| John Doyle Lee - (1814 - 1866)
John Doyle Lee was a man whose life
was torn by tragedy and terrorism. John D. Lee is one of the most controversial figure in
Mormon history. On September 11, 1857 Indians incited by John D. Lee kill 120
California-bound settlers in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
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John Doyle Lee was born September 12, 1812 in Kaskaskia,
Illinois Territory (about one hundred miles south of St. Louis). At age three, his mother
died after more than a year of lingering illnesses, leaving Lee father. His father, at
first ambitious and thrifty, began drinking later until he became a confirmed alcoholic.
From age seven to sixteen Lee was raised in an uncle's family. He worked for a time as a
mail carrier before assuming managerial responsibility for his uncle's farm, then worked
several years as a store clerk in Galena, Illinois. Finally, Lee moved to Vandalia,
Illinois, where he met and married Agatha Ann Woolsey in 1833. This was the first of his
nineteen wives.
It was in Vandalia that Lee and his wife encountered Mormonism. In 1837 a Mormon
missionary converted the couple to the religion. Lee's preoccupation with the cult quickly
became the driving force in his life. In 1838 the family moved to a homestead near the
Mormon town of Far West, Missouri. The huge influx of Mormons into the region of Northwest
Missouri caused tension with the Christian population. Hostility began on religious
grounds but continued due to the political and economic power of the close knit Mormon
community.
Confrontations continued with murder, destruction of property, raids and counter raids
between the Mormons and the others until near warfare developed. Lee was active in the
military conflicts and became a member of the formally organized Mormon militia known as
the Danite Band. Lee was also believer in blood atonement and was "sealed" to
Brigham Young and was a member of Young's secret Council of Fifty.
As the Mormon assaults against the population continued, the Missouri governor ordered the
Mormons expelled or exterminated. Governor Lilburn Boggs then sent an army which
surrounded their community and forced the Mormon leadership to surrender. The Mormons,
including Lee, left Missouri for Nauvoo, Illinois.
U.S. government officials reported to Washington officials that the Mormons were in
"a state of rebellion and that the Saints acknowledged no authority except that of
Brigham Young." This along with a public outcry against polygamy, prompted President
Buchanan to send an army to Utah to put down the rebellion. The so-called "Mormon
War," however, would be a war in name only, because Brigham Young chose to fight the
government by cutting off its troops' supply lines rather than engage them in battle.
The conflict did, however, give rise to the September 11, 1857, Mountain Meadows Massacre.
A group of 120 to 150 California-bound men, women, and children, known as the Fancher
Party, was headed for California. As the Fancher train moved through the state of Utah,
along the Old Spanish Trail they met with opposition at every town. Mormons refused to
sell them grain or other foodstuffs, having been counseled to store all supplies against
the need which could arise during a long war. They were being followed by a group of
Indians. John D. Lee, who had been appointed Indian agent some time before, was called in
to cope with the Indians. He convinced the men of the Fancher Party to surrender their
weapons. Lee told the Party that he would escort them to safety under a flag of truce.
Instead as they marched away from their wagons, members of Parowan's Mormon militia,
including Lee, shot and killed the male members of the party while Indians killed the
women and older children.
In October 1870 Brigham Young excommunicated Lee from the Mormon Church for his role in
the affair. Lee was arrested in November 1874, and was tried and convicted of murder at
Mountain Meadows. He was taken to the massacre site, where he was executed by a firing
squad on 23 March 1877. His body was buried in the Panguitch cemetery. On 20 April 1961
Lee was restored to membership in the Mormon Church.
Sources: | Another Gospel | Compton’s
Encyclopedia |