Mountain Meadows massacre and the media
Encyclopedia
Although the Mountain Meadows massacre
was covered to some extent in the media during the 1850s, its first period of intense nation-wide publicity began around 1872. 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. National newspapers also covered the John D. Lee
trials closely from 1874 to 1876, and his execution in 1877 was widely publicized. The first detailed work using modern historical methods was published in 1950, and the massacre has been the subject of several historical works since that time.
In historical fiction, the massacre inspired a genre of frontier crime fiction in the 19th century. The massacre has been portrayed in several plays, and in a 2007 motion picture, September Dawn
. The Massacre has also been of subject of several film documentaries including, Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
(2004) and The Mountain Meadows Massacre
(2001).
One of the earliest depictions of the massacre was written by a massacre participant, John D. Lee, and was entitled Mormonism Unveiled; or the Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee . This Confession was published in 1877, and expressed Lee's opinion that George A. Smith
was sent to southern Utah by Brigham Young
to direct the massacre.
In 1872, Mark Twain
commented on the massacre through the lens of contemporary American public opinion in an appendix to his semi-autobiographical travel book
Roughing It
.
In 1910, the massacre was the subject of a short book by Josiah F. Gibbs, who also attributed responsibility for the massacre to Brigham Young and George A. Smith.
The trial of John D. Lee, which was highly publicized at the time, put an idea of an out-of-control theocracy into the public imagination. And, beginning in the late nineteenth century, the tragedy found place in a whole genre of historical treatments, novels—even two silent films. While the historical works among these critiqued (often in polemic fashion) early Utah's religious teachings and rhetoric, a caricature drawn from out of their criticisms came to find its place, in stereotype form, in popular fiction and entertainment.
In the 1890s, Assistant LDS Church Historian Andrew Jenson
collected all the records he could find concerning the massacre. These included his own field notes, excerpts of witnesses' diaries, sworn affidavits, newspaper reports, and the transcriptions from the LDS Church's internal investigations. Many of the interviews were with massacre participants who were granted complete confidentiality in regard to whatever they might say. In September 2009 BYU Studies
and Brigham Young University Press published this complete collection in a 352 page book, entitled Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections.
The first historical work to discuss the massacre in any depth was an 1873 work by T.B.H. Stenhouse entitled The Rocky Mountain Saints. Stenhouse had been a prominent Mormon leader for decades, and editor of the pro-Mormon Salt Lake Telegraph. Stenhouse was a liberal, however, and in the late 1860s, he joined a group of intellectual Mormons seeking liberal reform, known as the Godbeite, who were later expelled from the church for apostasy. Stenhouse's work on the massacre was drawn from newspaper reports, Klingensmith's affidavit, and some personal journalistic investigation.
The first detailed and comprehensive work using modern historical methods was The Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1950 by Juanita Brooks
, a Mormon
scholar who lived near the area in southern Utah
. As a young school teacher, Brooks, was at the deathbed of massacre participant, Nephi Johnson, and heard his last cries of "blood, blood, blood!. Brooks found no evidence of direct involvement by Brigham Young, but charged him with obstructing the investigation and for provoking the attack through his rhetoric, until recently many considered her book the definitive work on the massacre.
Two of the most significant works after Brooks include the books Blood of the Prophets
by Will Bagley
in 2002 and American Massacre
by Sally Denton in 2003. Bagley pointed to what he said was strong circumstantial evidence of Young's involvement through Smith, and through his early September 1857 meeting with Paiute Indian leaders Tutsegabit and Youngwids. Denton also suggested involvement by Young through Smith, but argued against involvement by Paiute leaders.
The most current work on the massacre, Massacre at Mountain Meadows
(2008), was written by Latter-day Saint historian Richard E. Turley, Jr.
and two Brigham Young University
professors of history, Ronald W. Walker
and Glen M. Leonard
. Aside from available academic and scholarly sources, the authors were also granted access to the LDS First Presidency
's archives. The authors decided to avoid portraying the perpetrators and victims as good or evil, which would overlook their human complexity and the groups' diversities. Instead, they examined the massacre as a case of American frontier violence and vigilantism.
Several film documentaries have focused on the massacre including, Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
(2004) and The Mountain Meadows Massacre
(2001). The massacre, and its effects on the church's image, was also discussed in the PBS series The Mormons (2007).
