Mountain Meadows Massacre

In attempting to discredit both the members and leaders of the Mormon Church, critics and opponents frequently refer to a tragic, isolated incident in the history of Mormonism which they claim proves that Mormons are violent and ready to kill any who oppose them.  This incident, the Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred in early September, 1857, in Southern Utah.  Contrary to the sensationalist and angry words that have been thrown at the Mormon Church and at Brigham Young, second Prophet and President of the Church in particular, this heartbreaking massacre of a wagon train had little to do with Mormonism or even with religion.  Instead, it was the tragic and inexcusable act by a handful of frightened settlers who believed, right or wrong, that their lives were danger.  They acted independently and rashly, but sadly their deeds remain in our memories.

To understand why this massacre happened, a little background is necessary.  The Mormon Church was founded in 1830 in upper state New York, but persecution drove them to Ohio and then to Missouri.  Much of this persecution centered on Joseph Smith, the Prophet and founder of the Church, because of his claims to revelation and visions.  Mormons also tended to be communal and work closely with one another, which worried their neighbors who feared Mormon political and economic dominance.  In the late 1830s, the Mormon Church was severely persecuted in Missouri and thousands of its members were driven from their homes by mobs or massacred.  Eventually the surviving members fled to Illinois, where for a short time they had peace, but the same problems arose.  In 1844, Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob, and in February 1846, the Mormons were expelled from Illinois.  Brigham Young, successor to Joseph Smith, led the Mormons out west to Utah Territory, where they established their own cities and hoped to be free of mob violence and interference, and for approximately ten years they were.

By 1857, only 27 years after its founding, the Mormon Church had over 55,000 members, many, if not most, living in Utah.  In 1852, the Church had announced its practice of polygamy, or plural marriage as they called it, which caused further tensions with the U.S. Government.  In 1850, U.S. President Millard Fillmore had appointed Brigham Young as territorial Governor.  The federal government also appointed many officials in the territorial government.  Some of these federal appointees clashed with the Mormons and other officials in the territory.  They returned to Washington and told U.S. President James Buchanan that the Mormons were rebelling against the United States, a report that turned out to be totally false.  The new president immediately cut off all communication to Utah and appointed a new governor, Alfred Cumming, without informing Brigham Young.  He also ordered federal troops to escort Cumming.  When Mormons and other travelers crossing the Great Plains to Utah reported the rumors about this army, the Mormons in Utah, unsure as to its purpose, prepared for the worst.  Many of those living in Utah had vivid memories of being driven by mobs and armies in Missouri and Illinois and determined that this time they would not go.  This mostly bloodless conflict became known as the Utah War.  News of this army’s approach arrived in late July, 1857, very close to the time that a beloved LDS Apostle, Parley P. Pratt, was murdered in Arkansas.  In August that year the Baker-Fancher wagon train entered Utah on their way to California.

The Baker-Fancher train consisted of approximately 120 emigrants from Arkansas and Missouri.  At first they camped just outside Salt Lake City.  They marched south through Utah.  At first there were no problems, but farther south Mormons started reporting comments from the wagon train about how some of them had participated in the Missouri persecutions of the Mormons or how an army was coming to wipe them out.  Added to the tensions of the approaching army and the isolation caused by the government cutting off all communications, the incidents with the wagon train, which were really minor, acted like a spark.

In September of 1857, the Baker-Fancher train camped near Cedar City, Utah, in a place called Mountain Meadows.  The heightened anxiety brought on by rumors swirling about the train, the advancing federal troops, the drought that many had suffered through for the year, and the memories of violence in Missouri and Illinois all combined in an explosive atmosphere, yet the residents were unclear on what action they should take.  Some counseled together, other went as riders to Salt Lake City to ask for advice.  Another group, led by John D. Lee met with the local Paiute Indians.  While the Mormons in Cedar City decided to wait until word came from Salt Lake City and tempers could mellow, Lee arrived at Mountain Meadows with a band of Indians.  It is unknown why or by whom the first shot was fired on September 7, but at any rate, the battle began.  During the attack the Baker-Fancher train sent men to Cedar City to ask for help against the Indians, but unfortunately some unknown white men attacked them and forced them to return.  The Mormons in the area were hysterical and worried that if the Baker-Fancher party made it to California, they would send back an army to attack the Mormon settlements.  So, on September 11, 1857, the John D. Lee and several other men massacred the remaining adults in the wagon train.  Only seventeen children under the age of eight survived.  Riders from Salt Lake City rushed to the scene to tell the locals not to interfere with the wagon trains, unfortunately the riders arrived on September 13, two days too late.

