The Baker–Fancher party (also called the Fancher–Baker party, Fancher party, or Baker's Company) was a group of American western emigrants from Marion, Crawford, Carroll, and Johnson counties in Arkansas, who departed Carroll County in April 1857 and "were attacked by the Mormons near the rim of the Great Basin, and about fifty miles from Cedar City, in Utah Territory, and that all of the emigrants, with the exception of 17 children, were then and there massacred and murdered" in the Mountain Meadows massacre. Sources estimate that between 120 and 140 men, women and children were killed on September 11, 1857, at Mountain Meadows, a rest stop on the Old Spanish Trail, in the Utah Territory. Some children of up to six years old were taken in by the Mormon families in Southern Utah, presumably because they had been judged to be too young to tell others about the massacre.
Background
The Baker–Fancher party consisted of several smaller parties that set out separately from the Ozarks in northwestern Arkansas, and then joined up along the way. Many of the families in the group were prosperous farmers and cattlemen with ample financial resources to make the journey west. Some of the groups had family and friends in California awaiting their arrival, as well as many relatives remaining in Arkansas. Among the groups were the Baker train, led by Captain John Twitty Baker from Carroll County, and the Fancher train, led by seasoned expeditioner Alexander Fancher, which left from Benton County. Other groups included the Huff train, which also left from Benton, the Mitchell, Dunlapp, and Prewitt trains which left from Marion County, and the Poteet–Tackitt–Jones, Cameron, and Miller trains which left from Johnson County. Pleasant Tackitt, from the Poteet–Tackitt–Jones train, was a Methodist minister who led the others in worship and prayer services while on their journey. When the groups left Arkansas in April 1857, the total company numbered more than 200. However, during the journey, some groups split off and others joined. Some of the trains that joined the company may have been from other states, such as Missouri.
The party was well outfitted with wagons, traveling carriages, a large herd of cattle estimated at close to 1,000 head, oxen, as well as numerous horses. They joined the expedition for various reasons; some to settle permanently in California, some to drive cattle west for profit, and some to find California gold. Like other emigrant groups traveling to California, they took money with them and planned to replenish their supplies in Salt Lake City for the remainder of the trip. The actual date of arrival in Salt Lake City is unknown, but historian Juanita Brooks places the arrival as August 3 or August 4, 1857 based on reports in the Journal History of the LDS Church. The Arkansans arrived in Utah with over 800 head of cattle and were low on supplies when they reached the Salt Lake area, a major resupply destination for overland emigrants.
Emigrants associated with the Baker–Fancher Party
Families leaving before reaching Utah Territory
As the different wagon parties traveled across the plains, some of those left by the wayside, ended up traveling to other destinations in safety. If Missourians had ever been these trains' fellow travelers, none are known to share these Arkansans' fate. The following is a list of those known to have separated themselves before arriving in the Utah Territory:
Smith
Morton
Hudson
Basham
Haydon
Reed
Stevenson
Hamilton
Farmer
Lafoon and/or Laffoon
Poteet – cousins to the Tackitt family (left and went to Texas the day before the massacre)
(Various other Arkansas trains are believed to have been associated with the Fancher–Baker party while on their journeys westward, yet they did not perish with them, include the Crooked Creek, Campbell, Parker, and [John S.] Baker – as distinct from the [John Twitty] Baker – trains.)
Families leaving in Utah Territory
The following is a list of those believed to have separated from the Fancher–Baker party, while it was passing through the Utah Territory:
Eaton, William M. Edwards, Silas Rush, Milum L., 28 Stallcup, Charles, 25 The John R. Page Family
Members of the wagon train who were at Mountain Meadows
The following table contains a list of those believed to have been killed during the massacre, along with the survivors (who are listed in bold). The table also lists if the person was listed on the 1955 Monument in Harrison, Arkansas, or on the 1990 Monument in Mountain Meadows.