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(→Response to claim: 176, 180 = Colonel Thomas Kane is portrayed as arrogant, effeminate, a hypochondriac, and with delusions of fame) |
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*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/American Massacre/Index/Chapter 12#Response to claim: 165 - Brigham Young had "seen to it that Van Vliet heard nothing of Mountain Meadows"|Response to claim: 165 - Brigham Young had "seen to it that Van Vliet heard nothing of Mountain Meadows"]] | *[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/American Massacre/Index/Chapter 12#Response to claim: 165 - Brigham Young had "seen to it that Van Vliet heard nothing of Mountain Meadows"|Response to claim: 165 - Brigham Young had "seen to it that Van Vliet heard nothing of Mountain Meadows"]] |
Chapter 11 | A FAIR Analysis of: American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows A work by author: Sally Denton
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Chapter 13 |
Claim Evaluation |
American Massacre |
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The author claims that during meetings with U.S. Army Quartermaster Captain Stewart Van Vliet, Brigham Young had "seen to it that Van Vliet heard nothing of Mountain Meadows," and that the "Mormon leaders worried that if van Vliet relayed news of the situation to Johnston, an invasion of Utah Territory would be expedited."Author's sources: No source provided for this particular claim, although the following citation is Van Vliet quoted in T.B.H. Stenhouse, Rocky Mountain Saints: a full and complete history of the Mormons, from the first vision of Joseph Smith to the last courtship of Brigham Young (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1873), 357.
Jump to details:
The author claims that Brigham did not preach the sermon at the church meeting attended by Van Vliet because he was "too furious to conduct the service."Author's sources: No source provided. Likely Stenhouse.
The author claims that Brigham made an "oblique but unrecognized reference to the massacre at Mountain Meadows" to Van Vliet when he said "if the government dare to force the issue, I shall not hold the Indians by the wrist any longer...you may tell the government to stop all emigration across the continent, for the Indians will kill all who attempt it."Author's sources: Bancroft, 505.
The author states that "any man who defied Young's orders would be put to death was made evident in his statement 'When the time comes to burn and lay waste our improvements, if any man undertakes to shield his, he will be sheared down.'"Author's sources:
- Young quoted in Waite, 50.
- See Brigham Young, (13 Sept 1857) Journal of Discourses 5:232.
It is claimed that "any man who defied Young's orders would be put to death was made evident in his statement 'When the time comes to burn and lay waste our improvements, if any man undertakes to shield his, he will be sheared down.'" The quote is taken from its context. Brigham was speaking of military necessary in the event of retreat before the invading U.S. Army.
As is typical in such cases, those who make this claim quote only a fragment of Brigham's speech. The more complete text reads:
Brigham was anticipating the need for a 'scorched earth' policy against the invading U.S. army.
Brigham makes the following statements that the critics ignore:
The only threat made is to those who, under military conditions, actively seek to resist the legal order of the territorial governor and militia commander to refuse aid and supplies to a military enemy. The property could not be preserved in such a case, because it would either be destroyed or appropriated by the enemy army. Military and militia commanders in all ages would have done nothing less, and Brigham's stance was moderate and merciful—no one was compelled to remain, no one was compelled to destroy anything.
But, if retreat became necessary, he would not allow supplies or shelter to fall into the hands of the enemy, which could cost Utahan lives if the war turned hot. This is not a dictatorship or megalomania; it was simply military prudence.
The author claims that "droves of Saints leaving California for Utah" and "a matching number leaving Utah of a crisis of conscience spurred by the events of Mountain Meadows" were "doomed to pass over the site of the slaughter."Author's sources: No source provided.
Ann Eliza Young claims that she "knew instinctively, as did many others, that something was being hidden from the mass of the people."Author's sources: Ann Eliza Young, Wife No. 19, or the Story of a Life in Bondage...(Hartford, Conn.: Custin, Gilman & Company, 1876), 229.
It is claimed that Brigham Young instructed John D. Lee to write a letter laying the blame for the massacre on the Indians.Author's sources: No source provided.
Brigham is claimed to have told Chief Walker's successor Arapeen to "help himself to what he wanted" of the "spoils of the slaughter."Author's sources:
- Dimick B. Huntington Journal, September 20, 1857.
- Compare treatment in Blood of the Prophets: p. 170a.
Indian chief Arapeen given booty?
Colonel Thomas Kane is portrayed as arrogant, effeminate, a hypochondriac, and with delusions of fame.Author's sources: Compare treatment in Blood of the Prophets: p. 198.
Prior to the massacre, George A. Smith is claimed to "have carried orders to Cedar City leaders to incite their people to avenge the blood of the prophets."Author's sources: No source provided. (Likely Bagley)
Jump to details:
George A. Smith was "sent south not to learn the truth, but to devise an explanation for church leaders could provide to external enemies..."Author's sources: Will Bagley, Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows (University of Oklahoma Press, 2002), 212.
Notes
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