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. Some of his brides were as young as 14, and he even married women who already had living husbands. Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons Dean C. Jessee Stanford J. Layton Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Education Commons Recommended Citation Layton, Stanford J. A flyer passed out by a neo-Nazi group outside Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston on January 22, 2022 targeting anti-racism physicians. History is often presented to young students within a single interpretative framework with little suggestion of the existence of alternative historical interpretations. Not historical conspiracies created by authors speculating about the past. The attack occurred on April 6. By the summer of 1877, Young's health was in decline, but he continued to play an active role in the Mormon church up until the end. S. Dilworth Young. No credible evidence exists that Young wanted the massacre. Young declared the site would be the groups new home, and they began building an adobe and log settlement where Salt Lake City now stands. Dates 1940-1970 Creator Mackay, Eleanor White (Person) Language of Materials Materials are in English. Unfortunately, these actions and the menacing content of Sidney Rigdons July 4 speech led to Governor Lilburn Boggs signing an order to exterminate all Mormons in Missouri. Trumpeter Keyon . The Christian faith centers on beliefs regarding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Anonymous. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Born into poverty in Vermont in 1801, Young later moved with his family to western New York, where he worked as a carpenter and craftsman. Why? Fears of Mormon aggression, as well as Mormons taking control of the county government, led to anti-Mormon sentiments among the residents of Gallatin, the seat of Daviess County. You must not meddle with them. After fleeing hostile forces in Missouri and Illinois, Mormons settled in the Salt Lake Valley under Brigham Young and from there established colonies all over the West as well as in Mexico. Matthew Easton, a 24-year-old political science major, told an audience of thousands, "I'm not broken." The Taylor Mill Police Department (TMPD). (Above) John D. Lee sits on his coffin moments before being executed for reportedly ordering the Mountain Meadows attack. After Cowdery was excommunicated from the church in 1838, Young wrote him several letters pleading with him to come back into the church. Despite the fact that the Book of Mormon (which Smith said he translated by the power of God) denounces polygamy, Smith didnt stop with two wives and, before he died, he had married close to 40 women and possibly many more. Conditions Governing Access Open for public research. As she goes back in memory to the old home, she revives the scenes and varied events . He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Brigham Young University. The great historian Harold Schindler spent 40 years learning everything there was to know about Orrin Porter Rockwell, Man of God/Son of Thunder (the title of his definitive biography). Fortunately, they are well documentedmany even by official Mormon publications. In early September, they stopped to rest at Mountain Meadows. In this company, Young served as a captain of ten.[8]. Published Aug. 16, 2021 Updated Aug. 17, 2021 At Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, beards have been banned on campus since the rise of the counterculture movement, when they were thought. The emigrants passed through Salt Lake City in early August, and headed south. Even though Mormon scriptures had numerous rules governing polygamy that included requirements that the first wife approve of subsequent marriages and bans on one man marrying mothers, daughters, or sisters, the rules were completely disregarded. Brigham Young tried to stop the massacre. He dedicated his whole life to church service and made a significant contribution in the early days of the Church. Ronald K. Esplin, a Young biographer and president of the Brigham Young Center Foundation, points to the leader's remarks suggesting he may have had some kind of divine communication on that matter. Finally, why has so much evidence been destroyed or purged from Mormon archives, and why has so much evidence been suppressed? In 1853, he became the second counselor to David Fullmer in the presidency of the Salt Lake Stake of the church. He wasn't elected or picked to lead the Saints west, he was foreordained to lead them and gained their love and belief in his guidance. On September 4, Mormon stake president and major in the Nauvoo Legion Isaac Haight ordered Legion member John D. Lee to lead an attack on the company. Tensions were further inflamed when news reached Utah around this time that early church leader Parley P. Pratt had been killed by the estranged husband of one of Pratts polygamous wives while he was on a mission to the Eastern United States. With Congress repeatedly rejecting proposals for Utah statehood, Young firmly resisted the territorys involvement in the Civil War, especially after passage of the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act in 1862, which effectively outlawed plural marriage in U.S. territories. show. Two years later, Young read more, Born in Eisleben, Germany, in 1483, Martin Luther went on to become one of Western historys most significant figures. The footage showed the massive professional athlete throwing the victim around her home with brutal force in front of their then-5-month-old son. Why do people say that forever is not altogether real in love and relationship. However, the revelation