Why did he threaten honest men who called for justice in the matter? The proclamation is very clear: . The second explanation is that the massacre was a calculated act of vengeance. . A wagon train of around 120 emigrants, mostly families from Arkansas, was bound for California. However, the revelation that Smith said he received commanding polygamy specifically forbade women marrying more than one man. Likewise, John D. Lee, the only man convicted of the murders, was repeatedly offered leniency in exchange for incriminating Youngthe last offer was made just moments before his execution. Young was too cleverand too religiously devoutto have destroyed the emigrants and thus irreparably harm the reputation of his people. Meadows, not big enough to be a settlement, he reports to Bishop Higbee in Cedar City. A devoted missionary and supporter of Smith, Young was ordained as one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a church governing body, in 1835; he became its president four years later. Young said that the company that was used up at Mountain Meadows were the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and connections of those that murdered the prophets; they merited their fate, and the only thing that ever troubled him was the lives of the women and children, but that under the circumstances this could not be avoided. Mormon Historians Shed Light On Sept. 11, 1857. [9] In Utah Territory, Young worked as a printer, saddler and contractor.[10]. He trudged around the United States and England to gain converts for Mormonism, spoke in spiritual tongues, married more than 50 women, and eventually transformed a barren desert into his vision of the Kingdom of God. Its no coincidence, then, that pulp fiction and Hollywood have used these ingredientsmystery, conspiracy and mass murderfor years. The game in question was against Brigham Young University, as part of the Mountain West semifinals. She, her husband Nate and their now 2-month-old son Luke fled their home in East Palestine the night of the train derailment to her mother's house about 14 to 15 miles away. Salt Lake City would soon become the bustling center of life in theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of his brides were as young as 14, and he even married women who already had living husbands. He was a model Latter-day Saint; a good man possessed in large measure with friendliness, integrity, optimism, and unswerving loyalty to his leaders., Smith had a strong relationship with both the Prophet Joseph Smith and President Brigham Young during his apostleship. Young unambiguously condoned the attack afterwards. Dates 1940-1970 Creator Mackay, Eleanor White (Person) Language of Materials Materials are in English. This applied to countries as well as individuals. Death is not the end of our existencejust a change in our being. Why was the decision Roe v. Wade important for feminists? In the early days of the Church, it was common for members to be called to serve at young ages. If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain [those of African descent], the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. [3], In 1840, Young moved to Scott County, Illinois when the Latter Day Saints were expelled from Missouri. Brigham Young https://www.mormonnewsroom.org Thousands of exhausted, freezing pioneers marching across dozens of inches of snow in the dead of night, their end goal hundreds of miles away, all led by one man: Brigham Young. By doing so, we may get a better understanding of Rupert, who . Who were the models in Van Halen's finish what you started video? 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. Pres. Phineas Young was among the first Mormon pioneer company to reach the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847. The Brink of War. Smithsonian Magazine, June 2008. The Indians we expect will do as they please but you should try and preserve good feelings with them. Brigham Young University was named in his honor. George A. Smith was born in 1817, and he was the cousin of the Prophet Joseph Smith. John D. Lee leading elder in Mt. If I shoot, they get shot. The footage showed the massive professional athlete throwing the victim around her home with brutal force in front of their then-5-month-old son. Brigham Young wasn't the only latter-day prophet to have such close experiences with death. He was a brother of the Mormon prophet, Brigham Young (1801-1877). With the United States in control of the Great Salt Lake Valley region after the Mexican-American War, Young was appointed governor of the new Utah Territory in 1850. Over the next few decades, as thousands of Mormons arrived in Salt Lake City, the charismatic Young styled himself after the great prophets and leaders of ancient Israel, earning nicknames like Lion of the Lord and American Moses.. As Compton explains of Joseph F. Smith's ordination, which would later have a significant impact on Church history: Though John Willard "was publicly sustained as an assistant counselor to Brigham," he focused most of his time on business endeavors and lived most of his life in New York, according to Compton. Brigham Young neither ordered nor approved of the Mountain Meadows Massacre beforehand, but his unwillingness to cooperate with federal officials precipitated the crisis, and his subsequent actions and rhetoric inflamed tensions rather than calming them. