Not circumstantial evidence. According to a BYU Scholars article, His speaking talent, organizational and leadership ability, and political sagacity were given untiringly to the service of his church. In several speeches given to large gatherings of Latter-day Saints, he proclaimed that the only way a person could be absolved of the sin of leaving Mormonism would be for that person to have his or her blood spilled on the ground. Called to organize and lead the Mormon Raiders which consisted of 100 men. Several church leaders, including Young, were later charged under the law; Young was not convicted, but a case involving his secretary, George Reynolds, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1879 unanimously decided that the law was constitutional and the First Amendment did not protect polygamy. "I felt it was important to share. Church descriptions of the massacre typically begin by pointing out that it took place as the United States was sending a small army to impose the Federal will on Utah Territory. In August 1857, Young reactivated the Nauvoo Legion, a militia first created in pre-exodus Illinois. Brigham Young, second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church, ranks among the most influential and important historical figures not just in Mormon, but also in American history. Brigham Young | History to Go In this period, militia leaders at Cedar City and at Mountain Meadows changed their minds several times whether the killing should go forward. Pissy Hastens 02. In early September, they stopped to rest at Mountain Meadows. When Filmore appointed non-Mormon judges for Utah, tensions arose quickly. Everybody (Source Codes) There are no other trains going south that I know of. The Early Years of Brigham Young - S. Dilworth Young - BYU Speeches 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. In 1844, after the assassination of Mormon leader Joseph Smith by an angry mob in Illinois, the Mormons choose Brigham Young as their new leader and follow him to a new promised land in Utah. The Taylor Mill Police Department (TMPD). Young was not complicit in planning or executing the massacre. Most recently, Will Bagley made this case in his 2002 book, Blood of the Prophets. One of his wives alleged he ordered the deaths of people who tried to leave the faith. Anonymous. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. They were clubbed, stabbed or shot at point-blank range, then stripped and left to be scavenged by wolves and buzzards. Brigham Young's final resting place turns up new secrets these days Why did Brigham Young allegedly send a message telling Southern Utahns NOT to kill the emigrants unless he was countermanding previous orders? His sisters were: Nancy Young Kent Fanny Young Murray Rhoda Young Green Nabby Young (who died young) Susannah Young Little Louisa. Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons - Goodreads And in the fall of 1842, Brigham Young faced a mysterious and deadly illness. Brigham Young was a rough-hewn craftsman from New York whose impoverished and obscure life was electrified by the Mormon faith. The American School : From The Puritans To The Trump Era [PDF Ron Walker is one of the three Mormon historians writing the upcoming rebuttal to be published by Oxford University Press. He was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death. The Mormons: Brigham Young. [3], In 1840, Young moved to Scott County, Illinois when the Latter Day Saints were expelled from Missouri. PBS: American Experience. From deeply disturbing acts by its founder, Joseph Smith, to atrocities committed in the name of God in Utah, Mormonism has some very dark secrets that even most members of the Church dont know about. The alleged rape came in the context of the bloody Mormon War of 1838, which saw the massacre of eighteen unsuspecting Mormon men and boys during an attack on a settlement by Missouri non-Mormons . George A. Smith died in 1875 at age 58. Such a day-by-day approach yields new understanding. 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. After spending the winter of 1846-47 in a camp along the Missouri River between Iowa and Nebraska, Young headed further west with 142 men, including six apostles, three women and two children, in April 1847. After the extermination order, the Mormons left for Nauvoo, Illinois, but their bad experiences in Missouri would never be forgotten. [5], Young was married to Lucy, the half-sister of Oliver Cowdery. He later became a prominent pioneer in southern Utah, and St. George, Utah, may have been named after him. Fortunately, they are well documentedmany even by official Mormon publications. Polygamy, Brigham Young and His 55 Wives | HuffPost Its no coincidence, then, that pulp fiction