that Smith said he received commanding polygamy specifically forbade women marrying more than one man. Further, Joseph H. Jackson, a new arrival to Nauvoo who had a shady past, later claimed in his memoirs that Joseph Smith offered him $3,000 to free Rockwell from prison and shoot Boggs. According to the record, Alma the Younger was "a very wicked and an idolatrous man. In 1857, President James Buchanan declared Utah to be in a state of rebellion, and sent some 2,500 federal troops to help replace Young as territorial governor. Park City, Utah, United States. [3], In 1840, Young moved to Scott County, Illinois when the Latter Day Saints were expelled from Missouri. The emigrants fell back to a defensive position, and the ambush became a siege. Brigham Young (pictured) is revered by Mormons as the second prophet of modern times. Polygamy was utterly shocking to many non-Mormons and, as such, there was a. As Compton explains of Joseph F. Smith's ordination, which would later have a significant impact on Church history: Though John Willard "was publicly sustained as an assistant counselor to Brigham," he focused most of his time on business endeavors and lived most of his life in New York, according to Compton. Although it would be ten more years before Congress officially made polygamy illegal, this provided further conflict with federal officials. Police are investigating. In 1857, at the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Brigham Young, was serving as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and as Governor of Utah Territory. Sidney Rigdon was, for a time, the second most powerful person in Mormonism. 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. But now, a new book, which has been a bestseller in Utah since it appeared last summer, claims the massacre was ordered by Mormon Prophet Brigham Young. . He declared that: "I will fight them and I will fight all hell!" The Church had been tense against the federal government ever since the murder of their founder and Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, at the hands of an Illinois lynch mob in 1844. While it started with a small group of adherents, many historians regard read more, The political and religious leader Roger Williams (c. 1603?-1683) is best known for founding the state of Rhode Island and advocating separation of church and state in Colonial America. Why did Brigham Young allegedly send a message telling Southern Utahns NOT to kill the emigrants unless he was countermanding previous orders? He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death in 1877. After this attack, Smiths successor, Brigham Young, led the Mormons West. He died of appendicitis in August of 1877. They were reacting to events as they took place. Congress officially made polygamy illegal, killed by the estranged husband of one of Pratts polygamous wives. Brigham Young chosen to lead Mormon Church After Joseph Smith, the founder and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormonism, and his brother, Hyrum, were murdered by. Cold Milk 07. Harrold's son could also be heard denying that he stole the phone. The man's son was allegedly attacked by a fellow student who believed him to be a racist. A final investigation ultimately resulted in Lees execution in 1877, and other conspirators successfully going into hiding. The sheer variety of Brigham Young's marriages makes it difficult to make sense of them. 52 or thereabouts. Brigham Young Pioneer Prophet. TAMPA, Fla. Acting as his own lawyer, a double-murder defendant opened his death penalty trial by shouting at jurors that he did not attack his girlfriend and disabled daughter. Kauna unahang parabula na inilimbag sa bhutan? The family of a Boston man is speaking out after they say their 31-year-old son was struck from a waitlist for a heart transplant because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. For instance, during his time with Zion's Camp, cholera swept among the men and he watched "other men die like flies, but his own life was spared" ("Brigham Young on Life and Death"). According to this story, they told him that all religions existing at the time were abominations. Brigham Young had no tolerance for Mormons who began to doubt the faith. The Center also supported student training for life-long temple and family history service. Brigham Young https://www.mormonnewsroom.org Thousands of exhausted, freezing pioneers marching across dozens of inches of snow in the dead of night, their end goal hundreds of miles away, all led by one man: Brigham Young. In several speeches given to large gatherings of Latter-day Saints, he proclaimed that the only way a person could be absolved of the sin of leaving Mormonism would be for that person to have his or her blood spilled on the ground. Why was the decision Roe v. Wade important for feminists? But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Instead I tried to tell the story as honestly and accurately as possible and let readers make up their own minds about who ordered the slaughter of more than 80 women and childrenand why. Militia orders to the Mormon army carried Youngs words on the reverse: Shed no blood., When the books are opened in the day of judgment, declared an associate who was at his side in 1857, these things will be proven to heaven and earth.. Justice for his peoples wrongs was heavens responsibility, not his, he said. Brigham Young was probably the most oft-married man in 19th-century America. He said, I was always Josephs friend; his enemies are my enemies.. There are two ways to interpret the evidence about who ordered the brutal murder of 120 men, women and children at a remote Utah oasis on the