FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Wiki links |
|
FAIR links |
|
Online |
|
Navigators |
Response to "Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows"
| A FAIR Analysis of: Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, a work by author: Will Bagley
|
Response to claims made in "Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows" by Will Bagley
Jump to details:
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Front matter"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 1: Their Innocent Blood Will Cry unto the Lord of Hosts"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 2: The Battle-Ax of the Lord"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 3: Political Hacks, Robbers, and Whoremongers"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 4: The Arkansas Travelers"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 5: I Will Fight Them and I Will Fight All Hell"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 6: We Are American Citizens and Shall Not Move"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 7: The Knife and Tomahawk"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 8: The Work of Death"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 9: The Scene of Blood and Carnage"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 10: Plunder"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 11: All Hell Is in Commotion"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 12: I Have Slain My Children"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 13: Vengeance Is Mine"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 14: A Hideous Lethargic Dream"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 15: Lonely Dell"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 16: As False as the Hinges of Hell: The Trials of John D. Lee"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 17: He Died Game: The Execution of John D. Lee"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 18: The Mountain Meadow Dogs"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 19: Nothing but the Truth Is Good Enough"
- Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Epilogue: The Ghosts of Mountain Valley"
- Responses to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Appendix"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Front matter"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 1: Their Innocent Blood Will Cry unto the Lord of Hosts"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 2: The Battle-Ax of the Lord"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 27 - The author claims that Mormons saw Indians as instrument of vengeance for Joseph's murder
- Response to claim: 27 - The author states that Joseph Smith "plunged into new sealings to married women, sisters, and very young girls"
- Response to claim: 33 - The author implies that federal officials "died mysteriously" at the hands of Mormons
- Response to claim; 36 - The author claims that Mormon missionaries "were called to prepare the Indians for their role in the impending apocalypse"
- Response to claim: 37 - The author claims that Indians were regarded by Mormons "as a weapon God had placed in their hands"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 3: Political Hacks, Robbers, and Whoremongers"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 39 - The author provides innuendo about death of Wakara from pneumonia "but perhaps from poison"
- Response to claim: 50-52 - Blood atonement is presented as an active teaching, as prelude to the Massacre
- Response to claim: 51 - Blood atonement to be implemented for those guilty of "the unpardonable sin"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 4: The Arkansas Travelers"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 58 - The author's treatment of the violent past of Alexander Fancher
- Response to claim; 63 - The author's treatment of violent past of John "Jack" Baker
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 5: I Will Fight Them and I Will Fight All Hell"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 6: We Are American Citizens and Shall Not Move"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 99 - The author claims that all information about the "emigrants' conduct came from men involved in their murder or cover-up"
- Response to claim: 101 - Mormons in American Fork refused to trade with the Fancher party
- Response to claim: 119-120 - Account of William Hawley regarding the Mountain Meadows Massacre
- Response to claim: 121 - The author claims that Mountain Meadows was known among the Mormons as "a preferred location for the quiet execution of unpleasant tasks"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 7: The Knife and Tomahawk"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 8: The Work of Death"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 9: The Scene of Blood and Carnage"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 170 - Brigham Young is claimed to have met with two Indian chiefs who then participated in the massacre
- Response to claim: 170 - Brigham Young is claimed to have "rewarded" Indian chief Tutsegabit for his role in the massacre by ordaining him to the priesthood
- Response to claim: 170a - Brigham Young is claimed to have "rewarded" Indian chief Arapeen with booty from the Massacre
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 10: Plunder"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 11: All Hell Is in Commotion"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 196 - Brigham gave a gift of salt to the U.S. army, which it was implied was poisoned
- Response to claim: 198 - The author refers to Col. Thomas Kane as a "hypochondriac"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 12: I Have Slain My Children"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 13: Vengeance Is Mine"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 14: A Hideous Lethargic Dream"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 15: Lonely Dell"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 16: As False as the Hinges of Hell: The Trials of John D. Lee"
Jump to details:
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 17: He Died Game: The Execution of John D. Lee"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 18: The Mountain Meadow Dogs"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Chapter 19: Nothing but the Truth Is Good Enough"
Response to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Epilogue: The Ghosts of Mountain Valley"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 367 - The Author states that historian Thomas Alexander claimed that "the Indians made them do it
- Response to claim: 378 - The author claims that the massacre is not an aberration, but a "fulfillment" of Joseph's teachings
- Response to claim: 379 - The author refers to "early Mormonism’s peculiar obsession with blood and vengeance"
Responses to claims made in Blood of the Prophets, "Appendix"
Use of sources
Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number.Omissions
Summary: A listing of notable events which were omitted or not acknowledged by the author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows.About this work
Even though Bagley claims to be aware of “the basic rules of the craft of history” (xvi), he consistently violates them in Blood of the Prophets.
— 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.
Attempting to write a gripping story. Bagley exaggerates and sensationalizes the details beyond their actual significance. Throughout the entire book, facts associated with the massacre become crucial when tied to prophecy, omens, signs, oaths, patriarchal blessings, or temple rituals. Facts become extremely important if they are dark and dirty, have hidden meaning, or hint at some insidious secret, plot, or conspiracy. In addition, Bagley creates a melodrama characterizing the Mormons as sinister, evil, deceptive people, while the governor and Indian agents who cooperate with the Saints are weak, spineless dupes. The judges, military officers, and officials who challenge the Mormon theocracy he views as honorable, upright, respectable, courageous men.
—Lawrence Coates, "Review of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows," Brigham Young University Studies 42 no. 1 (January 2003), 153.
Reviews of this work
Robert D. Crockett, "A Trial Lawyer Reviews Will Bagley's Blood of the Prophets"
Robert D. Crockett, The FARMS Review, (2003)Bagley's particular claim to make this book worthwhile is that he has "troubling new evidence" to prove that President Brigham Young and Apostle George A. Smith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were accessories before the fact to commit the massacre.2 By contrast, in her watershed and erudite works,3 Juanita Brooks tells us that "no real evidence . . . has been found" to implicate these authorities before the massacre.4 As to matters after the massacre, Bagley follows the path well-worn by others to conclude that Brigham Young was an accessory after the fact to obstruct justice.My review examines the way in which the author of Blood of the Prophets handles these new and old theories. In so doing, I challenge some of Juanita Brooks's earlier conclusions. As a trial lawyer, I offer my perspective of the quality of Bagley's and Brooks's evidence and arguments in some key areas. Trial lawyers may not be trained historians, but we are called upon to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various classes of evidence and to interpret the meaning of official government action. The heinous massacre, its investigation, the trial of John D. Lee, and the actions of persons who control or are swept into the legal process (presidents, cabinet members, judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, grand jurors, petit jurors, marshals, and witnesses) are all matters that lend themselves to a legal analysis. I am surprised that so little has been done in this area of the massacre's legal aftermath.
Click here to view the complete article
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
Videos
| 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