Fancher–Baker party

The Fancher–Baker Party or Baker's Company was the name used to collectively describe the American western emigrants from four northwestern counties in Arkansas, specifically Marion, Crawford, Carroll, and Johnson counties, who departed Carroll County in April 1857 and "were attacked by the Mormons and Santa Clara tribe of Indians near the rim of the Great Basin, and about fifty miles from Cedar City, in Utah Territory, and that all of the emigrants, with the exception of 17 children, were then and there massacred and murdered." [ [http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/SO/miscsou2.htm#022758 Uncle Dale's Old Mormon Articles: Misc. Southern States, 1845-1919 ] ] the Mountain Meadows massacre. Sources estimate that between 100 and 140 men, women and children were killed on September 11, 1857 at Mountain Meadows, a rest stop on the Old Spanish Trail, in the Utah territory.

Emigrants associated with the ill-fated company in 1857

People the Fancher party left by the wayside along the way ended up traveling to their destinations in safety. If Missourians reportedly had ever been these trains' fellow travelers, [Harvnb|Bancroft|1889.] Harvnb|Gibbs|1910.] none are known to share these Arkansans' fate.

(Various Arkansas trains associated with the Fancher party while on their journeys westward yet that did not perish with them include the "Poteet-Tackett," "Crooked Creek," "Campbell," "Parker," and [John S.] "Baker"—as distinct from the [John Twitty] "Baker"—trains.) [Harv|Fancher|Wallner|2006.]

Families leaving party before reaching Utah territory

# Smith
# Morton
# Hudson
# Basham
# Haydon
# Reed
# Stevenson
# Hamilton
# Farmer
# Lafoon and/or Laffoon
# Poteet

Families leaving in Utah territory

There is some dispute on whether young women from party left with them (ie Tackitt and Dunlap women) listed below.
# Eaton, William M.
# Edwards, Silas
# Rush, Milum L., 28
# Stallcup, Charles, 25The Page family from Madison County Ark. left the train in Utah and took the Northern route safely to California, settling in Eldorado County. John Robert Page born-1819, his wife Frances (Ralston) Page born-1823, their children Elizabeth Emley Page born-1841, Clarisa Jane Page born-1843, James K. Page born- 1844, Moses Caleb Page born- 1848, John Robert Page born-1849, Lewis Johnson Page born-1851, Sarah Frances Page born-1853, Samuel M. Page born-1855 and Henry Towel Page born -April 1857 just before they left Ark.

Members of the ill-fated Baker-Fancher wagon train

The Fancher party's constituent trains left from four northwestern Arkansas counties.
* From Benton county left the original "Fancher" train—as did the "Huff"—
* while from Johnson county left the "Cameron," the "Miller," and (a trio of cousins) the "Poteet-Tackett-Jones" trains;
* from Marion county left the "Mitchell, the Dunlap," and the "Prewitt" trains
* while from Beller's Stand near Harrison in Carroll county (today Boone county) left the (John Twitty) "Baker" train—the wagon-master/captain historians reference when they call the grand company the "Baker-Fancher" trains". [Harvnb|Mitchell|1860. See also: http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/arkansasemigrants.htm] [Harv|Fancher|Wallner|2006.]

Believed murdered at Mountain Meadows

# Aden, William Allen, 19
# Baker, Abel, 19
# Baker, George W., 27
# Baker, John T., 52
# Baker, Manerva A. Beller, 25
# Baker, Martha Elizabeth, 11
# Baker, Mary Lovina, 7
# Baker, Sarah Frances, unknown
# Baker, William Twitty, unknown
# Beach, John, 21
# Beller, David W., 12
# Beller, Melissa Ann, 14
# Cameron, Henry, 16
# Cameron, Isom, 18
# Cameron, James, 14
# Cameron, Larkin, 8
# Cameron, Martha, 11
# Cameron, Martha, 51
# Cameron, Tillman, 24
# Cameron, William, 51
# Cameron?, Nancy (William Cameron's niece), 12
# Deshazo, Allen P, 20
# Dunlap, Amanda (possibly America) Jane, 7
# Dunlap, Ellender, 18
# Dunlap, Georgia Ann, unknown
# Dunlap, James D, 15
# Dunlap, John H, 16
# Dunlap, Lorenzo Dow, 42
# Dunlap, Louisa, 4
# Dunlap, Lucinda, 12
# Dunlap, Margarette, 11
# Dunlap, Mary Ann, 9
# Dunlap, Mary Wharton, 39
# Dunlap, Nancy, 10
# Dunlap, Nancy M., 16
# Dunlap, Nancy Wharton, 42
# Dunlap, Susannah, 12
# Dunlap, Talitha, 11
# Dunlap, Thomas J, 17
# Fancher, Alexander, 45
# Fancher, Christopher, 5
# Fancher, Eliza Ingrum, 32
# Fancher, Frances "Fanny" Fulfer,
# Fancher, Hampton, 19
# Fancher, James Mathew, 25
# Fancher, Margaret A., 7
# Fancher, Martha, 10
# Fancher, Mary, 15
# Fancher, Robert, 19
# Fancher, Sarah G., 7
# Fancher, Thomas, 14
# Fancher, Triphenia D, unknown
# Fancher, William, 17
# Huff, Elisha,
# Huff, Peter, unknown
# Huff, Saladia Ann Brown,
# Huff, William
# Huff, Possible unknown son [Likely a Dunlap child listed in fate unknown - evidence of guardianship by head of household]
# Jones, Eloah Angeline Tackitt, 27
# Jones, John Milum, 32
# Jones, Newton
# Jones, Possible unknown daughter [Likely a Dunlap child listed in fate unknown - evidence of guardianship by head of household]
# Jr., Jesse Dunlap, 39
# McEntire, Lawson A., 21
# Miller, James William, 9
# Miller, Josiah (Joseph), 30
# Miller, Matilda Cameron, 26
# Miller, ?, 12 (possibly 14)
# Mitchell, Charles R., 25
# Mitchell, Infant (possible) [Unsure if child had died prior to massacre]
# Mitchell, Joel D., 23
# Mitchell, John,
# Mitchell, Sarah C. Baker, 21
# Prewit, John, 20
# Prewit, William, 18
# Tackitt, Armilde Miller, 22
# Tackitt, Cynthia, 49
# Tackitt, Emberson Milum, unknown
# Tackitt, James M, 14 (It is possible that this was Jones M, and that he was 12, but they are most likely the same person.)
# Tackitt, Marion, 20
# Tackitt, Matilde, 16
# Tackitt, Sebron, 18
# Tackitt, Pleasant, 25
# Tackitt, William Henry, unknown
# Valentine, Vincent, 21
# Wood, Solomon R., 38
# Wood, William Edward, 26

