The Mountain Meadows Massacre

Customer Reviews:

Classic .......2007-05-08

This book is for anyone interested in Mormon or religious history. Mormonism is not the only religious sect with a dark history.

An essential read.......2007-04-22

Before one effectively understands the motives and causes of the Mountain Meadows Massacre - henceforth MMM - one must look at the stormy civil and political conflict that the LDS church generated as it spread. From the unbridled rumors spread by neighbors against Joseph Smith in New York, to the financial fiasco in Kirtland, to the downright slaughter of men, women and children in Missouri - the most infamous being the Haun's Mill Massacre, which left about thirty men, women and children dead - at the hands of state and federal government approval, the Prophet Joseph declaring Nauvoo a theocratic Kingdom in 1844 and Brigham Young following Joseph's footsteps in the theocratic State of Deseret (Utah). Just to name a few. Now, that being said, Ms. Brooks does a fantastic job at showing the final product of these years of political and social conflict. That is, the unfortunate and tragic events that occurred on September 11, 1857. In this book, she details how this long legacy of conditioning - even the Missouri Wildcats claiming that they were ones who killed "old Joe Smith" as they passed through Mormon comminutes just days before the massacre - played a crucial role in the events of September 11, 1857, and how it has afterwards left a long and twisting historical and religious debate and controversy. And in this book Ms. Brooks identifies the cover up that the men of the militia and Brigham Young made to protect their reputation. (I will be the first to admit that Brigham Young was most likely involved in ordering the massacre, though this is still controversial and debatable.)

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants more than the sugar-coated LDS Church history and wants to find the truth. For LDS church members, I would recommend you take this with a grain of salt. Because it is not pretty. And for non-LDS readers, I would just like to remind that acts of religious fundamentalism does not prove a religion false. If that were the case, then Judaism, Christianity and Islam all would be false, because all three faiths are guilty of murdering men, women and children in the name of God. From the Israelites slaughtering the men, woman and children of Canaan, to Church Fathers and Protestant Reformers condoning the persecution and murder of Jews, Muslims, Witches, Pagans, Native Americans and other "heathens" and to modern day Fundamentalist Islam clerics crashing planes into buildings for God.

Now please do not think that I am trying to justify the MMM, I am not doing that. I am simply trying to offer a new perspective to those who wish to read up on this fascinating yet tragic event. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the real history, legacy - and infamy - of the State of Deseret and Brigham Young.

Essential reading on Mormon history.......2006-11-28

Briefly, even 50 years on, there has been much printed on the topic of the Mountain Meadows Massacre (MMM), much of it worthless, such as the discussion in "Under the Banner of Heaven: a story of violent faith." 50 years on, Brook's book on the MMM is one of, if not the best analysis of this tragic event. For those interested in Mormon history, this book is a must, alongside "The Mormon Experience" by Arrington and Bitton.

Controversial and Good.......2006-07-27

This book was the starting point for research on the massacre and is well worth reading as a starting point in research on this horrible event. This book and The Giant Joshua were both books written by women from Washington County Utah in the same general era that were immensely controversial and tackled subjects that were supposed to be left alone.

I have been to Mountain Meadows and while it is a very beautiful place, I got bad vibes from it and was glad when it was time to go.

Mountain Meadows, Utah.......2006-02-11

Juanita Brooks must be commended for writing as thorough a history of the Mountain Meadows massacre as she has; it seems she spent decades gathering and sifting information, including affidavits, personal letters, newspaper accounts, and documents from the LDS archives, to present as accurate a picture as possible. And still so much is lost or buried in history and irretrievable today. How many people were actually killed remains in dispute, the number ranging anywhere from 60-something to 120. The causes of the near-hysteria exhibited by the southern Utah Mormons at the time, and the fact that the well-stocked Fancher wagon train was their target, are many and varied: fear of attack by the US army, fear that through-trains would incite Californians to attack the Mormon settlements, a desire to avenge recent Mormon murders in the States, and the Fancher party's own intimidating behavior toward the Mormon's in the villages they passed through, have all been forwarded as causes.

The role of the Indians involved is vague; they at first were expected to do all the killing while the whites looked on; this isn't what happened, though some Indians did participate and did much looting of the wagons afterward. Finally the role of Brigham Young in what appeared at first would be a complete "cover-up" only to have one man, John D. Lee, take the blame for everything - perhaps because he was the leader of the attackers and certainly because it would help keep the high officials of the church from appearing guilty, is explored by Brooks. It took a hundred years, but in 1961 John D. Lee was finally "reinstated to membership and former blessings" by the LDS supreme council. The Mountain Meadows tragedy is a fascinating story where somewhat cloudy intelligence got mixed up with fear and paranoia, allowing circumstances to get beyond control. It wasn't the first time something like it happened, and it won't be the last. Brooks's account of it is superb historical writing, however.

Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows

Average customer rating:

A page turner
Exhaustive Research...Poor Conclusions
Propaganda?
Truth will come forth
The final word on Mountain Meadows

Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Will Bagley
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The Mountain Meadows Massacre
American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857
Mormonism Unveiled: The Life and Confession of John D. Lee, Including the Life of Brigham Young
No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith
An Insider's View of Mormon Origins

ASIN: 0806136391

Customer Reviews:

A page turner.......2007-09-25

The level of detail was a bit tedious at first but around page 100 or so the book turned into a real page turner. I finished the four hundred or so pages in four days. It was one of those cases where you really want some kind of justice for the victims but you believe they will never get it. Some of the negative reviews have pointed to the use of second hand sources when there were first hand accounts available. When everyone old enough to testify has been murdered and the murderers are the only ones left to tell their side of the story that will sometimes be the case. The first hand accounts may not be entirely believable since those are being told by the murders themselves. If a few of the ten or twelve year old children had been left alive then there could be some more accurate accounts of the incident. It is ironic that the many of the people who complain the most about the inaccuracies in this book are the descendents of the persons most responsible for those inaccuracies.

Exhaustive Research...Poor Conclusions.......2007-09-04

Reading the book from the perspective of scholarship makes one realize that Bagley has done some exhaustive background work on the subject. Which makes it all the more stunning that he (with the time it must have taken to compile the data) has twisted facts, timelines and relied on heresay and rumor to come to some of his conclusions when credible primary evidence was there for the taking. Indeed, many of his most heinous conclusions about the background events at Mountain Meadows are only able to be drawn by misdirecting event sequences and distances involved. Only those that have seriously engaged this topic will be able to recognize this.

His hope is that readers will be intimidated by the sheer number of references to call into question his, or their, credibility. Unfortunately, quantity is not the same as quality and many of his sources are second hand and less credible, even when primary sources were available to him.

What does this say about his motives given the volume of sources he cites? It says that he has a story to tell and he'll do it, no matter what the facts actually say. In the end, he fit the data to his conclusions, not the other way around. Very disappointing.

Propaganda?.......2007-08-31

Although I have not read the book, it is disturbing to me that people are associating fundamentalist Mormons with the actual Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fundamentalist Mormons are what you would consider radical and extremists. Typically they are sects of members (or descendants of) those who broke away from the official LDS church when polygamy was denounced in 1880. They wanted to continue their polygamist life styles and in doing so, were excommunicated from the church. Thus they formed their own "fundamentalist" Mormon sects. Warren Jeffs is part of these groups.

Having said that, yes Mountain Meadows did occur. Yes, there were Mormon settlers involved. I don't think any member of the LDS church is disputing that. What we are disputing is the way in which the Mormon pioneers are being depicted. They are being described (as in some reviews) as "fundamentalist", "extremist" and "radical". No one is saying that it was not a terrible thing they did. It most definitely was! Unexcuseable, abominable and savage. But I think the thing you have to ask yourself is what was their state of mind at the time? What was in their hearts? Do you know about the savage slaying of the Prophet Joseph Smith? Do you know about the savage killings of Mormons at Hawns Mill? Do you know about the extermination order of all Mormons issued by Governor Boggs of Illinois (the only of its kind EVER to have been issued in the US). Which is why they left Navou, Illinois- watching behind them as their temple and homes were being burnt to the ground. They were in search of a life in the west, free of persecution and death. These are the things one needs to consider before judging those Mormons whom chose to participate in Mountain Meadows. I do not believe it was done out of revenge. I believe it was done out of a sense of self preservation. They were no doubt paranoid about being driven from their homes (AGAIN) and were trying to prevent history from repeating itself. Even though the Fancher party posed no threat to them, all of these things from their past affected the Mormon settlers state of mind. Maybe it was even temporary insanity. We can't really say because we weren't there. But the facts are that most of these Mormon's led good, decent lives before and after Mountain Meadows. [...].

