Identifying The 17
Children Who
Survived
The Mountain
Meadows Massacre
Note: The ages of
the children noted
here in brackets on Major
Carleton’s
Report, (and
also listed on the
Mountain Meadows
Monument), are
their ages at the
time of the
September 1857
Massacre. One
account states
there were 50
children on the
Train. No child
over the age of 6
survived the
Massacre. The
children were
taken into Mormon
households after
the Massacre, and
remained there for
almost two years.
When Major
Carleton saw them
in Utah, they
would have been
approximately 2
years older than
their noted ages.
From Major
Carleton’s Report:
"The little
children whom we
left this John D.
Lee distributing
at Hamblin’s house
after that sad
night, have at
length been
gathered together
and are now at
Indian Farm, 12
miles south of
Fillmore City, or
at Salt Lake City
in the custody for
Dr. Forney, United
States Indian
agent. They are 17
in number. Sixteen
of these were seen
by Judge
Cradlebaugh,
Lieutenant
Kearney, and
others, and gave
the following
information in
relation to their
personal identity,
etc. The children
were varying from
3 to 9 years of
age, 10 girls, 6
boys, and were
questioned
separately.
The first is a boy
named Calvin,
between 7 and 8
[John Calvin
Miller, 6];
does not remember
his surname; says
he was by his
mother [Matilda]
when she was
killed, and pulled
the arrows from
her back until she
was dead; says he
had two brothers
older than
himself, named
James [see below]
and Henry, and
three sisters,
Nancy, Mary [see
below] and Martha.
The second is a
girl who does not
remember her name.
The others say it
is Demurr.
[Georgia Ann
Dunlap, 18 mos.]
The third is a boy
named Ambrose
Mariam Tagit
[Emberson Milam
Tackitt, 4];
says he had two
brothers older
than himself and
one younger. His
father, mother,
and two elder
brothers were
killed, his
younger brother
[William Henry,
listed below] was
brought to Cedar
City; says he
lived in Johnson
County, but does
not know what
State; says it
took one week to
go from where he
lived with his
grandfather and
grandmother who
are still living
in the States.
The fourth is a
girl obtained of
John Morris, a
Mormon, at Cedar
City. She does not
recollect anything
about herself
[Mary Miller, 4
(see next
below)].
Fifth. A boy
obtained of E. H.
Grove
[Joseph Miller, 1,
whose older
brother, Calvin
(above)],
says that the girl
obtained of Morris
is named Mary and
is his sister.
The sixth is a
girl who says her
name is Prudence
Angelina
[Prudence
Angeline Dunlap,
5].
Had two brothers,
Jessie [Thomas J.,
17] and John (John
H., 16], who were
killed. Her
father’s name was
William [Lorenzo
Dow Dunlap], and
she had an Uncle
Jessie [Jesse
Dunlap].
The seventh is a
girl. She says her
name is Francis
Harris, or Horne,
remembers nothing
of her family
[Sarah Frances
Baker, 3].
The eighth is a
young boy, too
young to remember
anything about
himself
[Felix Marion
Jones, 18 mos.].
The ninth is a boy
whose name is
William W. Huff
[William Henry
Tackitt, 19 mos.].
The tenth is a boy
whose name is
Charles Fancher [Christopher
"Kit" Carson
Fancher, 5, who
was called Charley
by the Mormons.
Kit was probably 4
years old at the
time of the
Massacre, and 6
when he was
returned to his
relatives in
Arkansas in 1859.
See
Christopher Carson
Fancher.]
Kit Carson
Fancher was born
in 1853. At the
time author
Josiah H. Gibbs
spoke with Kit,
he was actually
6 years old,
which makes
Gibbs' account
of his age as 11
(below) rather
puzzling ~ even
if Gibbs does
note that Kit
was "small for
his age." Kit
did not have a
brother who
survived the
Massacre, so
Gibbs reference
to Kit's
"brother about 9
years old" could
be to one of the
other children
who survived.
Note From
Joshiah H.
