Utah

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Subjects dealing with the state of Utah

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• Utah crime and violence
• Utah statistical claims and charges
• Mountain Meadows Massacre
• Slavery in early Utah

Utah crime and violence

Jump to Subtopic:

• Did Utah foster a culture of violence in the 19th century?
• Castration as a punishment among 19th century Mormons
• Crimes that some critics of the Church claim were "worthy of death" in the 1800's
• The Parrish-Potter murders
• Question: Did Aaron DeWitt, an ex-Mormon in Utah, receive threats to his life from the Church?

Utah statistical claims and charges

Summary: This page indexes attacks and criticism of the Church based upon statistical analysis.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Why does Utah lead the United States in subscriptions to online adult entertainment?
• Question: Is the fact that Salt Lake City has many plastic surgeons indicative of Mormon vanity and concern with appearance?
• Question: Is it true that Utah has the highest personal bankruptcy rate in the United States?
• Question: Is the suicide rate in Utah higher than the national average?
• Question: Is the rate of antidepressant use in Utah much higher among Mormons than the general population?
• Question: In Utah, are more people leaving the Church than are joining the Church?

FAIR Answers—back to home page

Utah

"In September 1857, a branch of territorial militia in southern Utah composed entirely of Latter-day Saints, along with some American Indians they recruited, laid siege to a wagon train of emigrants traveling from Arkansas to California. The militiamen carried out a deliberate massacre, killing 120 men, women, and children in a valley known as Mountain Meadows. Only 17 small children—those believed to be too young to be able to tell what had happened there—were spared. This event is perhaps the most tragic episode in the history of the Church."

To view articles about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, click "Expand" in the blue bar:

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Articles about the Mountain Meadows Massacre

Overview

Overview Historical summary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre Perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre Brigham Young and the Mountain Meadows Massacre Others involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre

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Learn more about the Mountain Meadows Massacre

Key sources	Richard E. Turley Jr., "The Mountain Meadows Massacre," Ensign (September 2007): 14.off-site
FAIR links	Gene Sessions, "Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre," Proceedings of the 2003 FAIR Conference (August 2003). link
Online	Henry B. Eyring, "Remarks at 150th Anniversary of Mountain Meadows Massacre," (11 September 2007), Washington County, Utah. off-site Justin Butterfield, "Let the Book of the Past Be Reopened: The Latest on the Mountain Meadows Massacre]" (review of Ron Walker's May 2006 Mormon History Association presentation), Mormon Wasp blog, 1 July 2006 (accessed 3 July 2006).off-site Lawrence Coates, "Review of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows," Brigham Young University Studies 31 no. 1 (January 2003), 153–. off-site Lawrence Coates, "review of Anna Jean Backus Mountain Meadows Witness: The Life and Times of Bishop Philip Klingensmith," Brigham Young University Studies 36 no. 4 (1996–97), 225–. off-site Paul H. Peterson, "Review of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows," Brigham Young University Studies 31 no. 1 (January 2003), 159–. off-site Thomas G. Alexander, "Review of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows," Brigham Young University Studies 31 no. 1 (January 2003), 167–. off-site Ronald W. Walker, "'Save the Emigrants': Joseph Clewes on the Mountain Meadows Massacre," Brigham Young University Studies 42 no. 1 (2003), 139–152. PDF link Robert H. Briggs, "'Sally Denton’s American Massacre: Authentic Mormon Past versus the Danite Interpretation of History (Review of American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857)'," FARMS Review 16/1 (2004). [111–134] link Robert D. Crockett, "A Trial Lawyer Reviews Will Bagley's Blood of the Prophets," FARMS Review 15/2 (2003). [199–254] link Robert D. Crockett, "'The Denton Debacle (Review of American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857)'," FARMS Review 16/1 (2004). [135–148] link Eric A. Eliason, "'Review of Forgotten Kingdom: The Mormon Theocracy in the American West, 1847–1896'," FARMS Review 12/1 (2000). [95–112] link Daniel C. Peterson, "Of 'Galileo Events,' Hype, and Suppression: Or, Abusing Science and Its History—Editor's Introduction," FARMS Review 15/2 (2003). [ix–lxii] link Ronald K. Esplin and Richard E. Turley, Jr., "Mountain Meadows Massacre," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 2:966–968.off-site
Video	Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Gene A. Sessions , 2003 FAIR Conference Part 1:Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre Part 2:Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre Part 3:Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre Part 4:Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre Part 5:Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre Part 6:Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre "The Mountain Meadows Massacre," BH Roberts Foundation print-link. First video published by the Church History Department. FAIR Conference
Print	W. Paul Reeve and Ardis E. Parshall, "review of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, by Will Bagley," Mormon Historical Studies (Spring 2003): 149–157. Juanita Brooks, The Mountain Meadows Massacre (Norman University of Oklahoma Press, 1962). Juanita Brooks, The Mountain Meadows Massacre (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1950). W. Paul Reeve and Ardis E. Parshall, review of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, by Will Bagley, Mormon Historical Studies 4/1 (2003): 149—57.
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First video published by the Church History Department.

FAIR Conference

Notes

Slavery in early Utah

Summary: This page collects articles on slavery in early Utah.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Did Brigham Young institute slavery in Utah?