James Pearce

James Pearce, his personal and family background, and his involvement in and statements about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

James Pearce 4.jpg

James Pearce

1839-1922

Biographical Sketch

Early Life in the American South

James Pearce (1839-1922) was born in Itawamba County, Mississippi, the son of Harrison Pearce and Henrietta Cremeans. For two generations his Scots-Irish forebears had followed a westerly migration arc from coastal South Carolina to the hill country of north-central Georgia to west-central Alabama, then to northeastern Mississippi where Pearce was born.

Late in 1845, Mormon missionaries proselytizing in Mississippi converted Pearce's parents to the new faith. Early the following year the Pearces disposed of the holdings, pulled up stakes and set out for the main place of Mormon gathering in western Illinois. They arrived in Nauvoo, Illinois in late March to find that the Mormons were evacuating western Illinois because of escalating conflicts with old-time settlers in the surrounding area. After remaining in Nauvoo only briefly, the Pearces crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa Territory. From 1846 to 1849 the Pearces lived in several small settlements along the Des Moines and Fox rivers. By late 1849 they had moved to Mt. Pisgah in west central Iowa and spent the next three years there.

Immigration to Utah

By summer 1852, the Pearces had accumulated enough means to purchase and equip an outfit for the trek west. They joined the James C. Snow wagon train of 250 persons in 55 wagons, which departed in early July from Kanesville (present Council Bluffs), Iowa Territory.

The Mormon Trail

Their family consisted of Harrison, 34, Henrietta, 37, John David Lafayette, 15, James, 13, Amelia, 11, Nancy, 9, Thomas Jefferson, 7, Harrison, Jr., 3, and Henrietta, less than one month. Pearce's younger sister Nancy succumbed after less than three weeks and they buried her along the trail. In early October they arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in Utah Territory.

Soon they had moved south to settle in Payson at the southern end of Utah Valley. After their arrival the security of Payson and other Mormon settlements in Utah Valley was shattered in mid-1853 with the outbreak of the so-called Walker War. Chief Walkara led the Utes in raids against Mormon settlements in central Utah, especially in Utah Valley where Mormons had occupied traditional Ute lands around Utah Lake. This was a time of "forting up," militia musters, and skirmishes throughout Utah Valley. The fort at Payson was enlarged and its picket fence enclosure was replaced with a tall, thick adobe wall. Pearce's older brother, John David Lafayette (J. D. L.) Pearce, was in the militia and involved in some skirmishes, but it is not known whether James, then in his early teens, played any role in these war preparations.

The Walker War concluded in 1854 with a peace treaty, resulting in some return to normalcy in Utah Valley. However, in 1855 widespread drought and insect infestations decimated crops making foodstuffs very scarce throughout the Territory.

To Washington and the Cotton Mission

The Cotton Mill in Washington County.

In spring 1857, many southerners throughout the territory were recruited to devote their energies to founding the Cotton Mission in southern Utah. The leaders of the new mission were Samuel J. Adair and Robert D. Covington. In March 1857, Adair led a group to settle near Adair Spring in what is now Washington City. Soon the Pearces joined a group led by Robert Covington which arrived at Adair Springs in early May. They set about founding a colony and establishing cotton culture in Utah's "Dixie." Initially, they lived in their wagon boxes, dugouts, or other crude structures.

Washington appeared to have many advantages over other nearby locales. It was located near several fine springs and the Washington fields seemed to provide a lush expanse of farmland. However, appearances proved to be deceiving and soon "Dixie" was considered one of the most difficult areas to colonize. The broad fields were actually floodplains so if their dams washed out, as they did with discouraging frequency, their crops were jeopardized. Meanwhile the springs, so inviting in an arid, hot country, created marshes, the perfect habitat for mosquitos. Many of them suffered from bouts of malaria (the "fever and ague" or "chills") for many years.

Although it eventually proved commercially unsuccessful, the Cotton Mission did succeed in producing cotton goods for local use and export at an important stage in Utah Territory's economic development.

