Oscar Tyler
Oscar Tyler, his personal and family background, and his alleged involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Oscar Tyler
1825-1871
Biographical Sketch
'[There is uncertainty whether Oscar Tyler participated in the Mountain Meadows Massacre or was on the ground when the Arkansas company was initially attacked or besieged.]
Oscar Tyler was a native of Casey County in central Kentucky who moved to Texas, then to the Iowa and Nebraska territories, and finally to frontier Utah where he pioneered in southern Utah.
Early Years: Westward From Kentucky
Tyler was born in Liberty, Casey County in central Kentucky. In the late 1830s they moved to Texas. In the 1840s he and several of his brothers joined the Mormons and moved to the Mormon settlements in the Midwest.
To Utah Territory
By 1851, Tyler was in one of the temporary Mormon settlements in Iowa and Nebraska. He joined the John Brown Company which consisted of 50 wagons when it began its journey in early July from the outfitting post at Kanesville (present day Council Bluffs), Iowa. This company was a Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, meaning that Tyler lacked the means to entirely fund the trek across the plains on his own.
The overland trails were flooded with travelers that season, most of them bound for the California Gold Rush. Cholera was endemic and there were frequent deaths due to it on the trail. They passed the usual milestones on the trail: Fort Kearney, the South Fork of the Platte River, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, Green River, Fort Bridger, Bear River, and Weber River. After suffering the usual hardships of overland trail they arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake at the end of September.
In 1854, Oscar Tyler married Harriet Amanda Brown (1835-1906) of Andover, Windsor County, Vermont. Around 1856, they moved to Lehi on the north shore of Utah Lake in Utah County.
Joining the Southerners in Washington County and the Cotton Mission
In spring 1857, the Tylers joined the migration of southerners to the new southern colony in Washington County. These southerners founded the Cotton Mission in what came to be known as Utah's Dixie and the Tylers were among the first to settle in the town of Washington.
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 the Cotton Mission eventually proved commercially unsuccessful, it 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 Oscar Tyler, Company I, John D. Lee's 4th Battalion
In 1857, the Iron Military District consisted of four battalions. 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, Oscar Tyler, 32, was a private in one of the Washington platoons in Company I. See A Basic Account for a full description of the massacre.
If Tyler was among those at Mountain Meadows, he was recruited on Sunday, September 6, he traveled with militiamen from Washington and Fort Clara to below Mountain Meadows on Monday, the 7th, and arrived at the Meadows around mid-day on Tuesday the 8th. Militiamen from Washington were present at the final massacre on September 11. However, his exact role in the massacre is unknown.
In Judge John Cradlebaugh's 1859 arrest warrant, Tyler was listed in the "____ Tyler." He was also mentioned in T.B.H Stenhouse's Rocky Mountain Saints in 1873, which followed the 1859 arrest warrant list. He was not mentioned during the John D. Lee trials of 1875-76, nor did Lee or his attorney William Bishop mention him in Lee's Mormonism Unveiled, published posthumously in 1877. In their list of actual and alleged participants in Appendix C of Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Walker, Turley and Leonard do not refer to Oscar Tyler.
Later Years
Tyler remained in Washington and his wife bore him eight children. He died in 1871 and was buried in Washington. His wife was pregnant at the time of his death and his last child was born in 1872. He was survived by his wife and five children.
References
Bradshaw, ed., Under Dixie Sun, 235; Larson, The Red Hills of November, 14; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled; Lee Trial transcripts; New.FamilySearch.org; Stenhouse, Rocky Mountain Saints, 444; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, 393 fn. 2; Young, "The Life and Times of William 'Billy' Young, Tennessee Frontiersman, Utah Pioneer."
For full bibliographic information see Bibliography.
External Links
For further information on Oscar Tyler, see:
- http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.org/appendices/appendix-c-the-militiamen
- http://www.lindasgenealogy.org/getperson.php?personID=I1257&tree=tree3 (genealogical information)
- http://www.lindasgenealogy.org/familygroup.php?familyID=F291&tree=tree3 (Oscar Tyler & Harriet Amanda Brown)
- http://www.lindasgenealogy.org/showmedia.php?mediaID=513 (commemorative plaque in Washington County, Utah)
- http://home.comcast.net/~desilva/p376.htm (brief genealogical information)
- http://www.thetreeofus.net/4/99780.htm (ditto)
- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53141
Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.
