Murder in Desolation: The 1853 Gunnison Massacre, Revisited

Todd Shallat

Murder in Desolation: The 1853 Gunnison Massacre, Revisited

Todd Shallat

History Department

Research output: Other contribution

Abstract

Geography was destiny, even a curse, in the grim remoteness of the Utah barrens where U.S. Army Captain John Williams Gunnison died. On October 26, 1853, on Utah’s Sevier River, Captain Gunnison perished in a shower of arrows, killed among the carnage of seven men in his command. One trooper escaped by plunging into the river. Another, half dead, thrown from his horse, burrowed into sagebrush until the screams dissolved into silence. Soldiers later found what appeared to be Gunnison’s thighbone. A headless torso had been knifed through the heart.(1)

Original language	American English
State	Published - 14 Aug 2022

EGS Disciplines

Nonfiction
United States History

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Cite this

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AB - Geography was destiny, even a curse, in the grim remoteness of the Utah barrens where U.S. Army Captain John Williams Gunnison died. On October 26, 1853, on Utah’s Sevier River, Captain Gunnison perished in a shower of arrows, killed among the carnage of seven men in his command. One trooper escaped by plunging into the river. Another, half dead, thrown from his horse, burrowed into sagebrush until the screams dissolved into silence. Soldiers later found what appeared to be Gunnison’s thighbone. A headless torso had been knifed through the heart.(1)

M3 - Other contribution

ER -