Site Of Mountain Meadows Massacre Recognized [First 9/11 American terrorist attack

ROGERS, Ark. -- For more than 150 years, an important piece of Arkansas and American history has been relegated to obscurity.

In early 1857, a wagon train left Northwest Arkansas and headed west, bound for California.

The Francher-Baker train was made up of 14 large Arkansas families, about 800 cattle and around 30 wagons.

"They were en route to California for a better life and little did they know that Brigham Young had declared war on the United States two weeks before they entered the Salt Lake Valley," said Phil Bolinger, with the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation.

So without knowing tensions were running high between the U.S. government and Brigham Young, the leader of the Chuch of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church), the families decided to camp in southwest Utah, in a place called Mountain Meadows.

"They were attacked by a few indians, but mainly Mormon militia men," Bolinger said.

"Under one order -- the order was 'do your duty' -- each man killed his man, in other words, point-blank, execution-style murder. And then the women and children weren't so lucky. They were mainly bludgeoned to death with rocks or gun stocks," Bolinger said.

On September 11, 1857, 121 men, women and children were murdered. Only 17 small children, all under the age of 6, were spared. Two years later, the orphans were reunited with relatives in Arkansas.

"Everyone who lived in Northwest Arkansas at that time, had some blood relatives that were members of this wagon train," said Scott Fancher, a descendant who has 27 relatives who died that day.

For years the Mormon church denied allegations of involvement and blamed local Native Americans for the slaughter.

Descedents of the victims have always wanted the church to own up and have wanted to get federal protection for the massacre site.

In the last 10 years, there has been movies and media coverage and trips to washington to fight for the site of the massacre to become a national historic landmark, and on July 2, it did.

"Finally we have some serious, bonafied, high order federal protection for the site to protect it from development or encroachment. We also have the recognition of the site as a nationally significant historic site," Fancher said.

"Interestingly enough, it was also an act of religious extremism, and that's another sort of eerie parallel between that and are more recent 9/11. But in both cases, religious extremists did basically horrible things to basically innocent people," Fancher said.

But in this case, more than a hundred years later, both sides have been able to reconcile.

"We're 150 years-plus into this story, and it's taken that long for the players to kind of meet in the middle and agree to be civil and both agree we won't get everything that we want but we get something better for everyone that's involved," Fancher said.

The national landmark dedication ceremony will be held in Utah at the site of the Mountain Meadows massacre on September 11.

They had been chased from New York to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois and then finally to Utah.
___________________________________________________

actually no

Joey Smith said his mormon gods wanted them to move out to Ohio from NY so they did, a bit at a time...

Of course Joey Smith had been one step ahead of the law in NY...

In Kirkland OH Joey Smith ran a bank scam and also printed worthless $3 bills...again the run for his “life”...he was convicted and charged a $1000 fine that he never paid...

Onto Missouri where the mormons demanded the land of the earlier settlers claiming that they had a right to it because their mormon gods had given it to them...that didnt sit well with the MO folks...nor did stealing their wives, daughters, and possesssions and threatening the innocent farmers...and murdered settlers and storekeepers in Gallitin..

Joey Smith went around Missouri pointing out where the Garden of Eden had been, where the mormon Adam had his alter and sacrificed to the mormon gods etc...

He claimed that they were to build a temple on Temple Lot in Jackson County MO as the place the Mormons would gather in the last days...but although some LDS own it to this day, they are RLDS and not the polygamymous bunch that went onto Salt Lake City...and no “temple” was ever built there...so much for owning that lot forever...

The 1st exerminastion order was given by the Mormons against the Gov and the Missourians because they said beat it tyoure not stealing own land....Oh dear...

Well many of Joey Smiths followers went with him to IL but some stayed, were never killed, settled down anhd obeyed the law and got on famously and successful ..Oh noez they were not “exterminated” AT ALL...