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. People make what they want of the facts in my book, Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, but for most readers, the evidence about who ordered the massacre is overwhelming. Bridger Walker, 6, is being hailed as a hero for protecting his 4-year-old sister from a dog attack. No. The evidence has been so corruptedsuppressed, destroyed, and fabricatedits hard to determine the date the murders took place, let alone trace all the ins and outs of the conspiracy behind the crime. Brigham Young's adopted son. Western Pride Enterprise. The text of the speech was endorsed by Joseph Smith. But, I can hear Mormon historians object, this is purely circumstantial evidence Young actually ordered the killings. Could be, but its no more circumstantial than the evidence O.J. When the rumors expanded to include a claim that the pioneers were going to bring troops back from California to attack the Mormon settlements, a group of Mormons dressed as Native Americans attacked their wagon train and, after a three-day assault, killed all men, women, and children over the age of eight. Here's the account in his own words: Brigham Young wasn't the only latter-day prophet to have such close experiences with death. . In regard to emigration trains passing through our settlements, we must not interfere with them until they are first notified to keep away. Brigham Young, ca 1850 Brigham Young was born June 1, 1801 in Whittingham, Vermont. On September 11, 1857, 120 men, women and childrenpioneers from Arkansas headed for Californiawere massacred after being promised safe passage through a Southern Utah valley known as Mountain Meadows. From 1864 through 1871 Young served as the bishop of the Salt Lake City 2nd Ward. Happyness (Skit) 05. He married single women and widows. Sidney Rigdon was, for a time, the second most powerful person in Mormonism. Did Brigham Young Approve the Attack? Brigham Young tried to stop the massacre. Why did he do nothing to return the stolen property of the 17 surviving orphans? Since John Willard was ordained at such a young age, after the death of President Lorenzo Snow, he would have become the next president of the Church instead of President Joseph Fielding Smith. he led the Mormon raiders to attack and burn supply wagons of the U.S. militia sent to kill the saints. The emigrants passed through Salt Lake City in early August, and headed south. 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. For example, George W. Bean was called as a Seventy at age 14; Don Carlos Smith was called to preside over the High Priests Quorum at age 19; Joseph F. Smith was ordained as an elder and sent on a mission at age 15; and George A. Smith was called to be a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy at age 17 and as an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at age 21, making him the youngest apostle to ever serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (500 Little-Known Facts in Mormon History). S. Dilworth Young. You must not meddle with them. Although it would be ten more years before Congress officially made polygamy illegal, this provided further conflict with federal officials. Youngs defiant stance toward outside authority meant frequent clashes with the federal government, especially after the churchs public embrace of plural marriage in 1852. History is often presented to young students within a single interpretative framework with little suggestion of the existence of alternative historical interpretations. While it started with a small group of adherents, many historians regard read more, The political and religious leader Roger Williams (c. 1603?-1683) is best known for founding the state of Rhode Island and advocating separation of church and state in Colonial America. Church historians revealed over the summer that the 144-year-old Brigham Young Family Cemetery, 140 E. First Avenue, has been bedeviled during the past two years by a spate of trespassing . In 1841, Joseph Smith announced a prophesy that Governor Boggs (pictured above) would, within a year, meet a violent demise. For instance, Joseph Smith was once attacked by an apostate from the Church, William Law, who "attempted to kill Joseph and fired a pistol at him six times at close range. How do you put shoes on a cloven-footed ox? When Mormons turned up to vote on election day that year, a drunken brawl broke out that resulted in Mormons being blocked from accessing the polls. He married -- was sealed to, in Mormon parlance -- young (Clarissa Decker, 15) and old (Hannah Tapfield King, 65). DJ Ferguson, 31, is in dire need of a new heart, but Brigham and. Young considered all of the United States culpable for the death of Joseph Smith, and added an oath of vengeance to the Mormon temple endowment: You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your childrens children unto the third and fourth generation.. Fortunately, they are well documentedmany even by official Mormon publications. The nation was and remains horrified by what happened at Mountain Meadows. He trekked with Zions Camp in 1834, was driven with his ailing parents from Missouri in 1838, and in 1840, so ill he could barely walk, he left on a mission to England. During those trying times, he was ordained a Seventy inMarch 1835 at age 17 and as an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve on April 26, 1839. How did the widow Pratt cross 1,500 dusty miles in a mere 21 days? After fleeing hostile forces in Missouri and Illinois, Mormons settled in the Salt Lake Valley under Brigham Young and from there established colonies all over the West as well as in Mexico. Phineas' wife Clarissa was also baptized about this same time. Every Latter-day Saint knows the importance of the six days in August 1844 when Brigham Young and the Twelve Apostles were sustained at Nauvoo as Joseph Smith's successors. Despite a growing bitterness toward his former mentor, Lee refused. In return for surrendering their weapons, the emigrants would be allowed safe passage to Cedar City. Of course, there's also the Opening Ceremony, the Cougar Run, a football game, and more. An armed mob assassinated Smith in 1844, and Young and the other apostles took charge of leading the Mormon church. "Settlers burned and vandalized at least 200 buildings in four Palestinian villages," according to The New York Times. Fears of Mormon aggression, as well as Mormons taking control of the county government, led to anti-Mormon sentiments among the residents of Gallatin, the seat of Daviess County. Brigham Young at Home is a valuable addition to the history of the home life of pioneer days. Tensions were further inflamed when news reached Utah around this time that early church leader Parley P. Pratt had been killed by the estranged husband of one of Pratts polygamous wives while he was on a mission to the Eastern United States. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. He died of appendicitis in August of 1877. Nor did Pratts death stir blood lust. 