Authors speak of infamous massacre
Some individuals found catharsis in a discussion that featured the authors of the book “Massacre at Mountain Meadows” Monday in the Eccles Business Building. Nearly 100 people heard authors Ronald Walker, Richard Turley and Glen Leonard speak on the 1857 massacre in southern Utah.
According to Archeology magazine, the massacre happened when members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saint church massacred pioneers on their way through Southern Utah, perhaps out of frustration of their own persecution.
The discussion provided reconciliation for North Logan resident Brent Miller, who said he has been interested in the topic for decades, since he was asked about the issue as a young LDS missionary.
“This has been a very emotional experience for me,” he said, “to the level of catharsis.”
Leonard said that release and healing are good to an extent.
“It is good to heal, but not to the point that we forget the event entirely,” he said.
Many people came because they didn’t know much about the topic and wanted to learn. Logan resident Neal Mortensen came for that reason and he said he felt that the discussion gave an unbiased view.
“The things I’d heard before were so biased one way or the other; it was really refreshing to bring this out in the open and see the circumstances which produced this massacre,” he said.
The authors said the cultural climate at the time was such that the Mormons and the Indians anticipated conflict and danger from one another. They said factors like this one led to the misunderstanding that cost the lives of so many innocent travelers.
They said the correspondence that would have stopped the massacre arrived too late. Brigham Young sent a telegram that took three days to arrive by horseman, they said, getting there after the massacre had already taken place.
Students who attended said they got a lot out of it.
“I thought it was very informative and that they took a good viewpoint of it,” said Tarra Call, sophomore in deaf education. “They went into it to let everyone know what happened.”
Joey Stocking, sophomore in business, said he was also impressed by the details that the authors gave.
“I didn’t know they were going to present information about the actual Meadow massacre, so I thought it was very interesting how Glen Leonard specifically described the event to us, and what happened beforehand. It was very vivid imagery,” he said.
The authors spoke about preparing to write the book. Each of them had thought that a book about the massacre needed to be written, they said. It was serendipitous they came together to make it a reality, Turley said.
The authors said that it was very important to them to face the issue “head on” and that they do the most thorough research done on the topic before. Turley said they would not leave any stone unturned. The authors said that they collected data from archival libraries and family historical accounts in 31 states.
While writing the book, they said they enjoyed the help of the LDS church which gave them access to its records.
Some audience members asked why the authors were permitted to use the Church’s resources when other historians before them were not. Turley said that the reasons included timing and the overall purpose of their book.
That purpose, Turley said, was not to respond to other books written by other historians.
“It is boring to read books of historians talking to each other,” Turley said.
The authors said they wanted to create a “fresh book,” and much of the book follows the theme of human potential for good or evil.
The authors said a second volume of the book is forthcoming, detailing the aftermath of the massacre during the following 20 years. They said that it will include information on how church and federal employees tried to deal with it, and more about the execution of John D. Lee, a man heavily involved in the massacre.
–maryapril@aggiemail.usu.edu