THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE OF 1857:

PASSIVE FOLLOWING AND PLAYING GOD

BY CHELSEA TAYLOR

1
 On September of 1857 approximately one hundred and thirty children, women,

and men all over the age of 7 were murdered in what is now known as the Mountain

Meadows Massacre.1 These slain friends, families and neighbors were members of the

California bound Baker-Perkins-Fancher emigrant wagon train that was primarily

composed of former northwestern Arkansas residents.2 While the accountability of the

massacre is to be placed with the people who killed the emigrants regardless of their

involvement motives, zero members of the emigrant train old enough to account for what

happened during the killing had survived the brutality leaving a wide array of speculation

open as to what truthfully occurred throughout the events leading up to the massacre and

during the tragedy itself.

Studying the sources we do have access to, in conjunction with what was

transpiring geographically, socially, and psychologically around the time of the massacre

and considering motives of massacre involvement, can help us draw educated

conclusions as to what most likely happened. A further argument can be derived from

this study depicting the dangerous phenomenon of passively following a belief, a crowd,

or an individual fueled in return by the ill release of accountability thereby resulting in a

damaging shift of blame. This vicious cycle continues to sustain itself within elements of

the massacre to this day3 placing various individuals in positions to exercise powers of

judgment and extending mercy that are not, by the laws of nature, theirs to give.

1 Genelle Pugmire, Mountain Meadows Massacres John D. Lee trial records now online

(Provo: Daily Herald, September 26, 2016).

2 Morris A. Shirts, Mountain Meadows Massacre (Utah Division of State History,

August 23, 2016).

3 Henry B. Eyring, Eyrings talk at the 150th Anniversary of Mountain Meadows

Massacre, (Washington County: Thinker of Thoughts, Youtube, May 7, 2017).

2
 On August 10th, less than a month before their demise in Mountain Meadows near

Cedar City, Utah, the emigrant train made a critical stop in Salt Lake City, Utah to rest

and fuel up on necessary provisions.4 At this point in their journey, they had to decide

which route they would continue taking to reach their California destination: the cooler

and shorter Northern route heading directly West into Nevada territory or the warmer

Southern route cutting through Southern Utah.5 Their choice of the latter, likely because

of the seasonal time of year making it more practical to travel the warmest route possible,

sealed their fate.

The arrival of the Baker-Perkins-Fancher train to Utah occurred during a very

heightened time. Not only had they entered into a territory of war hysteria6 but they had

also stumbled into a region that President of The United States James Buchanan had

secretly dispatched an expedition (to Utah) to suppress what he believed was a

rebellion in the making.7

Many of the Utah settlers at the time were members of The Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons; they practiced unorthodox traditions

and were a newly founded religion just 27 years old.8 One decade before the massacre,

the Mormons had felt they were persecuted for their beliefs and forcefully driven out of

their homes and land particularly in Nauvoo, Illinois.9 Eliza R. Snow, who was one of the

4 Morris A. Shirts, Mountain Meadows Massacre.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Doyle L. Green, April 6, 1830: The Day the Church Was Organized (Salt Lake City:

Ensign, January 1971).

9 Eliza R. Snow, Leaving Nauvoo The Beautiful (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints, July 2005).

3
most celebrated Mormon women of the nineteenth century and a plural wife (at different

times) to two prominent Church presidents Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, recorded a

poem in her diary at the time of being driven from Nauvoo, Let us go let us go to the

wilds for a home. Where the wolf and the roe and the buffalo roam. Where beneath our

own vines, we may enjoy, the rich fruits of labors, with none to annoy.10 Nineteenth

century Mormons were hopeful that westward movement into Utah territory would

provide that freedom of joy to worship and live as they please without outside

harassment. Unfortunately, this would not be the case for decades to follow and although

the extreme brutality in persecution of Latter-day Saints dramatically dies down, forms of

Mormon discrimination still exist today.

In response to Buchanans act of sending an expedition to Utah with the purpose

to suppress what he believed to be a brewing rebellion, President of the Mormon Church

and Governor of Utah, Brigham Young, issued a proclamation of martial law on August

5, 1857 prohibiting people from traveling through their territories without a pass.11 Even

then, travelers who were at a previous time greeted by the once friendly Mormons were

met with guarded hostility; majority of Utahans were convinced they were in a state of

war and were ready to take action at any time.12

As the emigrant train, mainly composed of former Arkansas citizens, departed

Salt Lake City without a pass from the Mormons, embellished rumors of both fact and

fancy had widely circulated the territory perpetuating a belief that this particular wagon

10 Ibid.
11 Morris A. Shirts, Mountain Meadows Massacre.
12 Ibid.

4
train exhibited uncivilized misconduct.13 The murder of a Church apostle, Parley P. Pratt,

had occurred just a couple months earlier that same year in the month of May just outside

the small town of Van Buren, Arkansas14 and was surely fresh on the already paranoid

Mormon minds.

