I applaud the makers of september dawn for their efforts to bring the story of the illfated fancherbaker wagon train to the attention of todays audience. Investigation of the massacre was delayed by the civil war. September dawn book by carole whang schutter burying the past documentary by brian patrick. The book sheds light on factors contributing to the tragic event, including the war hysteria that overcame the mormons after president james buchanan dispatched. The massacre almost brought the united states to war against the church of. The book covers the subject of mountain meadow massacre that. In this episode, dave talks about one of the darkest moments in the history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Sep 11, 2008 a new book, massacre at mountain meadows, tries to explain what happened that day and why. The mountain meadows massacre of 1857 and the trials of john. He is the recipient of the 2017 genealogyhistory achievement award from the american library association. This one was published in 2008 so, 58 years later by ronald walker a mormon historian in slc, richard e.
The aftermath of mountain meadows the massacre almost brought the united states to war against the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, but only one man was brought to trial. After several abortive attempts to bring the leaders of the massacre to justice, john d. This, in some ways, is just the latest in a long line of books many of them quite recent written on the mountain meadows massacre of 1857. The book recounts the september 11, 1857 massacre in which over 120 emigrant. Following the cherokee trail, they arrived in salt lake city on august 3 rd, and were met with a very chilly reception. Amidst this, two young loverstobe, one a mormon and the other one of the doomed settlers from arkansas, develop a relationship in an atmosphere of suspicion and rancor. The mountain meadows massacre one might wonder why three mormon historiansronald w. A very sad book of the deaths of so many people at the mountain meadows massacre.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read massacre at mountain meadows. Before they could reach their destination, a party of mormons and indians attacked them while they camped on a plateau known as mountain meadows in southern utah. A series of attacks was staged on the bakerfancher wagon train around mountain meadows in utah. Massacre at mountain meadows ebook written by ronald w. Book provides an unflinching look at mountain meadows massacre. Leonard were researching their book massacre at mountain meadows. There are many historical documents in the vault that tell of the church of. All together, about 140 souls of men, women and children, were taken. Walker 2008, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Penrose the 1838 mormon war in missouri the autobiography of parley parker pratt the buchanan spoils system and the utah expedition. Mormon coverup mountain meadows massacre 1857 massacre.
Book provides an unflinching look at mountain meadows massacre copied to clipboard the new book, massacre at mountain meadows, published by oxford university press, is not a church production but was coauthored by mormon historians ronald w. The new york times and mountain meadows meridian magazine. The conversation about mountain meadows is not really about mountain meadows at all. Walker include selections of important documents about the massacre. The mountain meadows massacre stands as one of the darkest events in mormon history.
All of the travelers died except for seventeen children, who were taken into. Leonard was also the director of the museum of church history and art in salt lake city, utah. Morris collections and a special issue of byu studies, 47, no. She specifically noted that the doomed fancherbaker company had arrived at the worst possible time, in that they were just a step ahead of 1,500 troops sent by u. Nephi johnson died in 1919, survived by many children and descendants. A group of settlers, traveling on wagons, was murdered by the native mormons. The fictionalized book, the fancher train, by author amelia bean, is loosely based on the authors interpretation of actual events.
August 12, 2008 massacre at mountain meadows lecture at. The massacre occurred september 711, 1857 at mountain meadows in southern utah, and was perpetrated by mormon settlers belonging to the utah territorial militia officially called the nauvoo legion, together with some southern paiute native. In april 1857, near harrison boone county, 120 to 150 settlers, mostly arkansans, started a journey toward the promise of a better life in california. Bigler and will bagley in their 2008 tome, innocent blood. We visit the mountain meadows association monument first.
The monument at mountain meadows does not tell the true story and is a monument to the moron church and a coverup for the mormon participants. No question, the massacre at mountain meadows on sept. American massacre by sally denton the mountain meadows massacre by juanita brooks white flag americas first 911 by wayne capurro american history revised. George, ut near the location mountain meadows massacre.