It will give you just the facts, including the series of events which lead up to Mountain Meadows. It is also important that one remembers that these were the acts of a handful (relatively speaking) of Mormons and not the entire church. Those were choices they made freely. It is unfair to lay blame on an entire religion/church for the choices that they made. It was not sanctioned nor was it ordered by Brigham Young. That was proven by the dispatch he sent to Cedar City leaders telling them to let the emigrants pass unharmed. Unfortunately it came a day too late.

As a Mormon, when I first learned of this tragedy not long after my conversion, I wanted to know more about it. I read everything I could (that was not anti-Mormon propaganda) about the event. I would encourage you to do the same. I have now developed a spirit of forgiveness and understanding. Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly?

Truth will come forth.......2007-03-14

Blood of the Prophets is an excellent example of the Mormon fraud. Mormonism is no more a Christian denomination than is radical Islam. Read this book to learn the truth about the dictator Brigham Young and the basic philosphy of the Mormon Church that survives today. The only thing that has changed is that the current Mormon leaders are probably not ordering hits on innocent people or descenting members of the Mormon Church. The corruption and anti-Christ character of this global monstrosity goes unchanged. I was an ultra-active Mormon for over 46 years. I was a High Priest and Mormon temple worker in this fraudulent religion before I began to study outside the box of "approved Mormon dribble", where I readily discovered the truth. If you want to learn the truth about this era of Mormon history read this book.

The final word on Mountain Meadows.......2007-01-04

Anyone who has read the classic account by Juanita Brooks of the Mountain Meadow massacre will want to read this book. It includes information that was not available to Mrs. Brooks, and it also makes you aware of how brave she was.

American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857

Average customer rating:

Disturbing Reviews
Don't be Led Astray by Other Reviewers
American Massacre
Mountain Meadows
"...MIRED IN A LACK OF SOLID EVIDENCE"

American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857
Sally Denton
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Mormonism Unveiled: The Life and Confession of John D. Lee, Including the Life of Brigham Young
Faith and Betrayal: A Pioneer Woman's Passage in the American West
John Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat

ASIN: 0375726365
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Book Description

In September 1857, a wagon train passing through Utah laden with gold was attacked. Approximately 140 people were slaughtered; only 17 children under the age of eight were spared. This incident in an open field called Mountain Meadows has ever since been the focus of passionate debate: Is it possible that official Mormon dignitaries were responsible for the massacre? In her riveting book, Sally Denton makes a fiercely convincing argument that they were.

The author–herself of Mormon descent–first traces the extraordinary emergence of the Mormons and the little-known nineteenth-century intrigues and tensions between their leaders and the U.S. government, fueled by the Mormons’ zealotry and exclusionary practices. We see how by 1857 they were unique as a religious group in ruling an entire American territory, Utah, and commanding their own exclusive government and army.

Denton makes clear that in the immediate aftermath of the massacre, the church began placing the blame on a discredited Mormon, John D. Lee, and on various Native Americans. She cites contemporaneous records and newly discovered documents to support her argument that, in fact, the Mormon leader, Brigham Young, bore significant responsibility–that Young, impelled by the church’s financial crises, facing increasingly intense scrutiny and condemnation by the federal government, incited the crime by both word and deed.

Finally, Denton explains how the rapidly expanding and enormously rich Mormon church of today still struggles to absolve itself of responsibility for what may well be an act of religious fanaticism unparalleled in the annals of American history. American Massacre is totally absorbing in its narrative as it brings to life a tragic moment in our history.

Customer Reviews:

Disturbing Reviews.......2007-08-31

Although I have not read the book, it is disturbing to me that people are associating fundamentalist Mormons with the actual Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fundamentalist Mormons are what you would consider radical and extremists. Typically they are sects of members (or descendants of) those who broke away from the official LDS church when polygamy was denounced in 1880. They wanted to continue their polygamist life styles and in doing so, were excommunicated from the church. Thus they formed their own "fundamentalist" Mormon sects. Warren Jeffs is part of these groups.

Having said that, yes Mountain Meadows did occur. Yes, there were Mormon settlers involved. I don't think any member of the LDS church is disputing that. What we are disputing is the way in which the Mormon pioneers are being depicted. They are being described (as in some reviews) as "fundamentalist", "extremist" and "radical". No one is saying that it was not a terrible thing they did. It most definitely was! Unexcuseable, abominable and savage. But I think the thing you have to ask yourself is what was their state of mind at the time? What was in their hearts? Do you know about the savage slaying of the Prophet Joseph Smith? Do you know about the savage killings of Mormons at Hawns Mill? Do you know about the extermination order of all Mormons issued by Governor Boggs of Illinois (the only of its kind EVER to have been issued in the US). Which is why they left Navou, Illinois- watching behind them as their temple and homes were being burnt to the ground. They were in search of a life in the west, free of persecution and death. These are the things one needs to consider before judging those Mormons whom chose to participate in Mountain Meadows. I do not believe it was done out of revenge. I believe it was done out of a sense of self preservation. They were no doubt paranoid about being driven from their homes (AGAIN) and were trying to prevent history from repeating itself. Even though the Fancher party posed no threat to them, all of these things from their past affected the Mormon settlers state of mind. Maybe it was even temporary insanity. We can't really say because we weren't there. But the facts are that most of these Mormon's led good, decent lives before and after Mountain Meadows. I would encourage any readers and reviewers to go to this website: [...]

It will give you just the facts, including the series of events which lead up to Mountain Meadows. It is also important that one remembers that these were the acts of a handful (relatively speaking) of Mormons and not the entire church. Those were choices they made freely. It is unfair to lay blame on an entire religion/church for the choices that they made. It was not sanctioned nor was it ordered by Brigham Young. That was proven by the dispatch he sent to Cedar City leaders telling them to let the emigrants pass unharmed. Unfortunately it came a day too late.

As a Mormon, when I first learned of this tragedy not long after my conversion, I wanted to know more about it. I read everything I could (that was not anti-Mormon propaganda) about the event. I would encourage you to do the same. I have now developed a spirit of forgiveness and understanding. Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly?

Don't be Led Astray by Other Reviewers.......2007-05-30

When reading the reviews of this book, it is clear that those who were raised in the Mormon faith are blinded by their own prejudices and the dogma they learned from the LDS Church on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Denton's investigation into this atrocity is impressive, and her retelling of the massacre is excellent. Don't be dissuaded from reading the book by those who seek an end to the discussion/investigation of the massacre. Some (see below) even have the audacity to state, "Just let sleeping dogs lie." It's easy for them to call for this, as it's not their loved ones who were brutally and cowardly murdered by Mormons.

All those who were involved in the murders, including Brigham Young, stained their souls with the blood of their victims. Rather than call for an end to examining this horrid moment in our nation's history, LDS members today should be demanding that their church acknowledge the massacre, the role of church leaders in it, and issue a full apology to the families of the victims.

"Vengeance is Mine," saith the Lord. Vengeance is not Brigham Young's, or his followers, or mine. But then, I'm sure Brigham Young now knows this.

American Massacre.......2007-05-13

I have read almost every book written abut this well hidden blight on American History and this book is the real deal. If you want a book of readable facts. When your done you might read the Mormon Conspiracy.

Mountain Meadows.......2007-03-11

A real page turner. I found Denton's series of events before and after the massacre quite credible. The book was completely researched and intreperted on the stated facts. It is unbiased and and told as a story that relate to the facts. A great book that tells about a part of history that many would want to forget, but Denton brings the story to light.

"...MIRED IN A LACK OF SOLID EVIDENCE".......2006-08-19

I have been an interested student of the Mountain Meadows Massacre for a lifetime. First I was provided the views that were incumbent to my being raised in Utah but, not being completely satisfied with what I was taught and, to a considerable degree, being firmly encouraged to let sleeping dogs lie, I have made a careful study of everything that I could put my hands on regarding this most lamentable event in Utah history. Accordingly, I was eager to study AMERICAN MASSACRE by Sally Denton.

