Numerous records, including journal entries from those who experienced the attack and affidavits sworn against the Mormon mob, included allegations that the Mormon mob forced pregnant women and children out into the cold, stole livestock, and took prisoners for interrogation. TUCKER CARLSON: You always imagine in your mind's eye that it's evil men who destroy society: wild-eyed, spit-flecked dictators pounding the podium to demand the annihilation of their enemies. An early convert to Mormonism, Brigham Young succeeded founder Joseph Smith as the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1847; he led the church until his death in 1877. But we only make the tragedy worse by saying that it was something other than what it wasby trying to fit events into a pre-conceived theory of conspiracy. Good history must be based on facts. Most Mormons are aware that Young instituted a ban on black people holding Church leadership positions and entering their temples, but few are aware of how extreme he was. When Filmore appointed non-Mormon judges for Utah, tensions arose quickly. The Christian faith centers on beliefs regarding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The last known version, the one in which he saw both God and Jesus, is the version contained in the Mormon book of scriptures known as the Pearl of Great Price and is the version taught both to the Latter-day Saint faithful and those considering converting to the faith. Seeking a place where they could avoid the persecution that had driven them from Ohio and Missouri, Young and the other apostles planned a westward exodus of thousands of Mormons from the settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois to the Great Salt Lake Valley, then part of Mexico. Phineas' wife Clarissa was also baptized about this same time. When the United States claimed sovereignty over the area in 1848, Mormons petitioned Congress for recognition, and in 1850 the United States organized Utah Territory. Young testified that Cowdery's last statements were on the truth of Mormonism as revealed through Joseph Smith. Writing a polemic trying to blame Brigham Young would be self-defeating, just as writing an apologia to clear his skirts would ultimately have to justify murder. But now, a new book, which has been a bestseller in Utah since it appeared last summer, claims the massacre was ordered by Mormon Prophet Brigham Young. Although it would be ten more years before Congress officially made polygamy illegal, this provided further conflict with federal officials. He said, I was always Josephs friend; his enemies are my enemies.. At Four Corners, in the southeast, Utah meets Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona at right angles, the only such meeting of states in the country. As one of John D. Lees wives put it, The Mormons were so insulted and indignant over the death or murder of Pratt that they Raked untold Vengeance on the poor Emigrants.. Isaac Haights stake high council opposed the attack, and sent a messenger to Salt Lake City for Youngs advice on September 6. Brigham Young at Home is a valuable addition to the history of the home life of pioneer days. Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons Dean C. Jessee Stanford J. Layton Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Education Commons Recommended Citation Layton, Stanford J. Called to organize and lead the Mormon Raiders which consisted of 100 men. "Settlers burned and vandalized at least 200 buildings in four Palestinian villages," according to The New York Times. But Matt Easton, 24, political science valedictorian at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah said the timing was right to tell 10,000 people he was gay. Brigham Young University. The winners of the Church History Museums 12th International Art Competition have been announced, and the artwork is breathtaking. On September 4, Mormon stake president and major in the Nauvoo Legion Isaac Haight ordered Legion member John D. Lee to lead an attack on the company. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. "In regard to emigrating trains arriving and passing through our settlements," he wrote in a letter designed to restore calm in Southern Utah, "We must not interfere with them." An anti-Mormon mob killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage, Illinois. Witnesses later testified about Haslams dramatic arrival in Salt Lake City, the writing of the letter and its dispatch South. The Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt had recently been murdered in Arkansas after essentially trying to kidnap children. His brother Joseph was baptized the next day and Brigham Young was baptized approximately one week later. This week, as America mourned those lost in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, some Mormons quietly remembered another tragedy that took place on the same day 144 years earlier: the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a group of Mormons militia members killed about 120 men, women, and children in cold blood. What are the 4 major sources of law in Zimbabwe? That admonition includes charging Brigham Young with crimes that he did not commit. And why does the Deseret News continue lying about Mountain Meadows to this day? He wasn't elected or picked to lead the Saints west, he was foreordained to lead them and gained their love and belief in his guidance. He was the ninth of eleven children, growing up in an unsettled frontier environment characterized by frequent family moves to various communities throughout upstate New York. According to lds.org, George A. Smith was deeply committed to the Church since his baptism in 1832. Or did his belief in heavenly justice prove him an unlikely culprit? They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. However, Smith told as many as 10 versions of the story and many had serious contradictions. In theearly church years, the method of judging apostolic seniority was base on the date of ordination. Those allegations have never been proven, but Young did indicate that he supported the sentiment even if he never ordered a murder. But history is not assumption. Rather than provide them with what they wanted, Lee chose to die like a man then [than] to live a villain.. Because of this and the expulsion from Missouri, the Mormons at the time felt very strong prejudice against people from those two states. Smith sold Young a copy of