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Show THE MORMON MURDERERS. 497 the people to sell them any grain; and some lawyers, who have exam-ined the evidence, think he planned the massacre, as he then held mili-tary command of all the Territory south of Provo. Down to this point all agree upon the facts; what follows rests upon testimony from many sources : Philip Klingensmith, Mormon Bishop and participant in the crime, who, fled to Nevada, made a full confession, and was the main witness on the trial ; Joel White, a private in the militia, also present at the massacre, unwillingly, as he claims; one Hawley, a lad, also present; several boys who assisted in burying the dead; Robert Keyes, who saw the dead soon after, and was familiar with the local accounts; Asahel Ben net, who visited the scene and saw the dead; the confes-sion of Spencer, a school teacher in St. George, who" died of grief and remorse for his share in the act; Albert, an Indian boy, who was herding sheep for Jacob Hamlin, in the upper end of the Meadows; several Indian chiefs who assisted at the massacre; Mrs. Ann Eliza Hoge, a French Mormon woman, " plural wife" of one of the leaders, who was present at the " councils" where the death of the emigrants was determined upon ; the various confessions of John D. Lee, and a mass of collateral testimony. The evidence is conclusive as to the fol-lowing facts : The day after the emigrants passed Harmony, John D. Lee, Bishop and President, called a council and stated that he had received com-mand " to follow and attack the accursed Gentiles, and let the arrows of the Almighty drink their blood." He stated that they were from Missouri, which had expelled God's people, and from Arkansas, which had sanctioned the murder of the apostle; he recited the Hawn's Mill massacre of Mormons, the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and others, and called for an affirmative vote. All hands were held up, and the expedition was at once fitted out. Lee turned out the Indians under his charge, who surrounded the emigrants and prevented their going on, while a regular call was made on the county militia by Col. W. H. Dame, Major John D. Lee, and Captains Haight and Higby. The siege lasted eight days, during which a few emigrants were killed. Some men living in the vicinity testify that they were ordered out as militia; others that they went at command of the Bishop, and still others that they were asked to go but managed to avoid it. Two men say that they sat inside the wall of a garden all night, talking and praying while the wagons carrying supplies ran back and forward; that they wept and asked the forgiveness of God if they were about 32 |