In the Iron Military District: Private James Pearce, Company I, John D. Lee's 4th Battalion

In 1857, the Iron Military District consisted of four battalions led by regimental commander Col. William H. Dame. The platoons and companies in the first battalion drew on men in and around Parowan. (It had no involvement at Mountain Meadows.) Major Isaac Haight commanded the 2nd Battalion whose personnel in its many platoons and two companies came from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the north such as Fort Johnson. Major John Higbee headed the 3rd Battalion whose many platoons and two companies were drawn from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the southwest such as Fort Hamilton. Major John D. Lee of Fort Harmony headed the 4th Battalion whose platoons and companies drew on its militia personnel from Fort Harmony, the Southerners at the newly-founded settlement in Washington, the Indian interpreters at Fort Clara, and the new settlers at Pinto.

In September 1857, eighteen-year-old James Pearce was a private in one of the platoons in his father's company, Company I. Company I was attached to the 4th Battalion under Major John D. Lee. Harrison Pearce, his father, and others from Washington were recruited, probably on Sunday the 6th, to join an ad hoc detachment from the southern settlements of Washington and Fort Clara to muster to Mountain Meadows. James Pearce joined his father in the detachment that also included William Young, William Slade, John W. Clark and others. See A Basic Account for a full description of the massacre.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

James Pearce 3.jpg

While en route to Mountain Meadows on Monday, September 7, they discussed the rumors that the emigrants had "killed Joe Smith" and would bring soldiers from California to drive the Mormons and take their means. On the eve of the massacre, Pearce overheard the quarreling among the leaders, some favored killing and others opposed. He observed that the Indians appeared angry because of their killed and wounded.

On the day of the massacre, Pearce remained in the militia encampment due to illness, from where he heard the volley of guns during the massacre. There is folklore that Harrison Pearce became angry at his son, evidently for lacking fighting spirit, and fired at him, grazing his face. This cannot be corroborated.

Pearce is not mentioned in Judge John Cradlebaugh's 1859 arrest warrant.

Settling Near the Future Site of St. George

Around 1859, James Pearce and others moved downstream on the Virgin River to its confluence with the Santa Clara Creek where they founded Tonaquint and Pearce acted as president of the branch there. When St. George was founded In 1861, Tonaquint became part of St. George. However, they were forced to abandon Tonaquint in early 1862 when unusually heavy flooding during the "Forty Days Rain" of that year caused severe damage.

In Jacob Hamblin's Expeditions to the Hopi Mesas

Map of the Hopi Mesas.

Meanwhile, Pearce had joined several of the winter expeditions of Jacob Hamblin in Hamblin's continuing explorations of the Hopi and Navajo in northeastern Arizona. These were the first Mormon explorations in Arizona.

In late 1859, Jacob Hamblin set out on his second crossing of the Colorado River to the Hopi mesas. Accompanying him were James Pearce, Thales Haskell, Marion Sheldon, and others. From Washington they journeyed to Pipe Springs, passed over the Kaibab Plateau, descended to House Rock Valley, passed beneath the Vermillion Cliffs where they found “Jacob’s Springs.” Finally, they arrived at the mouth of Paria River on the Colorado, Continuing generally eastward they came to the Crossing of the Fathers. Making the river crossing there, they continued through Navajo Canyon, by Flat Rock until they reached Quichintoweep near the Moenkopi Wash.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Walpi on First Mesa.

Finally they arrived at Oraibi on First Mesa of Hopiland. From there they made side trips to the villages on Second and First mesas. They departed to return to Utah, leaving Thales Haskell and Marion Sheldon among the Hopi. On their returned they were visited by the Navajo Spaneshanks and Ute Arapeen. They befriended Tuvi (Tuuvi, Tuba, real name Qotswayma or Woo Pah) and his wife Talasnimki. During their stay, Haskell and Sheldon visited Moenkopi where they noted that water was plentiful. They departed in March 1860 and return without undue incident to Fort Clara.