Onto IL where Joey Smith was given a whole lot of land free and clear in Commerce, and changed the name to Nauvoo...the land gift had been meant to be handed out to Joey Smiths foollowers but Joey Smith made them pay HIM for it...keeping the biggest and best for himself...

In Nauvoo Joey Smith propmtly crowned himself “king of the world, made himself a Lt General of his army and wore a fancy uniform struting around and striking poses with a sword as he imagined Napoleon would have done...made himself the mayor, passed ordinances that favored him and his hencemen, improved on his personal army of vigilantes called Avenging Angels, Danites, until he had 5000 well armed well trained gang members and terrorists armed to the teeth...at that time the US Army had only 8000 soldiers...

Joey Smith petitioned Congress for permission to raise a 100,000 man army...now why did Joey smith NEED so many men ???

Joey Smith built a hotel and kept spare women there...he also propositioned any new unattacted girls who arrived in Nauvoo and threatened to compromise their reputations if they refused him ..When Emma objected to his cheatin ways he threatened her with bodily harm and death and wrote a phony doctrine about it rewarding himself at least 10 young virgins.....D&C 132...its still a good doctrine for the Mormons till this day...

There Joey Smith became a member of the Freemasons and rose to the highest level almost that same day..he betrayed his blood oaths by incorporating many of the secrets into his religious rituals, which are still used today in the mormon temples...later fellow Freemasons would kill him because of the blood oaths to kill anyone who betrayed them...

In May 1844 Joey Smith spoke in the town square and boasted that he was greater than Jesus...well he was greater I guess than he mormon jesus ...after all Joey himself had invented him...what creation is greater than the creator ???

But Joey Smith was not really greater than the LORD Jesus Christ of the Christian Bible and THAT Jesus destroyed the upstart usurper Joey Smith a month later...

In June 1844 when Joey Smith attempted to force himself onto Mrs Law, she refused him and so typically he threatened to smeer her good name...she told her husband, William Law...now it just so happened that William Law already knew about Joey Smith and all his philandering ways and so he printed a newspaper exposing Joey Smiths aduterous activitiesw ith married women and 14 year old children...

Joey Smith reacted in a more than slight overkill way...typical of the aggressive abusive bully...he called out his 5000 army and closed the town and declared martial law...he marched on the private newspaper office, broke up the printinbg press and burned down the building causing William Law to fled for help outside the town

The Gov sent an order to arrest Joey Smith for inciting a riot etc...Joey Smith as usual fled...Ho9wever Emma Hale sent a message asking him to come back...he did so...must have been a dozy of a note because he had never cared what Emma thought before...

Whether the note was for revenge or innocent, Joey Smith came back and was arrested and put in a building with some of his cronies where they drank wine and had guns smuggled to them foir a break...(Joey Smith was good at jail breaks) Howeever after Joey Smith shot and killed 3 men including hios own brother in the back, some others shot back...so much for the magic underwear that can stop bullets...

a couple of years before Joey Smith got himself killed in that gunfight, he wanted to move again, this time to Utah...Brigham Young hung around and waited for TWO MORE YEARS before setting out for Utah with most of the Mormons from Nauvoo...before they went they sold their “forever” mormon temple to ....the Catholics...at a great loss..

I can’t stop reading it.

AMEN!!!

Amoung the MORMONs chapter 8

The first thing that struck me was
the sermons Brigham delivered directly
we corralled at night He would declaim
for an hour, and we had to sit around and
listen. Sometimes he would be followed
by others, and the ranting would be kept up for two or
even three hours.

=======================================================

The followers generally seemed to me an ignorant
lot of people, drawn from the lowest classes. The
religious mania had a decidedly strong grip upon them,
and I believe if these lengthy services had not been
held every day somebody would have been killed.
They would have thought as little about murdering me
as they would one another.

