Massacre at Mountain Meadows

By: Ronald W Walker, Richard E Turley, Glen M Leonard

Narrated by: Bill Dewees

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.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2008 Ronald W. Walker (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Heartbreaking

What I wish I would have learned growing up in this church… heartbreaking to hear. I had learned an entirely different story that twisted everything to make it seem so innocent. This was NOT… amazing details and gut wrenching story.

Historically well documented

Well researched and presented. Enjoyed listening to and looking up references on my hard copy.

Excellently narrated.

The book is well read and researched. It was engaging to listen too. I quite enjoyed it.

Informative but incredibly repetitive

They have a lot of good information in here, but the book could have been half the length and it would have been just as informative.

I recommend this book if you are interested in this topic and don’t mind hearing some things over and over.

Crime has its own momentum

"But crime has its own momentum. Once begun, its perpetrators find it hard to draw back, if only to hide what has already taken place."
- Walker, Turley, Leonard; Massacre at Mountain Meadows

This is the second book about Moutain Meadows Massacre I've read. The first was the seminal work by Juanita Brooks The Mountain Meadows Massacre in 2016. Brooks' book was published in 1950. This one was published in 2008 (so, 58 years later) by Ronald Walker (a Mormon historian in SLC), Richard E. Turley (at the time Assistant Church Historian, but now Managing Director of LDS Public Affairs), and Glen M. Leonard (former director of the LDS Museum of Church History and Art).

The amount of access to church archives and history has changed considerably between the 1950s and the 2008. The Church recognizes that it can't spin, hide, or dissemble (too much). So, the authors of this book were given access to a lot of information that might have been useful to Juanita Brooks. It is interesting to note that while Juanita Brooks was never formally disciplined, she WAS blackballed from Church publications when writing her work. Turley, on the otherhand, got a promotion. So, somethings have changed.

The book's narrative is clean and it introduced several facts that showed exactly how actively and passively members of the LDS community bore huge responsiblity for this action. Brigham Young, George Albert Smith, Isaac Haight, William Dame, and obviously John D. Lee, all shoulder huge aspects of responsibilty. This is something that could have easily NOT happened if more people were willing to stand up, refuse, or question leadership OR if leaders hadn't used such paranoid, angry, and inciteful rhetoric. There is plenty of blame to go around with this.

Overall, this was a balanced and responsible work. I'm excited (excited is the wrong word) to read Will Bagley's history. I know that Bagley's account places even more responsibilty on Brigham Young's shoulders.

Full disclosure: John D. Lee was married to my foruth great-grandmother, my fifth great-grandmother, and my foruth great-aunt.

Too much peripheral detail.

Story was lost in side-bars and not enough detail on massacre. Follow up chapter should explain US response.

Slow to get started - not fully balanced.

I was a bit nervous when the authors "confessed" they relied on the church for much of thier research. At least the first 3/4 of the book a felt a bit like I was being manipulated, but when the bad things start happening the authors do not try to pull punches. I agree with thier thesis about the event, but I do think they tried a bit hard to not point the finger at the church - no possiable justification for the actions is too small to be discussed (often repeatedly) and no proof of the dissappointment of church leaders int he action is to small to discuss. The pacing is VERY slow for much of the book with lots of degressions and information of little importance.

I love this fact driven account.

Living in southern Utah, there is a lot of lure about Mountain Meadows. I feel like this book really helped me see the event as they were and afforded a perspective not given in other bias settings. I also feel the stories of the families on both sides and context setting of the events leading to the massacre were well told and fact driven. Very refreshing and informative, leaving you to draw your own conclusions with the information provided.

Both Sides of the Story

It’s good to get all the information you can about an event. As expected, this book is slanted towards the LDS side. It has valuable information and is worth reading, but you should also read Will Bagley’s book.

Unbiased, Straightforward, and Context Complete

I am a Mormon. I have a Bachelors Degree in History. I want facts...whether they are good for my desired narrative or not. Mormons are, with the occasional exception, good people. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as an institution, is about the best we, as humanity, can do. But, given the defensiveness that became prominent in the early days of The Church, and the “Folk History” that at times pervades even until today, have not done The Mountain Meadows Massacre and it’s victims justice. This book does. Without flinching, the authors lay out the facts and context that preluded and culminated in likely the worst atrocity of the Pioneer West. In the end, the reader should understand two things: that the Mormon pioneers involved had their reasons for planning and carrying out a mass killing, and that no matter what their reasons, they were unquestionably responsible for a savage, brutal, murderous betrayal upon the Arkansas company settlers. Understanding of the factual context of the entire situation is the only way for a person to pass a personal judgement upon the event, and this book will most definitely assist in that endeavor.