As I read, it was difficult not to see the immense chip that Ms. Denton apparently carries on her shoulder regarding, not only the events in question, but also Brigham Young and his supposed consummate evil. Like UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN by Jon Krakauer, MASSACRE seems to have at its foundation a marked departure from the professional and noteworthy journalism that characterizes past work by Ms. Denton. One need not look too far to see the problems here.

Page after page of this work includes quoted statements by supposed witnesses and historians on the subject. But interestingly, we are seldom told whom the noteworthy party was who brought such damning evidence forward. Seemingly Denton had the information. Why not note the names of authors in footnoting and endnoting techniques to which she surely must have been introduced in her earliest training in the English language?

And while I do not assume to believe that Brigham Young, or any of his contemporaries, was perfect and infallible at this time in history I can, at least attempt to put things in proper perspective (something that seems to completely elude Ms. Denton in her research and composition). Consider it. With the largest force in US Military history, up until that time, on its way to Utah, with individuals -- both inside and outside of Utah -- breathing out threats of renewed violence and having suffered persecution and efforts at extermination during the decades prior to fleeing west, one can at least understand how, in a state of rampant panic and anxiety, the fuse on the would be powder keg was ignited and burning furiously.

Were mistakes made--even by the inimitable Brigham Young--as to how things were handled? Most certainly. Was execution of the immigrants by Mormon citizens the only alternative? Surely not! If cooler heads had prevailed, would the outcome have been markedly different. Absolutely. If cooler heads had prevailed! As I read allegation after allegation by Ms. Denton against the Mormon citizenry collectively and Brigham Young individually, I found myself asking, "Why, if Brigham was the Blackbeard of the Great Basin and his brainwashed Saints his loyal cutthroats, were there not more episodes like Mountain Meadows? The vast empire of Deseret ranged through the whole of Nevada, up to Canada, down to Mexico and into Southern California. Mormon settlements dotted the landscape in proximity to most of the best established roads west and, yet, Brigham's land pirates struck only at Mountain Meadows. A conundrum of the first order!

I was also intrigued by Ms. Denton's tendency to label anyone at the time who was inclined to support the Mormon position (Thomas L. Kane, Governor Alfred Cumming, etc.) as an absolute idiot.

On the flip side of things, were the immigrants, as Ms. Denton would seemingly have us believe, as noble, pure, innocent and benign as the very thoughts of God? There may be some slight margin for debate here, but the last time I looked there was only one perfect person who ever lived on this earth and He certainly hailed from points farther east than Arkansas.

What emerges here is the rankest form of revisionist history possible, with Ms. Denton trickling a historical point here and there followed by barrage after barrage of her own pettiness and bile in trying to sell her point of view. Unfounded assumption after unfounded assumption attempts to convince the reader that, somewhere, somehow, Ms. Denton commandeered a time machine and gathered information first hand. Besides, how on earth does one expect to unravel things in a case that, in its day, took over twenty years to prosecute? Certainly not in 243 considerably biased pages!

In the end, Denton's own statement, found at the top of page 133 of the hardback printing of this book, completely defines this work: "... mired in a lack of solid evidence." I can't sum things up any more eloquently than that.

THE HORSEMAN

Hiking And Exploring The Paria River: Including, The Story Of John D. Lee And Mountain Meadows Massacre

Average customer rating:

Hiking and Exploring the Paria River
The Metric distance ruined this book
Comprehensive but dense
Worth It's Weight!
A rare guidebook

Hiking And Exploring The Paria River: Including, The Story Of John D. Lee And Mountain Meadows Massacre
Michael R. Kelsey
Manufacturer: Kelsey Publishing (Utah)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau: Non-Technical
Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Glen Canyon Region
Hiking and Exploring Utah's San Rafael Swell 3rd Edition
Canyoneering 3 (Canyoneering)
Technical Slot Canyon Guide to the Colorado Plateau

ASIN: 0944510213

Book Description

This is a hiking guide to the Paria River drainage of southern Utah. The upper part of the system begins near Bryce Canyon National Park, and flows south to the Colorado River and Lee's Ferry. Lee's Ferry is not far below the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Many people have now heard of the hike down the Paria, but there are many less-known and less-visited parts of this drainage included in this book.

This guide covers the entire river system, including a couple of mountain climbs in the far north, plus the dozen or so slot canyons in the middle and lower end. The more famous slot canyons are Bull Valley Gorge, the scene of a pickup wreck (still lodged in the slot) which left 3 hunters dead. Also,Round Valley Draw, the Buckskin Gulch and of course the Paria itself. This 3rd Edition includes for the first time Coyote Buttes and its best know part, The Wave, an international destination for fotographers. For this edition, 16 pages and several new hiking areas have been added, plus the author re-hiked many canyons and updated all of them. This editon has 178 fotographs.

As in previous edtions, the history of early-day ranchers and cattlemen are included. The history of gold miners at Lee's Ferry and around the old ghost town of Pahreah is also discussed. And the best story of all is that of John D. Lee, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre (about 120 people were killed), and his life on the run from Federal authorities. It was John D. Lee who was sent by the Mormon Church to the lower end of the Paria River to hide out and build & operate a ferry across the Colorado River. His entire life story is told.

Customer Reviews:

Hiking and Exploring the Paria River.......2007-01-29

Husband wanted book, I ordered it. He likes it.

The Metric distance ruined this book .......2006-05-12

As an American I lived my life of [...] years in feet and miles. I too heard my [...] teacher (nearly 45 years ago) say better get used to metric the US is the last country on the planet not using it and SOON you will have to use it. Never happened! (except for beverage providers who saw an oportunity to give us less product for the same price!) Wilderness hiking can be very dangerous, you need to know where you are, and I can't be pulling a calculator out every page to figure out how far 13.7 meters is!! Otherwise the book is filled with very good information. Pick up a detailed map at the trail head the maps in the book are too small to be of any help.

Comprehensive but dense.......2006-02-23

Got this book in preparation for a trip to the area. It's very comprehensive, but looks like it was laid out with an old fashioned typewrite. Still, if you plan to hike the Paria River, it's definately a good resource..

Worth It's Weight!.......2003-09-23

Found this guide book very helpful in a canyoneering trip down this nice canyon. I read the book before an April 2003 Paria Canyon trip starting at White House Trailhead and going all the way to Lee's Ferry. One thing was missing from my pack though....the book!

My trip I carried the BLM map/travel guide you can purchase at the Paria Ranger Station. It was $8.00 and I had a detailed map with camp sites and all known streams for water. The Kelsey Book has little dots or symbols for the sites which were pretty useless when the maps are so small in print. I was glad on the trip I had the BLM Guide for the trip.

Check the weather forecast before you leave and again at the ranger station. The summer of 2003 in September there were flash floods in the canyon from storms over 40 miles away!

The Paria Ranger Station reports temperatures to the weather service and rain/snow amounts. You will have to go to noaa.gov site for the info. Enter Kanab or Salt Lake City in the today's forecast box and then at the bottom of the forecast page will be additional forecast info - press the forecast discussion. On the new page enter state summary and look on the page for Paria Ranger Station!! There the high and low's will be listed with any precipitation amounts. The ranger station calls in the info every day.

Remember to pack the book for your trip to help you with your travels down this great canyon.

A rare guidebook.......2003-02-12

This book is outstanding. I'm an avid canyoneer and these books got me started. Many think they're too good. I follow the canyoneering boards and people consistently complain that Kelsey gives away too much information and allows, "just anyone who buys the book" to get in the deepest, darkets canyons. The land managers down right hate these books because people get into trouble. I think a good guidebook tells you about an area and it's up to the individual to be responsible and not exceed their abilities.

Aside from the extermely thorough and detailed area information, Kelsey takes pains to explain the history of the area and to prepare you for what you need to do spend time in these strange lands. I have hundreds of guidebooks from around the world and none of them comes close to Kelsey's in these areas. They are a treat to read.

