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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:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 2069
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
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Shipping: International shipping available
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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 16 more reviews...
 A little short on some background facts October 7, 2008
First of all, for the record, I am LDS, but the fact of being LDS does not necessarily makes me an apologist for this work of research, from which I expected much more, being a work that tries to clarify what really happened in Mountain Meadows and specially considering the fact that the authors had so much access, at least, as they state, to Church archives and other records.
This book is well researched, very well written, at the surface it appears to take an unbiased approach to the Mountain Meadows events, but when it comes to describe the responsability of the Church in the context that lead to this massacre, the authors are quite shallow.
In the begining of the book, the authors spend some time describing the persecutions suffered by the early
Latter-Day Saints, how they were driven out of NY, Pensilvannia, Missouri, Illinois, etc. He describes how the prophet Joseph Smith was covered in tar and feathered, and later killed in Carthage, Ill, etc. The authors use a discourse that seems to show the prophet Joseph Smith as an innocent marthyr, but is that completely true? Why was the prophet feathered? Why was he killed? The authors do not provide this detail and that makes them quite biased. they fail to describe that the Prophet was covered in tar and feathers because of his earlier rants on Poligamy, and although they explain that what took the prophet to jail in Carthage and ultimately to his death (I would not call it martyrdom because for that, he would need to be completely innocent and free of any responsability), was related to the shutdown and destruction of a newspaper in Nauvoo, what the authors fail to explain is that Joseph Smith did so because an article published in the previous issue of that newspaper denounced his Poligamyst practices, which apparently, didn't seat well with Joseph Smith.
This is not a book about the persecutions of the Saints, but these facts are quite important to understand the historical context of all this persecutions, killings, and hatred towards Latter-Day Saints.
Other authors do a better job in describing this background in an unbiased manner. In my personal opinion, the book looses it's credibility due to this fact.
 Pros, Cons and Bottom line September 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My Impression and Thoughts:
*It is a good book, a real page turner
*I liked it better than Will Bagley's book. It does not preach. Bagley's request that I "repent" of my ancestors violent past was offensive
*Those times were definitely more violent. I'm sure that the large mobs that expelled the Mormons from the east were made up of otherwise good people. Why did they join the mob and do those things? Different times different people.
* "Over Landers" were tough people. When the Indians rustled cattle the men of the wagon trains chased after the Indians.
* The Mormons had a cozy relationship with the Indians. "Allies"? Maybe not. The Mormons exerted control over them.
*The book tries to move beyond religiosity. I remember reading in a psychology book about Kitty Genovese (go to Wikipedia). She was brutally murdered while several people did nothing (bystander effect). The MMM belongs in the same book right after that story. This book calls it "Group think"
*You can argue that this was a "Fatwa" issued by Haight. I disagree.
*The Indians were upset about perceived poisoning of an animal that resulted in the deaths of several Braves. In this case perception is reality. It contributed to the massacre. I like the anthrax theory. I think this explains the Indian's deaths.
*The train was not destroyed for its plunder. The Mormons rescued from the Indians that freight train coming right behind the ill-fated train 2 times. Why wouldn't they plunder that train
*No wonder the men thought they had to go along with the massacre. The leaders were 3 things
oEcclesiastical leaders
oCivic leaders
oMilitia leaders
My Criticisms:
*I thought they built up Lee too much as a straw man and softened others like Haight. This was a crime with many criminals.
*They needed to give more details in certain parts. They say they were worried about the page count. The references were too long. Make the book longer and put the extended references on the internet.
*The visuals were not good. A more detailed map of Southern Utah and the MMM site would have been helpful
*The writing at times was choppy. The reasons: 3 authors and Oxford's peer review process
*They say they could follow events day by day. So why not write it like Robert Graysmith did in the "Zodiac".
Bottom Line Conclusions
*Wherever that wagon train went in Utah, for lots of reasons, settlers and Indians were upset.
* Mormons riled up the Indians and participated in and led the massacre
*The Indians were there at the beginning, middle and end
*Brigham Young had no knowledge of the attacks or massacre. His part was in the cover up. The evidence is very clear and believable.
Additional Thoughts which I have edited in
*I marvel at how much interest there is in this massacre. When there have been many massacres.
*I remember what Walsh of America's Most Wanted said about murder mysteries and what determines which stories he profiles. He said it has to have a good beginning, middle and end or unresolved end. The MMM has 2 beginnings (the wagon train and the Mormon persecution). Then there is the middle as the wagon trail travels through Utah. There is of course the massacre which is actually the beginning of the unresolved end. Throw antipathy for the Mormon Church and a endless desire to prove Brigham Young a false prophet for having ordered the massacre and you have quite a story. Does this book provide an end? It should be obvious that Brigham Young did not order the massacre. Is there an end?