In fall 1860, Hamblin made his third crossing of the Colorado. Pearce, Amos Thornton, Ira Hatch, and others accompanied Hamblin. George Smith, Jr., the son of Mormon leader George A. Smith was along on the journey. They hauled a boat in a wagon as far as the Vermillion Cliffs but failed to find a passable route to the river. Leaving the wagon and boat to use on another occasion, they proceeded to the river’s edge where they made a raft and crossed to the other side. Unfortunately, they were unable to ford their animals so they returned to the north bank and continued on to the Ute Ford. Crossing to the south of the river, they journeyed to Quichintoweep near Moenkopi Wash, There hostile Navajos fatally wounded George Smith Jr. and he died within hours. The party was forced to abandon his body and retreat without reaching the Hopi Mesas. After crossing the Colorado they returned to southern Utah.

Pearce's Ferry near Grand Wash on the Colorado River. In the 1862 expedition, they crossed the Colorado at Grand Wash. In 1876-77, James Pearce assisted his father, Harrison Pearce, in building and operating a ferry boat at the Grand Wash. This is still known as Pearce's Ferry.

In November 1862, James Pearce, Ira Hatch, William Stewart, Nephi Johnson and others accompanied Jacob Hamblin on his fifth crossing of the Colorado, the historic journey in which they circled the Grand Canyon. Heading south from St. George, they brought a boat in a wagon but could not find a passable route to reach the Colorado River. Abandoning the boat they built a raft instead and crossed the river at Grand Wash below the Grand Canyon. En route to the Hopi Mesas they visited the Hualapais and then discovered the magical canyon world of the Havasupais in Havasu Canyon. They passed the San Francisco Peaks, crossed the Little Colorado River and later arrived at the Hopi Mesas. There they joined in the ceremonials at Old Oraibi. When the explorers departed, Ira Hatch, Thales Haskell, and Jehiel McConnell were selected to stay at the Mesas to become better acquainted with Hopi ways. Meanwhile, Hamblin, running low on food, sent Nephi Johnson, Steele, Fuller Andrus and Hancock ahead to find Indians with whom they can trade for provisions. They returned to Utah with four Hopis via the Ute Ford (Crossing of the Fathers). In this historic circling of the Grand Canyon they had made a new crossing of the Colorado River at Grand Wash south of St. George and returned via their previous route at the Ute Ford (Crossing of the Fathers). Years later, Pearce would return to Grand Wash on the Colorado to build a ferry boat.

The Pearces lived in the St. George area from the early 1860s to the late-1870s. During this time, Pearce and several others acted as road contractors to improve the stretch of road from Washington to the California Road west of St. George. A "James H. Pearce" is credited with bringing 300 Shevwit Indians from the Arizona Strip to St. George where David H. Cannon performed the rite of baptism. This episode is variously dated to 1862 or the mid-1870s.

The Black Hawk War (1865-68) and the Mormon-Navajo War (1868-1870)

During the Black Hawk War of the mid-1860s, James Pearce and his older brother, John David Lafayette (J. D. L.), and father Harrison Pearce were among those involved in policing and punitive actions against marauding Indians. In fact, J. D. L. Pearce was a colonel in the militia and gained a reputation as a notable Indian fighter during the Black Hawk War. The war extended from 1865 to 1868 in most parts of Utah, but Navajo depredations in southern Utah continued until a separate peace treaty was reached in 1870.

In 1867, twenty-eight-year-old Pearce married fifteen-year-old Mary Jane Meeks (1851-1941). She was born in Pottawattomie County, Iowa, as her parents immigrated to Utah. Several preceding generations of her forebears lived in Appalachia. Over the course of their marriage, she bore Pearce eleven children, all of whom lived to adulthood.

Among the First Colonizers at Moenkopi, Arizona

In 1874, Pearce was among the Indian interpreters colonizing a new outpost at Moencopi, Arizona, south of the Colorado River. However, the threat of a Navajo uprising caused them to abandon temporarily the outpost and return to safety north of the river.

Witness in the First Trial of John D. Lee in 1875

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

James Pearce 4.jpg

John D. Lee at trial.

