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Some of the murderers were white men and some I supposed were
Indians from
their dress. At the close of the massacre there was eighteen children
still alive, one girl, some ten or twelve years old, they said was too big
and could tell, so they killed her, leaving seventeen. A man, I afterwards
learned to be named John Willis, took me in his charge (the children were
divided) and carried me to his house the next day in a wagon; he lived at
Cedar City and was a Mormon; he kept me there that winter. Next spring he
moved to a place called Toquerville. I stayed there about a
year, until Dr. Forney had us children gathered up and carried us to Santa
Clara, from there we went to Salt Lake City and remained two months, from
there we came back to the states. I know that most of the party that did
the killing were white men. The Mormons got all the plunder. I saw many
things afterward.
John Willis had, in his family, bed clothes, clothing, and many other
things that I recognized as having belonged to my mother. When I claimed
the things, they told me I was a liar, and tried to make me believe it was
the
Indians that killed and plundered our people, but I knew better,
because I recollected seeing them kill our folks, and knew many things
that they carried off that I saw in their possession afterward. I saw
Willis during the massacre; he carried me off from the spot; I could not
be mistaken. Living with him made me know him beyond a doubt. I saw them
shoot the girl after we were gathered up. I had a sister that was nearly
grown, and four brothers that they killed. I was the youngest child of our
family -- the only one that was spared. They kept the children all separated
whilst we remained with them. The scenes and incidents of the massacre
were so terrible that they were indelibly stamped on my mind,
notwithstanding I was so young at the time."
~~~~~~
Survivor of a Massacre:
Mrs. Betty Terry, Arkansas Gazette,
September 4, 1938, reported by Clyde R. Greenhaw
Survivor of a Massacre:
Mrs. Betty Terry of Harrison Vividly Recalls Massacre of Westbound
Arkansas Caravan in Utah More Than 80 Years Ago
High in the
Arkansas Ozarks
stands a monument in the form of a historical marker for Caravan Springs,
erected to a band of immigrants who, in the early spring of 1857, began
here as ill-fated journey to
California, the shining goal of their dreams.
Historical significance of the
marker is contained in the inscription, which says: Caravan Spring. Near
these springs in March, 1857, gathered a caravan of 150 men, women and
children who here began their ill-fated journey to
California. The entire
party, with the exception of 17 small children, was massacred at Mountain
Meadows,
Utah, by a body of Mormons disguised as
Indians.
The marker was sent to
Harrison by the
Arkansas Centennial Commission to be erected on Highway 7,
at the entrance of the springs. The marker is cast iron and weighs 280
pounds. At the top is the
Arkansas state flag.
In the farm home of her
daughter, Mrs. Henry Holt, west of Harrison,
Mrs. Betty Terry, 86, one of
the two survivors of the ill-fated journey, is visiting.
Mrs. Terry has
been in
Missouri
the past two years. She arrived in Harrison this spring, to spend the
remainder of her days in this, her native town. The only other known
survivor of that ill-fated journey is
Mrs. Terry's sister,
Mrs. Sally Frances Gladden-Mitchell, 83, of Checotah,
Oklahoma. Mrs. Terry was
only five years old at the time, but she distinctly remembers the
incident, and clearly recalls many details.
Mrs. Terry's
brother,
William Twitty Baker, lived near Harrison for many years, then finally settled at
Marshall, Searcy County, where he was living at the time of his death in
1937.
A worn reference book owned by
says briefly of the Mountain Meadow Massacre: In
Utah, 350 miles south of
Salt Lake City, September 7, 1857, about 140 men, women and children,
emigrating from
Arkansas and
Missouri to Southern
California, were fired
upon by
Indians, and, it is said, by Mormons disguised as
Indians. They
withstood the siege until the 11th, when, on promise of protection by
John D. Lee, Mormon bishop and
Indian agent, they left the shelter of their
wagons. All over seven years of age were killed.
Lee was executed for the
crime with the Mormons suspected of complicity in it.
Mrs. Terry celebrated her 86th
birthday anniversary March 7. Even at her advanced age, she never ceases
to work, and with eyes still strong enough to see to read, write and sew,
she pieces quilts for her children and has completed many handsome
articles. She finished a quilt last winter and spent many days this spring
tearing carpet strings. She has lived most of her life here, and has been
an active member of the Baptist church since early girl hood. She
continues to attend services regularly. Mr. Terry died 11 years ago. The
couple reared nine children, three boys and six girls, five of whom are
still living. An entry in the family bible reads, “Married, January 25,
1874, J.W. Terry to Martha Elizabeth Baker, both of Boone County, by the
Rev. Calvin Williams.”
When kinsmen press her for a
story she sometimes tells that of the massacre, saying, “The wagon train
to
California made up of folks from our neighborhood and
Missouri, was
said to be the richest and best equipped that ever started across the
plains, with goods, wagons, buggies, carriages and hacks. There were 30
extra good teams of mules and horses in addition to a large number of
extra horses, and about 600 to 800 head of cattle, and one of the finest
blooded stallions that had ever been seen in the Ozarks at that time.