It is clear that war hysteria and an amplified defensiveness was an issue during the

1850s in Mormon society. The persecution and troubles recently experienced in Nauvoo,

new governmental trust issues arising in Utah, and an emigrant train passing through

primarily Mormon territory largely composed of Arkansas citizens where one of the

Churchs apostles had recently been murdered only intensified the panic. As the emigrant

train reached Cedar City to replenish and restock their provisions they were meagerly

able to reload in Salt Lake, were again met with hostile hesitancy. They eventually

departed to an area just four miles outside of town, Mountain Meadows, where they

planned to rest and regroup for a time.15 It was a matter of urgency for some of the

Southern Utah settlers, specifically John D. Lee, to determine what actions should be

taken to handle the emigrant train.16 It was ultimately decided by Lee and Isaac C. Haight

that they would gather the (Paiute) Indians and destroy the emigrants (Haight) had

sent (an express rider) to Salt Lake City, with a letter to Prest Brigham Young, to learn

what (they) had better do.17 The round trip more than 500 miles took six days to

complete and return with the response from President Young clearly forbid(ding) them

13 Ibid.
14 Matthew J. Grow, The Extraordinary Life of Parley P. Pratt (Salt Lake City: Ensign,

April 2007).
15 Morris A. Shirts, Mountain Meadows Massacre.
16 Ibid.
17 Nephi Johnson, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008), 328.

5
to injure the Emigrants, but to render them all the assistance possible but it was too

late.18 Two days post massacre too late.19 Within a four-day period, a total of four waves

of killing created the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The surviving victims of this

slaughter were just 17 children all under the age of 7 who were considered too young to

tell what had happened.20

The same day Haight had sent the express rider with a letter to Brigham Young in

Salt Lake City proposing their plan to exterminate the emigrant train and seeking counsel

for what the best direction was to take as it was a great responsibility to kill so many

people,21 Lee had gone on to gather the Indians together to make the attack.22 In an

interview with Ellot Willden, a Private in the Cedar City militia,23 Willden claimed Lee

was the only white man there in the first attack on Monday, so the Indians said Lee

was alone on the ground on Monday; it is supposed that no other whites were with him

until (later).24 Lees haste to act initially alone within a day of constructing the plan of

mass murder indicates an element of Playing God showing that he felt incredibly

confident in that he could decide who lived and who died for whatever self-serving cause

he needed to justify the decision he made.

18 Ibid., 330.
19 Morris A. Shirts, Mountain Meadows Massacre.
20 Daniel S. Macfarlane, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David

H. Morris Collections (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008), 97.

21 Nephi Johnson, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections, 328.

22 Ibid.
23 Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew

Jenson and David H. Morris Collections (Provo: Brigham Young University Press,
2008), 141.
24 Ellott Willden, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008), 143.

6
 The subsequent choices to participate in the Mountain Meadows massacre in

varying degrees were made by local leaders of the Church who also held civic and

military positions25, members of the Church, and some local (Paiute) Indians26. Now

that a general historical framework of what was happening during the time of massacre

and the events leading up to it have been laid out, the array of motives behind why some

of these massacre participants choose what they did can be adequately considered.

Daniel S. Macfarlane, a militia adjutant and family member of Isaac C. Haight,

was in charge of carrying orders from one part of the field to another during the

massacre.27 Macfarlanes statements minimize his own actions in the final killing, careful

to never disclose whether or not he personally killed any of the emigrants. He claims in

his interview regarding the emigrants that they expressed themselves (as being) present

and (taking) part in the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith [in] Carthage jail.28 The

likelihood of this claim is low considering that Carthage jail is located in Carthage,

Illinois, which is in a complete opposite direction of westward expansion over 370 miles

from the origination of the majority of emigrants in this particular train being present day

Harrison, Arkansas. It is more likely that comments made by the hungry, jaded emigrants

were taken out of context and misinterpreted through the lens of war hysterical settlers

already bias to the belief that this emigrant train posed a critical threat to them and the

lives of their families.

