Did Brigham Young Order the Aiken Massacre & The Murder of Richard Yates & Others?

[Anonymous Mormon]

I am just finishing the book Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet by John Turner. In it, he claims that Brigham Young ordered the Aiken Massacre and the Murder of Richard Yates:

Quote

 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 ....

You can see more information here on the Aiken Massacre website on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiken_massacre

You can also see how on this Wikipedia page for Bill Hickman it matter-of-factly claims that Young ordered him to kill them:

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Hickman was involved in the Aiken massacre of five travelers in 1857 when he killed Horace Bucklin under direct orders from Young.^[5]

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickman}

 

However, I cannot find a lot more information on this. Most of the claims on Wikipedia and in the book seem to stem from this paper written in 2007:
Bigler, David L. (2007). "The Aiken Party Executions and the Utah War, 1857–1858". Western Historical Quarterly

But it is not publicly available outside of the first page, so I can't tell how accurate or biased it is (although the first page definitely has some strong negative tones towards the church).

And beyond this, most of the claims seem to stem from quotes from Bill Hickman in this book:
Beadle, John Hanson (1904). Brigham's Destroying Angel: Being the Life, Confession and Startling Disclosures of the Notorious Bill Hickman, Danite Chief of Utah
https://archive.org/details/destroyibrighams00hickrich/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater

However, this book from John Beadle appears to be highly inaccurate & sensationalized, so I hardly feel like its claims should be considered credible.

So I am curious, is the root of the source of Brigham Young ordering a massacre of 6 people on Wikipedia, that it appears in the Turner BY Biography (a very legitimate book), which quotes from a journal in 2007 (which is fairly credible), which quotes from a 1904 book that is not at all credible that gives a quote from Hickman, who is likely lying? Is this just a case of white-washing sources through various peer reviewed sources?

Or is there more to this? What evidence is there that Brigham Young ordered murders or massacres of these individuals or others? And if he did, was it of people who were wanted criminals that as the governor of a territory Brigham Young had the right to order his justices of the peace to take action on (just like would happen in other territories)?

Any and all accurate information and sources on this are welcome.

(note: I am not interested in digging through the Mountain Meadows Massacre unless there is information outside of Turley's work that I am familiar with, as he does an exhaustive job of research and found no credible evidence that BY ordered this. I am interested in these other 'murders' and 'massacres').

[Calm]

Did you check the BH Roberts Foundation?  Always one of my first stops these days.  Looks like there are four relevant sources listed.  Hopefully they come up at the top with this link (don’t know if it resets or not):

https://bhroberts.org/archive?prod_records[query]=aiken&prod_records[range][ts_start]=-3565875604%3A-2871651605

[Calm]

49 minutes ago, Anonymous Mormon said:

However, I cannot find a lot more information on this. Most of the claims on Wikipedia and in the book seem to stem from this paper written in 2007:
Bigler, David L. (2007). "The Aiken Party Executions and the Utah War, 1857–1858". Western Historical Quarterly

This has some quotes from the paper.  Looks like there is no direct evidence, but the quote seems to indicate that Bigler assumed there was enough indirect evidence to implicate Brigham:

Quote

History has not preserved for us the command in the governor’s own hand. But as Bigler puts it on circumstantial evidence, “an authority at Great Salt Lake made a considered decision to allow two of the men to remain at large over the winter and kill the other four. Such an authority could only have been Brigham Young.”

https://www.executedtoday.com/2018/11/25/corpses-strewn-the-aiken-party-massacre/

[Calm]

A LDS review of Bigler’s book Forgotten Kingdom that suggests some caution in reading him.

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3422&context=byusq

 

 

Edited May 11, 2025 by Calm

[Calm]

Another review from an LDS perspective:

https://scripturecentral.org/archive/periodicals/journal-article/-awful-tale-blood-theocracy-intervention-and-forgotten-kingdom

Quote

While Bigler’s conversational style, occasional mention of admirable actions by certain individual Mormons, and nods to Brigham Young’s leadership genius make the book read like congenial local history, its focus and interpretive methods pass a strong critical judgment on the Mormon experience. Forgotten Kingdom portrays the tiny “Mormon Kingdom” as an illegal conspiratorial pseudogovernment in need of reconstruction into proper American ways by the firm hand of benevolent federal intervention (see p. 364). Following the lead of nineteenth-century commentators and twentieth-century scholars such as Thomas Alexander and Leo Lyman, Bigler’s approach of conceptualizing the period of 1847-96 as that of a theocracy in conflict with federal reformers is not without merit.¹ However, Bigler’s thesis that the “Americanization of Utah” was a step ahead for “individual freedom and self-rule” is perplexing in the light of Mormons’ great loss of religious freedom, civil rights, and self determination during the era this book covers. These losses established legal precedents used to restrict the civil rights of others as well.² Fully understood, it is difficult to imagine how the tragic nineteenth-century federal campaign against Latter-day Saints has in any way advanced American liberties or civil government.