There are a few quirky things about Kelsey's work. He lists everthing in metric. I agree this makes perfect sense from a technical (the rest of the world is metric and it makes much more sense) point of view but still have to do a poor job of converting everything back to miles in my head. It would be better to list miles in brackets after the kilometers. Kelsey is also (apparently) very fit because his hiking times are impressively rapid. I usually add 50% to his times to get a realistic estimate of how long it will take me.

All in all, I couldn't recommend Kelsey's books more. He is an extremely hard working, dedicated author. His works are jewels for this area and will long be recognized as not only the geographical authority but also the historical authority in this wonderful part of the world. Buy everything he writes.

Massacre at Mountain Meadows: An American Legend and a Monumental Crime
Average customer rating:

I Should Have Know Better

False

I thought the book was very one sided.

For some crimes, there are no mitigating circumstances

A fascinating piece of American history!

Massacre at Mountain Meadows: An American Legend and a Monumental Crime
William Wise
Manufacturer: Backinprint.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Old West | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows

The Mountain Meadows Massacre

American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857

ASIN: 0595092586

Book Description

In September 1857, over 100 emigrants, including many women and children, were brutally ambushed and murdered in a peaceful meadow in southern Utah. In Massacre at Mountain Meadows, William Wise presents convincing evidence that the Mormon Church, including President Brigham Young, who was the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, orchestrated these murders.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre is one of Mormonism’s most infamous stories, and one which members have steered clear of for years. Wise has reconstructed, in this fascinating if gruesome book, one of the most shocking incidents in the annals of the American West.

Customer Reviews:

I Should Have Know Better.......2002-06-11

A publisher will usually print the most glowing and/or most prestigious reviews of a book on the outside back jacket. The fact that those willing to be quoted in review of this book should have led me to look elsewhere for a beter account of this terrible event.

The emotive loading of descriptions of "stares" and "looks" by Mormons as these poor souls made their way from Salt Lake City to Mountain Meadows is but one example of poor hyperbole (with no adult survivors, you have to wonder where these, and other, descriptions came from).

Did the LDS members participate in these murders ? Absolutely. Did the LDS Church do anything to prevent the event or to investigate it afterwards ? Certainly not. Did the LDS Church order these murders ? The consensus of mainstream historians is probably not but you wouldn't know that by reading this book.

This book is more about the author's concerns with the LDS Church and less about the actual murders at Mountain Meadows. The LDS have much to be ashamed for relating to the murders without having someone "piling on".

I would suggest Juanita Brooks' book on this subject for a better read.

False.......2001-10-09

I thought that the book was rather stupid and based on false informatio

I thought the book was very one sided........2001-08-20

I thought this book was very one-sided. I am a history major and non mormon but have studied actual events and this book is obviously meant to push an anti-mormon agenda. There is no proof that Brigham Young was ever a murderous person, or would have any reason to orchestrate such a terrible event. I don't think its a good idea to look to disgruntled ex-members of a religion (like previous reviewers) to get information on such sensitive subjects as this one.

For some crimes, there are no mitigating circumstances.......2001-07-19

In September 1857, over 100 emigrants, including many women and children, were brutally ambushed and murdered in a peaceful meadow in southern Utah. Wise' thesis is that these murders were orchestrated and directed by Brigham Young, who was the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, or Mormon) as well as the territorial governor at the time.

Growing up in the LDS Church, I'd been taught that the Massacre was the dirty work of local Indians, that the LDS Church had nothing to do with it, and that accusations of complicity by Brigham Young were nothing but filthy lies by the Church's enemies. [See, for example, Essentials in Church History, Joseph Fielding Smith, 1950, pages 418-422]. Basically, the LDS response has been: "We didn't do it. The Indians did it. But if we had done it, we'd have had a really good reason because those gentiles were so evil."

Wise, though, has the upper hand in this debate. He has clearly demonstrated his thesis with far more references to verifiable history than anything I've ever seen offered by the Church. Wise begins by dispelling LDS propaganda to the effect that the train consisted of "Missouri Wild Cats," who intimidated the Mormons until they felt moved to murder. Appendix A lists the people in the Fancher train, which consisted mostly of prosperous families from Arkansas, including many women and children. Latter chapters also provide convincing evidence that the Fancher train was denied the opportunity to purchase supplies in Utah because of anti-Gentile sentiment that had been fanned by Brigham Young in advance of a US Army sent to re-establish law and order in the Utah territory. He also shows (through eye-witness historical accounts) that the Fancher train had originally planned to take the northern route, but were persuaded by Mormon leaders to take the Southern route, ostensibly to facilitate the ambush and murder by LDS members in Southern Utah.

To understand the massacre at Mountain Meadows you must first understand the origin of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the violence that engulfed it's early years. This background information consumes over 1/3 of Wise' book. The author begins by describing Joseph Smith as a gold digger that hired out with local farmers to help them find buried treasure by looking at special "seer" stones. Joseph's boyhood was one of abject poverty, and get-rich schemes were an important part of his early life. Eventually this led him to create the Book of Mormon (see "Quest for the Gold Plates," by Stan Larson) and organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The early history of the Church was fraught with violence by both Gentiles and Mormons. On the whole, I think Wise does a balanced job of describing how and why the violence existed, and why it involved Mormons more than most other new religions of the time. These reasons include exclusionary LDS theology, the practice of polygamy and polyandry by Church leaders, sermons that "consecrated" to the Saints the land and other wealth of their Gentile "enemies," and the habit of stripping apostates of their property, and subjecting them to physical abuse and sometimes murder. Eventually Mormon apostates had enough of it and setup a printing press to describe what was going on within the Church. Smith had the press destroyed, and the resulting train of events led to his arrest, and eventual murder while in prison.

With Smith's death, Brigham Young took control of the Church and led the Saints to Utah, where he held it in firm control as both Prophet and territorial governor. Wise describes a Utah under the theocratic rule of a ruthless man who didn't hesitate to have the Danites, Young's band of assassins, murder anyone who got in the way. Wise includes many historical (though anecdotal) accounts of such murders, as well as the no-longer-practiced doctrine of "Blood Atonement," whereby apostates and certain other sinners were required to have their throats slit to atone for their sins. He also explains how early versions of the LDS temple endowment included an oath to avenge Smith's murder. This is important in understanding the motive behind the massacre at mountain meadows.

It was under these conditions that the Fancher train wandered into Utah. Wise describes the process of the massacre in detail. One of the surprises for me was how the massacre happened over an extended period of several days. The initial ambush, led by John D. Lee (Brigham Young's adopted son) and several other Mormons dressed as Indians, killed six or seven men of the Fancher party. The emigrants immediately brought their wagons into a circle, and setup fortifications. The resulting stalemate lasted for several days until the emigrants, driven by thirst, sent two men to Cedar City (a Mormon establishment) to ask for help. Instead of help, though, William Stewart, a local Mormon High Priest, shot and killed one of them. The emigrants also sent two of their party west for help, but these were hunted down and murdered by a group lead by LDS missionary Ira Hatch. Eventually the Mormons promised the emigrants a truce, but while the defenseless rag-tag group was being led from their fortification, the Mormons and Indians fell upon them, murdering everyone in the party except about 18 children.

This isn't the end of the story, though. Wise goes on to explain the resulting investigation, as well as the obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence employed by Brigham Young to help him and his conspirators evade the law. Wise is to be commended for his telling of this barbaric act. If you have any interest in LDS history, or history of the Wild West, I think this book belongs on your shelf.

A fascinating piece of American history!.......2000-10-09

I couldn't put this book down. It is a fascinating and damning story of Mormon complicity in the cold-blooded murder of over one hundred innocent pioneers traveling through the Utah territory under the theocratic rule of Brigham Young. It was especially interesting to read other accounts of the Mountain Meadows Massacre that were written by members of the Morman church and to see the way the church has tried to rationalize and justify this bloody deed by such antics as denying the number of emigrants killed, berating the character of the pioneers, blaming it all on the Indians, and changing the date of the massacre in order to make Brigham Young appear innocent. This is fascinating history for anyone searching for the truth.

Average customer rating:

History trumps romance
I must have missed something
rich characters, a lush landscape, an intriguing mystery and a possible romance...
A look into the past
Absorbing, but not captivating...

