeks altogether. BAKER had not arrived there when they left, but as they can learn nothing from him or his company, they concluded that he had fallen in and decided to come into California with these companies. The two DUNLAPS had each nine children, some of them well grown. If these are the persons who were slaughtered, who can be so blind as not to see that the hands of Mor-mons are stained with this blood. How could so large a company remain among them for the space of two months and they not learn one name ! and why would the Indians kill every being, except those that were too young to communicate any-thing to their friends, or hardly tell a name, or tell who were the murderers of their parents, and brothers and sisters ; or even discriminate between white men and Indians ? Why all this conceal-ment ? and in the very face of the Indians tell what they have done, and sell all their spoils to the whites. Ah ! I fear the Indians, could not be convicted in a court of justice for this act. It will do to lay this blood upon them, but I feel certain that investigation will throw it off.
Mormon and Indian Alliance.
From the Sacramento Age.
Yesterday we had an interview with a gen-man from Carson Valley who, from intimacy with Mormon families, has some knowledge of the fu-ture design and plans of operation. If his con-clusions be cprrect, not only the settlers east of the mountains, but even thie people of this State will have reason to deprecate the exasperation of those American Bedouins. He says that the Mor-mons of Carson Yalley and San Bernardino have sold their cattle and property for nearly nothing, and, at the bidding of their chief, have repaired to Salt Lake with the secret design of reorganizing, arming, equipping, returning, murdering and plun-dering their Gentile enemies. They declare that, for every saint slain by the United States troops, ten Gentile women shall make atonement; that they will first exterminate the troops from the east, then come west, and, in pre-datory bands, al-lied with Indians, they will ravage the border, rob, plunder and murder, until they shall have replen-ished the Lord's treasury, and revenged insults put upon his chosen people.
Of their ability to execute this threat we have but little doubt. At the order of their leader and prophet, they can muster 15,000 men, armed with the most effective instruments of destruction. They have many thousand of the finest horses, trained to camp-service; they have a foundry where cannon and shells are cast; a powder-mill end a factory, where revolving rifles and pistols are manufactured, equal to those made at Hartford. They have every munition of war and necessary provision and moans of transportation, within themselves, and even the women and children are instructed in the use of arms. Add to this their geographical position. To reach Salt Lake, from the east, it is necessary to pass through a canon of twenty-five miles, under hills so steep and rocky that a dozen men could hurl down an avalanche of stones on an approaching caravan : and even in the event of several thousand troops reaching the valley, the besieged, with their herds, would take to the mountains, and, reinforced by their savage allies, would, in turn, beseige their besiegers, and cut off supplies until the invaders had starved out.
They have, it is said, 20,000 Indian allies, whom they are ready to furnish with arms and horses on an emergency. These Indians are partly instructed in the Mormon religion—enough to make them su-perstitious in regard to the God of a superior race, yet modifying none of their ferocity. With allies like these, and fighting for their homes, and, ac-cording to the belief of the ignorant, under the di-rect supervision of the God of Battles, and from the ramparts with which nature has surrounded them, it is easy to conceive what would be the fate of a few thousand troops, who traveled a thousand miles to fight their own countrymen, brave as themselves, as well armed, better used to field life, and stimulated by their love of home and family, and assured of victory by the revelations of their prophets.