and Hollywood have used these ingredientsmystery, conspiracy and mass murderfor years. They were murdered by a small Mormon militia and its Indian allies in a horrible ploy: after a four-day gun battle with their attackers, the pioneers accepted a truce that turned out to be a deadly lie. Mormon Historians Shed Light On Sept. 11, 1857 : NPR For motives, they point to the persecution of the Mormon people and to the earlier killing of Mormon leaders Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Pearl Harbor survivor Jack Holder dies in Arizona at age 101 Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Young undertook a careful study of the book and eventually passed it on to others in his family, including his brothers Brigham, Joseph and John. The five sons of John and Nabby Young From left to right: Lorenzo Dow, Brigham, Phineas H., Joseph, and John. Though many suspected Young of ordering or at least covering up the attack, John Lee, an adopted son of Youngs, was the only Mormon brought to trial for the Mountain Meadows massacre; he was executed in 1877. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death in 1877. Early in his life, Phineas was a Methodist preacher.[1]. The Indians we expect will do as they please but you should try and preserve good feelings with them. 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. Stubborn facts. Why do people say that forever is not altogether real in love and relationship. Some of his brides were as young as 14, and he even married women who already had living husbands. Former NFL running back Zac Stacy, 31, will spend half a year behind bars for a pair of vicious attacks on his ex-girlfriend one of which was caught on tape and quickly went viral. Brigham Young's adopted son. How do you put shoes on a cloven-footed ox? The two main contenders were James Jesse Strang and Brigham Young. He promised they wouldnt stop until the last drop of blood was spilled. John D. Lee leading elder in Mt. They are also among a cadre of doctors across the country who are confronting mounting intimidation on social media, and threats of violence. There is room for my brown paper-doll family: 2 gospel truths I learned as a young girl that carry my faith, Bright lights in the desert: How Latter-day Saints have shaped Las Vegas culture, community, and politics, See the stunning winners of the Churchs International Art Competition. Despite a growing bitterness toward his former mentor, Lee refused. Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content, 2022 LDS Living A Division of Deseret Book Company, John Willard Young, Brigham Young, and the Development of Presidential Succession in the LDS Church, There is room for my brown paper-doll family: 2 gospel truths I learned as a young girl that carry my faith, Bright lights in the desert: How Latter-day Saints have shaped Las Vegas culture, community, and politics, See the stunning winners of the Churchs International Art Competition. Sources conflict. Amid the tensions, however, a band of armed Mormons attacked a wagon train of non-Mormons heading west from Arkansas in a valley known as Mountain Meadows in September 1857. Also in 1854, President Franklin Pierce attempted to replace Young as territory governor, but nominee Edward Steptoe declined, explaining that he could not perform his duties in the face of fanaticism in the mass of the people and a religious oligarchy., By 1857, with Youngs approval, the territorial assembly sent a blunt warning to incoming U.S. president James Buchanan. Sept. 11 was a tragic date in American history long before the terrorist attacks of 2001. Mormon Historians Shed Light On Sept. 11, 1857. According to lds.org, George A. Smith was deeply committed to the Church since his baptism in 1832. The other versions are never mentioned, though they are available on a Church-run website. Further, Joseph H. Jackson, a new arrival to Nauvoo who had a shady past, later claimed in his memoirs that Joseph Smith offered him $3,000 to free Rockwell from prison and shoot Boggs. Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre? - True West Magazine A US hospital has rejected a patient for a heart transplant at least in part because he is not vaccinated against Covid-19. FactSnippet No. Why was the decision Roe v. Wade important for feminists? The Sacred Responsibilities of Parenthood | BYU Speeches Of course, there's also the Opening Ceremony, the Cougar Run, a football game, and more. Not theories. Every religion has less-than-savory moments hidden in its history. 75 Facts About Brigham Young | FactSnippet Brigham Young by John G. Turner - Audiobook - Audible.com Seventeen children who were too young to remember the attack were spared. Brigham Young tried to stop the massacre.