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Mountain Meadows
Massacre
Sept. 11, 1857 (144 years before
NYC/Pentagon)
A Pain that Only Truth,
Honesty, Recognition, and Repentance Can Heal |
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Index |
This site featured at
Index of investigative news articles, books, documents, and
sites related to this tragic massacre whose culpability continues to be denied
by the Utah power base. Only when the LDS Church confesses its role will
the deep wounds begin to heal. Compiled by Sterling
D. Allan, a direct descendant of a survivor of the Martin Handcart
company.
Skip to Contents
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Statement
by John D. Lee
Who was executed as scapegoat for the massacre |
| "I had many to
assist me at the Mountain Meadows. I believe that most of
those who were connected with the Massacre, and took part in
the lamentable transaction that has blackened the character of
all who were aiders or abettors in the same, were acting under
the impression that they were performing a religious duty. I
know all were acting under the orders and by the command of
their Church leaders; and I firmly believe that the most of
those who took part in the proceedings, considered it a
religious duty to unquestioningly obey the orders which they
had received. That they acted from a sense of duty to the
Mormon Church." (...Life
and Confessions of John D. Lee..., p. 213) |
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This
1870s T.B.H. Stenhouse sketch depicts
the horrors at Mountain Meadows.
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Quotes
"That which we have done here must never be construed
as an acknowledgment of the part of the church of any complicity in the
occurrences of that fateful day"
-- President Gordon B. Hinckley
dedicating the monument, Sept. 11, 1999
[See Sept.
11 2001 "This day in history"]
* * * * * * * * * * *
"I wonder what the apologists were and are
thinking--that God has to be made to look good, or that He can't defend
Himself when it comes to facing the truth?"
-- David Skousen
feedback to this page, March 14, 2000
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Up until now the story was that little children were
spared. But in the short time the bones were studied they found a couple
children who had been murdered."
-- Sarah Webb
(prenatal instructor)
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Mr. Allan, I am a
GGGgranddaughter of Captain Alexander Fancher of the wagon train that was
murdered at Mountain Meadows. I just wanted to thank you for your web
site. It is very informative and contains resources not available
anywhere else. I will share it with others. Thank you!"
-- Pat Norris
* * * * * * * * * * *
"The only thing I want is to be able to honor our dead,
protect their graves and allow them to rest undisturbed forevermore."
-- Mary Baker Ledbetter
Great Granddaughter of one of the victims
click here for full statement
Introduction
* * * * * * * * * * *
120 California-bound pioneers massacred by a Mormon militia and American
Indian allies in 1857 (Sept. 11)
* * * * * * * * * * *
Last year when creating a monument for the massacre,
a BYU team's backhoe accidentally uncovered some bones from a known grave
site. With pressure from the LDS church and Governor Leavitt, the bones were
in short order reburied without the tests being done on them as are called for
by Utah law -- which law, some argue, is unfair to the sensibilities of
respect for the dead. Nevertheless, this sloppy cover-up is symbolic of the
yet unconfessed culpability of the LDS church in that tragedy of so many
decades ago.
This index includes links to documentation regarding LDS leadership
culpability. The persecution burnout factor, the Mormon mindset of
"just follow the prophet," the temple
oath to avenge Joseph's death (in place until 1939), and the doctrine of
blood atonement all combined to pave the way for this atrocity to occur.
Let honest hearts help heal the wounds of this travesty by acknowledging,
repenting, and learning from the mistakes of the past. Oh that we might see an
end to the cover-ups which have become an unfortunate trademark of Mormon PR
that whitewashes ancient sepulchers which inside are filled with dead men's
bones. Only with such repentance and humility will this black eye in
Mormon history be healed.
This index is not intended to diminish faith, but to strengthen it through
the truth and honest introspection.
Sterling D. Allan
March 14, 26, 2000
Copyright © Greater Things
See: Rebuttal/Correction by
Shane Baker of BYU Archeology Department
GreaterThings.com Features
News Reports
(Newspapers discontinue their links after a fairly short time)
- Mountain
Meadows massacre analysis ends with an accusation (SL
Tribune, June 22, 2003) - "Brigham Young, as portrayed in Sally
Denton's American Massacre, is a murderer and liar and commits
treason. Her case is strongly stated."
- 'Massacre'
Novelist May Face LDS Excommunication (SL Tribune, May 22,
2003) - Judith Freeman, author of Red Water, tackles the
controversial subject with bravery.
- Mountain
Meadows: The Movie (SL Tribune, Feb. 20, 2003) - Brian
Patrick's "Burying the Past" movie shows re-enactments of the
perpetrators and victims.
