How LEE'S FERRY, AZ Got Its Name | The MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE, Utah

[@margaretarross1712]

This an exceptional film. You are to be commended for bringing our unforgettable Pioneer History back to life in the very places the participants once stood, in life and in death, with everything in between that made them immortal. Great job.

[@CactusAtlas]

Oh thank you so much! That means a lot to us. 😊

[@ridektm4224]

That was absolutely excellent. I’ve been to Lees Ferry at least four times and never bothered to hike back to the grove. Great coverage of the history. Thx for an excellent video!

[@CactusAtlas]

Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! 😄

[@keith9875]

Excellent work! I had visited Lee’s Ferry years ago and the temperature was at that time almost unbearable. Sadly, the first settlers would not have been able to enjoy sitting in the shade of those fruit trees for many more years to come. I appreciate that you were not to judgmental of those who were both victims and perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, we were not there and although there can be no justification for such horrendous acts, the details of exactly what happened during those days are known only to those who were there. They will stand before their God and be judged accordingly, as will we all be judged one day. Thank you, looking forward to more of your excellent videos.

[@CactusAtlas]

Precisely as you stated about facts about the past. As we often discover during research that information can conflict with each other as well as stories being lost to time. It's hard to gauge what happened, how things started, and who really felt a certain way. We certainly have opinions about things but TRY not to include them in videos where controversy is concerned as everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. 👍

[@gstiles7]

I know we all appreciate your hikes, but this mega history lesson was EPIC! Great video and I feel a little smarter 🤣

[@CactusAtlas]

They're our favorites to make. I just wish we had time to do them more often. 😊 Thanks so much!

[@SwiftyTravels]

I really appreciate the full historical story that you go through in your videos. What a story!😮 stunning area as well

[@CactusAtlas]

Aw, thanks, friend! Glad you enjoyed it! 😊

[@rustyhunt8896]

Wow, that was an incredible story! I was in Marble Canyon just 7 months ago and wish I had known about all the history. Great job telling the story. I will have to visit again.

[@CactusAtlas]

Thanks so much! Yeah, the history there is pretty deep when you look into it. More than just a beautiful area. Though the beauty is enough reason to go (or go again 😅)!

[@mitchellkrouth5083]

My house was built in 1947 has the same architectural no-nonsense very efficient building

[@SidetrackAdventures]

The Lee's Ferry area looks so amazing. I could sit there all day. The fort is in amazing condition for its age.

[@CactusAtlas]

Amazing views and just so much to do, right? It's easy to see why it is such a popular place. 😊

[@namaslay6866]

Instant sub! You have a knack for explaining things so well and a personality that is so happy and calm :)

[@CactusAtlas]

Thanks so much! Welcome aboard!😄

[@carolguezen5829]

Your videos are always so fascinating. You are a great storyteller and make history so interesting.

[@CactusAtlas]

Why thank you! 😊

[@richardbeee]

What an injustice. You and I know that it would take more than 9 people to attack a well defended wagon train that had just crossed the plains, suffering the hardships and attacks on the way. They should have rounded them all up. I believe there was a big cover-up on this whole matter. Starting at the top and worming itself down. What a travesty of justice.

[@sandidavis820]

I wholeheartedly agree. I joined their church and left when I found out the truth of just how evil their church was/is. It is a cult!!!

[@stustanski3912]

I'm a descendant of the Mountain Meadow Massacre and you are correct there was a huge cover up! John D. Lee was the only cult member than hung for this. It was a Mormon attack on Christians 100%. The Mormons blamed the Paiute's, B.S. nothing happened around there without Brigham Youngs orders. They wagon train that left from my family's ranch in Harrison Arkansas was very wealthy. It was the Baker, Fancher Party that was massacred on September 11 1857. The Mormons try to tell they're own fake story but only they believe it

[@HDPersonal777]

@@stustanski3912So sad! September 11th too?! What a “coincidence”.

[@koltoncrane3099]

Sandidavis People say Mormonism is a cult. But you can also argue Judaism and Christianity are cults that promoted polygamy and exact obedience back in the day. You’d literally be stoned or burned or drowned in Judaism or Christianity in the past. Maybe Judaism only stoned people but they did wipe out all of the people in the land of Canaan or was told to.

[@tpseeker3367]

Winner Winner chicken dinner! Another great tour by the World Infamous @CactusAtlas . Well there might not be much for water but on the bright side things Almost last longer than we will. What amazing scenery though. Oh wow Free Stuff with no strings attached. When you see fruit on the ground their ready to pick. That must have been the time when they started going to Mexico. Thanks for the Great Tour Glenn.