Academy awardr winner jon voight, terence stamp and trent ford star in this film based on the true story of the mountain meadows massacre the brutal murder of 120 men, women and children on september 11, 1857 as their wagon train passed through utah on its way to california. The story of the mountain meadows massacre a dark day in. Aug 23, 2008 mountain meadows association monument. In 1895, the federal indictment against iron county militiamen for their complicity in the mountain meadows massacre was finally dismissed. On his deathbed, a young schoolteacher witnessed his tortured, delirious recollections of the massacre more than six decades. Nephi johnson the 1857 iron county militia project. The idea was inspired by a conversation with diann fancher, a new friend from arkansas. After five hardback printings and a book club edition, massacre at mountain meadows is now also available as an audio book that can be downloaded from. There are ledgers in the vault that indicates where certain deposits came from such as the mountain meadows massacre bounty. Nauvoo legion utah territorial militia, iron county district paiute native american auxiliaries.
Massacre at mountain meadows just now arriving in bookstores, massacre at mountain meadows oxford university press is the longawaited book on the september 1857 tragedy written by ronald w. Aug 06, 2008 massacre at mountain meadows is destined to become the definitive work for many nonspecialists, average church members who read the article in the ensign or the inadequate treatment in ces manuals and who desire more depth. 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. Essential narratives of the mountain meadows massacre. This is the scene of the infamous mountain meadows massacre in 1857. Lee in late 1857, shortly after the mountain meadows massacre. The first chapter goes along way toward establishing credibility as it recounts early mormon history in familiar terms. The new book, massacre at mountain meadows, published by oxford university press, is not a church production but. His later statements have now been published in turley and walker, mountain meadows massacre. The mountain meadows massacre was a series of attacks which resulted in the mass murder of 120 members of the bakerfancher emigrant wagon train. Feb 09, 2011 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. I was amazed to see the event took place on 9111857.
The book covers the subject of mountain meadow massacre that took place in sept 1857 where 120 white settlers of a wagon train passing through utah were murdered by white mormons. It began as an attack, quickly turned into a siege, and eventually culminated in the execution of the unarmed emigrants after their surrender. The aftermath of mountain meadows history smithsonian magazine. This massive slaughter claimed nearly everyone in the party from arkansas and is the event referred to as the mountain meadows massacre. Lee was arrested, tried, sentenced to death, and executed in 1877. Although the mountain meadows massacre was covered to some extent in the media during the 1850s, its first period of intense nationwide publicity began around 1872. Mountain meadows massacre encyclopedia of arkansas. Their 2008 work, massacre at mountain meadows, drew on seemingly limitless resources and involved a corps of archival researchers sent out across utah and throughout the united states in quest of new primary sources. The mountain meadows massacre 1950 by juanita brooks was the first definitive study of the mountain meadows massacre.
A story set against the mountain meadows massacre, the film is based upon the tragedy which occurred in utah in 1857. This book was the first to seriously attempt an honest investigation of the massacre, unflinchingly seeking the truth. The story of the mountain meadows massacre a dark day. There were not many visitors, in fact just jill and i. Academy award r winner jon voight, terence stamp and trent ford star in this film based on the true story of the mountain meadows massacre the brutal murder of 120 men, women and children on september 11, 1857 as their wagon train passed through utah on its way to california. The massacre occurred september 711, 1857 at mountain meadows in southern utah, and was perpetrated by mormon settlers belonging to the utah territorial militia officially called the nauvoo legion. Massacre at mountain meadows is a book by latterday saint historian richard e. This book is written by three lds historians who claims that they had the full support of their church in writing about this incident. The godbeites and brigham young 1998, and mormon history 2001, with david j. The mountain meadows massacre digest the morning news. It is about the nature, character, and viability of the lds church.
