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 Diversity:

History 2800 Utah's Diverse Heritage

My signature assignment in this course was a comparison of two historical novels about the same event, the event was the massacre at Mountain Meadows. I wrote a eight page paper about the similarities and differences of both books. 

Mountain Meadows Massacre 

Mountain Meadows Massacre written by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard is an informative account of the tragedy that occurred in Southern Utah at Mountain Meadows where well over a hundred men, women, and children were brutally murdered.  The account of the massacre is historically based on facts, documents, and letters. The second view on the Mountain Meadows Massacre is a book called American Massacre written by Sally Denton. Denton’s book felt more biased in that the author reported that the Mormons were all to blame as they were terrorists and religious extremists. In American Massacre, she also examines the important role of Brigham Young and his involvement with the emigrants; in her telling he was not as innocent as they claimed in the book Mountain Meadows Massacre. Before we dive into the depths of each individual book and explore their differences, let’s clarify their similarities. The books both examine the events of the massacre at Mountain Meadows on September 11, 1857; they both explain in depth about the Mormon religion’s beliefs and practices; they both described detailed descriptions of what the Mormons’ struggles were in Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois; and they give detailed background information and characteristics of the major players: Joseph Smith; Brigham Young; and John D. Lee, just to name a few.  Interestingly, both books also claim impartiality as to their reporting of the facts.

            Now to look at the differences starting with the book Massacre at Mountain Meadows, the beginning on the book explains why the Mormons were considered different. In the book they state Mormons had no liturgies; no starched clerical collars; and no purchased pews (6) which was not acceptable by other religions at the time. They also were accepting of new scriptures like the Book of Mormon, which was the doctrine Joseph Smith translated and made into new revelations. The Mormons also strongly believed their church was the only true religion upon the earth. They were similar to Christians but they differed with some views: they did not except Trinitarianism[1]; instead they believed in living prophets; and, for some time, polygamy was a popular practice. In 1830, the first church was organized in New York. Smith began to express their views of non-members will be destroyed because they live differently. They quote him saying, “We rejoice that the time is at hand when the wicked who will not repent will be swept from the earth with the besom of destruction and the earth becomes an inheritance for the poor and the meek.” (7) Joseph Smith talked about God’s justice, which separates the believers and the gentiles[2]. This, of course, offended people of any other faith and began problems in New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. The authors described some of the actual events that occurred to the Mormons. They described a kidnapping of Joseph Smith in Ohio in 1832 where they threatened him with castration and they brutally beat him, tarred and feathered him, and left him for dead. He survived this attack. In Missouri the people who opposed the Mormons tried a more civil approach with a petition that was signed by hundreds of citizens in the area. The values of the Saints in Missouri had issues with the Southern Missourians like slavery and Mormons gaining political and economic power. In the end, the Mormons were exiled from their communities; they were beaten; property destroyed; and threats were made. Between the time they left Jackson County to when they settled in Nauvoo, skirmishes broke out in Caldwell County and Daviess County. The Saints settled in Illinois where they established their headquarters in the city of Nauvoo where they had a few years of peace until gentiles thought the Mormons were overbearing, creating angry articles for a newspaper because they felt the Mormons would infringe on their rights. They arrested Joseph Smith but that did not stop an angry mob from murdering him. Brigham Young then took over leadership. Young led the way to the Salt Lake Valley. Some of Brigham Young’s accomplishments that helped people see he was a good leader for the Mormons included: he raised funds to aid Joseph Smith; missionary work to Great Britain; and kept the church together. Brigham Young arrived in Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

            In the beginning of American Massacre, Denton described Joseph Smith’s experience with the spirit Moroni[3]. The spirit told Smith “That God had work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues.”(3) Denton went into depth about Joseph Smith; his family background, life, and mission. He was the third boy in a family of four children and his parents were avid seekers of God. Denton then went on to explain the Mormons set themselves apart from the rest of the community of gentiles. This type of thinking was used as a survival tool, it brought the members of the church closer together, but a division was being created between the church and the gentiles, which brought major problems for the religion for years to come. Joseph Smith then founded a bank for the church. He had big plans to build many temples; he then ordered construction of a temple in the new “Zion”[4] in Independence, Missouri.  Smith explained where the temples were being built was where Adam and Eve created the human race. He identified himself with Moses and wanted to lead his people. Joseph Smith became reckless with his revelations and began forbidding things like tobacco, alcohol, coffee, and red meat. Denton really made one think Joseph Smith was a religious extremist. She makes points about how he took money from his followers to fund his revelations that the Mormons were the chosen ones. He was rapidly bringing more members in and expanding, and this is where he began to forbid certain kinds of foods. This was not abnormal for most religions during that era, but the way Denton wrote it made it seem like she was leaning toward a negative view on Smith.  Denton also introduced people like Brigham Young and Gunnison, and she provided some background history about them.

