The publication of this book has probably contributed more to bring the terrible realities of Mormon life to the knowledge of the public, and to hasten their day of judgment, than has any other human agency. The officers of justice in Utah were from that time urged to bring the notorious criminals to justice, but many well-contrived plans for their arrest failed in the accomplishment. Unexpectedly, John D. Lee, the hero of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, was, while visiting one of his wives, surprised and placed under confinement in the U.S. Military Fort near Beaver City. In the summer of 1875 a lengthy trial ensued, and as there were Mormons among the jurors, they failed to agree in a verdict. Public indignation grew intensely against the system of falsehood constantly practised by the Mormon jurors, when the Church or any of its leaders were interested in the courts, and a second trial of John D. Lee was earnestly demanded. During his first trial the Apostle George A. Smith, Brigham’s favourite and counsellor, who was undoubtedly the instrument through whom Lee and his associates had been “counselled” to destroy the emigrants, was still living, and to screen him it was necessary that Lee should escape the penalty of his crime. Between the first and second trials of John D. Lee, Smith died, and Lee might now confess what he pleased, for the link in the chain of communication from Brigham Young to the murderers was for ever broken. Continually striving to gain the admission of Utah into the Union as a State, and being always met with a repulse based upon the wholesale murder crimes in Utah that had gone unpunished, Brigham, having no longer anything to fear from Lee’s confessions of his (Brigham’s) complicity in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, resolved to sacrifice Lee to appease the public clamour; accordingly the testimony from eye-witnesses was Lee was sentenced to be executed on the 23rd of March, 1877, and as he had the choice of the manner of his death, he elected to be shot. The court so approved, and ordered him to be, on the day named, taken to the Mountain Meadows, where the great slaughter of the innocent men, women, and children, had been consummated, to there meet his doom. How truthfully I had told the story of this great crime will be seen in the confession of Lee before his execution; and what a dreadful commentary that document is on the Mormon Priesthood will be apparent to every intelligent reader. Under the name of a Prophet of Jesus Christ, Brigham Young could rule with unchallenged sway hundreds of thousands of honest men and women, who were born of Christian parents, and trained in the civilized customs of Europe and America! It would seem impossible, yet it is within this book revealed to be an astounding and humiliating fact. In the escort conducting Lee to the place of execution there were in all about eighty persons, one of whom was a photographer, who deemed the circumstance worthy perpetuation by the unerring camera. From one of those present I copy the sketch of the ending of John D. Lee. It was Friday morning when the party stopped at their destination, and Lee was immediately ordered to descend from the waggon in which he rode, which he did without delay. Marshal Nelson then read the orders of the court regarding the execution, and when the reading was concluded, Lee was asked if he had anything to say. Just at this moment the photographer was arranging his camera to take a picture of the prisoner. Lee caught sight of him, and pointing to him said, “I want to see that man,” and added in a louder voice, addressed to the photographer, “Come over here.” Mr. Fennimore, the artist, replied, “In a second, Mr. Lee,” and very soon after was by the side of Lee, who said,— “I want to ask a favour of you, sir; I want you to furnish each of my three wives with a copy of the photograph—one to Rachel A., Emma B., and Sarah C.” He had had in all eighteen wives; but only the three named remained. Rachel was the oldest and most faithful to his interests. The artist consented to do as he had been requested, and Lee then sat for his picture, which was successfully “I have but little to say this morning. Of course, I feel that I am upon the brink of eternity, and the solemnity of eternity should rest upon my mind at the present moment. I have made out, or endeavoured to do so, a manuscript and an abridged history of my life. This will be published. Sir, [turning to District Attorney Howard] I have given my views and feelings with regard to all these things. I feel resigned to my fate. I feel as calm as a summer morning. I have done nothing adversely wrong. My conscience is clear before God and man, and I am ready to meet my Redeemer. This it is that places me on this field. I am not an infidel; I have not denied God or His mercy. I am a strong believer in these things. The most I regret is parting with my family. Many of them are unprotected, and will be left fatherless. When I speak of those little ones, they touch a tender chord within me.” At this moment his voice trembled, and he perceptibly faltered in his words. He continued, however, as follows:— “I have done nothing designedly wrong in this affair. I used my utmost endeavours to save those people. I would have given worlds were they at my command to have avoided that calamity, but I could not. I am sacrificed to satisfy feelings, and am used to gratify parties; but I am ready to die. I have no fear of death. It has no terrors for me; and no particle of mercy have I asked for from court or officials to spare my life. I do not fear death. I shall never go to a worse place than the one I am now in. I have said it to my family, and I will say it to-day, that the Government of the United States sacrifices their best friend, and that is saying a great deal; but it is true. I am a true believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not believe everything that is now practised and taught by Brigham Young. I do not agree with him. I believe he is leading his people astray. But I believe in the gospel as taught in its purity by Joseph Smith in former days. I have my reasons for saying this. I used to make this man’s will my pleasure (evidently alluding to Brigham Young), and did so for thirty years. See how and what I have come to this day! I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner. There are thousands of people in the Church—honourable, good-hearted—whom I cherish in my heart. I regret to leave my family. They are near and dear to me. These are things to rouse my sympathy. I declare I This ceremony, altogether, had occupied about an hour, and it was now close upon eleven o’clock. The sun, which had been fitfully bright during the morning, had become veiled behind a passing cloud, yet the sky was only partially overcast, as down the horizon were bright streaks of golden light; and the effect of light and shadow, as portrayed upon the scene, soon to culminate in the execution of the law, was one that seemed to be in full harmony with the painful silence that prevailed. Then it was that the words upon the rude monument, which once had stood to mark the spot of the massacre, came out with vivid force— “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” The stillness of the occasion was broken by Lee’s seating himself, according to orders, upon the coffin provided for his burial. He tried to appear calm as he faced the squad of soldiers whose rifles were soon to discharge their contents into his body. A Methodist preacher, Parson Stokes, then knelt beside the coffin and offered a short prayer, following which a white handkerchief was placed over Lee’s eyes. While the marshal was arranging the handkerchief, Lee said in a low but firm tone of voice—“Let them shoot the balls through my heart; don’t let them mangle my body.” He was assured that the aim would be as true as possible, and the marshal then stepped back and gave his order to the five riflemen who had been selected to do the work,— “Ready! Aim! Fire!” The men made ready by raising their weapons to the shoulder, and then took deliberate aim at the blindfolded man, who was about twenty feet off, and at the word “fire!” the volley was discharged, with but a single sound perceptible to the ear, and Lee fell back upon the coffin, dead, without a cry or even a moan. He was shot through the heart, as he had hoped to be, and died instantly. The marshal, after a few moments, viewed the body, and said: “He is quite dead; the law is satisfied at last.” |