Brigham Young and the rest of the Mormons in Utah up north were too concerned with the approaching army to deal with the massacre.  Ultimately the army marched peacefully in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young stepped down as governor and Alfred Cumming took over.  When President Buchanan learned that there had been no rebellion, he issued a general pardon to the citizens of Utah, which Cumming interpreted to include the massacre.  Local Mormons distrusted the Federal Government and so would not cooperate with any attempts to investigate the matter.  Finally, the Mormon Church excommunicated those shown to have been involved, and in 1877, John D. Lee was executed for his part in the massacre.  Other attempts to bring the other leaders to justice failed for lack of evidence.

Critics of Mormonism try to claim that Brigham Young ordered the massacre or that Mormon doctrine and practice inspired a murderous rage against non-Mormons.  However, this can easily be shown false.  Mormon doctrine does not teach violence, but follows the teachings of Jesus Christ to turn the other cheek and to love one’s enemies.  If anything, these men committed these acts despite being Mormons, not because of it.  The Mormons had been driven time and again in Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio without killing their opponents.  Moreover, the wagon train and many hundreds of others passed peacefully through Utah during the same time period.  This particular incident arose from a tragic series of events.  Likely, if no army had been on the march to attack them, the Mormons would likely have permitted the wagon train to pass just as they had all the previous ones.

Every large community is bound to have its troubles, and the Mormon Church has never claimed that its message is based on the perfect conduct of its members.  In the history of religion, many different groups at various times have acted contrary to the peaceful teachings of most religious founders.  One need only look at the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the support of slavery by many southern preachers prior to the U.S. Civil War.  Likely no religious community is without such incidents as these, and when studying someone else’s faith, it is important not to compare your best with their worst.  Mormons and the Mormon Church condemn the Mountain Meadows Massacre, but also deny attempts to pin its responsibility on the Mormon Church itself, which tried, unsuccessfully, to stop it.

Excellent Articles about the Mountain Meadows Massacre:

Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre, by Gene Sessions

Background on the Mountain Meadows Massacre, from LDS Defense

The website of the Mountain Meadows Association, a joint effort of descendant of both sides to memorialize the tragedy and bring healing

Find the Truth

It can be difficult to know what is true.  In this age of satellite TV and broadband Internet, we are bombarded with more information than we can really process.  Our senses are overloaded with information.  There seems to be no more room for faith or for God.  So, how does one begin to believe?  There is no scientific method that leads a person to faith in God, but the scriptures, the Bible and the Book of Mormon give us some hints.

Paul said, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).  Sometimes, to gain faith, we must begin by hoping that something is true.  In the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Alma gave a sermon on how to develop faith.  Faith, Alma said, is to “hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21, pg 289).  To begin to have faith, we must first be humble.  To be humble means to recognize that we are imperfect or that we have made some mistakes.  It means to recognize that we are unable to solve all our own problems and that we need another’s help.  We need, in fact, God’s help.

We must experiment with faith.  Alma says, “Behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words” (Alma 32:27, pg 289).  To try this experiment, we must first find something we can believe in.  If we can hope to believe in something, like God, Jesus Christ as Savior, and so forth, then we can “experiment” as Alma put it.  How do you experiment with a belief?  First, you must study about it, read the scriptures.  Read the Book of Mormon, especially 3 Nephi 11 (p 427), where Jesus Christ visits the people.  Ponder the meaning of the words and what they would mean for you if true.  For example, ponder what it would mean if Jesus Christ really died for you and was resurrected.   What would that mean for you, how would it affect your life?  Ponder about the Book of Mormon.  How would your life change if the Book of Mormon were true?  Would you join the Mormon Church, would it change the way you live your life?  How do feel when you think that God knows you personally and cares about you?  Would that change your life?

As you ponder about all these things, you should pray and continue to study the scriptures.  How does a person a pray about a questions.  Paul said, “in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).  Our prayers should not be memorized phrases, but a true conversation with our Heavenly Father.  To pray:

• Address God (for example:  Dear Heavenly Father, Our Father in Heaven)
• Thank Him for your blessings (food, family, safety, etc)
• Ask Him for what you need, ask Him questions
• Close in the name of Jesus Christ and with Amen

Through prayer we can find the answer to questions, if we let the Holy Spirit influence us.  Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit leads to truth (see John 14:26).  As we ponder and study the teachings in the Book of Mormon, we will the feel the power of the Holy Spirit.  It will bring ideas to your mind, give you clarity of thought, and bring peace to your soul.  When you feel this, you will know that the message you are studying is true, but to continue feeling this peace and love, you must act.  Alma, continuing his speech about experimenting with faith said:

Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves–It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.  Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.  But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow (Alma 32:28-30, pg 290).

