On 11 September 1857, Mormons, pretending to be Indians, along with some Indians they talked into joining them, massacred over 120 men, women and children from a wagon train at a location in Utah known as Mountain Meadows. This massacre is little known outside of those who study the history of Mormonism.
The real dastardly thing about the massacre was that after days of attacks the Mormons and Indians (few of the latter) were losing too many men and were not making any headway. So under orders from higher ups, John D. Lee approached with a flag of truce, told the wagon train members that the Mormons were there to protect them from the Indians, and the only way they could do that would be to have all weapons put into a wagon, have small children in another wagon, the women and other children walking in a separate group from the men, and all would be escorted to a safe location. Instead, once they were all disarmed and separated, the Mormons killed them all except for the small children who they believed wouldn’t be able to tell the story — the children were then given to Mormon families to raise.
In 2007 a movie, September Dawn, was made about the massacre. Overall the story it told was factual but, as normal with Hollywood, they put in some characters which weren’t there (and a wee bit of exaggeration used with the tirades of the “bishop” in the story) and left out some important parts. For example: The movie showed the Mormons on horses riding next to the men they shot, while in real life the Mormons were walking next to the victims. It also showed the firing squad at the end in the open, while in real life they were hidden from public view so they couldn’t be identified and possibly have their families put in danger. So although there were errors in the movie, it is still worthwhile to see to learn about this tragedy perpetrated by so-called “Christians.”
If you are not in to reading, the following You Tube videos should be valuable for learning a wee bit about this horror which Mormons lie about. (There are many more available.)
Books I highly recommend for educating yourself about this massacre:
Mormonism Unveiled or Life & Confession of John D. Lee (with an appendix history of Brigham Young). This book goes a very long while before discussing the massacre, but the reason for Lee writing it was to expose all the perpetrators of the massacre before he was executed as the scapegoat.
Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, by Will Bagley.
White Flag: America’s First 9/11, by Wayne Atilio Capurro
The Mountain Meadows Massacre, by Juanita Brooks
American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857, by Sally Denton
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