Posted on 12/21/2010 3:33:21 PM PST by Colofornian
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The southern Utah site where Mormons massacred the members of a 19th Century Arkansas wagon train is on its way to becoming a National Historic Landmark.
In November, a National Parks Service Advisory Board subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend a petition to elevate the Mountain Meadows Massacre site to landmark status, parks historian Lysa Wegman-French said.
SNIP
On Sept. 11, 1857, 120 men, women and children from the Baker-Fancher wagon train were attacked and killed at Mountain Meadows by Cedar City-area church and militia leaders. The Arkansas-based travelers were bound for California when their stopover in the meadows turned deadly.
"It's an unusual story," Wegman-French said. "Members of the LDS church and members of the dominant society in the 1800s were really at odds with each other. There was a lot of violence, and members of the church had been forced to move across the country. ... This particular episode was a culmination of the conflict."
The valley includes several mass grave sites and two monuments - a rock cairn marking the spot where the siege erupted and a memorial wall inscribed with the names of the known dead.
For decades, Mormon church leaders downplayed its role in the killings and instead laid the blame on the area's American Indians. That left the church at odds with the descendants of the 17 young children who survived the attack.
But in recent years, church officials and three descendant organizations - the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation, Mountain Meadows Association and Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants - worked to mend the rift. The church, which owns much of the massacre site land, announced its plans to seek national landmark status...
SNIP
..."You just don't want to see your ancestors graves desecrated any more than they already have been."
(Excerpt) Read more at abc4.com ...
From the article: On Sept. 11, 1857, 120 men, women and children from the Baker-Fancher wagon train were attacked and killed at Mountain Meadows by Cedar City-area church and militia leaders. The Arkansas-based travelers were bound for California when their stopover in the meadows turned deadly...For decades, Mormon church leaders downplayed its role in the killings and instead laid the blame on the area's American Indians. That left the church at odds with the descendants of the 17 young children who survived the attack.
From the article: "It's an unusual story," Wegman-French said. "Members of the LDS church and members of the dominant society in the 1800s were really at odds with each other. There was a lot of violence, and members of the church had been forced to move across the country. ... This particular episode was a culmination of the conflict."
Uh, try again on your history lesson, Ms. Wegman-French. These innocent folks from Arkansas hadn't done anything to Mormons! You don't massacre 7 yo twin girls, another 7 yo, many other children & their parents over what may have happened 13 years before.
I have a book on Mormonism written in the late 1890’s that describes the massacre of those innocents and it was Mormon irregulars plus a few Indians who did it. They can rewrite history all they want but those that lived during that time know what really happened.
Boy, what a conundrum.
It was 150 years ago. Let it go.
Not only that. He visited the site later and had the cairn built on the site torn down.
I have several books written during that period. Very interesting.
The above being said this is one crime that I do not believe Young ordered or that the entire membership of the church at that time is guilty of the massacre. I do not believe that the Mormon corporation is guilty. To me any evidence that I have read about the crime has not convinced me to the contrary. There may be additional evidence released in the future that would change my mind but again, to date, I have not seen it.
It was a bunch of local fanatics aided by some deluded indians that did this horrible deed.
It has actually been a park for some time. I camped there perfectly by accident years ago, knowing nothing about the site or its history. We had been driving from CA to NY and it was getting dark and we were tired and saw this local (state? county? I don’t know) park and pulled in.
It was a very creepy place and we couldn’t sleep at all; if we had been dogs, we would have been growling all night! There was another family camped there and they got up and left around 3:00 a.m.
We left at dawn, and on the way out we read a historical marker posted nearby. Talk about having your hair stand on end.
The problem with Mormonism is that it is very similar to Islam. It was a “religion” founded by a self-proclaimed “prophet” with certain sexual obssessions, and it was based on the Old Testament and fragments of Christianity combined with magical 19th century spiritualist practices.
And it was very aggressive and very violent and was finally defeated only by the US Army and the threat of further action. The Mormons were “forced” to move from other towns only because they came in and took over the towns and tried to impose themselves on their inhabitants, sort of like certain followers of a different “prophet.”
I think there are many Mormons who would like to be orthodox Christians, but they won’t be able to do this until they renounce the bizarre beliefs that underly Mormonism and which make it non-Christian.
Let’s not “let it go.” A religious sect that claims to be Christian but has a foundation in murderous acts such as this one needs to be examined more closely. Jesus’ teachings were undermined and subverted by these people in favor of a fourteen year old, modern-day “prophet” of their own.
Suspect, to say the least. (No different from hundreds of “cults” that have sprung up in America.)
From “The Peoples Standard History of the United States” c.1900
“President Buchanan had trouble with the Mormons in the first year of his administration (1857). They (Mormons) were angry because Utah was refused admission to the Union. Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, was a despot whose will few questioned.”
Another personality cult...
http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=mountain+meadows+massacre
It was fortunate that the attempts to make this look like the work of Indians was thwarted when some of the party recognized some of the “Indians” as actual Mormon leaders.
Yeah and they split the “church”. BY went to Utah and JSjr. went to Mo. So much for unity of the one true church.
***On Sept. 11, 1857, 120 men, women and children from the Baker-Fancher wagon train were attacked and killed at Mountain Meadows...***
The Baker-Fancher wagon train were not the only wagon train attacked. The Shepherd train was attacked in Hempsted’s cut-off where several people were killed, and a woman raped by five men, then shot.
And then there was Miltmore’s wagon train attacked in Lander’s cut-off. Five members of that train were killed in the attack including a 5 year old boy who had his eyes gouged out, his ears cut off, and scalped to make it look like indians did it.
Fancher owned 200 acres about two miles SE from where I live.
My mistake. The 5 year old boy who had his eyes gouged out, his ears cut off, and scalped was not killed.
Yeah, I can see it now. The year is 2154. Somebody starts a public discussion about 9/11/01 with the Muslims being discussed.
Lurker's GG-Grandkid purks up & says, "Let it go."
And then there was the Bear River massacre where Orrin Porter Rockwellande other mormons enticed and helped the US army to attack and kill 400 Shoshone, men women, cildren and babies..
and the Circleville Massacre where mormons cut the heads off innocent Indian women and boys ands old people..
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