Reflections on Mountain Meadows

Today is September 11, 2005, now denoted "Patriot Day" on US calendars. On the same day 148 years ago, 120 men, women, and children died in Southern Utah. This unseemly confluence of synchronicity spurred a lengthy essay by Steve over at BCC. Some time ago I posted my own reflections on the topic at BCC, entitled A Visit to Mountain Meadows, based on my visit to the site in early 2004. Here are the last three paragraphs of my earlier post:

At Mountain Meadows, there are two small sites commemorating the awful events of September 1857. For details, go here or read this short review article by writer Sally Denton. I'm only going to describe what I saw on my visit. At the crest of a small hill overlooking a broad, sparse valley is a small site established by the State of Utah, with explanatory tableaus, some viewing tubes that identify locations in the valley below, and a twenty-foot long granite wall that bears the names of roughly 120 men, women, and children who perished there. It's disturbing to note the number of children, listed by family, name, and age (although the youngest were spared and evenutally repatriated to relatives in the East). The following statement is etched in the granite wall: "In the valley below, between September 7 and 11, 1857, a company of more than 120 Arkansas emigrants led by Capt. John T. Baker and Capt. Alexander Fancher was attacked while en route to California."

About a mile below, in the valley but not too far from the foot of the hill, is a rebuilt rock cairn gravesite surrounded by a cement walkway with explanatory plaques. This is the site owned by the Church; it was refurbished and rededicated in 1999. Several plaques give general information. One reads in part (photo here): "Complex animosities and political issues intertwined with religious beliefs motivated the Mormons, but the exact causes and circumstances fostering the sad events that ensued over the next five days at Mountain Meadows still defy any clear or simple explanation." As corporate apologies go, that's about as good as you get.

I'll keep my usual editorializing to a minimum and just note that a visitor is likely to find a 30-minute self-guided tour of the two sites to be rather sombre and reflective. I think it's worth the effort to make the drive on your next trek through St. George.

Any comments by people who have actually visited the Mountain Meadows site?

Comments

[Ronan]

Dave,

I haven't been to MM, but I'm wondering what relationship I have to the perpetrators of this atrocity. They were Mormons, so am I. But these people are not my ancestors, or even close. Frankly, I feel touchier about stuff like Boer War British concentration camps. I imagine that for Pioneer-blood Mormons this issue might feel closer to home.

[Michelle Jordan]

I've never been to the MM sites, but I do have some interest in this sad story. One of my ancestors, Jacob Hamblin, met the company on their way and advised them to stay at MM, near his ranch. When he later heard what had happened there, he was horrified. The mobsters also brought three of the orphaned children to his home, where his wife Rachel cared for them. Next time I'm in southern Utah I'd like to visit MM.

[john fowles]

Does the fact that MM happened mean anything at all for the Church? Only if one holds to beliefs that Brigham Young commissioned it. Anti and Exmos are very eager to have one believe that, but it is far from clear, and very likely untrue. It's like saying that the Lutheran Church is bad or hypocritical or Satanic (pick your anti or exmo line here) because BTK was a sociopathic murderer and also President of his local Lutheran congregation.

[Nick]

"Does the fact that MM happened mean anything at all for the Church?"

It certainly should, especially when you consider how the massacre reflected the cultural atmosphere in Utah at the time it occurred and some of the church's early teachings.

In fact, it would be interesting to explore how MM may have influenced LDS thought. I wonder if the de-emphasis and eventual abandonment of doctrines such as blood atonement or the oath to avenge the blood of Joseph and Hyrum Smith were influenced by the fall-out of MM.

Whether or not Brigham Young was involved--and as you said, no smoking gun has been found (although some would argue there is a smoking gun-shaped hole in the historical record)--I wonder if his investigation by federal authorities played a role in toning down some of his own rhetoric and that of other church leaders.