Circleville Massacre

Circleville Massacre
Part of The Black Hawk War
Location	Circleville, Utah
Coordinates	38°10′18″N 112°16′28″W
Date	April 21, 1866
Target	Koosharem band of Southern Paiute people
Attack type	Mass murder
Weapons	Blunt weapons, knives, guns
Deaths	27 (children, women, and men)
Perpetrators	Members of the LDS Church
Motive	Paranoia towards Native American people during the Black Hawk War

The Circleville Massacre was an 1866 lynching of 27 Southern Paiute Native American men, women, and children by members of Mormonism's largest denomination the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Circleville, Utah.

Background

By 1866, Mormon and Native American confrontations were heated. Church officials ordered to have the Paiutes disarmed. Black Hawk and his band had killed many during the year before while defending their rights to their land. A determined camp of Koosharem Southern Paiutes remained in Circle Valley (Box Creek, now called Circleville), trying to be friendly with the LDS settlers. However, the LDS colonizers felt that they were in danger, as some other Native groups were fighting back and White settlers felt danger was imminent.

Impetus

On April 21, 1866, an express from Fort Sanford reached Circleville, Utah telling of a Paiute who pretended to be friendly had shot and killed a white man belonging to the militia stationed at the nearby fort. The people of Circleville were told to protect themselves against the Native Americans who were camped in their valley. Upon receipt of this information, the people of Circleville called a town meeting. After much discussion, it was decided that they should arrest all the Paiutes that were camped nearby and bring them to Circleville for confinement.

The massacre

Every able-bodied man in the town set out to take custody of the Native American camp, and they surrounded the camp at night. James T. S. and Bishop William Jackson Allred went to the Native American camp and persuaded the Native Americans to come to a meeting at Circleville. They told the Native Americans that they had received a letter and they wanted to have it read to them. All of the Native Americans agreed willingly to go to Circleville with the men, except one young Native American warrior who refused to go and began to shoot at the posse. The posse returned fire, killing the young man. The rest of the Native Americans were then taken at gunpoint to Circleville and the letter was read to them. The Native Americans were told that they were to be retained as prisoners.

The Native Americans were taken into custody and placed in the meeting house that night under guard. The captured Native Americans, 26 in all, displayed much unrest. On the evening of the following day, some of the Native Americans were able to cut themselves loose from their bindings to escape. Guards shot and killed two Native Americans who were attempting an escape. The remaining imprisoned Native Americans were moved to an underground cellar. In a subsequent town meeting, the settlers decided to kill the remaining imprisoned Native Americans. The Native Americans were led out of the cellar, totaling 24 people, including men, women, and children. They were struck on the back of the head to stun them and then their throats were slit, leaving them to bleed to death. Two young boys and girl prisoner managed to escape before execution.

Aftermath

Koosharem Southern Paiute people in 1905. Jimmy Timmican kneeling on the far right in this 1905 photo in Koosharem, Utah gave a secondhand account of the massacre he'd heard from his father, which was carved on a stone monument to the victims in 2016.

The following day, the three children were found in a nearby cave and taken by James Allred to Marysvale. Allred intended to sell or make a trade for the children. The little girl was killed by a violent bludgeoning. While the fate of one of the boys is unknown, the other Allred took him to Spring City. There, Allred spoke with Peter Monson to offer the boy for sale. A deal was struck for a horse and bushel of wheat in exchange for the boy. The boy lived in a tool shed and was welcomed because he befriended Peter Monson's daughter who had been disfigured by burns to her face. Peter and Bertha Monson then adopted the boy and named him David Monson. In 2016, on the 150-year anniversary of the massacre a monument was dedicated in the town park to remember the Native Americans murdered nearby.

David Monson

Monson couldn't read or write other than being taught to sign his name. Most pronunciations of the name Monson came out as "Munson" or "Munsen". David married Laura Jensen and together they had 8 children. 4 daughters and 4 sons. One day David went to Salt Lake City for the day, taking his son David Leonial with him. On the spur of the moment he took a ride to Wyoming (looking for work as a sheep shearer and cutting railroad ties) leaving his 12-year-old son alone in Salt Lake City. He left his young son with no money, no transportation, and no way to get back to Mt. Pleasant. David Leonial made the 300-mile trek home through a series of hitchhiked rides and walking. David Leonial never saw or heard from his father again. He was known in Wyoming as "Indian Dave" Monson and died while cutting railroad ties in 1925 and estimated as about 60 to 65 years old. He is buried at Saratoga, WY. He sent no financial support, made no contact, or any attempt at communication with his wife or children for the rest of his life. Davids' oldest son (also named) David Leonial Monson had two sons. The oldest (also being named) David Peter was, until his death in 2017 at age 90, the oldest living member of the Koosharem Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe. Indian Dave Monson's second oldest son (Arthur LeRoy) was erroneously named Munsen on his headstone after being killed in a coal mining accident.

See also

• Battle Creek massacre
• Fountain Green massacre
• Nephi massacre
• Provo River massacre