Mountain Meadows Massacre graves found

An archaeologist said he may have found the two mass grave sites that hold the bodies of men, women and children murdered at the Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857.

Everett Bassett, an archaeologist from California, said he discovered the two graves sites around August of 2014.

After speaking with decedents of the victims, he eventually presented his findings on Sept. 12 at the Mountain Meadows Massacre Foundation’s meeting in Harrison, Arkansas.

Bassett said he had been aware of the massacre story and after reading Army documents from 1859 about the burials and visiting the site previously thought to hold the graves, he determined the current burial locations were incorrect.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bought 800-plus acres of land where the massacre occurred and erected a monument in 1990 to the victims.

The property bought by the church was also believed to house the two graves sites as well.

Phil Bolinger, Mountain Meadows Massacre Foundation president, said the LDS Church had told the foundation that there would not be much left of the erected graves on the property due to damage and erosion over the years.

“We never actually believed that,” Bolinger said. “We knew that the military built a sepulcher or cairn and that they were still out there.”

Using the Army records, Bassett was able to locate the California/Old Spanish Trail, which led him to a piece of private property that is not owned by the LDS Church. Bassett said the massacre site is correct but after comparing the historic records to the LDS-owned property, he realized the two alleged burial locations were marked in the wrong places.

“I was looking around and realized I was actually standing on top of this massive pile of rocks down in this ravine,” Bassett said. “The measurements taken by the Army were so accurate that when I followed the map using surveying equipment I was like 2 feet from it.”

Bassett said it only took him about 20 minutes to find the grave site.