The Night Journal
Elizabeth Crook
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Catching Genius
The Raven's Bride (Southwest Life and Letters)
Once Upon a Day
The Sisters Mortland
In the Company of the Courtesan: A Novel

ASIN: 0670034770

Book Description

A brilliantly imagined, lavish, and transporting novel of a young womanÂ's search for the truth about her familyÂ's mythic past

Meg Mabry has spent her life with her back turned to her legendary family legacy. In the 1890s her great-grandmother Hannah Bass composed starkly revealing diaries of her life on the southwestern frontier, first as a Harvey Girl at the glamorous Montezuma Resort in New Mexico and later as the wife of brilliant, and often-absent, railway engineer Eliott Bass. A generation later, HannahÂ's daughter, Claudia Bass, renowned historian known to all as Bassie, staked her academic career and reputation on these vibrant accounts, editing and publishing them to great acclaim. Thanks to the journals and to the industry Bassie created around them, Hannah would forever be one of the most romantic and famous figures of southwestern history.

Meg, howeverÂ—BassieÂ's granddaughterÂ—finds the family lore oppressive. When an excavation on the old Bass family property beckons a now-elderly and viper-tongued Bassie back to the fabled land of her childhood, Meg only grudgingly consents to accompany her. Determined not to live under the shadow of her ancestry, Meg has never even read the journals. But when an unexpected discovery casts doubt on the history recorded in their pages and harbored in BassieÂ's memories, Meg finally succumbs to the allure of her great grandmotherÂ's story and ventures even deeper into HannahÂ's life to unlock the mystery at the journalÂ's core.

Reminiscent of Carol ShieldsÂ's The Stone Diaries and the novels of Anita Shreve, The Night Journal is an enthralling tale in which Indian ruins, majestic desert hotels, and the hardship and boldness of frontier life fit seamlessly with a modern-day story of coming to terms with loss, family secrets, and shattering truths that lie shrouded in memory.

Customer Reviews:

History trumps romance.......2007-07-27

There are at least two stories here. One is that of Hannah Troy Bass, who came to New Mexico in the 1890s and left a series of journals which, as edited by her daughter Claudia ("Bassie"), became famous as an authentic record of frontier life. The other is the present-day tale of the now-elderly Bassie returning to New Mexico with her thirty-something granddaughter Meg to supervise some archaeological excavations around her mother's old home. For a long time, the older story is more interesting than the modern one; Hannah's voice speaks from the page with an immediacy that makes Meg pale by comparison. It is clear that a lot of research has gone into this, and the reader is caught up in historical events as in the trivia of daily life.

About halfway through the book, there is a gear change and the modern story takes center stage. But the transition is poorly handled, many of the revelations are predictable, and the genre shifts uncomfortably between historical novel, romance, mystery story, and -- perhaps most interesting -- a study of the bonds and tensions within families. These may be too many balls for the author to juggle. I found myself getting interested in Meg and her feelings only to end in frustration, and the final sections of Hannah's journal make for very unpleasant reading that no amount of plot resolution can make palatable.

One can understand the recent popularity of books that confront present-day characters with records from a past age.* The device expands the scope and implications of the novel, allowing the author to write about people whose lives have something in common with those of the readers, without reducing the whole action to a humdrum level. It also addresses one of the prime functions of the modern novel, which is to make sense of the present existence in relation to the past. But it is also a difficult structure to bring off, without making one narrative seem constructed merely as a prop for the other one, or allowing the more vivid of the two to eclipse the paler. The danger can be reduced by strong characters and meticulous research, but good history always trumps merely competent fiction.

*Some examples, almost at random: John Darnton's THE DARWIN CONSPIRACY, Umberto Eco's THE MYSTERIOUS FLAME OF QUEEN LOANA, Janathan Safran Foer's EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, Dara Horn's THE WORLD TO COME, Nicole Krauss' THE HISTORY OF LOVE, and Jennifer Vanderbes's EASTER ISLAND (probably the closest parallel to THE NIGHT JOURNAL).

I must have missed something.......2007-07-25

This novel reads like a second rate mass market dimestore romance. The journal references are unbelievably contrived, and the thin plot is padded with uneccessary and uninteresting copy. Where was the editor? I am an avid reader, but cannot imagine how this novel can appeal to anyone who enjoys reading well-crafted, provocative material. Although I am on page 292, I will probably abandon this book in favor of Cormac McCarthy's new book "The Road", that I purchased the same day. I am angry with myself for wasting as much time on it as I have already.

rich characters, a lush landscape, an intriguing mystery and a possible romance..........2007-05-30

In the recent film Notes on a Scandal, one of the characters remarks that "we are bound by the secrets that we keep." That sentiment is tailor-made for the women of Elizabeth Crook's THE NIGHT JOURNAL. Each generation of the Bass family has their secrets and passes them on to the next generation. Claudia "Bassie" Bass, headstrong writer and historian, is the daughter of Hannah Bass, known for her seminal journals of a young woman's life in the Southwest that have become classics worldwide. Since Hannah died when Bassie was a child, these journals were the only way she came to know her mother.

Meg Mabry, Bassie's 37-year-old granddaughter, has always cringed under the spotlight of her family's famous heritage and has never read the journals themselves: "Bassie had built her life around them [the journals], and founded her career on them as a professor of southwestern history, transforming them into these six published volumes that had become, through the years, a kind of cult literature for lovers of the American West and the Victorian era. Bassie worshiped her mother and the journals. But for Meg they were a source of embarrassment, documenting the story of an ancestor whose life had been more dramatic and interesting than Meg could ever hope hers would be."

When Bassie learns of a new addition being built on the land of her mother's home in New Mexico, which has now become a museum, she insists that the family dogs are buried there and they must be exhumed and moved before the building can begin. Bassie is determined to travel to the family homestead to oversee the operation, and Meg reluctantly decides to accompany her. Upon their arrival in New Mexico, they meet up with Jim Layton, an archeologist who runs the museum and is in charge of the exhumation of the bones. Jim has known Bassie for years and knows just how to finesse her prickly personality; he soon finds that he has a great deal in common with the more reticent Meg.

Perhaps it's because she finds herself surrounded by her family's history that Meg relents and begins reading Hannah's journals. Meg learns of her great-grandmother's journey from Chicago to the Southwest, her work as a Harvey girl, her marriage to railroad worker Elliot Bass, and the establishment of the homestead at Pecos. But when the excavation turns up human bones, everything that was known about the family is called into question.

Elizabeth Crook, author of THE RAVEN'S BRIDE and PROMISED LANDS, deftly blends historical fiction and mystery as she tells the story of four generations of women in the American Southwest. The passages from Hannah's journals illuminate the experience of a young woman in untamed country, trying to carve out a new life for herself and feeling conflicted over two important men in her life. The modern-day story of Meg, her indomitable grandmother and their "push-me, pull-you" relationship, as well as Meg's flirtation with the married but troubled Jim, is endearing and realistic. Both Meg and Jim have something to prove to Bassie and try not to buckle under her strong hand: "Some of us are living the lives she wanted us to, and some of us are living the lives we chose in defiance of her wishes. But her influence is still there." Add to this potent brew the element of mystery in the form of the unearthed body on Dog Hill, which calls all of Hannah's and Bassie's accounts into question.

With rich characters, a lush landscape, an intriguing mystery and a possible romance, THE NIGHT JOURNAL grips the reader from the start. As the story alternates from the 1800s to the modern day, it paints an accurate and entertaining picture of life as the Bass women lived it.

--- Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller

A look into the past.......2007-05-24

The Night Journal describes the rare opportunity for a member of the current generation to look at her family's past -- their personalities, the times they lived in and most of all their secrets. I was uncertain how I would like the book at first as the main character, Meg, is not really all that likeable. She's an angry young woman, cut off from her own feelings and still rebelling against her mother and grandmother. It wasn't really all that easy to like her grandmother, Bassie, either, but as secrets were revealed through Meg's great-grandmother Hannah's journals, I came to care about them all inspite of their faults. I liked it that everything wasn't fixed and perfect at the end of the story. It has a good, satisfying ending and not the happily ever after ending that would have been so tempting to write.