- John
D. Lee Statue Vexes Town of Washington (SL Tribune, July 6,
2002)
- Mountain
Meadows debate still smolders (Deseret News, Jan. 9, 2003) -
Oral histories of descendants rife with controversy
- Salt Lake Tribune three-part series (March 12-14, 2000)
- Back-up: http://www.cesnur.org/testi/morm_01.htm
- The Center for Studies on New Religions has a page contains the transcript of all three parts of the
Trib’s Mountain Meadows series.
- A Brief History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre [link
dead]
- Letter from the Editor [link
dead]
The second worst case of civil terrorism in U.S. History needs to be
healed by the truth, not by cover-up.
- (I) Backhoe at a S. Utah killing field rips open 142-year-old wound
[link
dead]
A project to rectify a historic injustice accidentally reopens an
ugly past, prompting vain attempts at a cover-up and a high-level
decision to skirt state law.
- (II) Voices of the Dead [link
dead]
After a century of conflicting accounts of a horrible crime, science
begins to piece together the unvarnished truth from the victims
themselves.
- (III) The Dilemma of Blame [link
dead]
Although the modern LDS Church has declared the book closed on the
massacre, its legacy is not easily put to rest.
- Lead Scrolls Controversy
- Other SLTrib Stories
- Church
to Produce Book on Massacre - quasi official publication will
have advantage of having access to archives not available to other
researchers. (5/19/02)
- Massacre: Forensic Analysis Supports Tribe's Claim of Passive Role
[dead
link] (1/21/01)
- Massacre Victims Will Get a 'Fitting' Memorial [dead
link] (4/1/99)
Since the day it happened, the massacre has represented a
disturbing chapter in LDS history. It is known that Mormons and Paiutes
took part in the killings, but what exactly happened and who was
involved never has been fully explained to everyone's satisfaction.
Instead, it has fostered a legacy of guilt among some church members and
rendered the church an easy target of ridicule from critics.
- BYU Unearths Bones of 1857 Massacre Victims [dead
link] (8/14/99)
The bones of 10 men, women and children believed to have been among 120
California-bound pioneers massacred by a Mormon militia and American
Indian allies in 1857 have been unexpectedly unearthed at the site.
- Archeology.org:
- Mountain
Meadows Massacre (11/30/99)
Reburying the Evidence
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints made a distressing
discovery while restoring a monument to the victims of the 1857 Mountain
Meadows Massacre in southwest Utah: the bones of at least 29 of the 120
pioneer men, women, and children killed in the bloodbath.
Ground-penetrating radar revealed three other anomalies, perhaps graves,
not threatened by the restoration work. The Church, at the request of
descendant families, did not allow the testing of those sites or any
further excavation of the site in question."
Mountain Meadows Massacre Site
Photo
by Terry Nolan Fancher
Books
- Red
Water by Judith Freeman, presents in novel format.
- American
Massacre by Sally Denton, convincingly
portrays Brigham Young as a murderer, liar and committer of treason.
- Book Reviews > The
Mormon Murder Case - The New York Review previews Blood
of the Prophets by Bagley, and Red Water by Freeman.
- Blood
of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
by Will Bagley; University of Oklahoma Press. (Oct. 2002)
- The
Mountain Meadows Massacre by Juanita Brooks, 1991
Reader Review at Amazon.com: Juanita Brook's book was objective on
both sides, pointing out the atmosphere among the LDS people at the time of
the Mountain Meadows Massacre while also showing the inconsistencies in some
of the LDS explanations. If there is one clear point in the book it is that
in times of prejudice and war, even good people will do horrific things.
This does not justify the massacre but does attempt to explain the paranoia
and fear which existed in Southern Utah at that time. I find Juanita's
research to be very fair and quite accurate. It parallels the research done
by Josiah F. Gibbs in his book which was printed in 1910, much closer to the
time of the massacre. Mr. Gibbs is not LDS and it is obvious he does not
like the LDS, but certainly his book verifies that the research which
Juanita performed was very accurate. Having read many of the books and
information regarding this massacre, I believe Juanita has done her research
well and attempted to get the truth out. One painfully obvious truth which
comes out is the quickness with which the U.S. Government took action in
trying to find the guilty parties. Perhaps if they had taken such quickness
with the killings and mobbings upon the LDS in Missouri, Illinois and other
states, this massacre could have been avoided.
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- Massacre
at Mountain Meadows : An American Legend and a Monumental Crime
by William Wise
- Mountain
Meadows Massacre (on-line too) by Josiah F. Gibbs, 1910
Written closer to the time of the massacre, though composed by one who does
not view the LDS favorably, provides a service in probing the role of the
Mormon doctrines of leader infallibility and blood atonement in spurring
this tragedy.