            Now back to Massacre at Mountain Meadows: the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley just found out of the news that the United States government was sending a military force to Utah which obviously caused excitement. They began preparations instead of having a prayer service it became a war room and they decided how to face the army. First, Young wanted all Mormons outside the borders to move into the main settlement; they would be in more danger outside of the main territory. Second, the Mormons would use guerrilla tactics and attack the army line of supplies. Third, they would destroy the town and run into hiding in the mountains. He did not want to leave anything such as shelter or food; nothing would be left. The last part of Brigham Young’s plan, was to ally with the surrounding Indian tribes. They would gather information about movements and harass troops. Then the authors gave history about Isaac C. Haight: he went on missionary tours; was a policeman in Nauvoo; traveled with Joseph Smith to Illinois; in Cedar City he became mayor, legislator, and militia battalion major. The authors described who John D. Lee was: he did not have a great family life; his father was a drunk and his mother died when he was little; he suffered from depression.  Lee eventually was a successful man owning 160 acres that included good buildings and two hundred head of cattle. He served in the Black Hawk War[5]. In Nauvoo, he was the city’s wharf master, librarian, and bodyguard for Joseph Smith. Brigham Young actually adopted Lee in a spiritual father-son relationship.  Lee was then sent to Southern Utah to help establish the city. Lee was not popular with many people. The authors included quotes from his wife, Nancy Bean who said “He threatened to cut my throat.” the quote taken from a document that described Lee’s physical and emotional abuse. This might be a reason why Brigham Young sent him to the South (?).

            After the authors explained the backgrounds and the roles primary people played in the history of Utah, they then described the emigrant train. The emigrants were on their way to California to supply miners with tender beef, and they were hoping to receive top dollar for the good meat. Jack and Mary Baker were rough, outdoorsy people and they did not always get along with his neighbors. The authors described why the Bakers went to California and the livestock they brought as well as the supplies they needed for the trip. Three of Jack’s children went on the trip: Abel, George, his wife and their four small children, her brother and sister, and two hired help. Mary Baker decided to stay back in Arkansas and said “Arkansas is plenty good enough for me.” (79) The Baker train took the military road west, and the Parker train went to Southwest with plans to meet up again in the Cherokee Nation. Two other large families, the Dunlaps, a large number of hired help, and the Fancher party joined the wagon train to California. The authors noted that many the emigrant companies’ makeup changed along the way.  Baker and Fancher were the leading men in the group. In most cases, the emigrants that took to the trail from Fort Bridger to Salt Lake found relief; they wanted produce, flour, grain, and a place to rest. The Mormons benefited from the business since it was a chance to secure money, but since the Mormons were preparing for the coming arrival of the army they refused to sell goods and supplies to any outsiders. This obviously created problems. In this book, they used actual accounts of events from journals and other documents that occurred because of this problem.

            The explanation of the emigrants in American Massacre was similar but Denton described the emigrants in a more favorable manner. Denton began to tell about Alexander Fancher and how he was easily persuaded to make the journey to California by his brother John. The Fancher family began a business in the cattle industry in 1724. This family was known for being laid back, but attentive. In the book Denton described them as reliable people, “If they owed you money, they would pay you.”(94) Though they were described as generally nice people, they were known to not back down from a fight. Denton goes into depth about Fancher’s childhood, wife, and children. All the families that were included in the wagon train were twenty to thirty families including: Fancher; the Bakers; the Mitchells; the Millers; the Dunlaps; and the Camerons. Denton indicated in her book that these travelers took a year to prepare for the trip. 

            Both books are similar describing the actual conflict. The emigrants were taken by surprise and were then forced to round the wagons into a tight circle for protection. People were getting shot while men scrambled to get their rifles, while women were pulling in the wounded. The shooting final subsided and emigrants were trapped in their barricades for several days, running low with food and water. The Mormons came up with a plan because they were running out of time (there was another wagon train approaching soon). They devised a plan that John D. Lee would persuade them to surrender and the Mormons would take them to safety. It worked because the emigrants had to trust them as they were running low on all supplies (especially ammunition), it was their only hope. They then lined them up in order of children, women and then men. They moved the children, women and the wounded into a wagon, the rest walked. The wagon started moving but after awhile it slowed and the massacre began. Both books describe the massacre as people being shot at point blank range, or people’s throats were being cut. The biggest difference between the two descriptions is that the Massacre at Mountain Meadows authors were more descriptive and used more detail, and gave much more emphasis on the participation of the Indians that were involved. In  American Massacre, the description of what happened seemed less detailed, and portrayed the emigrants has basically being  tricked into surrendering their weapons (but both books did mention that at the time of the “surrender,” the emigrants were literally out of ammunition).

            What we have are two books that described and analyzed the same historical event. This massacre was a terrible unfortunate occurrence in Utah (as well as American) history. One book, America Massacre seems to place the blame squarely on the Mormon religion and their leaders. The other book seems to lean toward blaming the political and cultural “times” for creating a “perfect storm” that resulted in the butchering of over one hundred emigrants. This book emphasizes the Indians’ participation. Massacre of Mountain Meadows was full of small details that when taken totally amounted to a complete description of what happened in regard to the massacre. The authors were thorough with cites (quotes) used, while American Massacre was less dedicated to relying on details. American Massacre seemed to be a better “read” because it was written more as a fictional story rather than a historical review of an experience in history.

            Both stories ended with John D. Lee’s execution while standing in his front of his coffin. Now that historians have looked over the facts, they might come to a different conclusion that the persecution of John D. Lee was wrong. He was involved but he was only an officer. It is my opinion that he would not have done anything drastic without permission from a military superior. It would have been out of character. Members of the Mormon faith at that time seemed to be well disciplined. To figure he overreacted too quickly seems hard to believe.

            You can see the intentions of the authors of Massacre at Mountain Meadows were determined to give a credible account of the facts to make their story. In American Massacre, Denton made it entertaining for you to read focusing on the controversy by itself. It was hard to tell if she was against the Mormon religion or against organized religion? Denton was definitely on the side of the emigrants. Finally, it was a positive experience reviewing two perspectives of the same historical event. It is amazing that the same historical event can be reported in such different ways. 

Work Cited

Denton, Sally. American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857.Vintage Books A Division of Random House, Inc., 2004.

Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., Glen M. Leonard. Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Oxford University Press, 2008.