Name calling and the Mountain Meadows Massacre

Prairie Schooner used by emigrants to travel.
Illinois Natural History Survey

Did you know and have you read –
… about Michael Shumway Lee (Mike Lee), the ‘Republican’ Senator from Utah?
We find that he presents as a direct descendant of John D. Lee – where D = Doyle
Oh! Senator Lee does have a son named John D. Lee – where D = David
So, why put a spotlight on this name:
John D. Lee?

When will he give his argument to these facts or will he remain silent and not question another Senator’s choice of words: “challenge this train wreck…” Senator Rafael E. Cruz, U.S. Senate, Sept. 24, 2013

In 1857, Major John D. Lee, in charge of the Fourth Battalion, Tenth Regiment under the orders of known and unknown Mormon leaders, led an organized attack by militiamen upon Arkansas Emigrants, traveling in a wagon train from northwestern Arkansas. During the month of April 1857, as many as 15 different trains left that region. Several trains of emigrants, under the leadership of Captain John Twitty Baker and Captain Alexander Fancher, had planned to settle in California. The background to this event follows.

First, Mormon leadership gave warnings, to members of a First Nations group of Paiutes, that emigrants, as well as Federal troops, threatened their safety. When threatened and fearful of one’s security, the sympathetic nervous system signals a number of hormones. These chemicals, when released into the blood, heighten levels of the ‘fight or flight’ response to demands, whether real or imagined. These hormones reduce the individual’s ability to analyze specific behaviours, and in this case, unfortunately, agents provocateurs.

Second, Mormon agents thus invested their charmed, pity drenched ruse, with hesitant but determined zeal, to control the situation. They exploited the traditional, yet limited range of war fighting skills of the Paiutes by promising material gains, especially cattle. Moreover, Leader Tut-se-gav-its, a spokesman for the Southern Paiutes, believed that the Mormons could help protect his community. This explained the reasons why the Mormon leadership, especially members of the Tenth Regiment, heightened general expectations.

Third, Mormons disguised themselves as Paiutes. Doing this would bring the public to believe that the “indians” had committed the crime; not the Mormons! Lee’s initial attacks used sufficient force to influence the terms for an unconditional surrender. By 9 September 1857, Major Isaac C. Haight of the 2nd Battalion, Tenth Regiment decided that the emigrants would not cross into California. He supported Lee’s actions. Then, on 11 September 1857, the travelers surrendered all of their useful weapons. Following these terms, Lee propagandized the travelers into believing that they would exit the Mountain Meadows site without further assault, “decoying” them to march outside of their erstwhile encirclements.

Fourth, the Mormon’s practiced a ritual of “blood atonement”, a depraved principal of conscious that desensitized the perpetrators to their ghastly crimes. They had slaughtered as many as 140 defenseless men, women and children. They kidnapped and transported fifteen younger children to Mormon families living in the region. John D. Lee did lead the mass murder of the Fancher-Baker caravan. The Mormons utilized the archetypal technique that drives sociopathic behaviour: the perpetrator assesses, manipulates and then abandons the victim. Paiutes and members of the Fancher-Baker train, both groups shared victimization.

In the end, unfortunately, the state failed to prove that Colonel William H. Dame, commander of the Tenth Regiment, directly ordered the attack. In September 1876, the prosecutor determined that the case against Dame had insufficient evidence to convict. U.S. Attorney Sumner Howard issued a “nolle prosequi”, ceasing further prosecution of Dame. Lee met his execution on 28 March 1877, while sitting on his coffin, at the Mountain Meadows site.

Other perpetrators went into hiding. Haight crossed the United States southern border and drifted into Chihuahua, Mexico, seeking out other Mormons that lived in the area. Neighbors in this Mormon settlement included the home of George W. Romney, where his parents Gaskell Romney (1871–1955) and Anna Amelia Pratt (1876–1926) lived. They had married in 1895 in Mexico, giving birth to George on July 8, 1907, in the state of Chihuahua. The senior Romney had entered Mexico in 1885, the same year that Haight journeyed to Chihuahua.

Remarkably, by April 1961, the Mormon leadership in Utah reinstated John D. Lee as a member of its church.

So, why would a lawyer, whose family has ensconced itself in jurisprudence for more than fifty years, choose to name his son John D. Lee?

http://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/massacre/meadows.html

Now, time for your scheduled word Game! Select the letters that spell the first name of an important United States official …

FANCHER-BAKER = ___________________