Absorbing, but not captivating..........2007-05-03

What in heck does that mean? The story, supported by well-developed, but not always likable characters, was fresh and intriguing in varying degrees throughout. The settings were real and came alive through very satisfying description. Intriguing in varying degrees - one moment, I was reading with purpose, the next, I was quite content to put the book down - and not return to the story for days. What does that say? It wasn't moving fast enough; it wasn't delivering enough mystique to keep me turning pages. I enjoyed the story. I got a bit tired of Bassie's consistently cantankerous behavior - well-explained, to be sure, but tiring in the reading experience. Oh, to see more of her softer side and less of poor Meg's hopelessness.
You know how you feel when you've read a real humdinger? You can't wait to tell your friends about it, recommend it to friends of like appetite - and in my case, to file it on that special shelf of "keepers", to be re-read in my old age. Not this one, I'm afraid. After reading that last page, I was consumed with the opinion that this story could have been told in about 100 less pages. Some people love it when the author uses 1000 words to describe something that could benefit just as well from a well chosen 50. Not me - so I'm feeling relieved to have finished The Night Journal so I can move on to something more stimulating...and captivating!

Average customer rating:

The Consequences of War
Solid Historical Fiction
A glimpse into the human soul
Fantastic Story of the Many Aspects of Love and Devotion
This book resembles other

Red Water: A novel
Judith Freeman
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Popular Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Book Clubs | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Chinchilla Farm: A Novel
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England: A Novel
The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Loving Frank: A Novel
Caspian Rain

ASIN: 0375420924
Release Date: 2002-01-22

Book Description

Red Water takes you into a territory and culture that will haunt you long after the last page is turned. The story is fascinating, the language and style is incredible, and the characters are as varied and memorable as a Utah sunset. Judith Freeman proves once again that she is as gifted a writer as we have in this country.
--James Welch, author of Fools Crow

Customer Reviews:

The Consequences of War.......2007-03-10

An overriding theme of this book is the impact of war and violence on women. Men wage conflict, yet women are left to deal with the consequences -- some of which last for decades and beyond. A very timely topic often omitted from history.

Solid Historical Fiction.......2006-12-22

Red Water by Judith Freeman is a work of historical fiction that takes place in the mid-19th century western US. Welcome to Mormon country. Freeman's novel fleshes out the true story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a wagon train party of 120 men, women, and children were slaughtered by a group of Mormons (and possibly some American Indians). The novel is ostensibly about the man who was eventually held responsible for the murders, John D Lee, but told from the perspective of three of his wives (Emma, Ann, and Rachel). It's one of those stories from US history that's disturbing, fascinating, and terribly intriguing. Freeman deftly weaves hints of it throughout the novel, delighting less in shocking her audience and more in subtly conveying the horrors of it. For example, there's a scene in which Emma wears a beautiful dress that John gave her to a big Mormon festival. She is soon ostracized for flaunting such ill-gotten gains as the dress came from one of the women killed in the Massacre. This forces Emma to confront her feelings about her husband's involvement. It also brings up another juicy part of the story: were those that participated in the Massacre just following orders (from higher-ups in the Mormon hierarchy who believed in blood atonement, like Brigham Young), were they motivated by greed (for the wagon trainers were quite wealthy), or both? While the story is superficially about the Massacre and its startling effects on Mormon society, the novel is really about the wives. When each wife contemplates the Massacre and John's involvement, she discovers the true nature of her love and faith. I plowed through this book, enthralled by the relationships between the wives and with their husband. Polygamy is a lot like the Massacre to me: fascinating and horrifying. Freeman doesn't mince words and the passages about sexuality are some of the best. My only complaint is that I found myself skimming through the parts about the surrounding landscape. While Freeman admirably employs subtlety elsewhere in the novel, her blatant attempts to make The Land another character are too obvious. The metaphor is easy but she spells it out for the reader time and time again: the cruel, stark land is awash in red. You know, red like blood? Like the blood that flowed at the Massacre? Get it? Aside from that though, I recommend it. The three wives are so different. Everyone's favorite has to be Ann, the independent and tough child bride (13 when married to the middle-aged Lee). Her story is the most exciting but only in contrast to the other two. The three stories together combine to create a nuanced portrait of John D Lee and 19th century Mormonism.

A glimpse into the human soul.......2006-07-30

Being somewhat of an old west buff and having visited the meadow mountain monument a few years ago I bought this book expecting it to be a story of the events surrounding the massacre. I was pleasantly surprised that the story had much more depth than that.

The story covers the twenty year interim between the actual event and the execution of John D. Lee the only member of the "Danites" to be tried and convicted in the massacre, told from the viewpoint of three of his nineteen wives. The book closes with the follow-up of these three womens lives after the execution of Lee.

Judith Freeman has woven together a well told story that is more about the human soul than about a historical event. She has portrayed the probable feelings of these three women with an insight that is rarely seen in writings today. From the way that these three women likely viewed and dealt with such things as polygamy and Mormonism to their reaction when they discovered that their husband was implicated in and hunted down for heinous crimes he had committed before they knew him and how one of them stood by him through it all it makes a spellbinding read.

Freeman is able to adjust her viewpoint and shows the ability to get inside the mind of and to feel and become the character. I couldn't put this one down until I was too tired to read each night and then I would pick it up the next day and become just as engrossed in it as I had been the day before.

Fantastic Story of the Many Aspects of Love and Devotion.......2004-02-15

Wow, I read a few of these reviews. Funny how whenever you write something that even touches the edge of religion, the zealots come out.

This is NOT a story about the Mountain Meadow Massacre, though the incident and its characters figure prominently. This is NOT a story about merits or evils of Mormonism, though most of the characters are mormon and deal with their beliefs. Instead Freeman forces us to look at how humans have to come to grips with the complexities of belief and the realities of harsh everyday life.

This is a story centered around a fictionalization of part of the life of John D Lee. Executed for his role in the massacre. But even more than that, it is centrally, a story about women, and how they love.

Emma, the devoted wife who was in love with Lee when he took her as his 8th (well 17th) wife. How she dealt with the love and desire for a man she could not possess for herself but who totally possessed her. How she was bound more to the land and the religion by the man than the other way around.

Ann, who at thirteen married Lee for complex reasons but in the end, was taken by his personality and her own curiosity, shall we say. But who was tormented more by the man whom she lost belief in and the religion she never believed in but was wary of. Lee's memory amd her mixed feelings for him dogged her life even when she had left. Moreso, maybe.

Rachel, who in the end, realized that she was devoted to Lee for what he could promise her in the next life. An eternity next to the sister she idolized and loved. But Rachel's devotion may appear more as love than the love of the others.

There was a certain fascination in this book for me. It is well done and I literally read it in two days almost straight through. The characters are real and their interactions, relationships and differences are real too. Even down to the point where you wonder what private characterizations one character has for the next is based on truth or an unadmitted jealously.

Each part is told by one of the woman and each part represents their personality and fate. Emma's is rich and boisterous and hopeful. Ann's is meandering, lost, with moments of warmth and richness. Rachel's is cold, empty and barren with promises of hard times even among the good.

This is very well written and very well researched. It is a small insight to what mormonism was under the eye of Smith and Young while it was still a living entity. It is also a beautiful insight to some of the most harsh and spectacular places on earth. Finally it is an insight into how women view love and even men. Maybe in the end, that is what I was reading for -- to find a little insight into myself.

If you find it at the yard sale, pick it up, you will read it that night.

This book resembles other.......2003-12-28

I have read The Wives Of Short Creek and The Ferry Woman by
Gerald Grimmett and feel as if i am reading those books when i flip these pages?

Is it my imagination or has a big city publisher found a writer to compile a small town publishers books to create her own?

Book Description

John Doyle Lee (1812-1877) was one of the most controversial figures of early Mormon history. A fervent convert, he was adopted by Brigham Young and rose to become a leading member of the church's hierarchy. Lee left behind a number of colorful diaries that reveal in fascinating clarity and detail the everyday life of Utah's pioneer settlers. In them, he describes his close relationship with Brigham Young, his experiences in converting Native Americans to Mormonism, his trials with farming and livestock, his encounters with his 19 wives, and his eventual exile to the barren wastelands of Lee's Ferry.
In the 1950s, five of Lee's diaries in the Huntington collections were meticulously edited and annotated by historians Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks and published in two volumes by the Huntington Library in 1955 to great acclaim as A Mormon Chronicle, The Diaries of John D. Lee, 1848-1876. The University of Utah Press kept the book in print until the 1990s; it has now been reprinted as a Huntington Library Classic with a new foreword by Andrew Rolle, a Huntington research fellow and retired Cleland Professor of History from Occidental College. In his foreword, Rolle discusses the collaboration between Cleland, a leading historian of the Southwest, and Brooks, a notable scholar of Mormon history.