Quote

Bigler claims that previous historians, presumably LDS ones, have been “too close to the events [of Utah history] to treat them without bias” (p. 16). If this is the case, Bigler does not correct bias so much as invert it. Below, I focus on five of several possible key ex-amples where Forgotten Kingdom’s assertions apply a seemingly inequitable bias or go contrary to established understandings of well-scrutinized historical patterns. In every instance, Bigler’s interpretive choices paint an unfavorable portrait of Latter-day Saints.

Quote

 

Forgotten Kingdom seems to display a problematic interpretive bias in the opposing ways in which it interprets specific similar historical events. In cases where Mormon actions might seem questionable, the worst possible interpretations are often given and Mormons are condemned. In cases where the actions of federal officials might seem questionable, the best possible motives are often assumed and Bigler provides friendly justification. Below are a few examples.

 

If this review is an accurate portrayal of Bigler’s book or even half accurate, then I would have a hard time trusting any of his conclusions that are based on indirect or circumstantial evidence.

Edited May 10, 2025 by Calm

[webbles]

1 hour ago, Anonymous Mormon said:

However, I cannot find a lot more information on this. Most of the claims on Wikipedia and in the book seem to stem from this paper written in 2007:
Bigler, David L. (2007). "The Aiken Party Executions and the Utah War, 1857–1858". Western Historical Quarterly

But it is not publicly available outside of the first page, so I can't tell how accurate or biased it is (although the first page definitely has some strong negative tones towards the church).

You can create a free jstor account and read it.  I went through the document and it mentions that there 5 murders in 3 different locations (2 south of Springville, 2 north of Springville a few days later, and 1 later on).  The one that Hickman was involved with is the last one and all the sources come from Brigham's Destroying Angel.

He doesn't definitely link the earlier 4 murders to Brigham Young.  But the last part, he hints really strongly.  One of the travelers (there were 6 original travelers) had written a letter to Brigham for leniency.  It appears this person survived; Bigler indicates that there is nothing about this person after he arrives.  So, if Brigham allowed 1 of the party to survive, that indicates that Brigham was involved in the murders of the other 5 (per Bigler).

Bigler also compares the murders with the Mountain Meadow Massacre and feels that the Aiken murders show that Brigham had to have been involved with MMM.  He feels it unlikely that the two were completely independent.

Here's a few quotes from the end:

Quote

In her classic work on the massacre at Mountain Meadows, Juanita Brooks argued
that more than fifty southern Utah settlers became so emotionally unhinged by war
fever and the reformation that they were driven on their own to murder sixty or more
women and children. However unconvincing this idea may be, it tells little about the
Aiken party murders, which reflect a calculated decision, reached over three weeks of
interrogation, to execute four of the intruders and allow the other two to remain at
large over the winter.

Nor can it be said, as it often is of the Mountain Meadows atrocity, that Brigham
Young knew nothing about the Aiken party executions. Horace Bucklin wrote his
petition for mercy directly to Young and his letter can be found in the Mormon leader's
papers. It is also most unlikely that the notorious assassin, William A. Hickman, who
did not know his victim, murdered the unfortunate "Buck" for reasons of his own. To
the contrary, the episode and other crimes during this time, cited above, reflect Young's
leadership style

 

[Tacenda]

Not that great to know, sadly.

[Nevo]

On 5/10/2025 at 12:12 PM, Anonymous Mormon said:

What evidence is there that Brigham Young ordered murders or massacres of these individuals or others? And if he did, was it of people who were wanted criminals that as the governor of a territory Brigham Young had the right to order his justices of the peace to take action on (just like would happen in other territories)?

Regarding the Yates murder:

Richard Yates was a mountaineer and trader who had a substantial supply of gunpowder and ammunition that Brigham Young wanted, as Utah had no capacity to manufacture gunpowder.