Gibbs, who
personally spoke
with Kit in
1859:
("Note - Charles
Fancher was the
son of Capt.
Charles Fancher,
(should
be Capt.
Alexander
Fancher)
who was in
command of the
train, and was
11 years old. He
was small for
his age. He had
a brother about
9 years of age,
who was also
small for his
years, and
which, no doubt,
was the reason
for their escape
from the fate of
those who were
believed to be
over 8 years
old. Mormon
children are
baptised at 8
years, when,
from the Mormon
viewpoint, they
reach the age of
responsibility.
Thus it was that
the emigrant
children under 8
years were not
regarded by the
Mormon priests
as being
responsible for
the sins of
their parents,
who were
murdered in
obedience to the
endowment oath
to "avenge the
blood of the
(Mormon)
prophets and
martyrs." It was
from the lips of
Charley Fancher,
soon after his
arrival from the
vicinity of the
tragedy, that I
heard the first
story of the
massacre. In his
childish way he
said that "some
of the Indians,
after the
slaughter, went
to the little
creek, and that
after washing
their faces they
were white men."
During his stay
in Salt Lake
City I
frequently
played marbles
with Charley
Fancher on First
South, a half
block or so west
of Main street."
– Josiah F.
Gibbs, The
Mountain Meadows
Massacre,
published 1910.
Part 4.)
The eleventh is a
girl who says her
name is Sophronia
Huff
[Nancy Saphrona
Huff, 4].
The twelfth is a
girl who says her
name is Betsy
[Martha
Elizabeth Baker,
5].
The thirteenth,
fourteenth and
fifteenth are
three sisters
named Rebecca,
Louisa and Sara
Dunlap [Rebecca
J. Dunlap, 6;
Louisa Dunlap, 4;
Sarah E. Dunlap,
1].
These three
sisters were the
children obtained
of Jacob Hamblin.
I have no note of
the sixteenth
{Triphenia D.
Fancher, 22 mos,
who was called
Annie by the
Mormons. She was
born 18 November
1855, which made
her 22 months at
the time of the
Massacre.}
The seventeenth is
a boy who was but
six weeks old at
the time of the
massacre
[William Twitty
Baker, 9 mos.].
Hamblin’s wife
brought him to my
camp on the 19th
instant. The next
day they took him
on to Salt Lake
City to give him
up to Dr. Forney.
He is a pretty
little boy and
hardly dreamed he
had again slept
upon the ground
where his parents
had been murdered."
"Crooked Creek,
Arkansas
Apl 27, 1860"
Sir
As there is no
list of the names
of the survivors
of the Mountain
Meadow Massacre of
1857, which was
conveyed to their
relatives and
friends in
Arkansas. [They
are:]
Martha Elizabeth
Baker
Sarah Frances
Baker
William Twitty
Baker
Rebecca Dunlap
Louisa Dunlap
Sarah Ann Dunlap
Prudy Angeline
Dunlap
Georgeann Dunlap
Saphrona Huff
Christopher Carson
Fancher
Triphena Fancher
John Calvin Miller
Mary Miller
Josiah Miller
Felix Jones
Mariam [Milam]
Tackett
William Tackett
All of the above
is in the care of
their relatives
and friends in
Arkansas except
Saphrona Huff who
was taken by her
grandfather Brown
who lives in Miggs
Co. Tennessee to
Tennessee. There
was two of those
children wounded
in the battle.
Sarah Frances
Baker shot through
the left ear and
Sarah Ann Dunlap
shot through the
right arm and her
shoulder
dislocated having
no use of it and
much less than the
other. Those
children vary in
age from ten years
to four years old.
Also included you
will find a list
of the killed and
missing as far as
we can obtain
them. All of the
children that was
large enough to
recollect state
that they were
never in the
possession of the
Indians but kept
by the whites.
I am Yours,
Respectfully
WM. C. MITCHELL
Special Agt.
Hon. A. B.
Greenwood
Commissioner of
Indian Affairs
Washington City
D.C.
