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| Massacre at Mountain Meadows | 
 enlarge | Authors: Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley, Glen M. Leonard
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 1564
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 0195160347
Dewey Decimal Number: 979.202
EAN: 9780195160345
ASIN: 0195160347
Publication Date: August 19, 2008 (New: This Week)
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Product Description
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 expose, Massacre at Mountain Meadows provides the clearest and most accurate account of a key event in American religious history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Accepting the facts but not the responsibility August 15, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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 book covers the subject of Mountain Meadow Massacre that took place in Sept 1857 where 120 settlers of a wagon train passing through Utah were murdered by Mormons. This was the worst case of mass murder in American history until the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVey.
The book is well written and it appears to be well researched. There are 430 pages in this book but the actual narrative is only 231 pages long. Rest of the book are filled with appendixes, notes and index. The three authors obviously wanted to show off their massive research effort in writing this book.
The book faithfully and surprisingly recount the story of the Mountain Meadow Massacre. The three LDS historians did not shy away from the fact that it was indeed the Mormons who initiated the attack and tricked the doomed settlers into surrender by a false white flag and had them murdered in a very efficient Nazi style massacre. Of course, all this have been recounted before by Will Bagley, Sally Denton and Juanita Brooks books. Interestingly, despite of their massive research, this book really don't say anything really new.
The maps proves to be quite good and there were nice historical photographs to go with it.
The authors did not appears to be surprise that local leadership took it upon themselves to massacre the white settlers in such a large scale. Authors did not think it was strange that Indians who after meeting with Bingham Young, attacked the wagon train that turn out to be was just a prelude to the Mormons' participation that was the main event. It is also funny that these LDS historians insisted that most Mormons who took part of the massacre were good people who led exemplary lives before and after the incident. The authors should read Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men. That book shows how ordinary men could turned into evil murderers when given a proper environment and lack of morals.
The book overall acknowledge Mormon participation but avoid Mormon responsibility. As the authors see it, it a work of the few good but misled men who strayed morally for a moment. It say nothing about the lack of any effort by their church to bring these men to justice and overall effort by their church to covered up the massacre and evading blame by blaming it all on the poor Indians who trusted them. One does not have to kill to be guilty of mass murder. By aiding, abetting and by covering up this criminal act, the church leadership is equally guilty as those who pulled those triggers. It is sad that after all these research done by these three authors, they still cannot see the finality of truth. That lies the main weakness of this book. The real story that intrigue people about Mountain Meadow Massacre is not the actual act, as gross as it was, but the actions that took place afterward. The denials, blaming and cover-up that made this incident almost a taboo subject among the Mormon world for over 100 years after the fact and one of the least known large scale massacre of whites until the recent times.
Of course, as church historians, these authors will have a hard time if they actually did point out how responsible the church was for their part in the aftermath of the massacre. I do understand that but that do taint this book regarding the subject of objectivity!
It hard to recommended this book if you have read the other three written by Bagley, Brooks and Denton. The material is basically introductionary in nature and considering all the research done and shown, there appears to be very little in print to show for it.
 Open & Honest = Superb Scholarship August 13, 2008
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
After I read this book I attended a book signing where all three authors were present. Apart from signing the book, they gave a 45 minute lecture. Richard Turley informed the audience that when Ronald Walker was approached, 7 years ago, to begin work on this book, he (Ron) said that he would not be involved with the project unless complete disclosure of the massacre was the proposed goal of the book. That goal was achieved.
Massacre at Mountain Meadows is, as has been pointed out by other reviews, written by 3 faithful Mormons. However, they do not hide any fact, no matter how poorly it reflects on the Mormons of the time. For instance, concerning Brigham Young they write: "We believe errors were made by . . . Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders, . . . and most of all by settlers in southern Utah who set aside principles of their faith to commit an atrocity. At each point along the chain of acts and decisions--especially in Iron and Washington Counties--a single personal choice or policy might have brought a different result" (p. xiv). The "errors" committed by "Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders" are not glossed over, or hidden behind the skirts of any LDS public relations committee. The men who wrote this book completely admit and demonstrate, through their writing, that the culpability for the murders can never be placed at the feet on one particular person. Indeed, the writers allow the reader to determine, by a full disclosure of facts, how much blame Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders deserve for the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Though the three men who wrote this book are faithful LDS members, they condemn the Mormon murderers and absolve the Arkansas emigrants: "The emigrants did not deserve what eventually happened to them at Mountain Meadows. The massacre was not inevitable. No easy absolution for the perpetrators is possible. Their later posturing and rationalization could never overcome one irrefutable fact: All the purported wrongs of the emigrants--even if true--did not justify the killing of a single person" (p. 115).