*This book got me interested in the Haun's Mill Massacre. There is a good write up on Wikipedia. This help you understand the Mormon mindset as the settlers interacted with the wagon train. You can also imagine what Haight thought when several men came to his house in Cedar City to protest their treatment. He thought they were a mob and ran out the back door. He then plotted to kill them.
*The parallels for MMM and Haun's Mill Massacre are interesting. It is not remembered that much because there is no beginning middle or end.
oThe massacre was carried out by Missouri militia
oMen, women, and children were fair game
oThe perpetrators were all known by name and never brought to justice, not even one scapegoat
oThe bodies were hurriedly buried
oThe site is maintained (owned?) by a church
oThere is film made of the massacre
*This book talks about the prevalence of massacres 1800's. When the women saw the militia at Haun's Mill, they ran for the forest. They instantly knew what was going to happen. Afterwards nearby cities made plans to flee--they feared a Mormon counter massacre.
*I reviewed the motivations of several massacres. Many of them started out with a desire to punish not massacre. The MMM, Bear River Massacre, Centerville, and even the My Lai Massacre started out like this. Haight, et al initially wanted to kill but not wipe out everyone at the Santa Clara Narrows.
*This is from a report on the My Lai Massacre. I got it from Wikipedia. It will help to understand how aggressors behave in a massacre.
oSoldiers went berserk, gunning down unarmed men, women, children and babies. Families which huddled together for safety in huts or bunkers were shown no mercy. Those who emerged with hands held high were murdered. ... Elsewhere in the village, other atrocities were in progress.
oThis is "group think"
 Massacre at Mountain Meadows September 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A brilliant book concerning one of the most horrible atrocities recorded in American history. This book is extemely well documented, unbiased and written in novel form to keep the reader glued to each page. This book is a must for anyone interested in the history of the Morman infulence in Utah, the truth about the massacre, and the Morman and Indian involment in the death of more than 120 Arkansas emigrants.
Compelling and Painful September 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I found the book unflinching and brutally honest. It is too easy to discount historical evidence when presented with an outsider, dissident, or publicity-seeker's agenda, but what this book lacks in color, it more than makes up for in cold, documented, details.
As a latter-day saint, this book made me look at a group of brave, noble people I identify with and have long admired as a group--Mormon pioneers--and showed how even they could choose to perform unspeakable evil. I only hope that non-mormons who read this book overcome their natural desire to separate themselves from the atrocity by blaming it on the faith of the murderers. This two hundred page tour through the heart of darkness is much more enlightening and educational in the context of our shared humanity. However, I am sure that, like me, almost all readers will strain every mental muscle they can to convince themselves that they would have sided with those few who stood up to the mob mentality and machinations of the time. There were, obviously, too few at the time to make a difference.
For this reason, I would have liked to have seen more detail about the rank-and-file who, whether they chose to take shovels or rifles to Mountain Meadow that day, are now condemned to have their names listed in appendices like this book's for all history. There is probably little about these less prominent men in the historical records, but what exists would be interesting to know: If only to recognize the no doubt common lives they led up to that point.
I used to think that, if I could have a fantastical wish fulfilled to participate in and change one event in history, I would succor the handcart-toting Saints facing starvation on the Great Plains in the Winter of 1856. This book made me wish instead I could have had a voice in Cedar City in September 1857.
A clear and dispassionate timeline strips away the myths and reveals evil September 21, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In a recent radio interview one of the authors of Massacre at Mountain Meadows remarked that the book was written more like a textbook than many of the recent histories marketed for mass appeal. Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard have taken a scholarly approach to the most shameful chapter in Mormon history and have carefully sifted through mountains of materials to back their findings. The authors had complete access to church archives (Turley and Leonard have worked for the church as historians) and available records from the era. In a quiet methodical fashion the timeline is set and the contributing factors are outlined, given context and attributed to persons involved. Massacre at Mountain Meadows lacks the overwrought prose of some recently published books and the authors have no agenda other than presenting the information gleaned from these sources. That is the strength of this book.
The facts as presented...and understandably, they are more than a century after the fact, often obscured by finger pointing and slanted to shift the blame from self to another, are more horrific than fiction can possibly portray. In the year 1857 a large wagon train of emigrants were slaughtered by a group of perfectly ordinary Mormon men and Indians they has recruited, acting on their fears, and trying to shield themselves with their religion. It was a evil and inexcusable act that took the lives of innocent men, women , and children, and allowed their murderers to claim their belongings and to take their young children to raise as their own. No behaviour by the wagon party could justify this slaughter and the participants tried the rest of their lives to justify, excuse, or deny their crimes. The horrors of that September 11th are that much more horrific because they were carried out by ordinary men. Only one man was actually tried, found guilty and executed. All other participants carried their shame to the grave. For too many years, the facts have been clouded by anger and shame and fear. Opening them to examination and reflection is to hopefully recognize the chain of events that allowed this to happen and reconcile the present with the past.
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