This is what Ms. Norris doesn't tell you ... the skull was taken from the Massacre site in 1859 by the US Army to Walter Reed hospital for study (now the National Museum of Health and Medicine). The Baker family submitted a claim to the museum on May 1, 2017 under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) asking for the child to be identified via DNA testing. They acted on behalf of the Baker, Beller, Miller and Tackett families (Cherokee), and for the Dunlap, Cameron, Huff and Miller families who this child might belong to.
Patty Norris along with her other Fancher cousins (the presidents of the Mountain Meadows Massacre Association [MMMA] and the MMMF intervened to stop the identification. The Fanchers always acquiesce to the wishes of the LDS church who stopped identification of 28 skeletal remains in 1999 with the cooperation of the Fancher family.
Norris never consulted her hand-full of members or told them the Baker family had submitted a NAGPRA claim. She and her Fancher cousins acted alone and against all the other descendant families. If you received a copy of Norris's e-mail, here is the e-mail that was sent in response to more than 200 known descendants of the massacre:
Dear Descendants,
Please refer to the latest e-mail from Patty Norris and the Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants below followed by our corrections:
“ . . . we have done extensive research and talked to numerous professionals on DNA. This is what we have discovered:
1) At the beginning, (FACT) Patty Norris and MMMD requested DNA done on this child's remains; however, talking with museum experts, as well as having done extensive research and talking with many DNA professionals and family members, experts agree, though not impossible, that after 160 years, and given the industrial revolution, environmental and other factors, plus the fact that several direct lineal kin in each family would have to be found and tested, it is highly unlikely a positive result could be attained, There are twenty (20) child victims of the MMM, ages 4-12. (The museum has determined this child was between 6-10 yrs of age.) This would not only be a monumental task of finding appropriate relatives, but it would be expensive and very very time consuming. A recent article sent to me was about a 6 year old child who died 140 years ago. The article said that through DNA the child was identified;
HOWEVER, it took (3) people 3000 man hours of research and work! The cost wasn't given. {We have 20 children, plus at least one other possible family with children). Where would this manpower come from? Who would pay for it?
2) Through all of this, we believe the best solution is to bury this child's remains at Mountain Meadows, (where it would have been buried in 1859 by the U.S. Army with other victim remains), had the Army not taken it from the killing field, and sent it to the museum in Washington DC. Mountain Meadows is where this child's parents are most likely buried, as well as any other physical remains of this child.”
The statement “it is highly unlikely a positive result could be attained” is not correct. We are working with the Forensic Science Department of a NC university, which assures us it is possible and DNA testing would be accurate. Ms. Norris does not name the “many DNA professionals” she consulted, so the NC university that is working with us is unable to reach out to them.
The statement “ . . . several direct lineal kin in each family would have to be found and tested” is also inaccurate. Only one descendant is needed and it does not have to be “direct lineal kin.” In fact, it can be a collateral descendant (niece, nephew, cousin of the victim or parent).
“Finding appropriate relatives” would be neither “expensive” or “very, very time consuming.” Furthermore, we would be more than happy to help any family with their genealogy in order to find a living descendant for DNA testing.
Ms. Norris cited the recent identification of a child’s remains that was 140 years old. She stated, “The article said that through DNA the child was identified; HOWEVER, it took (3) people 3000 man hours of research and work!”
This statement is misleading and needs further explanation.
Evidently, she is referring to the case of Edith Howard Cook. This was a child that was left behind in a graveyard after 300,000 bodies had been moved from San Francisco. The DNA testing was done at the University of California in Santa Cruz.
We followed-up with a phone call to Professor Eerkens of the University of California-Davis who was involved in this project. He confirmed it was not the DNA test that took all the time, and it certainly did not require “3,000 man-hours”. He explained the “time” involved in DNA testing depends on how long the computer takes to sequence the results and “line them up” for the match (“results” = the victim DNA + the living descendant’s DNA).
What did take time were the “professors, scientists, librarians, private investigators, genealogists and volunteers searching burial records, plot maps, surveyor maps, cemetery maps, county records, old photos” and more than 29,982 digitized burial records to find the name of this child. Then, once they had a name, genealogists were able to find a living descendant to test for matching DNA.