the Book of Mormon and told him that it had been translated from ancient records by his brother Joseph Smith. According to this story, they told him that all religions existing at the time were abominations. Brigham Young wasn't the only latter-day prophet to have such close experiences with death. A wagon train of around 120 emigrants, mostly families from Arkansas, was bound for California. He later became a prominent pioneer in southern Utah, and St. George, Utah, may have been named after him. On August 29, 1877, Brigham Young died in Salt Lake City at the age of 76. In the early days of the Church, it was common for members to be called to serve at young ages. When I began writing about the massacre, I realized trying to prove anything about this appalling crime would prove only that I was an idiot. S. Dilworth Young. As the emigrants began to leave, Lee and the militia butchered the men, women, and most of the children. Bad Hands 03. On the other hand, Mormons have insisted that the massacre was perpetrated by local members acting without sanction from headquarters. They were clubbed, stabbed or shot at point-blank range, then stripped and left to be scavenged by wolves and buzzards. At first, it blamed Indians; later, it claimed a rogue church official was responsibleand after two trials, Mormon militia leader John Lee was hanged in 1877 for the killings. Everybody (Source Codes) The other versions are never mentioned, though they are available on a Church-run website. The Taylor Mill Police Department (TMPD). If I shoot, they get shot. Young read the Bible verse the soldiers had inscribed on a cedar cross atop the monument: Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord., It should read, he said, Vengeance is mine, and I have taken a little. Young then directed the desecration of the grave. However, President Snow announced apostolic seniority should be gauged by the entry date into the Quorum of the Twelve, making Joseph Fielding Smith the next prophet. He governed the territory as a theocracy, with church doctrines taking precedence over laws. But lets back up a little farther to see why. Egyptologists (both Mormon and non-Mormon) were invited to view the scrolls and translate them, but they found that the scrolls were ordinary funerary texts that had nothing to do with Abraham. His sisters were: Nancy Young Kent Fanny Young Murray Rhoda Young Green Nabby Young (who died young) Susannah Young Little Louisa. With no additional evidence, some historians have pointed to a Native American council held in Salt Lake City on September 1, 1857. In the video that Harrold recorded, the woman could be seen yelling at the teen and lunging at him during the Dec. 26 incident. The Love and Laws of God By President Russell M. Nelson ,, An address given at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on September 17, 2019. Prosecutors in New York City are investigating an incident in which a jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was attacked by a woman who falsely accused him of taking her iPhone. After five years researching and writing about this horrific atrocity, I doubted Id ever find a definitive answer to the question, Did Brigham Young order the murders at Mountain Meadows?, To my surprise, I found evidence that convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that Brigham Young issued orders (probably verbal) to kill everyone in the Fancher party except those of innocent bloodchildren under eight years of ageto fulfill his sacred vow to avenge the blood of the prophets Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and more specifically, Apostle Parley P. Pratt. Was not referring to his death, just the stabbing. John G. Turner. Life After Death: 6 Insights into the Spirit World. No evidence exists that the Indians at the council agreed to attack. Particularly telling is the testimony of those who did the killing at the Meadows. Brigham Young was a man well acquainted with life and death. In regard to emigration trains passing through our settlements, we must not interfere with them until they are first notified to keep away. Wild Bill Hickman, a famed gunslinger and friend of the Mormon leader, actually claimed that Young had ordered him to commit some of those murders. One wife of Apostle Orson Pratt actually died of neglect after getting sick while living in poverty because he wouldnt allocate enough money for her care. The incident occurred late Saturday afternoon at . Brigham Young's adopted son. He trudged around the United States and England to gain converts for Mormonism, spoke in spiritual tongues, married more than 50 women, and eventually transformed a barren desert into his vision of the Kingdom of God. After guiding an exodus of thousands of Mormons westward to the Great Salt Lake Valley, Young founded Salt Lake City and served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. After fleeing hostile forces in Missouri and Illinois, Mormons settled in the Salt Lake Valley under Brigham Young and from there established colonies all over the West as well as in Mexico. Wouldnt these events have kindled Youngs anger and led him to seek revenge? With the United States in control of the Great Salt Lake Valley region after the Mexican-American War, Young was appointed governor of the new Utah Territory in 1850. According to Bennett, Rockwell returned the day before news of the assassination attempt arrived at Nauvoo. In 1835, the Three Witnesses selected Young as one of the inaugural members of the Quorum of the Twelve. The following are a few facts necessary for an understanding of this terrible event in Western and Mormon history. President Brigham Young ordained his 11-year-old son John Willard Young as an apostle shortly after John received his temple endowment, though John never joined the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. There were several times when Brigham Young's life was spared or his health inexplicably restored, according to BYU professor of Mormon History Donald Q. Cannon ("Brigham Young on Life and Death"). She demanded Mormon authorities listen to the cry of his blood and take swift vengeance against the Fancher train, which had left Arkansas long before Pratt was killed. Young denounced Justice Perry Brocchus as either profoundly ignorant or corruptly wicked soon after his arrival, and ultimately all three federal officers gave up hopes of effective cooperation and left the territory.