[6] Young was present in Richmond, Missouri when Cowdery died. In a confession made just before he was executed, Lee, the only person ever tried for the crime, blamed the Paiute Indians. So, two years after Brigham Young first began expressing interest, the marriage-cautious and polygamy-skeptical Ann Eliza joined the prophet's group of wives. Adding fuel to Mormon rage, they argue, was the killing, a few months before the massacre, of Apostle Parley P. Pratt. When I began writing about the massacre, I realized trying to prove anything about this appalling crime would prove only that I was an idiot. Latter-day Saints imagine Brigham Young as a commanding theocrat, who mobilized a crestfallen and beleaguered people after the ">death of their prophet-founder</a>, who led them on an epic exodus . Rather than provide them with what they wanted, Lee chose to die like a man then [than] to live a villain.. Taken in by local families -- including those of men who had participated in the attack -- the children were eventually returned to relatives, some later providing devastating testimony about the massacre. As part of Young's vision of a pre-millennial "Kingdom of God," Young established colonies along the California and Old Spanish Trails, where Mormon officials governed as leaders of church, state, and military. Sources conflict. Early on a Monday morning in September 1857, about 140 men, women and children on a California-bound wagon train were slaughtered under a flag of truce by Mormons who apparently considered the act . On Sept. 11, 1857, a group of California-bound pioneers camping in southern Utah were murdered by a Mormon militia and its Indian allies. Two new books are reviving old accusations that Mormon leader Brigham Young masterminded massacre of 120 men, women and children who were slain at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah on Sept 11 . In short, the massacre is best explained by cascading local events in a setting of extreme excitement and fear. The 59-year-old woman was found at 2 p.m. inside a Flushing home laying face down on a bed with multiple stab wounds . ''Nothing happened in the place that did not happen under his direct orders. She demanded Mormon authorities listen to the cry of his blood and take swift vengeance against the Fancher train, which had left Arkansas long before Pratt was killed. Jalelah Abu Baker. . [1][2] Evidence as to whether or not Young ordered the attack on the migrant column is conflicted. Klingensmith escaped prosecution by agreeing to testify against the others. He did not murder his own parents," she says. Lee was shot by five United States soldiers . Will Bagley, a history columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, is the author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows published by the University of Oklahoma Press. He founded Salt Lake City and he served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. Lvl 1. [2] Shortly after their baptisms, Phineas Young and Joseph Young became ordained elders in the church began preaching as missionaries in New York and Upper Canada. (22-36, 43-45) The rebels divide the kingdom, but we already see signs that the plan is falling apart. Stuart Taylor and his son Jacob join other spectators at the 139th annual Golden Spike Celebration in Promontory Summit, Utah, on Saturday, May 10, 2008, as the wood-fired . At the time of his death on August 23, 1877, Young had married 56 women-19 predeceased him, 10 divorced him, 23 survived him, and 4 are unaccounted for. Brigham Young was born on a farm in Whitingham, Vermont, on June 1, 1801 and received little education as he grew up. Lorenzo remained in that noble calling until he died, 18 years after that. Susa, Brighams daughter, wrote of her father: He fostered and encouraged the study and practice of music, not only in his own family, but among the people (see Life Story of Brigham Young," by Susa Young Gates and Leah D. Widtsoe). Samuel also sold a copy to Phineas Howe Young, one of Brigham's brothers and Greene's brother-in-law. Then, in 1870, Young excommunicated John D. Lee, a Mormon official and militia leader in southern Utah, because of his participation in the massacre. @JalelahCNA. [19] According to Lee, he informed Young that the Mormons were responsible. Van Vliet's mission was to inform Young that the US troops then approaching Utah did not intend to attack the Mormons, but intended to establish an army base near Salt Lake City and to request Young's cooperation in procuring supplies for the army. The carriage stopped near me, and the Savior inquired where my brother Brigham was. Typewritten biography of Phineas Howe Young (1799-1880) by his granddaughters Eleanor White Mackay, Seraph White Allred, and Naomi Wright. [1] [2] Evidence as to whether or not Young ordered the attack on the migrant column . Likewise, John D. Lee, the only man convicted of the murders, was repeatedly offered leniency in exchange for incriminating Youngthe last offer was made just moments before his execution. And in the fall of 1842, Brigham Young faced a mysterious and deadly illness. In Missouri, he left behind home, animals and fields ready to harvest and began again in Nauvoo, Illinois. He recorded standing in an open space, seeing a carriage coming along a road that led up into the air. [I]f those who are there will leave let them go in peace. Like. The two laid hands on me, Lorenzo wrote, and asked the Lord to stop the flow of blood from my wounded arm. During Wyatt Earps later years, while he was living in Hollywood, were there any silent films or voice recordings made of him. [8] This letter has yet to be found,[9] but accounts say that it asked Young what, if anything, should be done with the BakerFancher party camped at nearby Mountain Meadows. The nation was and remains horrified by what happened at Mountain Meadows. See Page 1. But, I can hear Mormon historians object, this is purely circumstantial evidence Young actually ordered the killings. Could be, but its no more circumstantial than the evidence O.J. BYU Mission Statement. Finally, why has so much evidence been destroyed or purged from Mormon archives, and why has so much evidence been suppressed? ''The legends attributed remarkable powers to the emigrant poison that match no substance known to modern pharmacology,'' Mr. Bagley writes, noting that a federal agent who investigated the tale dismissed it as ''too improbable to be true.''