In 1875 during the first trial of John D. Lee, Pearce was among several dozen witnesses who testified. Pearce described being a lad of eighteen who joined a detachment bound for Mountain Meadows.

Contrary to the assertion that militia witnesses never identified other militiamen, Pearce identified William Young, John W. Clark, and William Slade. He recounted how they discussed the rumors that had originated in Cedar City that the Arkansas emigrants had "killed Joe Smith" and would bring soldiers from California who would drive the Mormons from their homes.

Pearce was not in the Thursday evening council meeting at the Meadows but he heard the bickering among the militia leaders as they sought consensus on a plan of action. He also described being ill on the morning of September 11, 1857, of remaining in camp where he heard the barrage of gunfire as the killing began. Like several others who testified in the Lee trials, James Pearce's trial testimony contains his only extant statements about the massacre.

Helping Establish the River Crossing at Pearce's Ferry

In the mid-1870s as Mormons sought to establish a wagon road into Arizona, there was renewed interest in the Grand Wash crossing south of St. George. In 1876-77, James Pearce assisted his father Harrison Pearce in building and operating a ferry boat at the Grand Wash. This is still known as Pearce's Ferry.

Pioneering on the Little Colorado River in Arizona

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Mormon Settlements in Arizona.jpg

In 1876, Mormon colonization in Arizona began in earnest. In 1877, Pearce accepted the assigment to relocate to the new Mormon colonies in Arizona along the Little Colorado River watershed. By the end of the year, Pearce was en route to the new colonies, making the Colorado River crossing at Lee's Ferry in Marble Canyon as he had several times before. They moved successively upstream on the Little Colorado from Sunset to Woodruff but neither of these seemed satisfactory. By January, 1878, Pearce had arrived at Stinson Ranch on Silver Creek, a tributary of the Little Colorado River at the southern extreme of Navajo County. James Stinson offered to sell Pearce his holdings but Pearce declined. He moved farther upstream and encamped at the future site of Taylor. He became the first Mormon settler on Silver Creek. He and fellow pioneer, John Standifird, obtained land in the Taylor-Shumway area. Later, the Mormons established a string of settlements up this tributary of the Little Colorado. Beginning with Snowflake and moving upstream, they established Taylor, Shumway and finally Show Low, as well as smaller settlements along the way. Pearce lived for a while in Shumway where he served as postmaster before moving south to Snowflake where they remained for a time.

In the late 1880s, Pearce and other Mormon settlers came into conflict with the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, which claimed a monopoly on thousands of acres of eastern Arizona rangeland. Its cowboys were known as the Hashknife outfit. John Payne, a rough cowboy or notorious outlaw depending on your point of view, threatened Pearce at gun point to abandon his ranch while he threatened and whipped fellow Mormon, Neils Petersen. This was in the midst of the Pleasant Valley War, also known as the Tonto Basin War, which was an extended feud between the Grahams, cattle ranchers, and the Tewksburys, sheepherders. The feud lasted from the early 1880s to around 1892 with the most violence concentrated in 1886-87. Pearce and Petersen approached local Mormon leader, Jessie N. Smith, to inquire "if it would be right to kill him [Payne]." Smith, however, urged restraint. It wasn't long before Payne and several of his associates died in a skirmish in the Pleasant Valley War. When the war finally ended it had decimated the Graham and Tewksbury families as very few of the men were left alive. Eventually, the conflict between Mormons and the Aztec company shifted more in favor of the Mormons when the local land agent resisted the tactics of the company. However, Pearce and other Mormons would remain embroiled in securing legal recognition of their land claims in Arizona for decades to come.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

The family of James and Mary Jane Meeks Pearce, c. 1890s, while living in settlements along Silver Creek in eastern Arizona.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

James Pearce in early 20th century.

The Pearces resided at different times in the new settlements of Taylor, Shumway and Snowflake. While pioneering in Arizona, Pearce was a cattleman, sheepman, farmer, orchardist, storekeeper and hotelier. In addition to all her other household skills Pearce's wife, Mary Jane, was an expert weaver.

