John D. Lee Must Die

March 23, 1877

John D. Lee Must Die

March 23, 1877

John D Lee must die, and everyone knows why,

‘Tis an easy buy, Gentiles shouldn’t pry.

Twenty years it took ‘em, finally got their goat,

Now they pin a target upon his old black coat.

Set him on his coffin, his final words are said,

Soon it will be over, the Danite will be dead.

Atoning for the lives, a hundred and a score,

They’re just casualties of the Mormon War.

Johnson gave ‘em pardons knowin’ not the fact,

Had to pay a ransom to get the children back.

Higbee gave the order, duty did they do,

Priesthood shoots the men, no conscience to rue.

The wounded in a wagon, shot ‘em full of holes,

All of them dispatched, no stories will be told.

Can’t even leave a witness, call in their allies,

Indians get the rest, a-whoopin’ with war cries.

The women and the kids, won’t never tell the tale,

And Iron County’s Saints won’t never see no jail.

The cover-up is startin’, no one says a word,

Bones on Hamblin’s Ranch are scattered by the herd.

There’s gotta be some justice, someone’s gotta’ pay,

The Brethren do decide, that Lee is in the way.

Banished to the ferry on the Arizona Strip,

And if he’s charged, he’s never, ever gonna’ flip.

And back in Salt Lake City, there sits Brother B.

“No, it wasn’t me,” he points to John D. Lee.

Feds will hold a trial, jurors wont convict,

Then the Prophet issues his secret edict.

The final trial is set, Lee will pay the price,

Mormons on the jury not even thinkin’ twice.

They pull the wagon out, firin’ squad within,

John D. Lee will pay for all that saintly sin.

He looks them in the eye, as the bullets fly,

And everyone knows why John D. Lee must die.

LDT July 28, ‘21

     In September of 1857, a wagon train from Arkansas was ambushed by Mormon militia and their Native American allies at a place called Mountain Meadows in Southern Utah. The members of the train were persuaded to relinquish their arms and march to safety under escort. Upon Major Higbee’s command, “Do your duty!” the militia members turned and fired on the men they were paired with. At the same time a band of their Paiute allies attacked the women and older children. About 120 people were killed in the massacre. Nineteen children survived and were taken in by Mormon families. The Mormons were reimbursed for “ransoming” these children from the Indians in 1859.

     In recent years the LDS Church has gotten better at examining its history, warts and all.

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