[@CactusAtlas]

Thank you so much! Kind of a shame that the fruit in the orchard wasn't ripe as it would have been fun to have a snack while there but what are you going to do. 😅

[@jameshouse1268]

This is a great overview of that area. We recently did the kayak trip from Glen Canyon Dam back down to Lee’s Ferry. It was fabulous! We took to heart your lessons of sunburn (from a previous video)!! It was interesting also to tour the old buildings on the River Trail and at Lonely Dell Ranch. BTW, if you continue on the trail past Lonely Dell, you will come to a settler’s cemetery. That was also very interesting. A diphtheria outbreak went through the settlement and many children and adults succumbed. Then a bit farther, is another curve of the Paria River. So much to explore in that area…we’ll be going back! Thanks for all of your very well done videos! I subscribed a while back and always look forward to next one! Take care always 😊

[@CactusAtlas]

DEFINITELY a lot to explore in that area. We'd love to go back as well. Awesome that you did the kayak trip! Really weird feeling going through Horseshoe Bend from the river, isn't it?

[@DJDeLeo1]

The buildings that are shown in the beginning of the video are where my great grandparents and my grandmother lived. Their names were Buck and Florence Lowery. They lived in the larger building (not the post office) back in 1927. My grandfather built the old Marble Canyon Lodge that you would see before you turn to go to Lee's Ferry.

[@CactusAtlas]

Oh wow! That's really cool! We actually recently stayed at the Marble Canyon Lodge! 😄👍

[@DovieRuthAuthor]

Thanks for an amazing episode. I have lots of Mormon family members and friends but they have never spoke of this. BTW, I stopped in St. George about ten years ago and stayed at a bed and breakfast called the Seven Wives. Loved it. Unfortunately, they were not able to financially survive COVID. Otherwise, that would have been a great episode for you.

[@CactusAtlas]

Well, that's a shame! Seems a lot of businesses didn't survive the past couple years. I bet it was a beautiful place.

[@DovieRuthAuthor]

@@CactusAtlas The two houses should still be there. Each bedroom was named after a different wife.

[@biggiemollzz]

Descendent of John D Lee here! He is my great great great grandfather. His youngest wife, Rachel and her sister (also a wife of John D Lee) operated the ferries. Rachel’s oldest son John Amasa Lee is my mother’s great grandfather. Lots of history of my family. Driving through the area now with my husband and found your video. Great job!

[@CactusAtlas]

Thanks so much! 👍

[@donvergas8022]

So John d Lee was married to 2 sisters???

[@Unintendedcompetence]

Back in the late 80's I knew Snick Lee while I was at Cal State -- he is probably your cousin -- and his Dad and Mom, Jack and Sammi Lee. Jack was one of the many grandsons of John D. Lee, ex-Mormon, of Lee's Ferry and the Mormon Mountain Massacre. He was 88 or 98 when I met him. Sammi was around the same age as Jack. Spent an excellent day at their home in Kingman, interviewing them, while they told res stories and smoked cigarettes. They had a big brass ash tray with wrought iron legs that was about three feet wide. Beautiful but odd.

[@micheleluper9899]

@@donvergas8022 He actually had 19 wives total (many came and went) and over 50 children.

[@dsplunker]

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thank you to you two for your hard work.

[@CactusAtlas]

Thank you too! Much appreciated. 😊

[@ijohnsonramos]

Impressive video! Thank you so much for all your commitment and hard work making them and sharing your impressions with us. God bless. ❤

[@CactusAtlas]

Thank you so much!

[@patrick-rb3ul]

Very well done. Have been to Lee's Ferry many many time for early AM trout fishing when the water level was typically low and we could cast our lines over submerged sand bars!

[@CactusAtlas]

Thanks! Fishing there sounds like something to try someday. 😄👍

[@Starfish2145]

You should read about the Meadow Mountain Mormon massacre that happened over by Cedar city. Horrible

[@CactusAtlas]

It really was. 😔

[@HDPersonal777]

Are these two different mountain meadows massacres or the same one?

[@RACA040404]

Thank you for this video. Heartbreaking.

[@CactusAtlas]

You're welcome. It is a sad story indeed. 😢

[@RACA040404]

We are heading there on Sunday to hopefully camp for a week. So I appreciate your insight so much.

[@birdman5223]

Excellent work young man, sad story😕

[@CactusAtlas]

Much appreciated! Thanks for watching! 😄

[@SomeplaceOrAnother]

I wouldn’t have thought they used steam boats even for a short time. That ferry must have come in handy back in the day.

[@CactusAtlas]

Oh for sure! River crossings must have been somewhat painful back in the day I imagine even WITH the ferry but without... man. So much extra time to navigate.

[@brookingsbeachcomber]

they tried a steam boat between Green River and Moab with the same amount of success, rapids were one of the problems there. Nice adventure.

