[The following is in relation to the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, in which a heavily armed group of Mormons ambushed and slaughtered an American caravan of settlers on its way to California. Later, the Mormons, some elements of whom sought to deliberately antagonize the United States government on the frontier, would blame the local Native American tribes for the incident. Here, the attack has been going on for several days. The Mormon sharpshooters had pinned the caravan down, which had circled itself and dug earthwork defenses. Unfortunately, the defenders were forced to take position away from the nearby source of spring water and began to slowly die of thirst while under siege.]
The attack began again with a fury, and it was clear their enemies had received a significant bolstering of troops. “Still the beleaguered Arkansans fought well and bravely,” according to a nineteenth-century newspaper account, “but at this time, on the third day of the battle, the pangs of unassuaged thirst drove them almost to the verge of despair.” In a forlorn move, hoping to appeal to the humanity of their enemies, the emigrants dressed two little girls in “spotless white” and sent them with a bucket toward the spring. Both were shot dead in an instant.
The party decided they could no longer remain in their defensive position but had to seek help from the outside world. William Aden daringly volunteered to make his way north to recruit assistance from a party of emigrants known as the Dukes Train, which had been following a few days behind them. Aden and a companion called the Dutchman stole quietly into he night, leading their horses for several miles until they could safely mount. Galloping toward Cedar City, they saw a campfire at Richards’ Springs, where, they surmised, the other pioneers might have arrived.
Aden dismounted and approached three men who had risen to greet him. One, a Mormon elder named William C. Stewart, asked Aden what he wanted. He and the two others, Benjamin Arthur and Joel White, listened as Aden described the assault in the meadow. The Dutchman stayed on his horse. When Aden finished his plea, “Stewart shoved a pistol to Aden’s breast and killed him,” a participant in the events later recalled. As the Dutchman wheeled on his horse he was shot by White but managed to flee and return to the Fancher camp.
Source:
Denton, Sally. “Mountain Meadows, September 7-11, 1857.” American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857. Vintage Books, 2004. 130. Print.
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