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| Survivor remembered details of Utah massacre |
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| Question: I recently read "Mountain Meadows Witness," a book about the Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah. Did any of the local surviving children ever write a memoir or pass down stories of what they remember happening at the massacre? |
 Answer: In 1938, Clyde Greenhaw Newman of the Harrison Daily Times interviewed Martha Elizabeth Baker "Betty" Terry (pictured right), a survivor of the Massacre. The interview appeared in the Sunday Magazine section of the Arkansas Gazette on September 4, 1938. This article is on file at the Boone County Heritage Museum.
At age 86, Betty lived with her daughter, Mrs. Henry Holt, but she distinctly remembered the incident and clearly recalled many details. She remembered when neighbors, kinfolks and friends readied for the trip West in 1857. The wagon train was well equipped with goods, wagons, carriages and such. According to Mrs. Terry, there were 30 extra teams of mules and horses, plus 600 to 800 head of cattle and "one fine blooded stallion - the finest in the Ozarks," she said.
It took almost six months for the wagon train to reach Mountain Meadows. Supplies were running low by the time the train reached the valley, and attempts to purchase goods were unsuccessful. Just before the last attack on the immigrants began, Mrs. Terry said she heard her father tell her mother to put the children in the wagon. "That was the last time she saw her mother," she said. |
| She distinctly remembered 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." |
| Mrs. Terry sadly related that she never knew what became of her older sister, Vina. The last time she saw her, she was being led away as a captive. "I do not know whether she was killed or what ever happened to her." |
| The most persistent legend is that there were 18 children who were spared, instead of the 17 who were returned to their nearest kin in Arkansas. One beautiful story of romance did come out of the horrible slaughter, that being the story of Captain Lynch, who brought the children back from Utah, falling in love with one of the surviving Dunlap girls. |
| Another interesting story is that of the Peter Campbell family, who had joined the wagon train, but according to a disagreement, his wagon and a few others left the train near Mountain Meadows, and by doing so saved their lives. A full account of the Campbell wagon train can be read in "Across the Plains in '57," compiled by Ruth Peterson, also on file at the museum. |
| Many years ago, Juanita Brooks, noted author and nationally recognized authority on the massacre, had the following to say about the Mountain Meadows affair: It (the massacre) was tragic for those who were killed and for the children left orphans, but it was also tragic for the men who became murderers, and for their children who, for generations now, have lived under the shadow." |
| The Boone County Heritage Museum is one of four repositories in the United States recognized for its collection of research materials on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. We extend an invitation to you to use (in house) the collection of materials written by some of the foremost scholars. |
| The museum is located on the corner of South Cherry Street and Central Avenue. Hours are from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. |
| Have you turned in your family history for Volume II of the Boone County, Arkansas Family History Book soon to be published? The deadline is drawing near, so please take part in our effort to document the families of Boone County, both past and present. |
| This column appears Fridays in the Harrison Daily Times. Mail questions to Boone County Heritage Museum, P. O. Box 1094, Harrison, AR 72601. Marilyn Breece can be contacted at bchm@alltel.net |
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