On 18 August 1857, Brigham Young's agent at Fort Supply (near Fort Bridger) wrote to Young: "Yeates a mountaineer has just arrived on the Green River with 4 wagons loaded with Indian Goods Powder Lead & [percussion] caps sugar & coffee—he is purposing going to the Utes to traid it, we are getting a long first rate with them. But we can see that most of the Mountain Men are after the money and are not for us but against us and will be on hand to render the soldiers all the aid they can." (Isaac Bullock to Brigham Young, 18 August 1857, CR 1234 1, CHL).

On 7 September, Brigham Young wrote to Lewis Robson at Fort Bridger: "We trust that you have secured that Ammunition. . . . Enclosed you will find authority for taking possession of all the property of Yates & Co—We do not wish you to use this authority without you know or can prove that they have been selling or giving liquor to the Indians [illegible] unless they refuse to compromise the terms of which you are at liberty to dictate—perhaps when they find that they are liable to have their property including their wagons cattle horses &c every thing confiscated they will be willing to compromise fairly. We leave this with you."

On 3 October, George A. Smith recorded that Yates was refusing to sell to the Mormons ("propositions were made to him for lead, powder and blankets in his possession, favorable terms were offered but he would not accede to them").

On 15 October, Daniel H. Wells, head of the Nauvoo Legion, and apostles Taylor and Smith wrote to Young: "Yates is a prisoner in the hands of Col. [Thomas] Callister at Bridger, having been passing to and from the enemy's camp (and it is believed) as a spy. According to his own statement the [U.S.] troops have got his ammunition. . . . He is a mountaineer, and has sold out to the Government."

On 16 October, Young instructed Wells: "I advise that no mountaineer be let go at large whose operations are against us, or who are in favor of our enemies. Bishop Callister has an undoubted right to cut off those whom he cant fellowship." This message reached Wells on the morning of 17 October.

On 18 October, Wells reported to Young: "We send Yates on the road to the City, a prisoner in charge of Wm. Hickman."

Lieutenant Hickman bludgeoned Yates to death that night while he slept and buried him under the ashes of the campfire.

Historian William P. MacKinnon records what happened next: "Within days, rumors of Richard E. Yates's fate had drifted into both Salt Lake City and the Utah Expedition. A week later, presumably aware of Yates's death, Brigham Young's concern was the disposition of his property rather than a gubernatorial inquiry into the murder: 'Yates & partner have sold them [the army] beef oxen, ammunition &c therefore take and keep what you can find belonging to them, keeping an accurate account of the same. Use the blankets and clothing as well as beef and other supplies as needed for the boys, also keeping an accurate account of each issue'" (MacKinnon, At Sword's Point, Part 1: A Documentary History of the Utah War, 301).

A year later, on 14 October 1858, a member of the Utah Expedition, Captain Albert Tracy, recorded in his journal a conversation he had with an old woman in Springville: "'Then,' said she, 'there was Yates, that sold the regulars the powder at Green River, last fall, and afterwards tried to leave. He disappeared—'went up the pocket of the Lord,' we call it—and Bill Hickman—one of the 'Destroyers'—passed through this very town, wearing the overcoat of Yates and riding his bay pony.'" Tracy then added: "Thus the riddle of the man who left the command of [Captain] Marcy, on our return march from the expedition to Green River, was solved. There could be, as there really is, no further doubt as to his fate. Hickman, who was also at one time in our camp by Ham's Fork is noted as one of the most villainous and merciless of all the gang of 'Destroying Angels' in their work of freeing themselves of enemies."

After his indictment but prior to the appearance of Brigham's Destroying Angel co-written with anti-Mormon editor J.H. Beadle, Hickman gave his side of the story to a newspaper reporter. As William MacKinnon notes, "this material is worth considering because of its greater spontaneity and freedom from Beadle's editorial influence": 

Quote

Correspondent—Were you a member of the band of Mormons called Danites, or Destroying Angels?

Hickman—There never was such a band here with the duty laid on them of cutting off all persons supposed to be be unnecessary to the peace and happiness of the Mormon community; but Brigham had his "confidential men," of whom I was one. And whenever any suspicious-looking or acting character appeared in our midst, the president would send for me, or one of the others—Rockwell, Burton, Kimball, and so on—and say, "Hickman, take care of that man;" and he was straightway "cared for," the "job" reported on and approved. These "confidential men" acted separately, and under strict orders to tell no man; so that I have full knowledge of only those crimes in which I took a direct part.

C.—Will you tell me the story of the Yates murder, for which you and the others are indicted?