This book is one of the best researched and well written books on an aspect of Mormon Church and American History. The writing is superb, the flow of the text and ideas are very readable, the ending--though known to the reader beforehand--is as gripping as any novel on today's market.
Those who simply focus on the culpability of Brigham Young in the massacre miss the undercurrents that were at work in Utah during the 1850s. One man, not even if he is prophet of a Church, "during a time of uncertainty and possible war" (p. 115), hundreds of miles away from the actual killing site, in an era where the fastest way to convey information was via horse and letter, could cause so many followers to violently kill men, women, and children. The proof is in the pages of this book. There were forces at work that we, in the comfort of our air conditioned homes and relatively peaceful surroundings, cannot possibly understand. This book gives us a glimpse at how "some of the Mormons, like other men and women throughout history, did not match their behavior with their ideals" (p. 115).
In conclusion, for those clamoring to know the truth surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre need to read this book. Those who accuse the LDS Church of withholding facts and figures to keep their members in a trance of belief need to read this book. Mormons believe that truth aleviates suspense and doubt and this book of truth does just that.
 Church Scholars Absolve Church Leaders - And the Faithful Immediately Agree August 11, 2008
7 out of 21 found this review helpful
Although the LDS Church would never admit it, it apparently spent several million dollars, and many years, "researching" the Mountain Meadows Massacre so that three of its "scholars" could write a book absolving Brigham Young and his cohorts of any responsibility for the Massacre. This is truly the same song, umteenth verse, that the Church has sung since the Massacre occured.
Most of the previous reviewers, apparently the Mormon faithful, have rallied around to proclaim this the last word on the subject. Can't we just all move on?
Well, no. The most glaring problem with the book is that it doesn't begin to touch the aftermath of the Massacre, which, from a historic, if not a human, perspective is where the action is. If Young and the Church higher-ups didn't have anything to do with the Massacre, and were appalled by it, why didn't Young, at that time one of the most powerful man west of the Mississippi, immediately move to investigate and bring those
responsible to justice? That simple question, never answered, leads to only one conclusion: He was satisfied with the result. People were "blood atoned" in a manner he found fit and proper. His response to the epitaph on the rock monument erected at the Massacre site by U.S. Soldiers - "Vengeance is Mine Saith the Lord" was simple and very telling - "And He has had some." Afterword, he ordered the memorial destroyed.
This book was written to preserve the testimonies of the faithful. Is there some good research here? Yes. Is the writing good? Yes. Does it begin to answer the myriad questions raised by this horrific event? Absolutely not.
I agree that anyone interested in the Massacre should read the book. Unfortunately, the Mormon faithful who read this book will never bother with another. Which is exactly the desired result.
A Valuable, Though Flawed, Contribution to the Historical Record August 10, 2008
17 out of 30 found this review helpful
Messrs. Walker, Turley and Leonard have made a valuable contribution to our understanding of one of the most incomprehensible tragedies in both U.S. and Mormon history: the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Their research, by all appearances, was both thorough and exhaustive. And their narrative does an excellent job of recreating the political, religious and emotional world in which this calamity unfolded. They are almost clinical in their description of the planning and execution of these brutal and senseless murders; the final chapters of the book are not for the faint of heart.
Each author is a member (as am I) of the LDS Church, a fact that they openly acknowledge at the beginning of the book. Because of their religious affiliation and their training as historians, they were given unfettered access to Church archives as they gathered research for their book. However, their theological convictions and their desire not to bite the hand that was feeding them may have compromised their objectivity and prompted them to downplay the culpability of Brigham Young and other senior church leaders.