. There is a logic to this. The LDS Church was also given a large grant of stock in the Union Pacific, which it held well into the 20 th century. According to the version traditionally told by Mormon scholars -- for example in a well-regarded 1985 biography of Young -- the Fancher party provoked ill-will by taunting Mormon settlers in southern Utah. When polygamy was a part of Mormon culture, there were different types of marriages or sealings.. March 28, 1884: Or was it March 8? Bottom line: Yes, Brigham Young was clearly a racist. To see what your friends thought of this quote, please sign up! His son Phineas was 15 . ''It was locally planned and carried out.''. He said it was the greatest work and the clearest of error he had ever seen, the Bible not excepted (see The Faithful Young Family"). Copies of Youngs letter exist both in rough draft and final draft form. Risner worked as a scare actor at a haunted house in Canton, Georgia, according to his social media pages. And he learned from Joseph Smith how men . And the suppressing of evidence, Andrew Hamilton said in 1735, ought always be taken for the best evidence.. Beau's son was 9 years old at the time of his father's death. [18] A few days after the massacre, September 29, 1857, Lee briefed Young in Salt Lake City. ''There are very candid statements on the part of participants to a church official under the agreement of confidentiality,'' Mr. Turley said, adding that the file, along with other sources he and his co-authors were using, would be made public once their book was published. These young men were thoughtful, and their spirits were not afraid to embrace truth when they encountered it. Shocked by the terrible news, Brigham smashed his hand against his leg in dismaynot just at the loss of a friend and prophet but at the loss of the keys Joseph possessed. Weeks after Young's proclamation, in the high desert of the Utah territory, LDS Mormons murdered more than 100 Arkansas migrants. From the early Nauvoo days, the Young brothers performed quartet-style for the Saints; the Prophet Joseph especially enjoyed hearing them sing. Because the historical past will always be opaque, historians must seek the weight of evidence, and in this case, the preponderance suggests Youngs innocence. Here he was ordained a Seventy and received his endowment before traveling West in the first group of pioneers, led by his brother, Brigham Young. Angela places the blame for his conviction in part on his wife, Jenny, saying her statements about events had . While looking at a Tombstone photo, I saw a sign that says mule and ox shoes to order. Lorenzos wife, Harriet, bore a baby son two months after their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the first pioneer male child to be born in that wilderness (see The Faithful Young Family"). The question isnt as easily answered as asked. At first, it blamed Indians; later, it claimed a rogue church official was responsibleand after two trials, Mormon militia leader John Lee was hanged in 1877 for the killings. Lured west by the promise of a wide-open range and a gentle climate -- a boon for cattle ranching -- the party left Arkansas in the spring of 1857, just as the Utah Territory and the United States were on the brink of armed conflict. [5] It is unclear whether Young held this view because of a possible belief that this specific group posed a threat to colonists or that they were responsible for past crimes against Mormons. The mission of Brigham Young University founded, supported, and guided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life. Courtesy: Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The company that was used up at the Mountain Meadowes included the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters & connections of the men who murdered the prophets, he told John D. Lee, and they Merited their fate. The only thing that ever troubled Young was the lives of the Women & children, but that under the circumstances [it] could not be avoided.. Justice for his peoples wrongs was heavens responsibility, not his, he said. We will always love him and miss him, Randy Davis, Davis father, wrote in a Facebook post Monday. Historians still debate the autonomy and precise roles of local Cedar City LDS Church officials in ordering the massacre and Young's concealing of evidence in its aftermath. Darriynn Brown has been charged with the murder of Cash Gernon. A woman who stabbed her husband to death left a note saying she had "taken so much abuse over the years" and that she accepted "her punishment", a court has heard. The massacre lasted less than five minutes, but when it was over, 120 men, women and children had been clubbed, stabbed or shot at point-blank range. He graduated from college in April, finished his internship this Summer, was so happy in having a girlfriend (and her family) that he truly loved, had just aced an entrance exam for his Masters program the very last day that any of us had contact with him. All Rights Reserved, The remarkable brothers of the Prophet Brigham Young, Lorenzo Dow Youngs Preparation for the Gospel, How Orrin Hatch protected people of faith, KSL Newsradio is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Two of the southernmost establishments were Parowan and Cedar City, led respectively by stake presidents William H. Dame and Isaac C. Haight. This is a photo of Brigham Young and his brothers taken in the 1860s by C.R. Wild Bill Hickman, a famed gunslinger and friend of the Mormon leader . According to trial testimony given later by Haslam, when Haight read Young's words, he sobbed like a child and could manage only the words, "Too late, too late. hold, outlived him, and shared in his estate. 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