History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

LATER INVESTIGATIONS.
The Mormons concerned in the massacre had pledged
themselves by the most solemn oaths to stand by each
other, and always to insist that the deed was done entirely
by Indians. For several months it was believed
by the federal authorities that this was the case ;
559
when
it became known, however, that some of the children
had been spared, suspicion at once pointed elsewhere,
for among all the murders committed by the Utahs,
there was no instance of their having shown any such
compunction. Moreover, it was soon ascertained that
an armed party of Mormons had left Cedar City, had
returned with spoil, and that the Indians complained
of being unfairly treated in the division of the booty.
Notwithstanding their utmost efforts, some time
elapsed before the United States officials procured
evidence sufficient to bring home the charge of murder
to any of the parties implicated, and it was not
until March 1859 that Judge Cradlebaugh held a session
of court at Provo. At this date only six or eight
persons had been committed for trial, and were now
in the guard-house at Camp Floyd, 29 some of them
being accused of taking part in the massacre and some
of other charges.
Accompanied by a military guard, as there was no
jail within his district and no other means of securing
the prisoners, the judge opened court on the 8th. In
his address to the grand jury he specified a number
of crimes that had been committed in southern Utah,
including the massacre. "To allow these things to
pass over," he observed, "gives a color as if they were
done by authority. The very fact of such a case as
the Mountain Meadows shows that there was some
person high in the estimation of the people, and it
was done by that authority . . . You can know no law
but the laws of the United States and the laws you
have here. No person can commit crimes and say
court sat in southern Utah. We should see whether or not white men were
concerned in the affair with the Indians.' Little's Jacob Hamblin, 57.
29 Cradlebaugh's letter in Mess, and Doc, 1859-GO, pt ii. 140.