[@CactusAtlas]

Would be quite the sight to see steamboats traveling around in those two landscapes, wouldn't it? Seems like such a foreign concept considering the recreational traffic one sees on the waters today.

[@brookingsbeachcomber]

@@CactusAtlas It could be a scene out of Westworld LOL! I guess they didn't know how hard going up the Colorado River could be

[@shirleyrichards2514]

❤cool video. Thanks ❤

[@CactusAtlas]

Thank you too!

[@pollydunn3191]

Also where the monument with the pile of rocks over the bones is I read somewhere that there was a cross put on top of the rocks and when Brigham Young saw it he made them take it down.

[@markeslinger7051]

I got a place id Love to see. This is on private ranch land. Id love to see the location of the wyatt Earp Curly Bill shootout at Iron Springs. Bob Boze Bell said he went there and what is called Iron Springs actually did not match the description of what Earp gave Flood I think for his book. A man from Sara Vista and his son went out to look for it and found the site. It is right near Iron Springs but it is actually CottonWood Springs. Earp said they rode up on on a 15 ft rock shelf and there was a grove of Cottonwood trees with the spring hidden just past and a shack where the cowboys were. Cottonwood Springs completely matches that rock shelf and all even has the remnants of a rock shack on the hillside! That would be awesome to see!

[@CactusAtlas]

Indeed it would! I find a lot of things are on private land that would be interesting to explore and learn about.

[@susanstone3588]

"boring"? No matter the time frame history is never boring.

[@CactusAtlas]

Very true!

[@marianfrances4959]

Wild! 👍😎🇨🇦

[@linsun6650]

Thank you for all your info. I am planning to visit Kanab area, and Antelope area. But would like to avoid snow and rain. Is April a safe month?

[@CactusAtlas]

Here in the Phoenix valley where we live April is usually pretty clear. I would expect it to be up north as well.

[@linsun6650]

@@CactusAtlas Thank u. I enjoyed watching your videos a lot especially the one about Grand Canyon North Rim view points, very helpful for me to find directions. But may have to skip it as it is closed until May.

[@mitchellkrouth5083]

Mr. Lee could have taken over pre-existing dwellings that existed all over the west. They had seven golden cities in the history books. The Spanish conquistadors searched, thinking that there was gold. To their surprise, the cities were highly advanced, adobe, multi level.

[@CactusAtlas]

True. I imagine seeing dwellings gave a decent clue about how hospitable an environment could be, not to mention available resources already there.

[@dodgerblue7381]

There were plenty of people responsible to varying degrees for the Meadows Massacre. Starting with James Buchanan, considered to be the worst President in history. John D Lee was there, he was in a bad situation. He was tasked with doing whatever was needed to keep the indians from turning against the Mormons. The people who had murdered the indians and that had committed attrocities all through Utah had left the wagon train and continued on to California and the families of the train stayed behind to rest up in the Meadows. John D Lee got the wagon train to surrender, and was able to get some of the children separated prior to the massacre which was carried out by Indians and Mormons. The Lees were sent to Lees Ferry to protect him from the government. Eventually the terrible story leaked out and Lee was Sacrificed individually to save the Church Hierarchy. The Church of Ladder Day Saints has now built a large monument at the site and have largely taken responsibility for the massacre.

[@sparkyatlarge]

FWIW, when I first moved to Oregon, I bought a copy of a diary of a young teenage girl who had travelled out there on a wagon train on the Oregon Trail, and she described how the Mormons would dress up as Indians and attack the wagon trains. This was known to be very common back then, and so it's not just Mr. Lee who had blood on his hands-it was common practice, although the Mountain Meadows Massacre was possibly one of the worst examples. Utah was known to be one of the more dangerous places they would pass through because of ths, and reading a first-hand account was startling.

[@CactusAtlas]

Interesting! Sounds like quite a fascinating read. 👍

[@garywarren-gh8os]

Greetings from Poteet Texas Pears do not ripen on the tree When they get close to fully ripe they fall from the tree and finish their ripening on the ground.

[@Starfish2145]

Those aren’t Rapids, those are riffles 😂

[@hhawg1]

Great video. I'd heard of this but not in the detail you presented. I only wonder if the Mormons showed any remorse for this barbaric act then or now.

[@CactusAtlas]

Thank you so much! I imagine like all things it probably depends on who you ask. 🤷‍♀️ I believe a number probably have given the memorial built and maintained.

[@jgreen8298]

Brigham Young and lds members killed hundreds and hundreds of Native Americans that got in the way of building their early settlements.

[@kreggossmer2029]

😎🧡👍👍

[@paul9156c]

I had to tell 3 or 4 Mormon missionaries at least three times while I'm in my car, that "I'm ON THE PHONE!" Which should've been obvious. Do they teach them to be annoyingly persistent with no manners? I can't even talk on the phone with the windows down anymore, it seems.