Customer Reviews:

A Morman Chronicle.......2007-09-01

John D. Lee's diaries were of great interest to me, he was my great great grandfather. The family had collected parts of the diaries and other information through the years. This was a great addition to the family history collection.

John Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat

Average customer rating:

An American Tragedy?
a journey though history of the lds church
Tantalizing Possibilities
Juanita Brooks is an Incredible Story Teller!
A Reminder that Every Tale has Two Sides...

John Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat
Juanita Brooks
Manufacturer: Utah State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Mormonism Unveiled: The Life and Confession of John D. Lee, Including the Life of Brigham Young
Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
A Mormon Chronicle: The Diaries of John D. Lee (Mormon Chronicle)
Emma Lee

ASIN: 087421162X

Book Description

Now in its fourth USU Press printing, this classic biography is unparalleled in providing a thorough and accurate account of John D. Lee's involvement in the tragic 1857 southern Utah Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Customer Reviews:

An American Tragedy?.......2007-01-04

All the elements of classic dramatic tragedy are alive in the story of John D Lee and the Mountain Meadows Massacre - a telling, complicated, and chilling 35 year saga. This is truly one of the most powerful individual tragedies in American History.

Juanita Brooks, a powerful brave Mormon woman, said "nothing but the truth can be good enough for the church to which I belong". This biography of John Doyle Lee is part of her work to fulfill her belief. Her story is compelling and powerful, but suffers from some significant weaknesses in my view which I will describe after I "briefly" (sorry) relate the story of this tragedy. But on the whole, I highly recommend this book as a part of learning about this incredible occurence in the American West.

THE TRAGEDY

Lee converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints in the late 1830's. He had witnessed first hand the bloody conflicts between LDS communities and the "Americans" around them in Missouri and Illinois and had defended his community from the attacks of the "Gentiles". He had mourned the murder of his beloved profit Joseph Smith. Lee had played a major role in the migration of the "Mormons" from Missouri and Illinois in 1847 and 1848 and the settlement of Utah. He became the trusted and adopted son of Smith's successor, Brigham Young.

Over the next 10 years Lee became one of the richest men in southern Utah, a powerful and respected member of the Latter Day Saints, a community leader, builder, pioneer with a large and prosperous family. But then all the forces of a true tragedy began slowly to converge on the fields of a place named "Mountain Meadows" in southwestern Utah.

The "Saints" had been attacked by the larger American community and had become "outcasts". They had moved beyond the immediate power of the American Nation and had settled in a difficult land. They worked hard to build their communities and society and were proud of their hard-earned accomplishments. They were deeply committed to their faith and Church. Their views were of the "fire and brimstone - Old Testament" variety. They firmly believed the "End Times" were eminent.

The Utah LDS church and civil society was extraordinarily hierarchical. The "Saints" believed their leadership spoke directly on behalf of God - an assumed infallibility that would have been the envy of any Medieval Catholic Pope. They intended to build their vision of "God's society" in the wilderness and desired nothing more from the United States than to be left alone until the Second Coming of Christ, at which time they would take their rightful position as the new "Chosen People".

But the American Republic was young, brash, and expanding - and infused with the populist democratic ideal (at least for white folks). The US - Mexican War ended in 1845 and added California, Texas and the New Mexico-Arizona territories to the Union. Gold was discovered in California in 1848-1849. One of the largest migrations in history saw thousands of Americans moving across the plains and mountains to get to California and Oregon. And right in the middle were the Mormons of Utah. The society from which the Saints had escaped a few years earlier was now on the march through their domain.

The hierarchy of the LDS resisted Federal control. Brigham Young and his associates informed the American government that they were not obligated to obey federal law with which the disagreed, and they would decide for themselves which federal officers would be allowed to exert federal authority in the territory.

In 1856 John Fremont, the first Republican candidate for President, ran on a platform that promised to "prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of Barbarism - Polygamy and Slavery". The Democratic President elected instead of Fremont - James Buchanan - won with 45 percent of the vote in a 3 way election. Buchanan realized the country could be sliding toward Civil War. He was offended by Mormon "treason", and saw an opportunity to divert the nation's attention from the "irrepresible conflict" over slavery by focusing on Mormon treason and polygamy.

During this time the LDS church experienced a religious "Reformation". The Saints were challenged to renew their deep commitment to the Church and to root out the "Apostates" among them. The forces of God and Evil were increasingly at War, and the Saints had to be "purified" to face the doomsday events immediately before them.

In the summer of 1857 Buchanan ordered the army to discipline the Mormons in Utah. General Albert Sydney Johnston, soon to be one of the Confederacies most important generals, commanded the "Army of Utah". The Army that had recently defeated Mexico and greatly expanded the Republic was on the march against LDS domination of Utah. LDS leaders mobilized thousands of members of their militia to be prepared to oppose the Army. Brigham Young and his followers were preparing for war.

Right at this point, 250 emigrants known to history as the "Fancher Party" left Arkansas in April 1857 bound for California. Over a dozen family groups and many individuals comprised a loosely organized group of several wagon trains that crossed the plains and rolled into Salt Lake City in August 1857.

While they were on the trail a beloved and very important "Saint" - Parley Pratt - had been murdered in Arkansas by the first husband of one of his several wives. This news was reported in Utah newspapers in July 1857. The news "devasted the Saints and aroused sentiments of anger and grief" (see Bagley book below). Then, one month later, a wagon train of people from Arkansas arrived in Salt Lake City.

What happened from the time the Fancher Party left Salt Lake in mid-August until they camped at Mountain Meadows in early September is highly disputed. There are dozens of stories ranging from severe anger by Mormons towards the emigrants to aggressive disdain of the Mormons by the emigrants, including an alledged poisoning of a spring.

All these and several other threads came together in the Mountain Meadows from Monday 9/7/57 through Friday - another infamous 9/11 in American History. Early on Monday morning the emigrants were attacked by a combined group of Mormons and Native American allies. Subsequent investigations determined that on Friday, 9/11 the Mormons convinced the emigrants to surrender, in exchange for which the Mormons would lead the emigrants back to a town and safety.

Instead, after they surrendered, well over 100 emigrants were murdered in cold blood in a 30 minute slaughter. Only a few children survived. The Mormons believed they were too young to remember enough about the Massacre to be witnesses in the future, although several reported late in their lives that "you can never forget the horror". Also, Mormon doctrine held that such young children were by nature "innocent" and killing them would be a "mortal sin".

The man who convinced the emigrants to surrender to the Mormons was John D Lee.

John Lee was put by fate in the middle of an extremely ambiguous and terrible crisis in which he had to choose. His choice led to his being the immediate leader of the largest slaughter experienced by any wagon train in American History.

Did Lee make that choice on his own; was he the "highest" member of the LDS church who had "blood on his hands"? Or, was he following the orders of "God's representative on Earth" - his adoptive father Brigham Young? Or was the truth somewhere in the middle?

Just as this tragedy slowly built over 15 years, it slowly unwound over the following 20 years. For a short time Lee remained one of southern Utah's most influential men. But then nature and his society began to work on John D Lee. Step by step Lee lost his wealth and position, until he was cut off from the LDS Church. But he still followed its orders to go to a desolate but beautiful outpost called Lonely Dell to operate a Ferry on the Colorado River in Arizona at the southern reach of the Morman kingdom - today named as "Lee's Ferry" on the map.

Then, he was arrested, stood trial and was convicted for the Massacre. On March 23, 1877, Lee stood again at the Mountain Meadows, shook hands with those around him, and then was shot in the heart by a firing squad.

John Doyle Lee was the only person who faced legal justice for the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Was this justice? Or was Lee made a Scapegoat by the LDS Church? If so, did the LDS leadership sacrifice Lee to protect their own skins, or to save the Church?

Or, to use a more contemporary phrase, "What did Brigham Young know, and when did he know it?"