Children who were returned to live with relatives

Seventeen small children, all under the age of seven, survived the Mountain Meadows massacre. Two years after the Massacre, the orphans were returned to their families. These children were: Mary Elizabeth, Sarah Frances and William Twitty Baker, the children of George and Minerva Baker; Rebecca, Louisa and Sarah Dunlap, the daughters of Jesse and Mary Dunlap; Prudence Angeline and Georgia Ann Dunlap, the daughters of Lorenzo and Nancy Dunlap; Christopher and Tryphenia Fancher, the children of Alexander and Elizabeth Fancher; Nancy Sophronia Huff, the daughter of Peter and Saleta Huff; Felix Marion Jones, the son of John and Eloah Jones; John Calvin, Mary and Joseph Miller, the children of Josh and Matilda Miller; and Emberson Milum and William Henry Tackitt, the sons of Pleasant and Armilda Tackitt. [ Bagley pp. 239-242 Also see: Inscription on 1990 Mountain Meadows Monument [http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/inmemory.htm] ]
# Baker, Mary Elizabeth, 5
# Baker, Sarah Frances, 3
# Baker, William Twitty, 9 months
# Dunlap, Georgia Ann, 18 months
# Dunlap, Louisa, 4
# Dunlap, Prudence Angeline, 5
# Dunlap, Rebecca J., 6
# Dunlap, Sarah E., 1
# Fancher, Christopher "Kit" Carson, 5
# Fancher, Triphenia D., 22 months
# Huff, Nancy Saphrona, 4 (Huff is prominently featured in the documentary "")
# Jones, Felix Marion, 18 months
# Miller, John Calvin, 6
# Miller, Joseph, 1
# Miller, Mary, 4
# Tackitt, Emberson Milum, 4
# Tackitt, William Henry, 19 months

Fate unknown or evidence of survivorship in Utah Territory or Wyoming

# Dunlap, Lorenzo Dow, 42
# Dunlap, John H.,16
# Dunlap, Mary Ann, 13
# Dunlap, Talitha Emaline, 11
# Dunlap, Mary Ann, 9
# Dunlap, Thomas J., 17
# Dunlap, Nancy M., 16
# Dunlap, James D., 14
# Dunlap, Susannah, 12 [May be same person as Lucinda Dunlap]
# Dunlap, Lucinda, 12 [May be same person as Susannah Dunlap]
# Dunlap, Margerette, 11
# Dunlap, Nancy, 9
# Dunlap, America Jane, 7
# Tackitt, Cynthia, 49
# Tackitt, Marion, 20
# Tackitt, Armilda Miller, 22
# Tackitt, Sebron, 18
# Tackitt, Matilda, 16
# Tackitt, James, 14
# Tackitt, Jones M., 12

Aftermath

United States Army officer James Henry Carleton was sent to investigate the massacre and was convinced that the Mormons were the perpetrators, most probably with the agreement of Young. The murdered members of the wagon train (known as the Fancher Party) were left unburied. Some of these children, who had seen their families killed, recalled seeing white men dressed as Paiute among the attackers. Carleton examined the scene of the massacre and was convinced that the Paiute had played a minimal role, and that the attack had been planned and executed by the Mormons. The remains of about forty people were found and buried and Carleton had a large cross made from local trees, the transverse beam bearing the engraving, "Vengeance Is Mine, Saith The Lord: I Will Repay" and erected a cairn of rocks at the site. A large slab of granite was put up on which he had the following words engraved: "HERE 120 MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE MASSACRED IN COLD BLOOD EARLY IN SEPTEMBER, 1857. THEY WERE FROM ARKANSAS."

For two years the monument stood as a warning to those travelling the Spanish Trail through Mountain Meadow. In 1861, Young brought an entourage to Mountain Meadows and had the cairn and cross destroyed. As his men took the cairn apart, Young is reported to have said, "Vengeance is mine and I have taken a little". [Sally Denton (2003). "American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadowns, September 1857" (New York: Vintage Books, ISBN 0375726365) p. 210.]

Notes

External links

* [http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=129 Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mountain Meadows Massacre]