the economically depressed community. Martha Gunnison, widow of Captain Gunnison, was one of those who maintained that the attack was planned and orchestrated by militant Mormons under the direction of Brigham Young. Gunnison's letters to his wife throughout the expedition left her with the impression that "the Mormons were the directors of my husband's murder." She wrote to Associate Justice W.W. Drummond, the 1855 federal appointee to the Supreme Court of the Territory of Utah. She received confirmation of this belief in his response to her letter. Drummond drew this conclusion from informant and witness testimonies in several trials after the murders. He cited numerous reports by whites and natives of white attackers dressed up as Indians during the massacre. In 1854 Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe was sent by the War Department to investigate the attack and determine the truth of rumors that Mormons had colluded with the Indians in the ambush. As a result of his investigation eight Ute Indians were charged and tried for the attack. Three were convicted of manslaughter. He did not uncover evidence of Mormon involvement. Lt. Beckwith also concluded that the Mormons had nothing to do with the attack and that the Pahvants acted alone. He wrote in his official report that the "statement which has from time to time appeared (or been copied) in various newspapers...charging the Mormons or Mormon authorities with instigating the Indians to, if not actually aiding them in, the murder of Captain Gunnison and his associates, is, I believe, not only entirely false, but there is no accidental circumstance connected with it affording the slightest foundation for such a charge." Nevertheless, the Gunnison Massacre resulted in much controversy and added additional strain to the relationship between Governor Brigham Young of the Utah Territory and the federal government. This incident contributed to tensions eventually leading to the Utah War, wherein President Buchanan sent the U.S. Army to the Utah Territory in order to stop a reported Mormon insurrection. Legacy The Capt. John Gunnison House in Goshen, New Hampshire, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Gunnison is featured on a New Hampshire historical marker (number 140) along New Hampshire Route 10 in Goshen. Several places have been named in honor of him: The city of Gunnison, Utah The city of Gunnison, Colorado The Gunnison River in Colorado, and by extension Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park,