H.—Yates was a man whom I had known in Missouri, and who brought from St. Louis several thousand dollars worth of arms, ammunition, &c., and halted in the Green River country in 1857 to trade with the Indians. I was at his place frequently and travelled with him some. Brigham tried to buy his powder, but he refused to sell it, as it would spoil his traffic with the Indians, unless Brigham would buy his whole outfit. This he declined to do. Not long afterwards Brigham learned that Yates had sold his powder to the United States troops in that region. I was then commissioned to bring the man into town before Brigham, who was also Governor of the Territory; but on my way in with him I was met by a son of Brigham's, who said his father didn't want that fellow brought to the city, but wished him "taken care of." I then turned back to the mouth of Echo canyon, where one Jones had a camp. There, in the night, while Yates was asleep on the ground, we killed him by knocking out his brains, dug a trench beside him and buried him; we scraped the camp fire on to the fresh dirt to conceal it. We took some $600 and a gold watch from his body. I and one of my men brought the spoils in to Brigham Young and laid them on his table with the remark that we had had a pretty hard night of it and would like a little of the money to have a little spree with. He replied that the money must go to pay the expenses of the war, and that after such deeds we must keep our heads clear.

("Brigham Young's Janissary. Interview with Bill Hickman...," New York World, 25 November 1871)

MacKinnon writes: "The dismissal of Hickman's accusations by Joseph A. Young, Daniel H. Wells, and Daniel W. Jones as the non-credible charges of an excommunicated, self-confessed murderer of no moral standing—a self-aggrandizing freelancer rather than an honorable soldier acting on orders—became the standard reaction on the Mormon side. . . . But the 1871 attack on Hickman's credibility about the events of 1857—an interesting somewhat ex post facto argument—is complicated if not clouded by the fact that Hickman was clearly in good standing with Brigham Young as the Utah War began. . . . it was Brigham Young who during 1857 used Hickman to spy on the Ambrose-Betts and Tobin-Peltro parties, commissioned him as a Legion officer, nominated him to Buchanan and Congress as Utah's U.S. attorney, called him to an active role with the Y.X. Carrying Company, used him to impugn Judge Drummond's character with newspaper editors, and offered to pay Hickman's personal debts. When Bill Hickman killed Richard Yates, if not later, he was one of Young's most trusted, frequently used agents" (MacKinnon, At Sword's Point, 312).

I suppose it's possible that Brigham Young was shocked (shocked!) to find out that Yates met his demise in Hickman's custody, but I rather doubt that he was such a poor judge of character.

Edited February 26 by Nevo

[webbles]

Bigler's essay does give a good amount of context on why the murders might have happened.

1. It was during the Utah War.  There was a lot of heightened worry.
2. these men came from the California side and had raced to catch up with a Mormon group that was traveling from Carson City to Utah.  They apparently did not get along well with the rest of the members of the group.  Shortly before reaching Brigham City, the group sent a rider ahead to alert the settlement of the 6 men.
3. The militia had been sent north from Brigham City to stop Col. Alexander from entering Utah through Bear River.
4. That left Brigham City with a small group of defenders who would have been on high alert.
5. The men were interviewed at Brigham City and the answers were evasive.  Here's a quote from a letter the interviewer sent to Brigham:

   Quote

   "W[h]ere are you going? Don't know. Are you going to the States? Don't know.
   Where Do you think of wintering? Don't know. How Long do you intend to stay in
   these valleys? Me and my Bro think of going to the States in the Spring as we have
   Relations there. Have any of you any here? No. Do you intend to work for your living
   here? No. Wages is to[o] low here. Is times bad in Calaforni made you Leave there? No.
   Well what induced you to come to this Place? O we wanted to see the country.

6. One of the men had a letter of recommendation to Col. Johnston (the leader of the US army) saying that he could be trusted to do what ever scheme was needed.  (This comes from a journal by one of the participants in the first 4 murders.)

In the heightened atmosphere, the way the party acted and the letter of recommendation probably triggered a lot of worry that they were spies.  And spies usually don't have a good lifespan in the middle of a war.

But, these men were captured around the beginning of November and then 4 (along with guards) were sent back to California using the south route (the one that has Mountain Meadows on it).  They were murdered at the end of November just south of Nephi.  That gives it a bit more calculated feel.  It wasn't a rushed trial (or a series of stupid mistakes like Mountain Meadows Massacre).  There was plenty of time to ask for direction from Brigham.  It is possible those guarding the 4 men took initiative by themselves, but they also were able to convince the Nephi settlers to help them (4 settlers were involved with the murders).  So it does feel like they had orders from someone.

