 This information changed Dame's mind, and he reportedly authorized a massacre.Following orders from Haight in Cedar City, 35 miles (56 km) away, on Friday, September 11 John Higbee ordered a group of militiamen not in disguise to march and stand in a formal line a half-mile from the Baker-Fancher party, then John D. Lee and William Batemen approached the Baker–Fancher party wagons with a white flag.Lee told the battle-weary emigrants he had negotiated a truce with the Paiutes, whereby they could be escorted safely to Cedar City under Mormon protection in exchange for leaving all their livestock and supplies to the Native Americans.