Nearly a week was taken for the band to gather here. There were more than
200 in the train when it started out, but they split, part going a
southern route and our division going on through the
Utah way.
My father, mother, grandfather
and several uncles and aunts were among those killed in the massacre. Our
family had a larger number in the company than any other family and we had
an extra wagon and provisions besides the one that carried the family. My
sister and younger brother,
William Twitty Baker, who was only seven
months old, were spared. My sister and I were both kept in the family of
John D. Lee until the soldiers came and rescued us a year later. My
brother was being cared for in another Mormon family. I played with
Brigham Young's youngest children. My grandmother remained at Harrison ,
and when word came that the children had been rescued, she went out to
bring us back. On the way out we stopped and made camp many times to rest
the weary, footsore cattle, scouts going ahead to select camp sites.
It took nearly six months, she
recalled, for the immigrants to reach Mountain Meadows, which is located
about 160 miles south of Salt Lake City. Camp was made at the spring at
the west end of Mountain Meadows, Friday night, September 2 or 3.
Mountain Meadows is named for
the beautiful mountains on the northern and southern borders. There was
good grazing for the cattle and it was a good place to camp and rest, so
the leaders of the caravan of immigrants decided to remain there several
days before pushing on into the plains country.
Early on Monday morning,
September 6, about the time that the earlier risers of the immigrants were
moving about the camp near the spring, they were fired upon from ambush,
Mrs. Terry said. An alarm was sounded, the entire party was aroused, and
soon their more active men were organized with firearms and they succeeded
in temporarily frightening away the intruders.
During the quiet that followed
the first brief battle, all wagons were put into a circle, dirt was
shoveled up under the wagon to serve as a breast works for fort like
protection.
Several of the men left the
corral to investigate the cause of the earlier firing, and these again
were engaged in another battle at close range, causing several fatalities
to the stronger and braver group of immigrants, but little loss to the
enemy, who took advantage of the boulders and underbrush for shelter.
Preparations were made by the
men in camp to conceal the women and children and prepare for battle. The
siege continued at intervals of four to five days. Finally several white
men, found to be Mormons and disguised in Indian garb, under the
leadership of three white men, posing as government attaches, proposed to
the wagon train group that if they would surrender their arms and
ammunition they would be escorted back east to the nearest village of
Cedar Valley. The immigrants surrendered all their arms and ammunition and
reluctantly agreed to retrace their steps under escort toward Cedar Valley
. When the party had traveled about one mile from the spring and campsite
the
Utah group called a halt, placed all children under seven years old in
one wagon and sent them ahead. With the aid of a large number in hiding,
they immediately opened fire on the unarmed immigrants, killing the entire
band.
The 17 children were sent
ahead to the eastern end of the mountain valley to the home of one
Hamblin, from which place they were distributed among the Mormons. The
children were recovered by the government in the early summer of 1859, and
were returned to
Arkansas to their relatives. Names of the 17 children
were as follows: John Calvin Sorel [John Calvin Miller,] Lewis and Mary Sorel,
Ambrose,
Milum and
William Tackitt, Francis Horn, Angeline, Annie and
Nancy Saphrona Huff, Ephraim W. Huff,
Chris and
Tryphena Fancher,
Betsey and Jane
Baker, William Welch Baker,
Rebecca,
Louisa and
Sarah Dunlap.
Mrs. Terry sadly related that
she never knew what became of her older sister, Vina. She was the
prettiest of the three Baker girls, she said, and had beautiful long black
hair. She was eight years old. The last time she remembers seeing her
sister, she was being led away as a captive. "I do not know whether she
was killed or what ever happened to her". Just before the last attack on
the immigrants,
Mrs. Terry said she heard her father tell her mother to
get up and put the children in the wagon. That was the last time she saw
her mother, she said. ‘I distinctly remember the group disguised as
Indians. There was not a real Indian in the group, for they went to the
creek and washed the paint from their faces.”
“How was your grandmother able
to identify and claim you?”
Mrs. Terry was asked. “By clothing, and the
sunbonnets which were quilted in a certain design still in our possession.
My brother had a peculiar identification mark. The end of the index finger
on each hand was smooth and glistening, without the sign of a finger nail,
with but one joint to the finger, appearing much as a felon leaves a
finger.” She explained that this disfigurement of the index fingers was a
birthmark. “Our aunt lived with us and worked for our mother for months
preceding my brother's birth. She suffered terribly from a felon and
complained much. Her felon was on an index finger. So when the brother was
born, the two index fingers were marked as if from felons. He carried them
that way through life and never had a felon.”
Before Caravan Springs are two
huge flat rocks, where the family washing was done, she said: “They were
long and broad and were on one side of the creek. Stately elm trees lined
the creek banks, shading these rocks, where I spent many hours shedding
tears.”
“I do hope they get the marker
at the right spring,” she added. “Maybe I should go out there and point
out the right place.'
A number of descendants, great
grandchildren of the wealthy Jack Baker who helped finance the emigrant
train, now live in Harrison. Relatives of the Beller family who were
members of the company, live there also.
~~~~~~
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