Post by Okwes on Jan 13, 2008 18:08:34 GMT -5
Unearthed Indian Remains Yield Detail Of Massacre
By Paul Foy - Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY - The remains of seven American Indians unearthed by a home
builder show several were shot point-blank in the head by Mormon settlers
seeking revenge during a period of pitched violence in 1853, say scientists who
plan to release their findings on Friday.
The bones were discovered by contractors digging in Nephi, about 70 miles
south of Salt Lake City, last summer for a house that now stands over the site.
The victims, all males about 13 to 35 years old, are believed to have been
Goshute Indians who were unwitting casualties of the Walker War, a nearly
yearlong clash between Mormons and other Indian tribes under the leadership of
Ute Chief Walkara.
``These Indians just happened to be in the wrong place,'' said Ron Rood, an
assistant state archaeologist who retrieved the bones, scraps of clothing,
copper ornaments and a lead bullet from inside a skull.
By one account, the Oct. 2, 1853, killings were in retaliation for the
ambush a day before of four Manti, Utah, farmers hauling wheat to Salt Lake City
by oxen. That attacked occurred at Fountain Green, about halfway between Manti
and Nephi.
Manti is about 30 miles southeast of Nephi, a gateway to the Wasatch Front.
The massacre occurred during a summer and fall of bloody conflict between
Mormon settlers fanning out from the Salt Lake valley and raiding tribes.
``There were a whole series of tit-for-tat killings,'' he said.
Rood said his findings refute an account by a Mormon militia regiment that
the Indians approached Nephi refusing to drop their weapons and attacked
first, hitting a settler with an arrow.
``A discovery like this allows the victims to tell their story,'' Utah state
archaeologist Kevin Jones said.
Four of the victims were shot in the head. All of the victims showed
defensive wounds. The hands of one Indian were tied behind his back. Several showed
evidence of blunt-force trauma.
Their bodies were heaped into a shallow grave about 3 feet wide, Rood said.
The grave was covered by a cedar plank and several feet of sediment from
flash floods over the years. By last August it yielded to heavy equipment
digging a hole for a foundation. Contractors stopped the excavation to call police
and a medical examiner.
The event had been recorded in historical accounts as involving Isaac
Morley, a leader of 225 settlers sent to Nephi by Brigham Young, the second
president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
``We have the personal journals of two women who witnessed this event and
described it as a heinous act of murder,'' said Rood. ``This is a great example
of archaeology and history coming together.''
Rood teamed up with Derinna Kopp, a forensic anthropologist at the
University of Utah.
Their investigation will be the topic of a lecture Friday night at a
conference of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society at Utah Valley State College
in Orem.
Springville, Utah, historian D. Robert Carter plans to set the stage for
Rood with an overview of settler and Indian conflict in Utah valley.
By Paul Foy - Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY - The remains of seven American Indians unearthed by a home
builder show several were shot point-blank in the head by Mormon settlers
seeking revenge during a period of pitched violence in 1853, say scientists who
plan to release their findings on Friday.
The bones were discovered by contractors digging in Nephi, about 70 miles
south of Salt Lake City, last summer for a house that now stands over the site.
The victims, all males about 13 to 35 years old, are believed to have been
Goshute Indians who were unwitting casualties of the Walker War, a nearly
yearlong clash between Mormons and other Indian tribes under the leadership of
Ute Chief Walkara.
``These Indians just happened to be in the wrong place,'' said Ron Rood, an
assistant state archaeologist who retrieved the bones, scraps of clothing,
copper ornaments and a lead bullet from inside a skull.
By one account, the Oct. 2, 1853, killings were in retaliation for the
ambush a day before of four Manti, Utah, farmers hauling wheat to Salt Lake City
by oxen. That attacked occurred at Fountain Green, about halfway between Manti
and Nephi.
Manti is about 30 miles southeast of Nephi, a gateway to the Wasatch Front.
The massacre occurred during a summer and fall of bloody conflict between
Mormon settlers fanning out from the Salt Lake valley and raiding tribes.
``There were a whole series of tit-for-tat killings,'' he said.
Rood said his findings refute an account by a Mormon militia regiment that
the Indians approached Nephi refusing to drop their weapons and attacked
first, hitting a settler with an arrow.
``A discovery like this allows the victims to tell their story,'' Utah state
archaeologist Kevin Jones said.
Four of the victims were shot in the head. All of the victims showed
defensive wounds. The hands of one Indian were tied behind his back. Several showed
evidence of blunt-force trauma.
Their bodies were heaped into a shallow grave about 3 feet wide, Rood said.
The grave was covered by a cedar plank and several feet of sediment from
flash floods over the years. By last August it yielded to heavy equipment
digging a hole for a foundation. Contractors stopped the excavation to call police
and a medical examiner.
The event had been recorded in historical accounts as involving Isaac
Morley, a leader of 225 settlers sent to Nephi by Brigham Young, the second
president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
``We have the personal journals of two women who witnessed this event and
described it as a heinous act of murder,'' said Rood. ``This is a great example
of archaeology and history coming together.''
Rood teamed up with Derinna Kopp, a forensic anthropologist at the
University of Utah.
Their investigation will be the topic of a lecture Friday night at a
conference of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society at Utah Valley State College
in Orem.
Springville, Utah, historian D. Robert Carter plans to set the stage for
Rood with an overview of settler and Indian conflict in Utah valley.