View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/American Massacre/Chapter 16

{{FairMormon}}  
{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/American Massacre/Chapter 16
|H=Response to claims made in Chapter 16: "Mountain Meadows Aftermath"
|S=
|L1=
|T=[[../../|American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows]]
|A=Sally Denton
|<=[[../Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
|>=
}}
{{ChartAmericanMassacreChapter16}}
<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/American Massacre/Chapter 16
|H=Response to claims made in American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, "Chapter 16: Mountain Meadows Aftermath"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: 237 - Lee's biography, published by his lawyer after his death, claimed that the Church ordered the massacre
|L2=Response to claim: 238 - Lee's book Mormonism Unveiled or Life & Confession of John D. Lee "has generally been determined valid and credible by later scholars of the event, though some have believed Bishop embellished it"
|L3=Response to claim: 238 - Lee predicted that Brigham would die within six months of Lee's death if Lee were not guilty. Brigham died six months after Lee
|L4=Response to claim: 293 - The author claims special insight into the LDS psyche
}}
</onlyinclude>

==Response to claim: 237 - Lee's biography, published by his lawyer after his death, claimed that the Church ordered the massacre==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=American Massacre
|claim=
Lee's biography, published by his lawyer after his death, claimed that the Church ordered the massacre.
|authorsources=<br>
*''New York Herald'', March 21, 1876.
*''San Francisco Chronicle''
*''Salt Lake Daily Tribune''
*''Pioche Record'', Pioche, Nevada.
}}
{{propaganda|Lee's self-serving effort to blame others for the massacre is not terribly persuasive in the absence of other corroborating evidence.  There is a great deal of contemporaneous evidence which shows that it was ''local'' leaders who ordered the Massacre, not "the Church" or its general leaders such as Brigham Young.
}}
*{{Detail|Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Brigham Young ordered MMM|l1=Brigham ordered the Massacre?}}

==Response to claim: 238 - Lee's book ''Mormonism Unveiled or Life & Confession of John D. Lee'' "has generally been determined valid and credible by later scholars of the event, though some have believed Bishop embellished it"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=American Massacre
|claim=
Lee's book ''Mormonism Unveiled or Life & Confession of John D. Lee'' "has generally been determined valid and credible by later scholars of the event, though some have believed Bishop embellished it."
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
{{propaganda|It is true that Lee's memoir is considered "valid and credible by later scholars" if by "later scholars" one means "hostile authors who wish to blame the Church as an institution and Brigham Young," such as [[Blood_of_the_Prophets:_Brigham_Young_and_the_Massacre_at_Mountain_Meadows#Reviews_of_this_work|Bagley]], [[Under_the_Banner_of_Heaven#Reviews of this work|Krakauer]], or Stenhouse. This is assuredly ''not'' true of the broader scholarly consensus.
}}

==Response to claim: 238 - Lee predicted that Brigham would die within six months of Lee's death if Lee were not guilty. Brigham died six months after Lee==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=American Massacre
|claim=
Lee predicted that Brigham would die within six months of Lee's death if Lee were not guilty. Brigham died six months after Lee.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Bagley:Blood of the Prophets|pages=319}}
}}
{{propaganda|Such a claim is dramatic, but irrelevant unless one grants prophetic gifts and powers to Lee.
}}

==Response to claim: 293 - The author claims special insight into the LDS psyche==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=American Massacre
|claim=
The author claims special insight into the LDS psyche.
|authorsources=<br>
#}}
{{disinformation|Robert Crockett: "Her suggestion that she is an insider to the Latter-day Saint psyche proves unconvincing because she makes mistakes that careful historians of Mormon Americana do not." <ref>{{FR-16-1-9}}</ref> 
}}

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