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Show THE MORMON MURDERERS. 509 Thomas D. Willis told of a council Haight had with him and his father as to the best way to kill the emigrants, and confirmed other witnesses as to the goods distributed. John H. Willis, brother of Thomas, told of driving the team which conveyed the children ; and confirmed many other points. William Matthews described the rich-ness of the train ; the orders to sell no corn to the emigrants ; of the circulation of the story that the emigrants had poisoned a spring, and other matters. William Young gave more in detail the facts of the massacre, where he was present, and confirmed previous testimony on other points. Samuel Pollock told substantially the same story. John Sherratt testified to the storing of the goods, including clothing from the dead bodies, in the cellar of the tithing house at Cedar City, and seeing it sold by Lee at auction. William Bradshaw told of sermons preached to excite the people against the emigrants, and threats of death to all who did not aid the Church in whatever was commanded. Robert Kershaw told the same story ; also as to the orders not to trade with the emigrants. He wanted to sell them some vegetables and was forbidden. The bishops had employed Samuel Dodge as special policeman to watch the train and see that no Mormon sold them any thing. John Morgan traded them a small cheese for a bed- quilt, and was " cut off " for it. This man's testimony was of more interest as showing the rigid discipline maintained in the Church, and the danger of disobedience, than as to the massacre. Many other witnesses con-firmed the foregoing, and testified to facts I have set forth in the pre-vious summary. All were severely cross- examined, but their testi-mony remained unshaken. Five days had passed when the defense began. They first attempted to prove the old slander, invented in 1859, to deceive Judge Cradle-baugh, that the emigrants had poisoned a spring near Corn Creek, and then that they had poisoned the flesh of an ox and given it to the Indians to eat ; but broke down completely on both charges. On this point Elisha Hoops testified : " Lived in Beaver in 1857, and knew George A. Smith and Jesse N. Smith, ex- Bishop Farnsworth, and other shining lights of the Mormon Church. On September 27th of that year he accompanied the Smith party as guard as far north as Fillmore ; camped at Corn Creek, and found the Arkansas emigrants encamped there, about 150 paces distant. Some members of the company came and talked to the Smith party; they inquired of George A. Smith where they could get grass and water to recuperate their animals, who referred them to Jacob Ham-lin, and he designated Mountain Meadows as the best grazing ground. |