This is one in a series of occasional articles dealing with troubling questions and adversarial criticisms against the Latter-day Saint faith. Responses are not presented as official Church statements but rather as insights and analyses from faithful and knowledgeable Church members.

Did Brigham Young instigate the Mountain Meadows Massacre? The question has been a matter of controversy for many years.

Author Juanita Brooks (Mountain Meadows Massacre, 1950) and others concluded long ago that President Young was absolved by the fact that a messenger sent from Cedar City to obtain his direction returned — too late — with the instruction that the emigrant train be allowed to pass through the territory unmolested.

But the question of President Young's prior knowledge and responsibility in the affair has arisen again in recent years and has become the stuff of books and an upcoming R-rated movie.

In response to a Church News inquiry, Richard E. Turley Jr., managing director of the Family and Church History Department, gave these reasons, from several that could be listed, why he believes President Young did not order the massacre:

The day after the massacre, William Dame and Isaac Haight, stake presidents in Parowan and Cedar City respectively and Iron County Militia officers, argued on the field over who was responsible and how they were going to report it to Brigham Young. If President Young had ordered the massacre, Dame and Haight would not have argued about the matter.

View Comments

During his lifetime, John D. Lee, who played a major role in the massacre, consistently held that Brigham Young was innocent. Statements to the contrary in his posthumously published memoirs appear to have been added by his lawyer to make the book more sensational. The lawyer received the book's proceeds as payment for his legal services.

Massacre participants were later interviewed confidentially by General Authorities Francis M. Lyman, Abraham H. Cannon and David O. McKay, as well as assistant Church historian Andrew Jenson. If Brigham Young had ordered the massacre, the participants could have excused their roles in the crime by citing his orders. None did.

In response to a letter from Isaac Haight, Brigham Young sent directions to let the emigrants pass. Some conspiracy theorists have tried to interpret the letter to mean the opposite of its plain intent, but the reactions of Church members in southern Utah show that they took it to mean just what it said.

E-mail: rscott@desnews.com

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.