25 Nephi Johnson, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections, 325.

26 Genelle Pugmire, Mountain Meadows Massacres John D. Lee trial records now

online.
27 Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew

Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, 86.

28 Daniel S. Macfarlane, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David

H. Morris Collections, 88.

7
 Nephi Johnson, an Indian interpreter in the Cedar City area for The Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints29, delivers an affidavit documenting the Mountain

Meadows Massacre events that he was an eyewitness to. Johnson recalls the emigrant

train as a mixed class, some being perfect gentlemen, while others were very boastful,

and insulting, as they said that they were coming back, (to) assist the Johnson army to

exterminate the Mormons... which filled the people with fear, and greatly excited the

most of them.30

Johnsons primary, role in the massacre was to interpret the war plans between the

settlers and the Paiute Indians. Although Johnson never killed any of the emigrants with

his own hands, his war plan interpretation between the settlers and the Paiutes played a

critical part in the fourth and final execution of the emigrants. Johnson admits, I was

sent to tell the Indians what they were expected to do31 which makes it evident that

Johnson knew ahead of time what the premeditated plan would be for the final massacre

wave of the emigrant men, women, and children.

Samuel Knight, another eyewitness to pieces of the massacre, states in his

affidavit that this particular company was very insulting, saying that they had assisted in

driving the Mormons out of Illinois and that they would go to California and gather up a

party and come from the South and assist in destroying them it did not require much to

cause an attack to be made against the company for many in so doing supposed that they

were only taking advantage of an opportunity to protect their own lives and that of their

29 Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew

Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, 324.

30 Nephi Johnson, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections, 328.

31 Ibid., 329.

8
family.32 Many who took advantage of this opportunity to protect their own lives and

that of their families made a decision that ultimately states: my life, and the lives of

which I choose, are more important than those lives of which I also choose. This

violation of natural law was used to justify the mass murdering of over one hundred and

thirty men, women and children on the land of Mountain Meadows in 1857.

The common motive behind why many people participated in the Mountain

Meadows killing was not primarily because they saw the Baker-Perkins-Fancher

emigration train as a threat. That motivation was only documented as a clear driving

factor for Lee prior to and during the carnage but appears to be a post massacre defense

for many others who provided statements, affidavits, and oral interviews accounting what

had happened in the Meadows those fateful days and the degrees of their involvement to

only which they were willing to share.

That being said, in hindsight, we can see throughout the unfolding of the

Mountain Meadows Massacre a phenomenon of passive following taking place where

people chose to follow a directive or a person for a variety of practical, self-serving

purposes intentionally claiming the unintentional stance of blind faith, therefore,

knowingly putting themselves in a position of being exempt to some degree of their

choices consequences since the primary blame was being reassigned to parties who were

in a more active or leading position. In a conversation Nephi Johnson had with Brigham

Young, he quotes the president of the Church stating he said at the time, that the young

men who took part in the massacre would not be held responsible, for they were young,

and under orders, but there were some who were responsible, and he would hold them

32 Samuel Knight, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008), 321.

9
responsible.33 Blame shifting was a direct result of passive following, causing more

situations of Playing God to be born where people were required to reassign blame

since it was being passed off particular massacre participants for whatever reason.

In addition to all the accounts of gross and threatening emigrant behavior, primary

massacre blame was pushed upon the Paiute Indians and even tossed amongst the settlers

themselves.34 Ultimately the legal hammer of justice fell upon the head of one man,

John D. Lee.35 It is interesting to note a common theme found in several exceptions Lees

defense attorney appealed to the court during his second murder trial concluding in 1877

(Lees first trial that began in July of 1875 [had] ended in a hung jury36) where attempts

were made to acquit Lee of the charges. Among other claims, they argued there was not

sufficient evidence to justify the guilty verdict asserting the evidence rests solely upon

the evidence of confessed accomplices and that there is no evidence of the alleged

crime aside from that of accomplices and accessories thereto37 even though the legal

doctrine known as aiding and abetting was a well known, long established legal policy

dating clear back to eighteenth century England Criminal Law pre-European

immigration.38 Aiding and abetting allowed the court to pronounce someone guilty for

33 Nephi Johnson, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections, 331.

34 Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew

Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, 94, 103, 142, 320.

35 Second District Court John D. Lee Criminal Case File, Bill of exceptions of John D.

Lee (Salt Lake City: Utah State Archives, 2016).

36 Genelle Pugmire, Mountain Meadows Massacres John D. Lee trial records now

online.
37 Second District Court John D. Lee Criminal Case File, Bill of exceptions of John D.