An american tragedy oxford university press, 2008, they discovered several oral interviews, written statements, and letters from some of those participants. Eyrings remarks at the 150thanniversary of mountain meadows massacre. This is the main, albeit unspoken, engine that drives bagleys work and the work of walker, turley, and leonard. Mountain meadows massacre remembering the surviving. Sep 29, 2014 i first dreamed of making the two quilts in 2008, after editing walker, turley and leonard. Drawn from documents previously not available to scholars and a careful rereading of traditional sources, this. A short 220 yard walk gets us to the top of dan sill hill where the monument overlooks locations of interest. Publishers weekly jun 9, 2008 on september 11, 1857, more than 120 men, women and children traveling from arkansas to california were butchered by mormon militiamen and paiute indians at. The first was the seminal work by juanita brooks the mountain meadows massacre in 2016. Produced in cooperation with the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church, it is the. The mountain meadows massacre is something most people have probably never heard of before unless youre a mormon or had ancestors who were part of the massacred fancher wagon party.
The mountain meadows massacre was a mass slaughter of the fancherbaker emigrant wagon train at mountain meadows, utah territory, by the local mormon militia on 11 september 1857. Media coverage of the mountain meadows massacre wikipedia. This book was the first to seriously attempt an honest investigation of the massacre. The aftermath of mountain meadows history smithsonian. Akin to brookss earlier work, these three authors placed their story within the context of the utah war and the mormon.
Neither a whitewash nor an expose, massacre at mountain meadows provides the clearest and most accurate account of a key event in american religious history. This was after investigators obtained the confession of philip klingensmith, a mormon bishop at the time of the massacre and a private in the utah militia. The book provided an important history of early mormonism as well as offering lees somewhat selfserving account of the events leading to the mountain meadows massacre. Leonardchose to investigate an unarguably black mark on the mormon religion and published those results, some 150 years after the fact. Massacre at mountain meadows wins westerners international award for best nonfiction book of 2008 by a oct 27, 2009 news at a westerners international breakfast held during the western history associations annual conference on october 10, 2009, in denver, colorado, massacre at mountain meadows received the cofounders best book award. The authors of the oxford book wanted to make all these documents public, and so one of the authors, assistant church historian richard turley, approached byu studies for help in this endeavor.
Jan 07, 2014 stewart died there in 1895, around the time the mountain meadows prosecutions were finally closed. The survivors mountain meadows massacre descendants. Aug 12, 2008 pingback by juvenile instructor august 12, 2008 massacre at mountain meadows lecture at benchmark books, part 2. On the walk up the hill are two information markers. Since the wagon master, alexander fancher, and i, are direct, blood relatives my sirname is fancher, i researched, and know what historically happened to the wagon train during the mountain meadows massacre. Massacre at mountain meadows wins westerners international award for best nonfiction book of 2008. Books he has authored, coauthored, or edited include victims. The book concerns the 1857 mountain meadows massacre in southern utah, and is the latest study of the subject.
As historian will bagley noted, lee reconstructed his chronology to distance himself from the initial attack and provided blistering attacks on the men who testified against him. Leonard, and their colleagues discovered a great deal of information about the 1857 massacre, leading to a clearer understanding of the tragedy. Her mountain meadows massacre, published in 1950 and updated in 1962, carefully outlined a set of causes within the broader context of time and place. The social and intellectual history of enthusiastic religion. During years of research for their 2008 book massacre at mountain meadows. Sep 07, 2003 the eastern press soon picked up the story of what would be called the mountain meadows massacre some 140 victims, most of them members of the californiabound bakerfancher party from arkansas. After reading michael richan on the event in one of his river books i had to read the true story on the event. A lds interpretive center for the site is surely in the works because as proven in the past president hinckley doesnt do anything that will not provide a tithing income. Mountain meadows book flyingoff shelves kuer radiowest program on the massacre at mountainmeadows, 4 august 2008. Supplement to the lecture on the mountain meadows massacre by charles w. The mormon built monument at mountain meadows is the most obvious coverup. Byu studies volume 47, number 3, is a special issue pertaining to the mountain meadows massacre, which took place in southern utah in 1857. Higbee had hid out into the 1890s and then he quietly returned to cedar city where he maintained a low profile.
1555 1040 1472 667 195 1058 1202 571 1044 969 582 578 1127 958 1040 156 1632 557 638 450 1581 1238 603 975 1167 1610 1209 755 632 470 1577 1513