Mountain Meadows massacre
The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
was covered to some extent in the media during the 1850s, its first period of intense nation-wide publicity began around 1872. This was after investigators obtained the confession of Philip Klingensmith, a Mormon bishop at the time of the massacre and a private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
in the Utah militia. National newspapers also covered the John D. Lee
John D. Lee
John Doyle Lee was a prominent early Latter-day Saint who was executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows massacre.-Early Mormon leader:...
trials closely from 1874 to 1876, and his execution in 1877 was widely publicized. The first detailed work using modern historical methods was published in 1950, and the massacre has been the subject of several historical works since that time.
In historical fiction, the massacre inspired a genre of frontier crime fiction in the 19th century. The massacre has been portrayed in several plays, and in a 2007 motion picture, September Dawn
September Dawn
September Dawn is a 2007 Canadian film by Christopher Cain, released on August 24, 2007. It sets a fictional love story against a controversial historical interpretation of the Mountain Meadows massacre...
. The Massacre has also been of subject of several film documentaries including, Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Burying The Past: Legacy of The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre is a 2004 documentary film about the Mountain Meadows massacre. It was directed by Brian Patrick and has won 11 awards, but the producers where unable to obtain theatrical release for the film....
(2004) and The Mountain Meadows Massacre
The Mountain Meadows Massacre (documentary)
The Mountain Meadows Massacre is a 2001 documentary film about the Mountain Meadows massacre. It was directed by Eric Young and distributed through The Studio, Inc.-Synopsis:...
(2001).
Early Depictions
George A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
was sent to southern Utah by Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
to direct the massacre.
In 1872, Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
commented on the massacre through the lens of contemporary American public opinion in an appendix to his semi-autobiographical travel book
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
Roughing It
Roughing It
Roughing It is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature written by American humorist Mark Twain. It was written during 1870–71 and published in 1872 as a prequel to his first book Innocents Abroad...
.
In 1910, the massacre was the subject of a short book by Josiah F. Gibbs, who also attributed responsibility for the massacre to Brigham Young and George A. Smith.
The trial of John D. Lee, which was highly publicized at the time, put an idea of an out-of-control theocracy into the public imagination. And, beginning in the late nineteenth century, the tragedy found place in a whole genre of historical treatments, novels—even two silent films. While the historical works among these critiqued (often in polemic fashion) early Utah's religious teachings and rhetoric, a caricature drawn from out of their criticisms came to find its place, in stereotype form, in popular fiction and entertainment.
Academic treatment
Andrew Jenson
Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for much of the early-twentieth century...
collected all the records he could find concerning the massacre. These included his own field notes, excerpts of witnesses' diaries, sworn affidavits, newspaper reports, and the transcriptions from the LDS Church's internal investigations. Many of the interviews were with massacre participants who were granted complete confidentiality in regard to whatever they might say. In September 2009 BYU Studies
BYU Studies
BYU Studies is a multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing articles on a broad array of topics related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
and Brigham Young University Press published this complete collection in a 352 page book, entitled Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections.
The first historical work to discuss the massacre in any depth was an 1873 work by T.B.H. Stenhouse entitled The Rocky Mountain Saints. Stenhouse had been a prominent Mormon leader for decades, and editor of the pro-Mormon Salt Lake Telegraph. Stenhouse was a liberal, however, and in the late 1860s, he joined a group of intellectual Mormons seeking liberal reform, known as the Godbeite, who were later expelled from the church for apostasy. Stenhouse's work on the massacre was drawn from newspaper reports, Klingensmith's affidavit, and some personal journalistic investigation.
The first detailed and comprehensive work using modern historical methods was The Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1950 by Juanita Brooks
Juanita Brooks
Juanita Pulsipher Brooks was an American historian and author, specializing in the American West and Mormon history, including books related to the Mountain Meadows massacre, to which her ancestor Dudley Leavitt was sometimes linked.-Biography:Born Juanita Leone Leavitt, Brooks was born and raised...
, a Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
scholar who lived near the area in southern Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. As a young school teacher, Brooks, was at the deathbed of massacre participant, Nephi Johnson, and heard his last cries of "blood, blood, blood!. Brooks found no evidence of direct involvement by Brigham Young, but charged him with obstructing the investigation and for provoking the attack through his rhetoric, until recently many considered her book the definitive work on the massacre.