Lee, 10.
38 U.S. Attorneys Manual, General History of Aiding and Abetting (Washington: U.S.

Department of Justice, July 26, 2017).

10
aiding and abetting in a crime even if they werent the principal offender.39 Several of the

eyewitness statements are self-incriminating of aiding and abetting yet none of them were

found guilty of such crime. One of the outcomes we see play out in scenarios were

passive following takes place is the false relief of accountability. In theory, the

accountability being relieved is in fact still there, however, it isnt being treated as such.

It is no question that the Mountain Meadows Massacre was a cruel, calculated

mass murder of over one hundred and thirty souls. Johnson nonchalantly states in one of

his affidavits that there were about one hundred and fifty Indians present (to assist in the

murdering of emigrants), and it did not take more than five minutes to finish the job.40

Willden recalls that John M. Higbee, a Cedar City militiamen, who was in charge of

issuing the final signal in the ambush of the fourth massacre wave disobeyed orders in

not giving the signalhe let the whole pass by the place where, the Indians lay, and the

point which had been agreed on as the point of attack Higbee did this in hope of a last

chance to receive orders countermanding the fatal order. Lee afterwards scolded Higbee

for this delayabout a fourth of a mile further than the point agreed upon, Higbee

reluctantly gave the fatal order halt which signaled for the final, sweeping massacre

attack to commence.41 This is a great example of passive following where the

accountability of Higbees choice to deliver the signal was shifted to fall upon the

shoulders of Lee posing the ethical question of whether there are degrees of guilt and if

so, what are they, how can they be sufficiently categorized, and by what authority.

39 U.S. Attorneys Manual, General History of Aiding and Abetting (Washington: U.S.

Department of Justice, July 26, 2017).

40 Nephi Johnson, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collections, 333.

41 Ellott Willden, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.

Morris Collection, 145.

11
 For too long the blame of the massacre events has been passed, pushed, and

pulled around inappropriately. The accountability of the tragic Mountain Meadows

Massacre is to be placed with the people who killed the emigrants regardless of their

involvement motives. These people were local leaders and members of The Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who held civic and military positions in the

geographical area surrounding the massacre along with members of the Paiute Native

American tribe. While there was an element of people acting under the direction of these

local Church leaders to participate in the massacre in some way, shape or form, each one

of them as individual human beings ultimately had free will and used such autonomy to

be an accomplice to murder.

This event illustrates a dangerous practice, as early as the 19th century, where

members in this religious culture passively followed authorities in their group regardless

of what is being asked of them and why, ultimately resulting in the practice of Playing

God where mercy is extended and an array of judgments in varying degrees of guilt are

given by individuals who are not qualified by the laws of nature to give.

Even as recent as September 11 2007, a talk given by Church leader Henry B.

Eyring delivered at the 150th Anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre in

Washington County, Utah continues to preserve this cycle of passive following by

shifting, assigning, and even assuming blame by delivering well intentioned remarks such

as, the responsibility of the massacre lies with local leaders of The Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints in the regions near Mountain Meadows who also held civic

and military positions applying a lesser account of blame to members of the church

12
acting under their direction.42 He continues to maintain the cycle of acquitting

responsibility by saying a separate expression of regret is owed to the Paiute people who

have unjustly borne for too long the principal blame for what occurred doing the

massacre. Although the extent of their involvement is disputed, it is believed they would

not have participated without the direction and stimulus provided by local Church leaders

and members.43

To take away a person, or group of peoples, accountability for actions they chose

to exhibit coerced to any degree, or not - is not mercy; it is dabbling into elements that

go beyond our human capacity to understand and is therefore an incredibly dangerous

and destructive mentality to conduct decisions within. It also suggests an incredibly

demeaning message that suggests some people are capable of independent thinking while

others are not when in reality, the only thing that is truly ours is our own free will to

choose.

It is almost certain that all of what happened during the Mountain Meadows

Massacre is not publically known today. Near the end of Indian interpreter Nephi

Johnsons life, which he lived out quietly in part hiding from having to face any sort of

trial or public conversation of the massacre, he said, My eyes have witnessed things that

my tongue has never uttered, and before I die, I want them written down.44 But by the

time he was ready to share the untold parts of his story with a young schoolteacher he had

42 Henry B. Eyring, Eyrings talk at the 150th Anniversary of Mountain Meadows

Massacre.
43 Ibid.
44 Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew

Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, 325.

13
asked to record for him, it was too late; Johnson passed away a few short months after he

asked her to do some writing for him.45

45 Ibid.

14
 Bibliography

Argument: The accountability of the tragic Mountain Meadows Massacre is to be placed

with the people who killed the emigrants regardless of their involvement motives. These
people were local leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints who held civic and military positions in the geographical area surrounding the
massacre along with members of the Paiute Native American tribe.

While there was an element of people acting under the direction of these local Church
leaders to participate in the massacre in some way, shape or form, each one of them as
individual human beings ultimately had free will and used such autonomy to be an
accomplice to murder.

This event illustrates a dangerous practice, as early as the 19th century, where members in
this religious culture passively follow authorities in their group regardless of what is
being asked of them and why, ultimately resulting in the practice of Playing God where
mercy is extended and an array of judgments and degrees of guilt are given by
individuals who are not qualified by the laws of nature to give.

PRIMARY SOURCES

Johnson, Nephi, Andrew Jenson, and David H. Morris. Nephi Johnson Affidavit, July
22, 1908. In Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H.
Morris Collections, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Ronald W. Walker, 328
-331. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008.

Johnson, Nephi, Andrew Jenson, and David H. Morris. Nephi Johnson Affidavit,
November 30, 1909. In Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and
David H. Morris Collections, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Ronald W.
Walker, 332-334. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008.

Jenson Interview with Daniel S. Macfarlane, Field Notes. by Andrew Jenson, Mountain
Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, edited
by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Ronald W. Walker, 88-119. Provo: Brigham Young
University Press, 2008.

Jenson Interview with Ellott Willden, Bancroft Corrections - Field Notes. by Andrew
Jenson, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris
Collections, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Ronald W. Walker, 143-162.
Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008.

Knight, Samuel, Andrew Jenson, and David H. Morris. Samuel Night Affidavit. In
Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris
Collections, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Ronald W. Walker, 321-322.
Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008.

15
Second District Court John D. Lee Criminal Case File. Bill of exceptions of John D.
Lee. Salt Lake City: Utah State Archives, 2016. From Utah Division of Archives
and Records Services, Criminal Case Files, Series 24291, Box 4 Folder 46.
http://images.archives.utah.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p17010coll14/id/219 (accessed
July 28, 2017).

Shirts, Morris, A. Utah Division of State History, Mountain Meadows Massacre.

August 23, 2016. Utah History Encyclopedia.
https://heritage.utah.gov/history/uhg-mountain-meadows-massacre (accessed July
29, 2017).

Thinker Of Thoughts. Eyrings talk at the 150th Anniversary of Mountain Meadows

Massacre. Film. Youtube, May 7, 2017. Medium,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J73QQ8A-pNQ (accessed July 25, 2017).

General History of Aiding and Abetting. U.S. Attorneys Manual: Criminal Resource
Manual 2470. United States Department of Justice. Offices of the United States
Attorneys. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, July 26, 2017.
https://www.justice.gov/usam/criminal-resource-manual-2470-general-history
aiding-and-abetting (accessed July 29, 2017).

Willden Sr., Charles W., Andrew Jenson, and David H. Morris. Charles W. Willden Sr.
Affidavit, Original. In Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and
David H. Morris Collections, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Ronald W.
Walker, 136-140. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2008.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Green, Doyle, L. April 6th, 1830: The Day the Church Was Organized. Ensign, January
1971, accessed July 29, 2017, https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/01/april-6-1830
the-day-the-church-was-organized?lang=eng.

Grow, Matthew, J. The Extraordinary Life of Parley P. Pratt. Ensign, April 2007,
accessed July 29, 2017, https://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/04/the-extraordinary
life-of-parley-p-pratt?lang=eng.

Jenson, Andrew, and David H. Morris. Daniel S. Macfarlane. In Mountain Meadows

Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, edited by
Richard E. Turley Jr. and Ronald W. Walker, 86-87. Provo: Brigham Young
University Press, 2008.

16
Jenson, Andrew, and David H. Morris. Ellott Willden. In Mountain Meadows
Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, edited by
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Jenson, Andrew, and David H. Morris. Nephi Johnson. In Mountain Meadows

Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, edited by
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University Press, 2008.

Jenson, Andrew, and David H. Morris. Samuel Knight. In Mountain Meadows

Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections, edited by
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Pugmire, Genelle. Mountain Meadows Massacres John D. Lee trial records now
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massacre-s-john-d-lee-trial-records-now/article_20dc6d1f-7518-5e05-b5a6
7685273c92fe.html

Snow, Eliza, R. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Leaving Nauvoo the
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17