Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Ratings2
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating4.5
On September 11, 1857, a band of Mormon militia, under a flag of truce, lured unarmed members of a party of emigrants from their fortified encampment and, with their Paiute allies, killed them. More than 120 men, women, and children perished in the slaughter.
Massacre at Mountain Meadows offers the most thoroughly researched account of the massacre ever written. Drawn from documents previously not available to scholars and a careful re-reading of traditional sources, this gripping narrative offers fascinating new insight into why Mormons settlers in isolated southern Utah deceived the emigrant party with a promise of safety and then killed the adults and all but seventeen of the youngest children. The book sheds light on factors contributing to the tragic event, including the war hysteria that overcame the Mormons after President James Buchanan dispatched federal troops to Utah Territory to put down a supposed rebellion, the suspicion and conflicts that polarized the perpetrators and victims, and the reminders of attacks on Mormons in earlier settlements in Missouri and Illinois. It also analyzes the influence of Brigham Young's rhetoric and military strategy during the infamous "Utah War" and the role of local Mormon militia leaders in enticing Paiute Indians to join in the attack. Throughout the book, the authors paint finely drawn portraits of the key players in the drama, their backgrounds, personalities, and roles in the unfolding story of misunderstanding, misinformation, indecision, and personal vendettas.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre stands as one of the darkest events in Mormon history. Neither a whitewash nor an exposé, Massacre at Mountain Meadows provides the clearest and most accurate account of a key event in American religious history.
Reviews with the most likes.
After doing some brief research on Mountain Meadows, I wanted to know more. This book is a great resource for those who are wanting to know more about what happened on that terrible day. This massacre was the greatest loss of American life by other Americans until the civil war, and it was one that drew outrage from across the country, as women and children were included in that massacre. The insecurities that the Mormons felt were played out on this unfortunate wagon train, who were just trying to find a better life for their families. Their lives were ended after a short siege in which they were promised safety if they would come out and surrender. Instead they were separated and killed as they walked to what they thought was freedom.
The unfortunate outplay of these lives are mastered in this book, not only showing how it was set up, but showing some of the major players in the killings, as only one man was ever brought to trial, but it shows just how far up it went. The US Army investigated as well, as some of the children who were still young enough to be considered “innocents” were scattered among mormon families and raised there. The families of those were killed, demanded their release and the army spent two years investigating what happened. Although all those responsible were never brought to trial, the truth of what happened would not be fully uncovered for over a hundred years, until a site was to be dug for the memorial site, and bones were uncovered.
This book is truly one that is hard to read, yet hard to put down. You find yourself thinking almost that you are drawn into the story and wishing there was something you could do to go back and change time. Anyone who is a lover of history will enjoy this book, and there are several others out there that complement this book as well. I would suggest reading this one first and then moving on to some of the others and filling in the stories as you go along.
Series
1 primary bookMountain Meadows Massacre is a 1-book series first released in 2008 with contributions by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and 3 others.