Two of the most significant works after Brooks include the books Blood of the Prophets
Blood of the Prophets
Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Will Bagley is an award-winning history of the Mountain Meadows massacre...
by Will Bagley
Will Bagley
Will Bagley is a historian specializing in the history of western United States. Bagley has written about the fur trade, overland emigration, American Indians, military history, frontier violence, railroads, mining, and Utah and the Mormons....
in 2002 and American Massacre
American Massacre
American Massacre: The Tragedy At Mountain Meadows, September 1857 is an historical account of the Mountain Meadows massacre, the murder of 140...
by Sally Denton in 2003. Bagley pointed to what he said was strong circumstantial evidence of Young's involvement through Smith, and through his early September 1857 meeting with Paiute Indian leaders Tutsegabit and Youngwids. Denton also suggested involvement by Young through Smith, but argued against involvement by Paiute leaders.
The most current work on the massacre, Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Massacre at Mountain Meadows is a book by Latter-day Saint historian Richard E. Turley, Jr. and two Brigham Young University professors of history, Ronald W. Walker and Glen M. Leonard. Leonard was also the director of the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City, Utah...
(2008), was written by Latter-day Saint historian Richard E. Turley, Jr.
Richard E. Turley, Jr.
Richard Eyring "Rick" Turley, Jr. is an American historian and genealogist, and the Assistant Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .-Biography:...
and two Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
professors of history, Ronald W. Walker
Ronald W. Walker
Ronald Warren Walker is a historian of the Latter Day Saint movement who was formerly a professor at Brigham Young University and president of the Mormon History Association.-Biography:...
and Glen M. Leonard
Glen M. Leonard
Glen Milton Leonard is an American historian specializing in Mormon history.- Background :Leonard is a native of Farmington, Utah. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Utah. For a time he was managing editor of Utah Historical Quarterly. He has taught at both Brigham Young...
. Aside from available academic and scholarly sources, the authors were also granted access to the LDS First Presidency
First Presidency (LDS Church)
The First Presidency is the presiding or governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is composed of the President of the Church and his counselors. The First Presidency currently consists of President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors, Henry B...
's archives. The authors decided to avoid portraying the perpetrators and victims as good or evil, which would overlook their human complexity and the groups' diversities. Instead, they examined the massacre as a case of American frontier violence and vigilantism.
Several film documentaries have focused on the massacre including, Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Burying The Past: Legacy of The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre is a 2004 documentary film about the Mountain Meadows massacre. It was directed by Brian Patrick and has won 11 awards, but the producers where unable to obtain theatrical release for the film....
(2004) and The Mountain Meadows Massacre
The Mountain Meadows Massacre (documentary)
The Mountain Meadows Massacre is a 2001 documentary film about the Mountain Meadows massacre. It was directed by Eric Young and distributed through The Studio, Inc.-Synopsis:...
(2001). The massacre, and its effects on the church's image, was also discussed in the PBS series The Mormons (2007).
Historical fiction and portrayals
- The play Fire In The Bones (1978) by Thomas F. Rogers is a depiction of the massacre from the perspective of John D. Lee, and is based heavily on Juanita BrooksJuanita BrooksJuanita Pulsipher Brooks was an American historian and author, specializing in the American West and Mormon history, including books related to the Mountain Meadows massacre, to which her ancestor Dudley Leavitt was sometimes linked.-Biography:Born Juanita Leone Leavitt, Brooks was born and raised...
' research. - The play Two-Headed (2000) by Julie Jensen depicts two middle-aged Latter-day Saint women reflecting on the massacre that occurred when they were children.
- The novel Red Water (2002) by Judith Freeman depicts John D. Lee's role in the massacre from the perspective of three of his nineteen wives.
- The film September DawnSeptember DawnSeptember Dawn is a 2007 Canadian film by Christopher Cain, released on August 24, 2007. It sets a fictional love story against a controversial historical interpretation of the Mountain Meadows massacre...
(2007), released August 24, 2007, directed by Christopher Cain, is described by a press release as portraying the "point of view held [by] direct descendants ... that the iconic Brigham Young had complicity in the massacre, a view denied by the Mormon Church." The film uses a love story to tell the story of the massacre.
External links
- “‘Horrible Massacre of Emigrants!!’: The Mountain Meadows Massacre in Public Discourse” by Douglas Seefeldt, a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln