I speak for the trapped souls who were killed in the September 11 tragedy.
It has always been better for me to see a place first hand so that I can see and experience for myself. The horrendous and violent act of cowards were responsible for these deaths.
This trip had been on my mind for a long time and I knew that the time was right for me to visit the site.
It was a sunny day and the sky was clear the day that I arrived. I parked my truck in the parking lot next to the monument and made my way along the sidewalk until I reached the place where they died.
I silently read the words on the sign and stood there for long moments thinking about those who had died on this spot. I walked around the monument listening, waiting, wondering. What kind of people would do such an act of slaughter?
It was at that moment that I heard them.
There were many voices speaking at once.
I could feel the anger and the betrayal that these souls had experienced.
I tried talking to them, to comfort them, to encourage them, to move on through the tunnel and into the light. I told them there was a better place and that they would be able to see loved ones who were waiting. I explained that years had passed since the tragedy.
There was so much anger.
It came towards me like ocean waves, each wave stronger and larger than the last. The momentum was so overpowering, I finally had to leave the area to prevent me from being consumed by their despair, anger, and frustration.
Although there are yet questions surrounding this event, much has been brought out into the light of day through the internet and the research of honest and diligent people who want answers.
A simple web search will display conspiracy theories and plots to undermine the truth. We may never find all the answers but those who were there tell a very different story than the revisionists who have rewritten history in an attempt to altar those events and create a false illusion in our minds.
Those who are responsible must be held accountable for their acts of murder and terrorism.
Today as I drove towards my home, I felt these souls call out to me again to tell their story.
“I know all were acting under the orders and by the command of their church leaders; and I firmly believe that the most of those who took part in the proceedings, considered it a religious duty to unquestioningly obey the order which they had received. That they acted from a sense of duty to the Mormon Church, I never doubted. Believing that those with me acted from a sense of religious duty on that occasion, I have faithfully kept the secret of their guilt, and remained silent and true to the oath of secrecy which we took on the bloody field.”
“I am now cut off from the Church for obeying the order of my superiors, and doing so without asking questions - for doing as my religion and my religious teachers had taught me to do. I am now used by the Mormon Church as a scapegoat to carry the sins of that people.”
“ I then believed that Brigham Young spoke by direction of the God of Heaven. I would have suffered death rather than have disobeyed any command of his. I had this feeling until he betrayed and deserted me.”
“I have always believed, since that day, that General George A Smith was then visiting Southern Utah to prepare the people for the work of exterminating Captain Fancher’s train of emigrants, and I now believe that he was sent for that purpose by the direct command of Brigham Young.”
In an act of cowardliness, “It was decided by the authorities to arm the Indians, give them provisions and ammunition and send them after the emigrants, and have the Indians give them a brush, and if they killed part or all of them so much the better.”
“They met, several hundred strong, (The Indian’s) at the Meadows and attacked the emigrants Tuesday morning ... They killed seven and wounded sixteen of the emigrants.”
“On thursday, Major John M Higbee, mayor and commander of the Iron Militia, and also first councilor to Isaac C. Haight, met with fifty four whites and over three hundred indians. “It is the orders of the President that all the emigrants must be put out of the way.”
“The men then in council, I must here state, now knelt down in a prayer circle and prayed invoking the Spirit of God to direct them how to act in the matter.”
“After the prayer, Major Higbee said, “I have the evidence of God’s approval of our mission. It is God’s will that we carry out our instructions to the letter.”
“Higbee then said to me, “Brother Lee, I am ordered by President Haight to inform you that you shall receive a crown of Celestial glory for your faithfulness and your eternal joy shall be complete.” I was much shaken by this offer.”
On Friday, September 11, 1857, “I laid aside my weakness and my humanity, and became an instrument in the hand of my superiors and my leaders.”
With the words, “Do your Duty.” 120 innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered on that fateful day.
“We must now examine the bodies for valuables.”
“After the dead were covered up or buried ( but it was not much of a burial ) a council was held at the emigrant camp. All the leading men gave speeches.”
“The speeches were first - thanks to God for delivering our enemies into our hands, next, thanking the brethren for their zeal in God’s cause and then the necessity of alway saying the Indians did it alone, and that the Mormons had nothing to do with it. Most of the exhortations and commands were to keep the whole matter secret from everyone but Brigham Young. It was voted unanimously that any man who should divulge the secret, or tell who was present, or do anything that would lead to a discovery of the truth should suffer death.”
“The brethren then all took a most solemn oath, binding themselves under the most dreadful and awful penalties, to keep the whole matter secret from every human being, as long as they should live. No man was to know the facts. The brethren were sworn not to talk of it among themselves, and each one swore to help kill all who proved to be traitors to the Church or people in this matter”
The following sunday, dresses taken from the dead bodies of those killed, were worn by women who attended church. Some if the valuables were placed in the Bishops storehouse. Horses and cattle were auctioned. A few children under the age of eight were spared and put with Mormon families to be raised as their own, until authorities from the government returned them to their families in Arkansas.
I had all these things and more going through my mind when I visited the site of this tragic massacre.
It is no wonder that angry spirits are calling out to me to tell their story.
The sad part of this tragedy is that the Mormon Church continues ignore and minimize their role and the role of Brigham Young and other leaders who took part in this First September 11 attack upon innocent victims who were only on their way west to find a new life in a new land.
Wether that deceit and coverup is Political or Religious sources, the results have devastating consequences for generations to come
I continue to send my love to those victims of 9-11 who are still trapped in their anger and locked in darkness because they are unable to forgive their perpetrators and move into the light.
They are still waiting ... for closure.
The above quotes were taken from the book dictated from memory by John D. Lee, while waiting execution. “Mormonism Unveiled or Life and Confession of John D. Lee and Brigham Young.” Fierra Blanca publications, Albuquerque, NM 2001