[@IExposeMormonism]

Lee was not in command of the Mormon Milita. Dame was first ranked, locally, with Haight, Higbee, also above Lee. George A Smith and Brigham Young were both culpable. Young confessed his guilt when he bragged at the massacre site "Vengence is mine and I have taken a Little". He was obviously an accessory after the fact, Young received details from Lee, Klingonsmith and Indians. It was Mormons dressed as Indians that committed this mass ritual murder of innocent people. The small number of Indians at the site were mostly Mormons in Camo. All the Mormon men were polygamists that had sworn blood oaths in the Endowment Ceremony. Oaths against the USA and You. And the men on both sides were Freemasons. John D Lee used this information when he approached the train making Freemason signs of security and peace. This too was a ruse. Lee and Fancher had both fought in the Blackhawk war of 1838 in Missouri (?). Lee used this info to build trust. Colorado River means "red color river" , which it is but not in this area. I don't know why. Lee has the distinction of being a "Ferry Man" in the other common use of the word. to use Lee's words, he took many gentiles "over the rim of the basin", a Mormon term for eliminating gentiles from Utah. The rim of the basin is precisely where the women and children were murdered and the men were 3/8 miles behind children. RIm of the Basin is the dividing line for Water Flowing into the Great Basin or flowing into the Colordao River. So the Mormon use of the term "taking a gentile over the rim of the basin" has both a conotation of death (thru murder) and a sense of flowing and Separation. Lee was Brigham Youngs second adopted son. Adoption had/has a special meaning in Mormonism. Lee was involved in the founding of towns like Harmony and Parowan, and other towns now along hwy 15. And he founded "Skutumpah" , near Kanab, which was abondoned after his trial and death. Lee was a mass murdering sexual psychopath. He could slit your throat and then sit on top of your Christmas tree. With Aplomb. Polygamy is still practiced by many tens of thousands of Mormons in the Zion area and into N Az. Kanab, Virgin and inbetween.

[@johnlee1352]

Now that you've given the hater's narrative, full of lies and inaccuracies. Your lack of historical knowledge is breathtaking. Your fantasy sprinkled with facts is amusing. NOW THE TRUTH: It was a military operation of the Iron County Militia, a regularly constituted military division of the State of Deseret. The Mormons had left the US when they came west into Utah, unincorporated Mexican territory. They set up their own government, printed money and declared themselves independent of the federal government. With the end of the Mexican War in 1848, western lands were ceded to the US as part of that treaty. In effect, the US government followed the Mormons out to Utah. When the feds tried to impose federal authority in Utah, the State of Deseret didn't take too kindly to it. The officers that had been sent to "govern" Utah were sent packing back to Washington. The Mormons had had enough of the "constitutional" treatment afforded them in Missouri and Illinois that ended in the murder of Joseph Smith and his brother. They were in no mood to be governed by the same people who had driven and killed them. As a result of the wild tales of rebellion, President Buchanan dispatched fully 1/3 of the US military to Utah to "quash the Mormon rebellion" in 1857. Brigham Young declared martial law in the territory and the Mormons were preparing for a military assault on their community. This was the climate into which the Fancher wagon train rolled. The Mormons wouldn't trade with them because they were preparing for war. They were frustrated and threatened to go into San Bernardino and bring the troops up the southern flank of the Mormons while the army units attacked from the north. I'm no military genius but you can't have a two-front war. The wagon train was unfortunately in the middle of a conflict they couldn't control and lost their lives. As a military matter, it worked perfectly. None of those people made it to the military outpost at San Bernardino. Innocents die in war all the time. War is hell. Tragedy but understandable. The winners of war usually get to write the history and so they call this encounter a "massacre". If Washington had lost the Revolutionary War, he would have been hung as a traitor and his skirmishes would have been called "massacres"...see how it works?

[@candymcclure2476]

Is that a dark leather hat? Dark colors absorb heat. Gramma Candy

[@markeslinger7051]

I feel shortchanged. You didnt have slim with you. That’s not right!

[@CactusAtlas]

Hahah! I don't believe we had Slim yet at this point.

[@gandalfgreyhame3425]

Shouldn't this place be renamed, like all those US military bases named after Confederate generals have finally been renamed? (it never made sense that a US Army base would be named after rebel generals that actually fought against and killed US Army soldiers) How can you possibly leave a landmark named after a mass murderer of 120 people? The Mormon Church covered up the massacre for years, which is why this naming was ignored, but now that they have finally 'fessed up and the massacre is more widely known, shouldn't this place be renamed, ASAP?

[@HDPersonal777]

Native old world order Tartarians that were mudflooded, that’s what. And deserts are recent and not natural. There was much better technology and fancy river and steamships before 1850 too. Very Westworld indeed.