Aiken massacre (Utah) explained

Aiken massacre
Location:Nephi area of the Sevier River; Willow Creek, Mona; and Warm Creek Hot Springs area of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States
Target:
  • Murdered: John Aiken (25), Thomas L. Aiken (27), John Achard (33), Andrew Jackson Jones, and Horace Bucklin
  • Escaped: John Chapman
Date:November 25 and 28, 1857
Type:False imprisonment then mass lynching
Fatalities:5
Perpetrators:Brigham Young, Porter Rockwell, Wild Bill Hickman, Jacob G. Bigler, Sylvanus Collett, John S. Lott, John R. Murdock, and George Dalton
Motive:

The Aiken massacre was an 1857 lynching in central Utah of five Californian travelers reportedly at the orders of top leaders in Mormonism's largest denomination the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[1] [2] [3] The victims were apprehended on trumped up charges of spying, imprisoned, then murdered, though two escaped with injuries, but were killed two days later.[4] [5] [6] This occurred two months after the Mountain Meadows massacre and was part of the impetus for the Utah War (1857–1858).[4] [7]

In 1877 Porter Rockwell and Wild Bill Hickman were indicted for the massacre.[8] [9] In his confession, Hickman stated that after Bucklin ("Buck") had escaped the murder attempt that territory governor and top church president Brigham Young ordered him to finish the job.[1] [10] [11] According to historian John G. Turner it is likely Young was involved in the death of four of the party members, along with a trader Richard Yates a month before.[2] The Aiken massacre's name comes from the brothers Thomas and John Aiken of the group who were killed.[4] [12]

Notes and References

  1. Bigler . David L. . 2007 . The Aiken Party Executions and the Utah War, 1857–1858 . . . Oxford, England . 38 . 4 . 457, 474 . 10.2307/25443606 . 0043-3810. 25443606 . [The Aiken massacre] exposes the condition that led to the Mountain Meadows massacre and Brigham Young's autocratic leadership. ... The Aiken party murders, ordered by Mormon leaders ... are also a haunting reminder of the fear and desperation millenialist Mormons felt, and the absolute power Brigham Young exerted over the lives of all who entered the territory. ... In his confession, Mormon gunman William A. Hickman matter-of-factly described [how] Brigham Young called him to his office about that time and said: 'The boys have made a bad job of trying to put [Horace Bucklin] out of the way.' It was up to the feared Mormon executioner, Young allegedly said, 'to get him out of the way, and use him up.'.
  2. Book: Turner. John G.. Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet. 20 September 2012. . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 978-0-674-04967-3. 1st. registration. Internet Archive. 284–285. Given [Homer] Brown's comment it seems probable that [Brigham] Young sanctioned their [the Aiken party's] deaths. ... William Hickman later claimed to have shot [Horace Bucklin] at Young's behest .... In addition to his likely complicity in the deaths of four members of the Aiken party, Young sanctioned the murder of Richard Yates, a trader .....
  3. Book: Bancroft . Hubert Howe . Hubert Howe Bancroft . Bates . Alfred . 1889 . Chapter XIX: The Utah War . History of Utah, 1540–1886 . https://archive.org/details/historyofutahhowe26bancrich/page/562/mode/1up . The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft . XXVI . San Francisco . History Company . 4694895. Internet Archive. 562–563.
  4. Bigler . David L. . 2007 . The Aiken Party Executions and the Utah War, 1857–1858 . . . Oxford, England . 38 . 4 . 457–476 . 10.2307/25443606 . 0043-3810. 25443606 . subscription.
  5. Book: Keenan, Jerry . The Terrible Indian Wars of the West: A History from the Whitman Massacre to Wounded Knee, 1846–1890 . April 27, 2016 . . 978-1-4766-2310-8 . 379–380 . Google Books.
  6. Book: Bigler . David L. . The Mormon Rebellion: America's First Civil War, 1857–1858 . Bagley . Will . October 22, 2014 . . 978-0-8061-8396-1 . 235 . Google Books.
  7. Book: MacKinnon, William P. . At Sword's Point, Part 1: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858 . October 27, 2016 . . 978-0-8061-5726-9 . 316. Google Books.
  8. Book: Hall, Roger A. . Performing the American Frontier, 1870–1906 . August 16, 2001 . . 978-0-521-79320-9 . 93, 228 . Google Books.
  9. Book: Kelly . Charles . Holy Murder: The Story of Porter Rockwell . Hoffman . Birney . November 22, 2019 . Pickle Partners Publishing . 978-1-83974-043-5 . 120. Google Books.
  10. Book: Schindler, Harold . Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder . 1983 . . 978-0-87480-204-7. Google Books. limited.
  11. Book: Hickman, William . Brigham's Destroying Angel: Being the Life, Confession, and Startling Disclosures of the Notorious Bill Hickman, the Danite Chief of Utah . June 2009 . . 1872 . 978-1-4290-1975-0 . Bedford, Massachusetts . 128 . Google Books.
  12. News: October 15, 1878 . The Aikens Murder Trial . 2 . . University of Utah. Higher quality image available here.

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