The approach to the Mountain Meadows Massacre monument The monument in the valley below received an upgrade in 1999, again the product of a partnership between descendant groups and the LDS church. They erected a stone cairn monument patterned after the one the army put up 140 years before but without the cross.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, who took a vested interest in moving the new monument forward, especially after seeing how horribly it had fallen in disrepair, spoke at its Sept. 11, 1999, dedication. Some were hoping for an official church apology, but he stopped short of that. When asked in a later interview who was responsible for the massacre, he said, “the local people.”
A ceremony on the same date in 2007 marked the 150th anniversary. Then-church historian Marlin K. Jensen, who also showed a extreme interest in setting the story straight and remembering the victims, wrote a statement to read on that occasion, but because of illness, was unable to deliver it. Instead, then-Elder Henry B. Eyring, now second counselor in the First Presidency, presented it.
What was done here long ago by members of our Church represents a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct. We cannot change what happened, but we can remember and honor those who were killed here. We express profound regret for the massacre carried out in this valley 150 years ago today and for the undue and untold suffering experienced by the victims then and by their relatives to the present time.
The statement went on to voice regret to the Paiute people, who for so long bore the principal blame for the massacre but who would not have even participated in the massacre had they not been convinced by local Mormon leaders.
The word “apology” was never used in the remarks, and no official apology has ever come from church leadership. Despite that, descendant groups have been happy to have built a great relationship with the LDS church and work in concert with it to preserve the memory of the massacre and their forebearers who met their demise because of it.