[Kevin Christensen]

Concerning Webbles quote of the Bigler line that the Aiken murders "To the contrary, the episode and other crimes during this time, cited above, reflect Young's leadership style,"  does not word "style" suggest a pattern of behavior?  If that was the case, then how do we get from the picture of a ruthless and brutal Brigham Young to things like this, Nibley's "Brigham Young and the Enemy" which offers a very different pattern.  

https://archive.interpreterfoundation.org/nibley/pdf/Brigham-Young-and-the-Enemy-TheYoungDemocrat-B.pdf

Or this:

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/02/07/brigham-young-was-a-man-of-peace/

Or the several Nibley essays here including a detailed look at his leadership style.

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi/18/

Or the Brigham Young Priesthood Manual.

"Let us from this time forth live so as to create confidence in all men with whom we deal and come in contact; and treasure up each particle of confidence we obtain as one of the most precious possessions mortals can possibly possess. When by my good actions I have created confidence in my neighbor towards me, I pray that I may never do anything that will destroy it (DBY, 276).

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-brigham-young?lang=eng

When I read accounts by historians purporting to tell me of Brigham the Tyrant and Brute, I have a difficult time reconciling their pictures with the words I have read, and the effects of I seen of the life he led and the kinds of people he chose to lead at his side, and the kinds of children he raised and the nature of the community he shepherded.  And regardless of the number of footnotes or surmises about particular incidents offered by his critics, I always notice selectivity in sources, speculation about the significance of this or that source, reading between the lines, filling gaps in credibility, or the generality to be projected from some incident or source.  Ideology always has a part to play in interpretation and selection.  An eagerness to be seen as publicly facing and providing the worst does not translate to unquestionable reliability.

 And I never see in them the Brigham I see in Brigham's own words.  Nibley's essay on "Is There a Danite in the House?" in Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass is profoundly instructive.  

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi/93/

If the Aiken murders demonstrate a characteristic leadership style, where across the many decades of Brigham Young's very public service, do we find clear and abundant evidence across the decades showing that what happened there was just more typical Brigham? 

"All the army," said Brigham Young in 1860, "with all its teamsters and hangers-on,and followers, with the judges, and nearly all the rest of the civil officers, amounting to some seventeen thousand men, have been searching diligently for three years to bring one act to light that would criminate me; but they have not been able to trace out one thread or particle of evidence that would criminate me."  Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass, 695.  I have previously cited Nibley's report of the meetings between Judge Harding, eager to find anything he could use against Brigham, and the notorious Bill Hickman.  And Harding got nothing he could use from Hickman.  Six years later, along comes Beadle and works on Hickman's Confessions, and Nibley talks about that.  The court of public opinion, I notice, does not have the same rules of evidence as does the court of law.

FWIW,

Kevin Christensen

Tooele, UT

[Nevo]

4 hours ago, Kevin Christensen said:

And I never see in them the Brigham I see in Brigham's own words.

If you're only reading Nibley and laudatory Deseret News editorials, you're getting a pretty one-sided look at the man. The reality is that he was complicated, rather like the God of the Old Testament. He could be tender and merciful and also harsh and vindictive. He was a work in progress, like all of us. Good historians acknowledge this complexity and don't seek to whitewash his faults.

I quoted William P. MacKinnon earlier criticizing Young. For some balance, here he is praising him: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/brigham-young-as-pastor-compassion-and-mercy-during-the-utah-war-1857-1858/ 

 

[Kevin Christensen]

9 hours ago, Nevo said:

If you're only reading Nibley and laudatory Deseret News editorials, you're getting a pretty one-sided look at the man. The reality is that he was complicated, rather like the God of the Old Testament. He could be tender and merciful and also harsh and vindictive. He was a work in progress, like all of us. Good historians acknowledge this complexity and don't seek to whitewash his faults.

I quoted William P. MacKinnon earlier criticizing Young. For some balance, here he is praising him: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/brigham-young-as-pastor-compassion-and-mercy-during-the-utah-war-1857-1858/ 

 

I've not read only only lauditory accounts.  You did notice the line "When I read accounts by historians purporting to tell me of Brigham the Tyrant and Brigham the Brute...." 

I was addressing the disconnect between the picture they offer and the picture I see.  Not turning aside from the important process of "By proving contrarieties, truth is made manifest."

FWIW,

Kevin Christensen

Tooele, Utah