Ira Hatch
Ira Hatch, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Ira Hatch
1835-1909
Biographical Sketch
A native of rural Cattaraugus County in southwest New York, Ira Hatch and his parents' family moved to western Illinois, then frontier Utah, where Hatch pioneered and acted as Indian interpret in southern Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Hatch was an American frontiersman and Indian interpreter.
Early Life in New York
Hatch was born in Farmerville, Cattaraugus County, New York, the son of Ira Stearns Hatch and Welthea Bradford. Members of the Hatch family joined the Mormons as early as 1832. In the early 1840s, they joined the large Mormon settlement in Hancock County in western Illinois.
Immigration to Utah
In 1849, the family immigrated to Utah, settling initially in northern Utah.
Indian Interpreter in the Southern Indian Mission
In 1853, Ira Hatch was called as an Indian missionary to southern Utah and he was among those who moved there in early 1854. In 1855, he helped found Fort Clara on the Santa Clara River in southwestern Utah. He spent many years in service as an Indian missionary/interpreter under Jacob Hamblin.
In the Iron Military District: Private Ira Hatch, Company H, John D. Lee's 4th Battalion
In 1857, 22-year-old Ira Hatch was a private in one the militia platoons attached to Company H in Major John D. Lee's 4th Battalion in the Iron Military District. During the massacre at Mountain Meadows, it is not clear that Hatch was on the scene although he may have been. Rather, Hatch's alleged involvement was in leading a band of Indians to track down several emigrants who reportedly escaped the fusilade at the Meadows and were fleeing across the Nevada desert toward southern California. In Rocky Mountain Saints, published by T.B.H. Stenhouse in 1873, Hatch is alleged to have tracked several escaping emigrants and to have played some role in killing them.
Later Life
In late 1857 and 1858, Hatch explored in (modern-day) southern Nevada. Several years later, Mormon settlers moved westward into the region explored by Hatch to found settlements St. Thomas, St. Joseph and Overton on the Muddy River.
In 1859, Hatch married Amanda (Mandy) Melvina Pace (1842-1861).There were no children from that marriage. She died before reaching the age of 20.
His second marriage, also in 1859, was to Sarah (Marahboots) Dyson (1843-1873) and their children were:
- Ira Stearn, May 8, 1862, St. George, Washington, Utah;
- James Henry, August 18, 1864, Meadow Valley, Lincoln, Nevada;
- Amanda Mariah, June 25, 1867, St. George, Washington, Utah;
- Joseph Wilford, January 9, 1870, Panaca, Lincoln, Nevada; and
- Sarah Rhoana, August 16, 1872, Kanab, Kane, Utah.
His third wife was to Nancy Julia Pipkin in 1882, and they had these children:
- Martha, March 4, 1883, Ramah, McKinley, New Mexico;
- Unknown, October 12, 1885, Ramah, McKinley, New Mexico.
Hatch later worked with Navajo and Pueblo tribes in Arizona and New Mexico. His principal places of residence during adulthood were Fort Clara, Washington, Utah, commencing 1855; St. George, Washington, Utah, 1862, 1867; Meadow Valley, Lincoln, Nevada, 1864; Panaca, Lincoln, Nevada, 1870; Kanab, Kane, Utah, 1872; and Ramah, McKinley, New Mexico, 1883.
Final Years
Ira Hatch died in 1909 at Fruitland, San Juan, New Mexico and was buried there.
References
Alder and Brooks, A History of Washington County, 132; Bagley, Blood of the Prophets, 34, 142, 160-69,183-84, 219; Bigler and Bagley, Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives, 36, 39, 111, 147, 149-50, 155, 240, 242, 258, 468; Bradley, A History of Kane County, 67; Bradshaw, ed., Under Dixie Sun: A History of Washington County, 25, 30, 36, 62, 130, 132, 146, 214, 220; Brooks, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, 98-99, 117, 130-32, 136, 142, 231; Carter, Heart Throbs of the West, 10:456; Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Enduring Legacy, 12:389-90; Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 924; FamilySearch.org; Fielding, ed., The Tribune Reports of the Trails of John D. Lee, 32; Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church, 554, 572, 776; Larson, I Was Called to Dixie, 10, 23, 38, 44, 161; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 270; Lee Trial transcripts; Robinson, ed., History of Kane County, 3, 14, 17, 32, 39, 59, 60, 67, 72, 224; Turley and Walker, Mountain Meadows Massacre: Jenson and Morris Collections, 14; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, 223-25, Appendix C, 258; Whitaker, History of Santa Clara, Utah, 81-115. See Bibliography.
External Links
For further information on Ira Hatch see:
- http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.org/appendices/appendix-c-the-militiamen
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Hatch
- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=17832459
Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.