At the turn of the twentieth century, crime and violence from well-organized outlaws was so widespread that individual counties could not effectively contain them. Cattle rustling was rampant and desperados controlled the more remote regions of the territory. In 1901, the territorial legislature empowered the governor to create the Arizona Rangers. Joseph H. Pearce and Duane Hamblin, the sons of James Pearce and Jacob Hamblin, respectively, became members of this select group. Years later, Joe Pearce was one of a few surviving Rangers. His exploits and those of his fellow Rangers served as the basis of the film, "Twenty-six Men."

Meanwhile in Snowflake, five of James and Mary Jane Pearce's grandchildren died of diptheria. Around the turn of the century, the Pearces moved to the San Juan Valley in New Mexico Territory where they settled in Jewett. By 1909 Pearce was seventy years old. They decided to sell their interests in the San Juan Valley and return to Taylor in eastern Arizona. There James Pearce remained for the remainder of his life.

Arizona became a state in 1912. In 1921, the Arizona "Republican" sponsored the first statewide Pioneer Reunion and the honored guests were all of Arizona’s surviving pioneers. Because of James Pearce’s early journey to Arizona with Jacob Hamblin in 1859, he was honored for having lived in Arizona the longest. During the celebratory speeches, some old-timers began bragging about how many Indians they had killed during their days as “Indian fighters.” When it was his turn, James Pearce, then around 81, rose to address the crowd. “I have listened to all you old timers tell how many Indians you killed,” he began. “The only ones I killed, if any, were the ones who ran themselves to death chasing me. I was always ahead of them[!]” By all accounts, Jim Pearce’s wit “brought down the house.” Yet we can perceive in Pearce’s humorous remark a sly rebuke of the violence glorified by the old “Indian fighters.” In months of early travel through Arizona on several of Jacob Hamblin’s expeditions, Pearce had adopted the “Buckskin Apostle’s” pacific approach to conflict resolution. But one senses there might have been more to it than that; that perhaps as a teenage boy some sixty-five years earlier, he had witnessed more than enough bloody violence for one lifetime.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

James Pearce in old age.

In 1922, Pearce died at the age of eight-two and was buried in Taylor. There were only a handful of the Iron County militiamen at Mountain Meadows who outlived James Pearce.

References

Alder and Brooks, A History of Washington County, 25-27, 28-29, 41-49, 50 fn 11; Bagley, Blood of the Prophets, 120, 128, 205, 292, 326; Bradshaw, ed., Under Dixie Sun, 235 (Harrison Pearce); Clayton, Pioneer Women of Arizona, 463-65 (Mary Jane Pearce); Compton, A Frontier Life, 157, 161-62, 173-75, 208, 226 (photo of Pearce's Ferry), 435-36; Fielding, ed., The Tribune Reports of the Trial of John D. Lee, 125; Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church, 863 (Taylor Ward), 878 (Tonaquint); Larson, I Was Called to Dixie, 24, 516; Larson, The Red Hills of November, 125; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 228, 380; Lee Trial transcripts; McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, 84 (photo), 289; New.Familysearch.org; Palmer, History of Taylor and Shumway [Arizona], 27, 37-49, 55, 65, 67-69, 73, 76, 100-101, 121, 129, 153; Peterson, Take Up Your Mission, 170-71; Smith, ed., Journal of Jesse N. Smith, 286, 406; Solomon, Joseph Knight, 100; Tenney, ed., "Taylor’s Centennial Stories," 13; Turley and Walker, Mountain Meadows Massacre: Jenson and Morris Collections, 236; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, 109, 127, 154, 173, 191, 193, 198, Appendix C, 261; Wilhelm, History of the St. John's Stake, 48, 243, 279.

For full bibliographic information see Bibliography.

External Links

For further information on James Pearce, see:

• http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.org/appendices/appendix-c-the-militiamen
• http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=suppionbind&h=443&new=1

Further information and confirmation needed. Please comment or contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.