One of the authors, Glen Leonard, stated on the PBS miniseries "The Mormons" that: "As I explored the sources, I felt relieved at what I found. I felt comforted that Brigham Young did what he thought was best in his Utah war policy." This statement suggests that Mr. Leonard approached his research with the hope and desire that his findings would exonerate a former leader of his church. Such an open declaration of a predisposition towards a desired outcome will inevitably cause others to question the integrity of your research and the impartiality of your analysis. And whether Young thought he did his best is only marginally relevant; the important question is: did he? Simply stated, this is unprofessional.
And even more troubling was the decision on the part of the authors (assuming they had a choice in the matter) to ask two Mormon apostles to review their manuscript (p. 237). They tout the fact that they were given free reign by church authorities to pursue all lines of inquiry and to ferret out the truth wherever they could find it. But this seems rather hollow when we are told that two senior officials of the church that is at the center of this controversial historical episode were afforded the opportunity comment on their work before publication. Perhaps the authors had the discretion to ignore the feedback they received from those two general authorities, but I know very few devout LDS historians who would have the courage to do so. Besides, whether or not these church leaders ultimately influenced the end product is not relevant; it is the appearance that they might have that is disconcerting.
Of equal concern is the authors' conclusion that Brigham Young, George A. Smith and others were guilty of little more than "flamboyant rhetoric" that "stirred up some emotions that got out of control" (see pp. 99-100 and Leonard's interview on the PBS miniseries). I do agree that there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation that Young or any other church official in Salt Lake ordered the massacre. But they clearly contributed, in a variety of different ways over an extended period of time, to an environment of odium and distrust that allowed the idea for the massacre to germinate and blossom in all its horror. The belief in personal and institutional inerrancy that seems to accompany all theocracies, the Mormon reformation in the mid-1850s, the compulsory blind obedience that was used to measure a church member's righteousness and ultimately to compel participation in the massacre, the irrational millennialism, the militant war policies, and the willingness to trade "hate for hate"--all of these were at the root of the Mountain Meadows Massacre and can be traced, to significant degree, to Salt Lake. The authors rightly note that the paranoia that infected both the church leadership and the members was quite real, being grounded in years of unrelenting persecution, which state and federal governments had failed to redress. And there was a genuine perception that the U.S. Army was about to invade the Utah Territory and depose Governor Young. These mitigating factors, however, cannot fully exonerate the actions of any of the participants.
As is the case with all such tragedies, there is blame aplenty for all to share. And I do not pretend to sit in judgment on any of the actors on this stage. I will be the first to admit that I am not in possession of sufficient facts to do so; it also is not my place. But I will ask: Have we, as a nation and a church, learned all the lessons to be derived from this horrific episode in our history? At times I think we have; but sometimes I am not so sure.
 A very important contribution August 7, 2008
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
The Mountain Meadows massacre of September 1857 where more than 120 men, women and children traveling from Arkansas to California were killed by Mormons and their Indian allies is one of the great massacres of American history, up there with Waco, the Oklahoma Federal Building, 9/11, some of the famous massacres of striking workers and of course, Little Big Horn. It was indeed a viscious massacre and since it took place much blame has been tossed at Mormons in general in a series of Xenophobic books that seek to indict the church and its leaders. This is not surprising as the hatred for the travellers who were killed at Mountain Meadows was an anger felt across the Mormon country of Utah, but the savage outburst of butchery was carried out by individuals, not a collective.
It is to these individuals and the culture of the times that three LDS authors have turned, using church archives, to paint a fair pciture of what took place that day and in the time leading up to it. The Mormons had been persecuted when they had lived peacefully in Missouri and the old Northwest. There different ways, of polygamy, and their new religion, set them apart. Their prophet was murdered and their people driven from one place to another. When Utah beckoned as a promised land it was no surprise that many were annoyed to find that following close on their heals were the same people who had driven them out of Nauvoo and other settlements.
Anger and resentment turned to revenge, against people who certainly did not deserve revenge. This book paints a good picture of this clash of cultures and the massacre that resulted. A truly important contribution to the history of the American West.
Seth J. Frantzman
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