Remembrances of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

In May 1859, Major James H. Carleton, of the U.S. Army, and Cavalry arrived at Mountain Meadows with orders to bury the bones of the massacre's victims.

On the transverse part of the cross, facing towards the north, was an inscription carved in the wood from Romans 12:19:[1] On a crude slab of granite set in the earth and leaning against the northern base of the monument were cut the following words:[1] During a tour of southern Utah Brigham Young, along with some 60 church members visited the massacre site in May 1861.

The center of column supported a cedar pole with a horizontal member attached representing the Christian Cross and making the height of the monument fourteen feet.

[3] Lorenzo Brown, recorded that when passing through Mountain Meadows, on July 1, 1864, he noticed someone had carved "Remember Haun's Mill and Carthage Jail" just below the biblical passage on the cross.

Brewer gathered the remains of 26 victims, burying them in three mass graves (located one and one-half miles north of where Carleton would construct his monument).

[9] Because the cairn had been vandalized, destroyed and rebuilt several times over the 70 years since its original construction, the citizens of southern Utah decided that something more needed to be done.

[11] A small set of steps on the western side allowed access into the enclosed area so visitors could view the remains of the cairn.

17 – Erected 1932 Mountain Meadows A favorite recruiting place on the Old Spanish Trail In this vicinity, September 7–11, 1857 occurred one of the most lamentable tragedies in the annals of the west.

A company of about 140 Arkansas and Missouri Emigrants led by Captain Charles Fancher, en route to California, was attacked by white men and Indians.

[18] The following are quotes from an article, written about the event, in the Saint George, Utah, Spectrum newspaper: J.K. Francher, a Harrison, Ark., pharmacist and freelance writer, said...[that he] never dreamed that a memorial service would come to fruition but "the spirit kicked in" and people of differing religious beliefs have reconciled.

During the ceremony, descendants of both the victims and perpetrators joined arms on stage hugging and embracing each other following a challenge by Rex E. Lee, Brigham Young University president.... Gordon B. Hinckley...said he came as a representative of a church that has suffered much over what happened.

While people can't comprehend what occurred...Hinckley said he was grateful for reconciliation by the descendants on both sides...."Now if there is need for forgiveness, we ask that it be granted.

"[19]By 1999, President Hinckley's tone would change dramatically during a speech given at Mountain Meadows when he stated, "That which we have done here must never be construed as an acknowledgment of the part of the church of any complicity in the occurrences of that fateful day.

On August 3, 1999, after only a few scoops of dirt, the backhoe's bucket brought up a large amount of skeletal remains and the digging was immediately stopped.

Prior to the digging, the area had been tested and examined by experts from Brigham Young University, the U.S. Forest Service and The Army Corps of Engineers.

Both the descendants and LDS Church were opposed to this plan, so on September 8, Utah Governor Michael Leavitt ordered that all the remains, including the skulls, were to be reinterred during the family service in two days.

[27] Shannon A. Novak later published a book, entitled House of Mourning: A Biocultural History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, containing some of the results of her analysis.

On the morning of September 10, BYU transported the remains to Spilsbury & Beard Mortuary in St. George, Utah, where they were packed into four oak ossuaries by descendants.

Family members then held a small memorial service in the meadows and interred the ossuaries into a specially built vault under the newly finished 1999 monument.

The same day in which the remains were reinterred, the Mountain Meadows Association added two new interpretive signs along the path leading to the 1990 monument in order to help visitors understand the significance of the site.

[32] The skull, which belonged to a child killed by a gunshot to the back of the head, was gathered by Major Carleton's soldiers during the burial of victims in May 1859.

[43][44] The Church hired an independent company, Paula S. Reed and Associates, Inc., to research the massacre and prepare the necessary documentation for the landmark application.

[46] The Landmark Committee reviewed the application and took public comment on the issue, and then recommended to the National Park Service Advisory Board approval of the nomination.

But still The Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation along with a local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars have renovated and restored the lodge and it currently houses displays and interpretive information about the massacre and surviving children.

[56] This replica is much smaller in terms of stones than the original, but it does include a large cross facing west, towards Utah, with the words "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" carved into it.

The dead were left exposed to the elements until 18 months later, when U.S. Army Troops led by Major James H. Carleton buried the remains in several mass graves.

The Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation has been instrumental in making sure the gravesites of all the surviving children have been marked with special plaques telling their stories.

[62] A commemorative wagon-train encampment assembled at Beller Spring, Arkansas on April 21–22, 2007, with some participants in period dress, to honor the sesquicentennial of their ancestors' embarkation on the ill-fated journey.

By the end of 1988 the Mountain Meadows Association (MMA)[65] had been formed and was beginning to work with the LDS Church and State of Utah towards a proper memorial at the massacre site.

[68] The MMMF has been instrumental in making sure the gravesites of all the surviving children have been marked with special plaques, and have helped to gather books about the massacre to donate to local libraries.