- Forgotten
Kingdom : The Mormon Theocracy in the American West, 1847-1896
by David L. Bigler
"Widely recognized at the best available account." Examines early
Mormon efforts to establish in Utah an independent, theocratic Kingdom of
God.
- John
Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat by Juanita Brooks
- Hiking
and Exploring the Paria River : Including : The Story of John D. Lee and
Mountain Meadows Massacre by Michael Kelsey, 1997
- David A. White, ed., News of the Plains and the Rockies, 1803-1865, Volume
3, Missionaries, Mormons, 1821-1864; Indian Agents, Captives, 1832-1865
(Spokane: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1997).
- Fielding, Robert Kent and Dorothy S. Fielding. The Tribune Reports of the
Trials of John D. Lee for the Massacre at Mountain Meadow. Higganum, Conn:
Kent's Books, 2000.
Related Stories
Relevant Sites
- Encyclopedia
of Mormonism on MMM
Official LDS sanitized version of the event and obfuscation of the
culpable parties.
- Mountain Meadows
Association
After reviewing your web
site, would you please immediately remove any links to the
Mountain Meadows Associations Web Site, -- NOW -- What your
site expresses is something that the association does not care to
get into.
This Association set out to take care of the
120 that were murdered and not argue about who killed them or why.
The last three days of the newspapers has forgotten about who was
killed and about keeping their good names known to history. Any
time in the next 100 years these newspaper articles will be
forgotten but the monument, those of us who put it up and the
names and honor of the dead will be remerged. We do not have the
time for those who want to stir up things based on a bunch of
untrue articles by mean spirited individuals who want to sell
newspapers. |
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--From Ronald Loving, MMA Chairman of the Board
to Sterling Allan, webmaster for this site,
March 14, 2000 e-mail correspondence.
(A link to their site may be found from a
SL Tribune page.) |
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see John
D. Lee's great great grandson's reply |
- The Mountain Meadows Association was organized in 1989 as a joint
effort by the descendants of both sides of this tragedy. Its purpose was
to erect a suitable memorial to honor the memory of those who lost their
lives in the massacre in September of 1857.
- Mountain
Meadows Massacre
Brief overview of the events reported by Mormon Research Ministry.
"Exacerbating suspicions were rumors that some of the
party had expressed joy in the thought of the coming army possibly
annihilating the Mormons. Adding fuel to the fire was talk that some of the
party had actually participated in the killing of Joseph Smith, including
one of them who supposedly had a gun used in their prophet's death. This was
no small offense. At that time, Mormons who participated in the temple
endowment were also making vows to avenge the blood of the
"martyrs" Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum."
- Lee,
John D. - People in The West
PBS profile of the Mormon whose life was haunted by his alleged role in the
1857 Mountain Meadows massacre of 120 non-church members.
- The
New West: Lawlessness, Cultural Genocide, and the End of the
"Frontier"
Reference Documents
- Mormon
Blood Atonement -- Fact or Fantasy?
- The
Life and Confessions of John D. Lee
Embracing a history of Mormonism from its inception down to
the present time, with an exposition of the secret history, signs, symbols
and crimes of the Mormon church. Also the true history of the horrible
butchery known as The Mountain Meadows Massacre. --published 1877--
- Preface
- Chapter
XVIII Last Confession and Statement of John D. Lee--Pages
213-248, The Mountain Meadows Massacre.
- Chapter
XIX--The Life and Confessions of John D. Lee: The conclusion
of Lee's testimony tells how church leaders attempted to cover-up the
massacre at Mountain Meadows. When testimony from Mormons and Gentiles
pointed to church leaders' involvement in the affair, Lee was used as a
scapegoat to appease the American people, and protect "God's
Anointed." Lee's testimony, given just seven days before his
execution, gives additional information on the Danites or "Avenging
Angels." He details the murders, and attempted murders, of both
Gentiles and church members ordered by LDS leaders. Included are the
willing "blood-atonement" of Rasmos Anderson for adultery, and
the castration of a young man who would not give his fiancee as a plural
wife to Bishop Snow of Manti, Utah.
- Deposition
of Brigham Young Regarding the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Brigham Young declined to be deposed for John D. Lee's first trial, but he
agreed to the following deposition for Lee's second trial, in which Lee was
found guilty of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
- List
of victims who died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Feedback
| Monday, February 05, 2001 9:12 AM
Dear Sterling,
Your website has helped me so much with my research. When I had viewed
The Mountain Meadow Associations website prior to uncovering the remains
I had mixed emotions and a tremendous amount of questions. Your sight is
providing answers for me in search of....Liberty...Truth and Justice For
Us All!
Thank you,
Vicki Odell
vodell@uswest.net |
This page created by SDA
on March 14, 2000
Last updated on March 06, 2013
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September
Dawn
