Cedar City » In May 1859 - almost two years after 120 members of a wagon train on their way to California were massacred at Mountain Meadows - their bones were collected from hastily dug graves and reburied by Army Maj. James H. Carlton and his troops.
On Saturday, descendants of the victims will meet at the massacre site in southwestern Utah to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Carlton's efforts to give their ancestors a proper burial in four mass graves.
The ceremony, complete with music, speeches and a 21-gun salute will include members of the Mountain Meadows Association, Mountain Meadows Foundation Inc. and Mountain Meadows Descendants.
Later that night, the participants will meet in St. George and hear from historian Will Bagley, author of Blood of the Prophets , who will speak about a survivor of the massacre.
The group also will hear from Richard Turley Jr., one of three LDS Church historians who collaborated on the book Massacre at Mountain Meadows . Turley will update the groups on plans to make the site a National Historic Landmark.
Finally, LDS Church historian Marlin K. Jensen will talk about a master plan the church has been working on in collaboration with the groups to protect the site from encroaching development.
All the descendant organizations were created to honor the massacre victims.
The wagon train that left Carroll County, Ark., for California, led by Alexander Fancher and Jack Baker. The train stopped to camp at Mountain Meadows about 30 miles north of St. George in September 1857 and almost immediately came under siege. On Sept. 11, all but 17 children were slaughtered by Mormon settlers and a group of American Indians.
The organizations' main concern now is with preserving the site as hallowed ground and keeping the event alive as a significant event in American history.
Phil Bolinger, president of the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation Inc., said Carleton's group buried the bones in four mass graves at the Meadows, including one at the siege site where most of the killings occurred and where a rock cairn was built, topped with a wooden cross inscribed with the words: "Vengeance is mine thou shalt repay sayeth the Lord."
The foundation has a smaller replica of the cairn built at its Arkansas headquarters.
Bolinger said in the past two years, the different descendant groups have set aside differences and are working together to get National Historic Landmark designation. And they have been working with the LDS Church on the site master plan.
"We are hard workers who intend to honor the memories of our ancestors through education," said Bolinger.
Terry Fancher, president of the Mountain Meadows Association, said the new spirit of cooperation among the groups has produced positive results for preserving the site.
"Talking about the master plan ... will be a key point," said Fancher.
He said his group is also trying to identify how many wagons were on the trek to California and who was on them.
Of the 104 sets of remains, he said his group has positively identified 91.
"Our big deal is to have accurate information so historians use our Web site for research at that level," he said.