In the “Cook” case, the child’s remains were matched to a collateral descendant. Norris’s analogy is completely irrelevant to our situation. We know who this child might be, and we already have known, living descendants available for a DNA test.
The complete story that Ms. Norris is probably referring to can be found at:
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http://www.gardenofinnocence.org/miranda-eve-childs-casket-found-under-home >
In the case of the Baker family – to find out if this is Mary Baker, we went to her surviving sisters first – specifically Martha “Bettie” Baker and found her living granddaughter in three days. A match can easily be determined via a mitochondrial DNA test.
It doesn’t matter, if the victim is male or female, or if the tested descendant is male or female – a DNA test can be done and it will be conclusive. There are several types of DNA testing. The only reason we went to a female descendant is because mitochondrial DNA contains roughly 50 times more DNA than a nuclear test (which houses the Y-chromosome).
On May 14, 2017, we – the Baker family - sent out an e-mail to approximately 114 descendant e-mail addresses. We asked descendants to support our request to the National Museum of Health and Medicine for DNA testing/identification of this child. Our intent was for others to share that e-mail, because we want this discussion to be transparent, open and honest, and we’d like for you to continue to share this e-mail as well. Also, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
You should also know that before we submitted our claim to the museum under NAGPRA federal law (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act-1990), we consulted the Director of the Forensic Science Department at a NC University who agreed to do the DNA testing for us.
As a result of Ms. Norris’s actions, we’ve had to hire an attorney in the hope that DNA testing will be an acceptable compromise. A compromise would require the three individuals who signed the “joint-letter-of-agreement” (attachment 1) to allow DNA testing.
If no compromise can be reached, we have as the last resort the option of filing an injunction in Federal court, which is expensive and could take several years to resolve.
So far, all the descendants from the effected families – Baker, Dunlap, Cameron, Huff and Miller (possibly Tackitt and Beller) - that we have contacted want to know if this is their child. We did not consult any Fancher descendants, because Terry Fancher, Scott Fancher and Patty Norris, (all Fancher descendants), have made their choice for an anonymous burial via their signature on the Joint-Letter-of-Agreement even though the child might be Sarah, Margaret or Martha Fancher.
NOTE: The joint-letter states, “This is where this child’s family is buried and any existing physical remnants of this child is located.” This statement is conjecture given the fact that Major Carlton’s 1859 report states “the skeletons of [only] thirty-four persons” were interred in the mass grave (rock cairn). (Source: Bagley, Will. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, p. 229)
We now know that the three descendant organizations did not consult their membership, or inform them that their joint-letter was submitted specifically to negate the Baker family’s NAGPRA claim requesting DNA testing and the plan to share the results with all the descendants.
If this child is 7-yr. old Mary Lovina “Vina” Baker, the living granddaughters of her sisters who survived the massacre do not want her returned to Mountain Meadows. Instead, they choose to have her united in death with her sister. Ninety-three year old Betty Pinkston, speaking on behalf of her grandmother, Bettie Baker who survived the massacre, writes in the attached letter, (attachment 2) “Right now we are both with God and pray they will not separate us” [again]. Vina was grabbed out of the wagon, ripped from the clinging arms of her sisters and dragged out of sight by two Mormon men.
Judy Gladden, the granddaughter of Sarah Baker, writes, “The child was a victim of murder. Placing the child in an unmarked grave would victimize the child again . . . We, as a society make every attempt to identify unknown, murder victims. This child should be afforded the same respect.” (attachment 3)
We would like to reiterate that we believe any decision about burial should be a familial one. We do not have an objection if any of the other effected families choose to have their child re-interred at Mountain Meadows; however, we cannot fathom any group, or individual making the lone decision to stand against identification of this child. At the very least, he or she deserves to be named. No family should have to live with the obdurate, or unsympathetic consequence of never knowing if this is their child.
If you agree and choose to support the descendants who want to know who this child is – please send the form letter (attachment 4) prepared by our attorney to the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Just fill in the name of your family and your name at the bottom and send it to;
Adrianne.noe.civ@mail.mil with a copy to brian.f.spatola.civ@mail.mil