Show uthe utah legislature will meet at the territorial I 1 ial house in this city on oil the second monday in december I 1 next at 10 A if incept in Capt hooper and col reese arrived on the ath just 25 days from california by the northern route met no mails saw no indians although it was reported that the indians had done much damage to the late emigrants a j j apt L C N ath 1853 DEAR BRO RICHARDS in the last number of the news the history of joseph smith is brought down to noy nor T aad 2nd 1838 it leaves him myself and others as prisoners in the hands bands of the enemy encamped on oil crooked brooked river on the way to independence jackson county couil tv MO under a strong guard commanded by rals lucas and wilson those thosa scenes bring to my mind a few incidents in tha life of our oar illustrious prophet and martyr of I 1 which I 1 was a personal witness and which perhaps have not yet found their way into the public history or records of the church As wo we arose and commenced our march on the morning of the 3rd ard nov joseph smith spoke to me and the other prisoners in a low but cheerful and confidential tone said he be of good cheer brethren i the word of the lord ca came n te to me last night ight that our I 1 lives should be giden us and that whatever we may I 1 suffer during this captivity not one olour of our lives should I 1 be taken 11 of this prophesy I 1 testify in the name of the lord and though spoken kenja in secret its public fulfil fulfill ment arid and tile miraculous escape of each one of us is too notorious to need my testimony aft after r our removal from independence to richmond ray county and our being delivered to gen gan dark clark we were placed by that general in charge of col I 1 sterling price now governor of the state of ML sou 1 ia ii if I 1 mistake not this said col price fries placed us its in a room without i beds chairs or any other convenience and chained seven of us all together with a kind of trace chain extending from one mans ankle to another and fastened round one ankle of each cach with a padlock in this situation wo wa ware guarded night and day by about ten men at a time lime who stood over us with loaded pistols iu iti wad at night we were all stretched on the floor in a row upon our backs and tried to sleep but the hard floor the cold and the iu inability ability to change oar position because of our chains and the noise of the tha guards effectually prevented sleep in ill ono ona of those tedious nights we had lain as if in in il ilsek ep tilt till tile hour of midnight had passed and our ors lars and hearts had boon baon pained while we had listened lor or hours to the obscene jests the horrid oaths tho dreadful Ire re adful blasphemies and filthy language of our bards col price at choir head as they recounted to uch ch other their deeds of rapine murder robber robbery y ditc itc c which they had committed among the imor mor tow sons while at far west and vicinity they even aasted of defiling by force wives daughters and lir tir gins and of shooting or dashing out the brains of nen women and children I 1 hid had listened till I 1 becam becaas 3 so disgusted shocked fied and so 30 filled with the spirit of indignant tt stice that I 1 could scarcely refrain from rising upon ny feet and rebuking the g gialds giards lards but had said nothing ID joseph or any one else although I 1 lay next to him ind knew he was awake on oil a sudden lie he arose to tia his feet and spoke in a a voice of thunder or aai ns the roaring lion uttering as near as I 1 can recollect the following words SILENCE ye fiends of the infernal pit in lit khz name 0 of if jesus christ I 1 rebuke yon io a and ad co command minand you om to be still I 1 will not live another minute aika and hear ear such lan aage cease such talk or you or I 1 die THIS MINUTE ha to speak he stood erect in terrible majesty nu josty chaid Chaia sd and without a weapon calm and dignified as an angel lie he looked down upon the quailing qu ailing guards whose weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground whose knees smote together and who shrinking into a corner or crouching at his bis feet begged liis his pardon and remained quiet till a chan change ae of guards I 1 have hava s arl the ini aistars of jus justice tico clothed in ma jest jemerial je serial erial robes and criminals arraigned before them while life was suspended upon a breath in the courts of england I 1 hava witness witnessed d a congress Con gresi iu in solemn session a essio n to give laws baws to natio n irions ns I 1 havo have tried to co conceive of kings of royal courts of thrones and crowns and of ass assembled ambled to decide the chef fate ite of kingdo kingdoms ins but dignity