THE BOOK

Juanita Brook's biography of Lee tells in detail the story of his life, and weaves it into the fabric of the terrible tragedy of Mountain Meadows. You get a real feel for the man and his times, and how he lived his life. Lee was energetic, responsible, industrious, difficult, committed - and Brooks tells the story well.

HOWEVER, much of the "larger context" I described above is missing from this book. For example, there is no discussion of the effect of the American Civil War that began 4 years after the Massacre. Surely the most powerful event in 19th century America had some affect on this story. In fact, the War was so powerful and all-consuming that it appears to have prevented the federal government from effectively pursuing its investigation of the Massacre and bringing those responsible to justice.

Brooks wrote another book - the Mountain Meadows Massacre - that explored this larger context. A more recent book - Blood of the Prophets, Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows - by Will Bagley adds more contextual detail to Brook's Massacre book.

To really get a full appreciation for this complex tragedy, you need to read both this biography of Lee and preferably Bagley's broader book. I give Brook's book "only 4 stars" because much of this broader context is missing, but in fairness her book's goal is to tell the "inside" story of John D Lee's life.

a journey though history of the lds church.......2005-08-12

The book is a great book if the reader is interested in the early years of the LDS church. As a member of the LDS church I found it very insightful. It is more insightful on the every day history of the church and the struggles of the members than it was on just John Lee. By insightful I mean tidbits of policy, history, the way things were handled, and changes in the church sinnce then that as members today we never hear of. Juanita Brooks through much research tells the story and pulls no punches for the LDS church or against the LDS church.

Tantalizing Possibilities.......2001-12-14

The Mountain Meadows Massacre is usually recounted in one of two simple version: 1) Brigham Young ordered the assassination of innocent Gentile travellers; or 2) John D. Lee took it upon himself to do the same.

Brooks deals with the Massacre more thoroughly in her appropriately-titled _Mountain Meadows Massacre_, also available on this fine website. But the picture is incomplete without an understanding of who John D. Lee was. That picture is provided in great detail by this book, and it is sometimes startling.

Lee was not some renegade Danite chieftain. Raised on the American frontier, he joined the Mormons and became a pillar of the southern Utah community -- a church leader, the federal government's Indian farmer, and an officer in the militia. He was widely respected and reputed to have spiritual gifts of prophecy and healing.

And on the day of the Massacre, he was in a bad spot. Caught between conflicting and ambiguous military orders and facing the alternatives of killing not-completely-innocent travellers and alienating the native american population at a moment when the U.S. Federal government had declared war on the Utah Mormons, he made a tough choice.

Eventually, of course, Lee was banished for his crime, living out his last years as a ferryman with a greatly reduced family on the Utah-Arizona border. Some odd details strike you when reading Brooks' account, though:

1. There's plenty of evidence that people talked about Lee's excommunication, but in the well-kept church records, no sure indication that it actually happened.

2. Lee was a spiritually powerful man and a firm believer. Moreover, he was an intimate of Brigham Young (Young's adopted son, in fact).

3. Lee was a frontiersman through and through, one of the few Mormon pioneers (along with, say, Orrin Porter Rockwell and Bill Hickman)really equipped to deal with the harsh desert environment.

4. Lee was banished not when Brigham Young found out about the Massacre, but years later, and almost certainly in response to public sentiment.

So ask yourself this: if you were Brigham Young, and you needed to sacrifice someone to protect the church, who would it be? It's hard not to wonder whether John D. Lee's banishment was a calling. Maybe he wasn't excommunicated at all, but sent away as a visible sacrifice for the good of the community. Only a man with Lee's faith, independence and wilderness skills could be called on to make such a sacrifice.

Likewise, Lee seems to have virtually surrendered to his own execution, but it's not clear why. Was he again sacrificing himself for Brigham Young and the church? Did he feel the guilt of the Massacres and seek to atone by offering his own life?

I don't know, but I know this: if you're interested in Mormon history, Utah history or even the history of the American West, you should read this book.

Juanita Brooks is an Incredible Story Teller!.......2001-07-11

I could not put this book down until I had finished it cover to cover. It is a gripping narative that is historically accurate. (None of the criticisms I have heard change the nature of the story at all.) She draws on primary resources and was often able to obtain documents no one else could. Her analysis, especially of Lee's second trial, is very insightful.

I was surprised to learn that the group of 12 or so men known as the "Misouri Wildcats" who were probably the target of the massacre had parted with the Francher company the day before the the first Indian raid and hence escaped being in the massacre.

I am not a descendant of John D. Lee.

A Reminder that Every Tale has Two Sides..........2000-04-20

I am pleased to be the first reviewer of this book who is not a decendent of John D. Lee, yet I, too, must give the book highest marks. While it is history, and a biography, it is as captivating as any novel, and a treat for the immagination as well as the rational mind. Full marks for the late Ms. Brooks in her ability to weave together the elements that make the man, her insight mostly derived from his own copious writings and those of his faithful wives. The result is a reasonably complete look at the complex man, faithful to his dying moments in the Church and gospel he thought he was defending, a look that includes his intimate thoughts, a sense of his apparent egotism, his devotion to his multiple families, and the role that his wives and children played in his life.

There is much that I appreciated about this book, not the least of which is the fact that Ms. Brooks did not shy away from the possibility that Brigham Young sacrificed J. D. Lee in a manner consistent with a Book of Mormon account, in which it is stated by God that "it is better that one man should perish, then a whole nation dwindle in unbelief." Lee himself implicates his "adoptive father," Brigham Young, in his farewell letter to his wives. At the same time, she does not for a moment lose the perspective of the seige mentality, the war-time thinking of both the perpetrators of the Mountain Meadow Massacre, and the leaders of the Church. Without this context, it is easy to stand in self-rightous judgement of what hindsight clearly dictates was a horrible act. With that psycho/social context, the fair-minded reader can at least admit that while John D. Lee was indeed a participant in an evil day, he was not an evil man. Far from it. Indeed, he may have paid the price with his life because he was in fact a man of high principles, and utmost regard for the God who gave him life. His faith sustained him through remarkable hardship, and sustained him in his own noble imprisonment and ultimatly his execution.

You will not be able to read this book without a strong sense of compassion for his wives, either. They were called upon to endure extreme hardship, and appear to have risen to the challenge. From their march across the plains, to the numerous times they were asked to open a new settlement, to eventually living practically alone in Navajo country to fend for themselves, even to birth children without so much as the help from an older daughter, these were women of enormous faith, incredible fortitude, and proud devotion to a man that their Church had marked as a scapegoat and sacrificial lamb.

Book Description

They believed they had left their fears behind. They traveled over fifteen hundred miles to escape persecution, only to find their hard-won peace threatened by the U.S. Army, as well as their old enemies from Missouri.

What happened in the Mountain Meadows on that day in September of 1857 may never be fully understood, but author Marilyn Brown skillfully and sensitively evokes the layers of tragedy surrounding a people and place forever scarred by a brief moment in history.

After the horror of Haun's Mill and Carthage, they thought they had found peace in their small community in southern Utah. But the nightmare of the Mountain Meadows Massacre still lay ahead. And its shadow would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

-For Elizabeth, who lost her family during the westward trek and loved a man beyond her reach- and perhaps beyond heaven's as well.

-For Jacob, who knew he would love one particular woman forever.

-For John Lee, whose reluctant obedience would shadow his name, his life, and the lives of his descendants for generations to come.

Customer Reviews:

Booorrring!!!.......2004-07-27

I found this book quite boring and it took me a couple of months to finish it, because I didn't find it compelling enough to pick up consistently.

It seemed to rush through much of the story and the characters weren't developed as much as they could have been. I don't recommend this book. I found Red Water by Judith Freeman to be a much better read, with more fully developed characters.

Granddaughter of John D. Lee.......2002-03-03

John D. Lee is my Great-great-great Grandfather. I have read just about every piece of fiction and non-fiction on him and on the subject of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. I would have to say this is one of the few that makes any attempt to explain just what it was that made the Mormons attack that day. While it was surely a horrible tragedy, it was not simply a random act of violence. We must always keep in mind what a different place the US was then, violent and cruel and even good men did terrible things. My Grandfather was a good man and he was part of a terrible thing. This book goes a little way to explaining how and why and how he was also ultimately a victim of the Meadows himself.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books