==============================================

At Laramie we picked up about a dozen people
whom the Mormons had managed to inveigle into join-
ing their community. They had a good hard Xxy to get
me into the fold, and held out as an inducement the bait
of half a dozen wives. I said that was good enough for
me, but I would reserve my decision until later on,
especially as I had matters concerning their welfare and
safety on my mind that were more important for the
moment. So they agreed not to pursue the subject
further, and left me unmolested for quite a considerable
time.

=========================================================

Had there been an outlet to the Pacific Ocean there
is little doubt in my mind that Brigham would have
proclaimed himself King of Utah, for I had over and
over again heard him discuss the project with some of
his ministering angels.

====================================================

Now Brigham Young decided to send a party back
to Nebraska, in order to make arrangements for bring-
ing out a large body of the chosen people. Ninety-two
were selected for the purpose, and the old Mexican and
I accompanied them. Brigham asked me to remain,
but I was rather tired of the Latter Day Saints by this
time, and anxious to get back to my squaws and the
old life I could live without any feeling of restraint.

We had a pathetic leave-taking, which was again
the occasion of a lengthy religious ceremony, and I
galloped out of camp with a light heart and a full
pocket, only too glad to think I had got safely away
from this crowd of peculiar people.

===============================================

Chapter XVLI

I made my way straight down
to the stream. When the Indians saw me coming all
alone, they came out of the high cane-like rushes, which
were very tall there, and stood right in my path. I still
went unconcernedly on until I got up to them, when one
of them, a tremendously tall fellow, asked me in broken
English where I was going, and if I was a Mormon.

" Yes, I am a Mormon," I replied, " and I am going
home to Salt Lake City."

" What ward do you live in ? "

" No. 15, just below the Court-house."

I saw at a glance that he was a white man, although
he was painted, and guessed he was one of the fanatical
renegade-destroying angels, whose mission was to kill
every white man not belonging to the sect, and patrticularly
those who were apostates.

====================================================

I sauntered leisurely along until I was well clear of
the cane brake, and then I started off at a run, which I
kept up until I had placed a good twenty miles between
Mr. White Chief of the Utes and his band of murdering
rascals. I was not quite satisfied in my mind whether
he might not repent of his leniency, and suddenly develop
a craving for my gun, pistols, and ammunition. As to his
followers, my hair, which was long and wavy, offered an
attraction which made all their mouths water whilst I
was in the camp.

Whether they ever started after me or not, I do not
know. I kept on my erratic course for six days and
nights, and eventually reached a small Mormon settlement
of some ten or fifteen houses on the Bear River. I
put up at a ranche, and stayed there a week, as my legs
were so stiff and swollen, I could hardly move. In fact,
the morning after my arrival I tried to get up, but could
not. I had covered the distance in pretty good time,
considering the country I had passed through, and,
reckoning it over three hundred miles, had done on an
average about sixty miles a day.

=========================================

During this time old Joshua was always preaching
to me, and trying to convert me to Mormonisn. He
said I could never expect to get along in the world and
prosper so long as I lived in darkness and unbelief

I told him what Two Buck Elk said about the Great
Spirit feeding the birds and the buffaloes, and said I
guessed, no matter what I believed in, I should always
get enough to eat.

He seemed to take the same view that I did when I
first heard Two Buck Elk say this, and pointed out that
a man did not live to eat alone, that he had another
mission to fulfil — to become prosperous, till the soil,
fructify the earth, and a whole lot of other things, which,
boiled down, were reduced to my becoming a Mormon
straight away. He told me that if I did he would
ensure me more work than I could do, in a light, easy
way, and that my life would be one of perpetual happi-
ness and bliss.

« Well, Joshua," I said, " I will think it over and let
you know when I have fully made up my mind one way
or the other." I resolved inwardly that as long as I had
a dollar left I would be independent of the Mormon
crew, whom I heartily despised.

================================================

I must candidly confess I saw nothing repulsive or
bad in the Mormon religion. The only thing I objected
to was polygamy — and I was not particularly squeamish
about that, considering my experience with my own
squaws. But what can be tolerated in an Indian cannot
in a white woman — at least, that was the view I took
of it.