and majesty have I 1 soen seen but once as it stood in chains at midnight in a dungeon in an obscure 1 of missouri your brother P P PRATT kywe lay before e re our oar readers a report from libut E G beckwith Beckwi tb of the recent disaster that has befallen the cantral pacific ruil rail road surveying expedition under the late lamented capt C t gunnison as fol 1 VON i i A T I 1 I 1 I 1 W 7 A ap y I 1 I 1 W boar Y briciu 0 ar polito J alito note oky 1 estor a to C pt morris merls a large lar ga spasa in the t e a nel news ws 11 for commenia communia com communicating munia abing to the public uch such info matlon mation in relation toffie to survey of which the lamented capt gunnison hid aliaga charge at his cla darth and ot of his I 1 InAs sacre and by capt morris orris courteously referred to mo me upon whom tile the duties of the survey sarvey now n ow devolve is duly daly appreciated such matter of general interest relating to the country surveyed as I 1 1 am at liberty to communicate maintaining my duty to the general government of communicating to it for its disposal tile the facts upon its merits by itself or as compared toom pared with other sections of the country for the particular object to which the survey is directed I 1 think I 1 can only communicate with propriety iu in personal interviews with this object I 1 shall at any time take lake pleasure in conversing with mr richards to whom but for official clu dubbs I 1 should have paid ray my respects in person a day or two since and hope to be I 1 able to do it now at an early day i the te sad details of the massacre as known to lo our se selves ives or gathered from the men inen who escaped you will flud find below and are at liberty to use as you deem proper I 1 I 1 am sir air with much respect I 1 I 1 your very E G BECKWITH T teng eng the central pacific rail road surveying party encamped I 1 on the alt on oil the eastern bank of the sevier river some fifteen miles north of its entrance into the lake on the following morning capt J W gunnison topographical engineer with mr wm potter an experienced cautious cautions and resolute citizen of manti as his guide and acco accompanied by mr R H kern mr J creutzfeldt botanist john Bal fallows lows employee a corporal coro oral and six men as an all escort from capt morris morns command of mounted rifle men crossed to the west bank of the river and followed down it for the purpose of making a of the sevier lake which would occupy two days and rejoin the main body of the party on the following day ansome at some point on the river near its kanyon this portion of the escort under capt morris and of the surveying party under lt B beckwi chwi h having at capt Gunni sons request moved up the the river towards the kanyon immediately after cp G s departure where it was to make a sauce sance of an apparent passage to the west of the range of mountains through which the sevier here her e passes asses to the west side of utah lake whence nee it w was as cnown known to be practicable aule to this valley I 1 li r was also to examine tile the kanyon of the sevier river each party madu made a long match march breaking their roads through deep sands and dense fields of sage capt gunnison ell encamping about the middle of the afternoon having traveled 14 miles just at the head of the first lake the other party also after a march of 14 miles encamping on them the river a few miles below tile kanyon so BO that these parties were 28 miles apart that evening tile day had been cold and boi boisterous with occasional slight falls of snow but it was fol followed 1 owed by a clear cold quiet night capt Gunni sons camp was secluded while the wind was yet severe in a horse shoo bond bend of the river under its second bank and was nearly surrounded by willows at nearly thirty yards distant a sheltered nook from the storm with ing grass s for their horses the ne usual vigilance of night guards waa maintained maintained each of the party in turn performing that duty at the break brealy of 0 day the whole camp wa was s aroused and at once engaged in the morning duties of a camp I 1 preparatory to an early start atari for the party was that day to reach its most distant point of exploration for this season and between daybreak daybreak and sunrise the most of them were engaged in eating their breakfast when from the fatal willow shelters a numerous discharge of rifles and flight of arrows e crosses that devoted camp in all directions and the h hideous war whoop of a large band of savages rung out upon that hitherto silent plain at this fire one man only fell mortally wounded and captain gut gun nison ste stepping apin g from his tent raised his hands arid and I 1 called to his murderers