History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

470 UTAH AS A TERRITORY.
elbow, their entrails cut open and torn by wolves, and
were in such condition that they were buried where
they lay. It is related that Gunnison's heart was cut
out while he was yet alive, and that it was so full of
blood that it bounded on the ground.
By many the Gunnison massacre has been and is
still ascribed to the agency of the Mormons; and it
has even been asserted that Mormons, disguised as
Indians, were among those who committed the deed.
Here we have a fair specimen of the hundreds of defamatory
stories which have been told about the Mormons
from the beginning. In this instance not only is there
no valid proof against them, but there aro many circumstances
pointing in the opposite direction, 53 one
of them being that among the slain was a Mormon
guide. The Gunnison massacre was brought on by
gentiles; it was the direct result of the killing of the
Pah Ute by California emigrants. As no compensation
had been made to his tribe, they avenged themselves,
as was their custom, on the first Americans
for thus they termed all white men, other than Mormons—whom
they found in their territory. 53 The
68 A full account of Gunnison's survey, prepared mainly by himself, and of
the massacre will be found in Beck with's Reports, in Id., ii. Lieut Beckwith
writes: 'The statement which has from time to time appeared or been copied
in various newspapers of the country, since the occurrence of these sad events,
charging the Mormons or Mormon authorities with instigating the Indians to,
if not actually aiding them in, the murder of Captain Gunnison and his associates
is, I believe, not only entirely false, but there is no accidental circumstance
connected with it affording the slightest foundation for such a charge.'
Captain Morris, in his official report to the adjutant-general, says nothing
about the Mormons being implicated in the matter. See House Ex. Doc, 33d
Cong. 1st Sess. , no. 18, pp. 5-6. The names of those who were killed, besides
Captain Gunnison, were R. H. Kern, F. Creutzfeldt, William Potter, a Mormon
guide, privates Caulfield, Liptoote, and Mehrteens, mounted riflemen, and
an employe" named John Bellows. House Ex. Doc., 33d Cong. 1st. Sess., no.
IS, pp. 6. For other accounts and comments on the Gunnison massacre, see
Mollhausen, Tagelbuch, 429-30; Carvalho's Incidents of Travel, 196-9; S. F.
Alta, June 25, 1854, Nov. 11, 1857; S. F. Herald, May 7, 1855.
5a On hearing of the massacre, Brigham took measures for the recovery of
the property and the disposal of the bodies. Gunnison was somewhat of a
favorite among the Mormons. In the Deseret News of Nov. 12, 1853, where
is a copy of Beckwith's report of the massacre, is the following: 'We feel to
commiserate deeply with the friends of those who have been so suddenly and
unexpectedly cut off, but more especially with the wife and children of Captain
Gunnison, who was endeai'ed to us by a former and fondly cherished
acquaintanceship in 1S49-50, while he was engaged with Captain Howard
Stansbury in the survey of the Great Salt and Utah lakes.' The following is
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