I found the Mormons, as a rule, a hard-working class
of people, who thought they were doing right. They
had been gulled by a few smart men like Brigham
Young, Joseph Smith, Hcbcr C. Kimball, Joseph Young
and his brother, Daniel Wells, and a number of others,
who feathered their nests by fattening on their poor
deluded followers.

Brigham Young was certainly the smartest man I
ever saw. If he had been President of the United
States instead of Utah, his name would have been
handed down for generations ; but, like a good many
others, he fell short of what he aimed it.

I have heard him preach more than fifty times, and
I must do him the justice to say he did not go in for
hell and damnation, as many of the other priests did.
His creed was simply — Be kind, good, and just to all
mankind ; take plenty of wives, multiply and replenish
the earth. Teach this to your children, who will be the
only children of God. We are the Latter Day Saints.
Our salvation is ensured.

Out of the tabernacle Brigham was a very sociable
and convivial fellow. He was very pleased to see me
again and to hear that I had at last entered the Church.
He reminded me that ten years of my life had been
wasted, and that if I had taken his advice and done so
when at Laramie I might have occupied by this time
a high position under him, like many of the early
pioneers.

He next inquired what had brought me to Salt
Lake City again, and I told him I had come with the
troops, and that immediately upon my arrival I had
seen the error of my ways, and hastened to receive
absolution upon the first opportunity. I further said
that during the ten long years we had been separated
1 had wished over and over again to be received into
the Church, and that now it had liappcned I was just
as happy as I had before been miserable.

He was pleased to see that my eyes had at length
been opened, and he knew when he first met me on the
Platte that sooner or later I should be received into the
fold. The Great Book said they were to increase and
multiply and replenish the earth, and he hoped I would
settle down and take many wives, and so carry out its
precepts.

I said that was just what I intended, directly I
had decided what I was going to do.

=========================================

A Gentile hotel had been started in the city, and one
of the waitresses was a good-looking English girl to
whom I was very partial ; we used to go out together

A LOST /DEPUTATION 205

and compare notes about the Mormons. I never told
her that I was one — in fact, I swore I hated them as
heartily as she herself did ; but one Sunday night we
had been out walking, and wandered into a man's
garden, where we got larking about. He sneaked out
and caught us, and, recognising me, reported me to
Brother Godby.

This was a fine thing for my reputation. Here was I,
a psalm-singing goody-goody young Mormon, bowled
out at one go. Away went my good character, and I
stood revealed in all my bare iniquity. I thought to
myself, John, my boy, you had better seek some more
congenial atmosphere before anything more is found
out about you. Accordingly I cast round to find some-
body who was going anywhere, or doing anything,
whom I might accompany and so get away from the
city.

This I knew was no easy matter, for apostates were
well looked after by the destroying angels, and few
who signified their intention of leaving got away safely,
unless under a Government escort. Many men, women,
and children have been butchered trying to escape from
the Mormon Hell, and yet the murders could never be
traced to any individuals. I knew, though, who were the
moving spirits, and these were Porter Rockwell, who
knew me well. Bill Hickman and his son. All Hunting-
ton, Lot Huntington, J. C. Luice, and others. I was
therefore not anxious for it to get wind that I intended
making tracks.

=================================

Long before daybreak the following morning I was
up, and, bidding a mental adieu to everything around me,
I started off as hard as I could go after the caravan. I
met one or two people I knew in the city, who asked
me where I was going in such a hurry, and I told them I
was carrying some medicine from Brother Godby's to
some one sick.

Arrived at the mouth of Echo Canyon, I stopped for
a moment to take breath, and there, as solemnly as I
had taken it up, I laid Mormonism down for ever. I had
had quite enough of that to last me my lifetime. Turn-
ing round and taking a final look at the city where I
had had as much fun as most men, I put on the steam
and doubled through the canyon as fast as my legs would
carry me.

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