road to California on September 11, 1857. Those allegations have never been proven, but Young did indicate that he supported the sentiment even if he never ordered a murder. Or did his belief in heavenly justice prove him an unlikely culprit? Of course, there's also the Opening Ceremony, the Cougar Run, a football game, and more. Haight then turned the gun on himself. Brigham Young, ca 1850 Brigham Young was born June 1, 1801 in Whittingham, Vermont. And in the fall of 1842, Brigham Young faced a mysterious and deadly illness. The events at Mountain Meadows do not suggest a conspiracy, and certainly none involving Young. Most recently, Will Bagley made this case in his 2002 book, Blood of the Prophets. Nor did Pratts death stir blood lust. According to Todd Compton, a Mormon historian and author ofJohn Willard Young, Brigham Young, and the Development of Presidential Succession in the LDS Church, John Willard Young was the youngest person ever ordained an apostle, which happened during a private event in 1855. Rather than provide them with what they wanted, Lee chose to die like a man then [than] to live a villain.. Sharon Smith & Mike Leach Were Friends at Brigham Young University; Mike Used to Visit Her Apartment to Watch Television Sharon Smith and Mike Leach both attended Brigham Young University. By doing so, we may get a better understanding of Rupert, who . Even on the day of the slaughter, couriers were reportedly hurrying from Cedar City30 miles to the eastto call it off. Brigham Young led one of the largest group migrations in American historyover 12,000 peopleto Salt Lake City, Utah. Brigham Young ( / brm /; June 1, 1801 - August 29, 1877) was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. Youngs defiant stance toward outside authority meant frequent clashes with the federal government, especially after the churchs public embrace of plural marriage in 1852. Brigham Young was the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from 1847 until his death in 1877. After five years researching and writing about this horrific atrocity, I doubted Id ever find a definitive answer to the question, Did Brigham Young order the murders at Mountain Meadows?, To my surprise, I found evidence that convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that Brigham Young issued orders (probably verbal) to kill everyone in the Fancher party except those of innocent bloodchildren under eight years of ageto fulfill his sacred vow to avenge the blood of the prophets Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and more specifically, Apostle Parley P. Pratt. When I learned that Orrin Porter Rockwell, the notorious Mormon lawman and Danite, had rushed Mrs. Pratt across the plains in record time, I knew what happened at Mountain Meadows. Immediately the German community attacked the schools for giving a false picture of German culture. Brigham Young, second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church, ranks among the most influential and important historical figures not just in Mormon, but also in American history. The Latter-day Saint community [in Las Vegas is] vibrant across every facetpolitically, public service, charitable. Young returned east to lead a second company of Mormons to the region in late 1847, and in 1848 was officially selected as the churchs new president. How far apart were Wild Bill Hickok and Dave Tutt in their famous 1865 showdown in Springfield, Missouri? For motives, they point to the persecution of the Mormon people and to the earlier killing of Mormon leaders Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Following Haights orders, Lee negotiated a cease fire with the wagon company on September 11. However, President Snow announced apostolic seniority should be gauged by the entry date into the Quorum of the Twelve, making Joseph Fielding Smith the next prophet. Even the Lord associated him with Moses, and . Young was not complicit in planning or executing the massacre. Matthew Bowman, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (Random House, 2012). Such a day-by-day approach yields new understanding. Many American Protestant religions promoted slavery or the Ku Klux Klan. Hiding Rockwells role in expressing Eleanor to Utah from my late friend Hal was evidence that had been carefully suppressed. The massacre lasted less than five minutes, but when it was. not to spare horseflesh. He didnt. After the death of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, the mantle of leader of the church was up for grabs. For example, George W. Bean was called as a Seventy at age 14; Don Carlos Smith was called to preside over the High Priests Quorum at age 19; Joseph F. Smith was ordained as an elder and sent on a mission at age 15; and George A. Smith was called to be a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy at age 17 and as an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at age 21, making him the youngest apostle to ever serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (500 Little-Known Facts in Mormon History). A later biography of Ann Eliza Young termed her The Twenty-Seventh Wife. One of his wives alleged he ordered the deaths of people who tried to leave the faith. In 1844, after the assassination of Mormon leader Joseph Smith by an angry mob in Illinois, the Mormons choose Brigham Young as their new leader and follow him to a new promised land in Utah. However, he was not the youngest apostle ever ordained. A case in point is Poe's short story of 1843, "The Tell-Tale Heart." Narrated in retrospect, Poe's confessional tale features a "Mad" protagonist who recalls his grisly murder of an old man, his . According to lds.org, George A. Smith