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Will Bagley. Blood of the Prophets:Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows.

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002 .

Reviewed by Thomas G. Alexander

T he massacre at Mountain Meadows remains one of the most heinous and least understood crimes in the history of the American fiest. How a militia unit of "God-fearing Christians" could have murdered more than 120 people in cold blood seems beyond comprehension. In a previous book, I attempted to understand the massacre by comparing it to "the massacres of Christian Armenians by Moslem Turks, of Jews by Christian Germans, and of Moslem Bosnians by Christian Serbs." ¡ I did not say, as Bagley flippantly claims I did, "the Indians made them do it"( 367 ). On reflection, the massacre should reveal to each of us our vulnerability and our potential-however well hidden-for acts of unspeakable atrocity.

Thanks to the work of Juanita Brooks, we have known both the context and the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre for more thanfifty years. " The context includes the abuse and murder of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the American Midwest and South; the establishment of towns, farms, and churches by Mormon settlers in Utah; the Mormon Reformation of 1856- 57; charges of murder, illegal acts under color of law, malicious mischief, and treason leveled against the citizens of Utah by federal appointees; the murder of Parley P. Pratt in Arkansas; the removal of Brigham Young as Utah territorial governor by President James Buchanan; the appointment of a new governor and judges; the march toward Utah of an army of about 2, 500 men; the passage through the territory of a party of Arkansas emigrants; and the lives and activities of southern Paiutes.

Beyond the context, the story of the massacre is composed of other elements: the functioning of the Church; the operation of the territorial government; the relationship of the people in the Arkansas party to one another; the preparations by the Utahns for a possible conflict or siege by the army; the efforts of the Utahns to recruit the Paiutes, Goshutes, Utes, and Shoshones as allies against the invading army; the relationship of the Arkansans to the Utah settlers; the events and deliberations in Cedar City; the dispatch of a messenger to ask the advice of Brigham Young; the mustering of the Iron County militia; the attacks on the emigrants; the murder of the Arkansans; the sparing and disposition of young children; the treatment of the corpses; the disposal of the Arkansans' property; the spreading of the story of the massacre; the efforts to suppress the information; the investigations of the massacre; the attempts to arrest the perpetrators; and the capture, trials, and execution of John D. Lee.

Just as significant to our understanding have been the subsequent treatments of the massacre. The various articles and books about the massacre (some well intentioned, others less so) have struggled to assign responsibility. Some have used information about the massacre for anti-Mormon propaganda. Many have raised questions about the involvement of Brigham Young and the Apostles.