that he was their friend but bat I 1 his call was wa of no avail the deadly fire still continued I 1 upon the first discharge 11 there was a general call to arms aims and a few shots were fired tile the neighboring indians report one of the band killed and I 1 another wounded but the surprise seems to have i been complete and the approach so close twenty I 1 or thirty yards under a perfect shelter shell er that it was impossible 1 ong to maintain the open s spot ot on which they had encamped the most of the maes horaces had stampeded at the first discharge and only thi three ee or four men succeeded in deachin reaching them and mounting the others seeking 3 safety on lot foot and f fell ell in or near their fatal fat a I 1 camp cam tile the caporal of the trl e escort succeeded in escaping 1 on his hia horse and hotly pursued rode him at the 1 top of his speed to the point where the party had separated here his horse failed I 1 but the indians bad given over the chase and he ran on foot the remainder of the distance 14 miles to the other caun camp of the party and at 1 11 1 and 30 min minutes ites ps came exhausted into camp barely able by a few broken sentences to communicate the f frightful ua intelligence thirty minutes subsequently ca capt pt morris and lt baker accompanied by mr potter brother of the slain led towards the fatal spot the he escort of mounted I 1 rifle riflemen irien all the man who could be armed and mounted accompanied by the surgeon dr a band scarcely larger than that already slain with the hope of rendering aid to the survivors should any remain rein dill of punishing tile the savage savidge band andoe and of rendering tile the last sad duties of humanity to those who were known to have fallen another of the party had bad arrived on his horse just as they were leaving and returned with capt moi ris command and two fiao others were met by him on the road one near camp his horse having fallen throwing him under some bushes where ne lay concealed cealey until he coald no longer hear bear the crew at the camp the indians being at times within a few feet of him until noon when they moved off and he be heard beard no more of them late in the af afternoon ter capt morris Morri party sparty arrived on the ground and found only a part of the bodies of the slain deathly silence surrounding them two indians however were seen at a distance and were pursued by lt baker and mr potter out dili the near approach of night enabled them effectually to escape but as all the bodies were not found hope yet lingered and a bright fire was wag kindled at dark that it might be seen and nd approached by any who might inight have escaped and the party bridle in hand took post ip in the open plain and watched all night in vain for their friends or enemies to approach but neither appeared and with the opening day the search was renewed tile the sad fate of all was soon real zed and their bodies zed oae of the arms of capt G was cu cut t affat off at the elbow and both those of mr mi creutzfeldt no in indians diakis could be found and without food for themselves and with broken down horses this paty party pa ty turned its steps to meet the party under lt beckwith with the train which was only guarded by its teamsters partially armed which hal had moved towards a common point f fir r meeting with morris morns party at the earliest ament tor for safety and f future operations erat ions mique parties partied ml ina the following evening after dark at cedar springs bat few of the instruments of the surveying party were lost ip ir this savage massacre afew animals ani malo a number of arms and considerable ammunition were all A f fw w aso also of the notes of the survey by capt gunnison himself forthe for the last jast two weeks of his operations hut hilt it is is hoped they may be recovered through the eberl exea lions ions of his excellency gov young who immediately dispatched mr huntington to the scene of the disaster I 1 to secure the he operation cooperation co of such f fi friendly indians as are known to be in in that nei neighborhood L I 1 mr call president Pies ident at fillmore mr mi snow and mr Richard Rich aids 4 on missions missions passing Fil fillmore linore at the time als operating cooperating co rendered the he party essential service in forwarding dispatches des patches to the general and territorial Gover governments ments in in attempting to reclaim the notes and instruments lost and in in f furnishing ing I 1 them supplies the party will winter in in this city bringing up its work as rapidly as the limited number of its members abers will permit permia and in in the spring will go on carrying out the instructions originally given to capt gunnison |