We must water this seed by keeping the commandments of God and by continuing to fast and pray to God.  Faith comes through the Spirit as a gift to those who hope and pray to God.  Paul describes what the Holy Spirit feels like when it testifies to us that something is true: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23).  The Spirit fills us with love, peace, and faith, and helps to love others more fully.  As we feel this influence in our life, we will know that choices we are making are the correct ones.  There may be fear at starting something new, but there is also peace at knowing we are doing the right thing.  In his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul wrote the following the comfort new converts to the faith:

But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;  Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.  For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise (Hebrews 10:32-36).

Every new convert to the Mormon Church will face obstacles.  Sometimes these come to test our faith, or to give us opportunities to grow spiritually.  Trials come to everyone.  We must press on with faith in Jesus Christ, trusting that He will save us when we do what he commands us to do.  The promise is, that if we trust in Him and seek to keep his commandments, that he will help us with His grace and will ultimately give a place in heaven with Him and His Father.

Anti-Mormonism and ExMormons, why all the fuss?

When you begin learning about the Mormons and the Mormon Church, no doubt your friends, relatives, and neighbors will be shocked or amazed.  They may tell you rumors they have heard about the terrible things Mormons do, or else try to convince that Mormons really aren’t Christians.  From the very beginning, Mormons have been followed by rumors, misinformation, and even lies.  Joseph Smith said that when the angel Moroni first appeared to him, the angel informed Joseph Smith, “that [his] name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people” (Joseph Smith-History 1:33).

That prophecy has come true, and faithful Mormons know that they must always confront such misinformation.  Fortunately, persecution today does not include the mobbings and murders of the nineteenth century, but many people face huge obstacles when joining the Mormon Church.  Families and friends may oppose you.  You may find it difficult to change some habits and to repent of some past mistakes.

You must remember that it is never easy to follow Jesus Christ and it never has been.  The early Christians of Paul’s time faced tremendous hardships.  Many were murdered or driven from the homes, just as members of the Mormon Church were in those days.  Paul told the new converts to Christ,

But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;  Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.  For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise (Hebrews 10:32-36).

We must always remember not to “cast away [our] confidence” in Jesus Christ, for once we know that Jesus is our Savior and that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God, then we must be prepared to endure and be patient.  We cannot know the answers to everything; only God knows everything, but we can know through the power of the Holy Ghost what is true and what we must do.  The key and the anchor to our testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Book of Mormon.  Once we know that the Book of Mormon is true through the power of the Holy Ghost, we can know with surety that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, and that Joseph Smith was His prophet here on earth because he (Joseph Smith) translated the Book of Mormon for us.  Once we know this, we can know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s Kingdom here on earth and that we must join ourselves to it through baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.

Just as in Jesus’ and Paul’s time, many people oppose Christ’s Church today.  Some of these people are called Anti-Mormons or Ex-Mormons because they seek to attack the Mormon Church and its teachings.  Not everyone who disagrees with Mormonism is an anti-Mormon; only those who prefer to use insults, innuendo, and scare tactics are really “anti-Mormon.”  These people like to use quotes out of context or compare isolated verses from the Bible and Book of Mormon and portray the Book of Mormon as if it contradicts the Bible, which it does not.  They want to destroy faith and scare people into thinking that the Mormon Church is somehow evil or conspiring to deceive people.  Simply ask any faithful member to learn the truth about these things.

Being a Mormon is not just believing a particular thing, it is living a certain way, too.  Mormons believe in working together and helping one another as an essential part of following Jesus Christ.  Mormonism also has many traditions and customs which differ somewhat from other denominations.  Because of this, joining or leaving the Mormon Church can be difficult, since it means changing one’s whole way of life.  This leads some anti-Mormons to say that Mormonism is a cult.  This is untrue and unfair.  Any time a person changes his or her deeply held beliefs and makes the lifestyle changes that follow, it can be difficult, but this does not mean that their first life-style was a cult.

The important thing to remember when reading anti-Mormon and ex-Mormon hate literature directed at the Mormon Church is that they are written unfairly.  They play up every failing of a Church leader or find obscure quotes that do not pertain to the Gospel to discredit Mormons.  Prophets are not perfect, and when they comment on things like science or history they do so according to their own knowledge, just as everyone does.  We must remember that only God knows everything and that we should trust in Him to lead us by His Holy Spirit.  Remember, you know what you know.  Trust in what the Holy Spirit has revealed to you and seek to understand the things you do not understand.