was deeply committed to the Church since his baptism in 1832. How many 5 letter words can you make from Cat in the Hat? The victims bodies were stripped naked and left to rot in the open air. Amid the tensions, however, a band of armed Mormons attacked a wagon train of non-Mormons heading west from Arkansas in a valley known as Mountain Meadows in September 1857. At Four Corners, in the southeast, Utah meets Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona at right angles, the only such meeting of states in the country. The following are a few facts necessary for an understanding of this terrible event in Western and Mormon history. For instance, Joseph Smith was once attacked by an apostate from the Church, William Law, who "attempted to kill Joseph and fired a pistol at him six times at close range. This week, as America mourned those lost in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, some Mormons quietly remembered another tragedy that took place on the same day 144 years earlier: the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a group of Mormons militia members killed about 120 men, women, and children in cold blood. Over the next few decades, as thousands of Mormons arrived in Salt Lake City, the charismatic Young styled himself after the great prophets and leaders of ancient Israel, earning nicknames like Lion of the Lord and American Moses.. Young discouraged Mormons from cooperating with federal investigations into the massacre, propagating instead the theory that rogue Indians were solely responsible, an explanation that virtually nobody found credible. In return for surrendering their weapons, the emigrants would be allowed safe passage to Cedar City. He trekked with Zions Camp in 1834, was driven with his ailing parents from Missouri in 1838, and in 1840, so ill he could barely walk, he left on a mission to England. During those trying times, he was ordained a Seventy inMarch 1835 at age 17 and as an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve on April 26, 1839. That admonition includes charging Brigham Young with crimes that he did not commit. Americans enjoy a good mystery, and they like conspiracies. Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content, 2022 LDS Living A Division of Deseret Book Company. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith had a vision in 1820 in which he saw God and Jesus (first vision depicted in a sculpture above). Join the celebration! Salt Lake City would soon become the bustling center of life in theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was removed from his post but, when Rigdon was still Smiths second-in-command, his input helped shape much of Mormon theology and he also gave the majority of important sermons to the earliest Mormon congregations. Historian D. Michael Quinn succinctly describes Youngs actions shortly after the massacre: Apostle Wilford Woodruff, the official church historian, recorded that when Young first visited the mass burial site, he said that the memorial plaque should read: Vengeance is mine and I have taken a little.. When Filmore appointed non-Mormon judges for Utah, tensions arose quickly. His translation retells some Biblical stories as well as adding to the lore of the father of Judaism and Islam, and the translation was eventually canonized as scripture. The alleged rape came in the context of the bloody Mormon War of 1838, which saw the massacre of eighteen unsuspecting Mormon men and boys during an attack on a settlement by Missouri non-Mormons . On the other hand, Mormons have insisted that the massacre was perpetrated by local members acting without sanction from headquarters. That progressed into a host of angels, then it evolved to God appearing to Smith in a pillar of fire. The Love and Laws of God By President Russell M. Nelson ,, An address given at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on September 17, 2019. Brigham Young had six sisters and four brothers. Weeks after Young's proclamation, in the high desert of the Utah territory, LDS Mormons murdered more than 100 Arkansas migrants. Their beliefs on the subject extend so far as to dictate that a prophet can never lead people astray. He is called the "American Moses" because of his leadership of the "Mormon Exodus" to the western territories. She believed Gods legions would hunt them down in every land & place. With help from Mormon apostles in Missouri, Eleanor arrived in Utah on July 23, 1857, where she allegedly charged that men in the Fancher party had helped her first husband murder Apostle Pratt. Isaac Haights stake high council opposed the attack, and sent a messenger to Salt Lake City for Youngs advice on September 6. [4] By 1841 he had relocated to Nauvoo. What are the 4 major sources of law in Zimbabwe? Traditions abound for alums returning to campus and for students during Homecoming week, October 15-19, 2019. Logically, the idea of ordering a massacre as 2,500 U.S. troops marched upon Salt Lake City is absurd. Apparently I succeeded, since critics in the employ of the LDS Church claim I dont prove Brigham Young ordered the murders. The former BYU student (in the 1960s) and president (1980-1989) expressed his deep love for the university, noted the blessings of a school focused on . Illustrated with Photographs. Numerous records, including journal entries from those who experienced the attack and affidavits sworn against the Mormon mob, included allegations that the Mormon mob forced pregnant women and children out into the cold, stole livestock, and took prisoners for interrogation. Apostle Heber Kimball went even further. Prosecutors in New York City are investigating an incident in which a jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was attacked by a woman who falsely accused him of taking her iPhone. He later became a prominent pioneer in southern Utah, and St. George, Utah, may have been named after him. As any attorney knows, the problem with a guilty client is he acts guilty, and after the massacre Brigham Young never behaved like an innocent man. Even in households where the men could afford their wives and offered them full financial support, sometimes jealousy and spite divided wives to the point that some would kill themselves to avoid having to live in heaven with their husbands and their sister wives. He governed the territory as a theocracy, with church doctrines taking precedence over laws. After a standoff of several days, the Mormons called a truce, only to massacre most of the wagon train party, including some 120 men, women and children. Brigham Young tried to stop the massacre. There's little data documenting the number of social . The little boy and his sister were at a friend's house in Wyoming earlier this month when a 1 . Brigham Young later privately set apart three other sons and Joseph F. Smith as apostles who served as "assistant Counselors to the First Presidency." While it's clear that the Lord's prophets have often been preserved to perform sacred works, it is also clear that these near-death experiences provided Brigham Young with unparalleled insight into the nature of the spirit world. Beginning in the 12th century and continuing for hundreds of years, the Inquisition is infamous for the severity of its tortures and its read more. If I shoot, they get shot. He was a model Latter-day Saint; a good man possessed in large measure with friendliness, integrity, optimism, and unswerving loyalty to his leaders., Smith had a strong relationship with both the Prophet Joseph Smith and President Brigham Young during his apostleship. Even though Young blessed it as a place to begin anew,his fears of continued religious persecution may have caused him to order a massacre. Brigham Young's adopted son. The Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt had recently been murdered in Arkansas after essentially trying to kidnap children. Theres one answer to all these questions: Brigham Young ordered the murders as a righteous act of vengeance. (1975) "Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons Dean C. Jessee," BYU Studies Quarterly: Witnesses later testified about Haslams dramatic arrival in Salt Lake City, the writing of the letter and its dispatch South. (Right) John D. Lee. The proclamation is very clear: . Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke Monday to staff at Brigham Young University (BYU) during the first day of the institution's 2021 University Conference.. The winners of the Church History Museums 12th International Art Competition have been announced, and the artwork is breathtaking. In 1833, after the death of his first wife, Young and his two daughters joined Smith and other Mormons in Kirtland, Ohio. Why Lee was selected as scapegoat remains unclear. These men later insisted that no orders had come from Salt Lake City, and this testimony included that given by those who in later life left Utah and Mormonism. Why did he shield the murderers and allow the churchs newspaper to blame the crime on the Paiutes for a dozen years after Jacob Hamblin told him Mormons were involved? Isaac Haight's stake high council opposed the attack, and sent a messenger to Salt . by Will Bagley and Ron Walker | Apr 1, 2003 | Features & Gunfights. for construction and . He promised they wouldnt stop until the last drop of blood was spilled. Most Mormons are aware that Young instituted a ban on black people holding Church leadership positions and entering their temples, but few are aware of how extreme he was. From Vailsburg To Vaudeville 04. The Indians we expect will do as they please but you should try and preserve good feelings with them. Young won the leadership and Strang was considered a heretic and excommunicated from the Mormon Church. On August 29, 1877, Brigham Young died in Salt Lake City at the age of 76. 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. Good history must be based on facts. An early convert to Mormonism, Brigham Young succeeded founder Joseph Smith as the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1847; he led the church until his death in 1877. Ann Eliza Webb, after she decided to divorce Young in 1873, published an expos entitled Wife No. Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. Of course, anti-Young historians say otherwise. Hearing this, Brigham Young preached fiery sermons encouraging the saints to lift the sword and slay them.. They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. Matters have & are being delayed with design of Cohearce [to coerce] me to Make a statement beyond what I know, he wrote in his diary. They looted and gutted shops and set fire to numerous homes, stores, and government buildings until nearly all homes in Daviess County not owned by Mormons were destroyed. David Roberts. When Mormons turned up to vote on election day that year, a drunken brawl broke out that resulted in Mormons being blocked from accessing the polls. Some Mormons say that some of the scrolls must still be missing, but Smith included facsimiles of the scrolls in his translation and they are clearly misinterpreted, with female figures listed as male, canopic jars indicated to be idolatrous gods, and the Egyptian fertility god, Min (depicted in a painted relief above), labeled God, sitting on his throne. The image of Min in the facsimile included in Mormon scriptures is sporting a comically exaggerated erection.