George and Washington Carson - Killed by Indians

In the Fairfield, Utah Cemetery is a small section that is surrounded by a short rod iron fence and contains about 15 graves.

In the northeast corner of this section lie two graves, with a third grave right next to them - but on the other side of the fence. These are the graves of George Carson, Washington Carson, and Henry Moran. The intriguing thing about these three men is that they all died the same day - February 22, 1856 - and they were all killed by Indians.

I found two short histories that included slightly different versions of how these two brothers and the other man were killed.

One is found in "Excerpts from Indian Depradations in Utah" by Peter Gottfredson. The other is in a short history of George Carson on John Pratt's website.

From John Pratt's website - a history written by David H. Carson of Lehi, Utah - "In 1855 the five Carson brothers, along with William Beardshall, John Clegg, Amos Fielding settled at Fairfield, Utah, and others came later. They established themselves a fort which they erected as a protection against the Indians. The fort was four rods square and was built in 1856-1857. In 1856 Indian trouble started. On the 21st of February, 1856 George Jr. was fatally wounded by Indians on the south side of town. After the skirmish the Indians went over toward Utah Lake by way of Soldier Pass. On February 22, they met and killed Washington Carson and Henry Moran, who were caring for some cattle near the lake. On that same day George died, making three deaths by the Tintic Indians. The Indians headed for the Tintic District and were never over taken."

The other article says that in 1856, the Indians were on the war path, and became very troublesome for the settlers. These Indians killed two herdsmen - Henry Moran and Washington Carson. When the two men didn't return home as expected, a search party went to hunt for them. Some members of this party went to meet with the Indians, who were very hostile. A fight broke out, and one of the party - George Carson - was killed. How devastating this must have been for these settlers to lose three of their men in one day.

George and Washington Carson's headstones have been replaced with newer headstones. There is only a newer headstone for Henry Moran. If there was ever an older headstone like George and Washington's, it is missing now.

You can also view these graves on the cemetery map at Names in Stone.