History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

564 THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE.
was passed by congress "in relation to courts and judicial
officers in the territory of Utah," and commonly
known as the Poland bill, 41 whereby the summoning
of grand and petit juries was regulated, and provision
made for the better administration of justice.
The first grand jury impanelled under this law was
instructed by Jacob S. Boreman, then in charge of
the second judicial district, to investigate the Mountain
Meadows massacre and find bills of indictment
against the parties implicated. A joint indictment
for conspiracy and murder was found against John D.
Lee, William H. Dame, Isaac C. Haight, John M.
Higbee, Philip Klingensmith, and others. 42 Warrants
were issued for their arrest, and after a vigorous
search Lee and Dame were captured, the former being
found concealed in a hog-pen at a small settlement
named Panguitch, on the Sevier Biver. 43
After some delay, caused by the difficulty in procuring
evidence, the 12th of July, 1875, was appointed
for the trial at Beaver City in southern Utah. 44 At
eleven o'clock on this day the court was opened, Judge
Boreman presiding, but further delay was caused by
the absence of witnesses, and the fact that Lee had
promised to make a full confession, and thus turn
state's evidence. In his statement the prisoner detailed
minutely the plan and circumstances of the
dered have had the reputation of being thieves and murderers or of associating
with such characters.'
41 Approved June 23, 1S74. See Deseret JSfeivs, July 8, 1S74.
42 The Lee Trial, 6. Forney states that Smith, Lee, Higby, Bishop Davis,
Ira Hatch, and David Tullis were the most guilty. Letter to the commissioner
of Indian affairs, in Sen. Doc, 36th Cong. 1st Sess., ii. no. 42, p. 86.
43 A detailed account of the arrest of John D. Lee by Wm Stokes, deputy
U. S. marshal, is given in Lee's Mormonism Unvaried, 293-301. See also
Beadle's Western Wilds, 490-2, where is a cut showing the scene of this
incident. The two versions differ somewhat, Beadle stating that the arrest
was made by Marshal Owens.
41 More than 100 subpoenas had been issued, but though many obeyed the
summons, several material witnesses were not forthcoming—among them being
Philip Klingensmith, Joel White, and William Hawley, all of whom were
present at the massacre. Klingensmith, who had promised to make a confession,
aiTived a day or two later, in custody of a deputy, and Joel White
was induced to trust himself to the notorious Bill Hickman, then acting as
special deputy marshal. The Lee Trial, 8.