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. Brigham Young (pictured) is revered by Mormons as the second prophet of modern times. That progressed into a host of angels, then it evolved to God appearing to Smith in a pillar of fire. In 1857, President James Buchanan declared Utah to be in a state of rebellion, and sent some 2,500 federal troops to help replace Young as territorial governor. Why? Dr. John C. Bennett, one of Smiths former close associates (who was no longer in the Church and deeply hated Smith at this point), wrote a letter to the Sangamo Journal in Carthage, Illinois, informing them that he inquired one day about the whereabouts of Orrin Porter Rockwell (Smiths bodyguard), and Smith replied that Rockwell had gone to fulfill prophecy. setTimeout(function(){var t=document.createElement("script");t.setAttribute("src","https://sample.dragonforms.com/getEmbeddedClientScript.do?embeddedsite=TW_dispatch_nl"),t.setAttribute("type","text/javascript"),document.body.appendChild(t)},5); Become a subscriber today and youll recieve a new issue every month plus unlimited access to our full archive of backlogged issues. What ever happened to Big Minnie of Tombstone? If you happen to be named Brown or Jones or Spendlove or Lewis or Young or any name, it doesn't matter who your ancestors are. He stopped at the cairn the U.S. Armys First Dragoons had raised in 1859 over the grave of the emigrants whose scattered bones they had collected and buried. [6] Young was present in Richmond, Missouri when Cowdery died. Two weeks later on Jan. 4, 2023, the home turned into a horrific crime scene after Michael Haight shot and killed his five children 4-year-old Gavin, 7-year-old twins Sienna and Ammon, 12-year-old Brilee, and 17-year-old Macie as well as 40-year-old Tausha and her mother, 78-year-old Gail Earl. Fifty-three years ago Juanita Brooks classic study, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, concluded the crime was the result of one unfortunate circumstance after another. They are also fascinated by stories of murder and especially murder on a grand scale. Ann Eliza Webb, after she decided to divorce Young in 1873, published an expos entitled Wife No. Why do people say that forever is not altogether real in love and relationship. Who is Katy mixon body double eastbound and down season 1 finale? How far apart were Wild Bill Hickok and Dave Tutt in their famous 1865 showdown in Springfield, Missouri? True West asked the authors of both books to lay out their claims. Brigham Young had no tolerance for Mormons who began to doubt the faith. Isaac Haight's stake high council opposed the attack, and sent a messenger to Salt . Their beliefs on the subject extend so far as to dictate that a prophet can never lead people astray. Rather than provide them with what they wanted, Lee chose to die like a man then [than] to live a villain.. Seventeen children who were too young to remember the attack were spared. As the emigrants began to leave, Lee and the militia butchered the men, women, and most of the children. He was replaced as governor the following year by Alfred Cumming. . 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. The council sought to create a Mormon-Indian alliance, and to make such an arrangement attractive to the Indians, Young allegedly told them that he would no longer stop them from stealing emigrant cattle on the California Trail. The emigrants fell back to a defensive position, and the ambush became a siege. TUCKER CARLSON: You always imagine in your mind's eye that it's evil men who destroy society: wild-eyed, spit-flecked dictators pounding the podium to demand the annihilation of their enemies. The man's son was allegedly attacked by a fellow student who believed him to be a racist. On the other hand, Mormons have insisted that the massacre was perpetrated by local members acting without sanction from headquarters. Young was not complicit in planning or executing the massacre. Catholicism has the Inquisition and the Crusades. There's little data documenting the number of social . Matthew Bowman, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (Random House, 2012). So do some authors whove written about the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Speaking of lineage, I should like to explain to you that whatever your great-grandparents or forebears did cannot be grafted into your own life. Simpson murdered his wife. Utah became the 45th member of the union on Jan. 4, 1896, with Salt read more, In 1844, reeling from the murder of their founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, and facing continued mob violence in their settlement in Illinois, thousands of Latter Day Saints (better known as Mormons) threw their support behind a new leader, Brigham Young. "In regard to emigrating trains arriving and passing through our settlements," he wrote in a letter designed to restore calm in Southern Utah, "We must not interfere with them." 52 or thereabouts. Everybody (Source Codes) As the pioneers entered Utah, Brigham Young forbade everyone from selling them much-needed supplies. How many nieces and nephew luther vandross have? But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! By John G. Turner. They were clubbed, stabbed or shot at point-blank range, then stripped and left to be scavenged by wolves and buzzards. Anonymous. In 1853, he became the second counselor to David Fullmer in the presidency of the Salt Lake Stake of the church. But its not a formula for good history. His translation retells some Biblical stories as well as adding to the lore of the father of Judaism and Islam, and the translation was eventually canonized as scripture. That admonition includes charging Brigham Young with crimes that he did not commit. . In 1833, after the death of his first wife, Young and his two daughters joined Smith and other Mormons in Kirtland, Ohio. On the 7th, Lee attacked with militia men and some Paiute Indians he had recruited. This week, as America mourned those lost in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, some Mormons quietly remembered another tragedy that took place on the same day 144 years earlier: the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a group of Mormons militia members killed about 120 men, women, and children in cold blood. However, Smith told as many as 10 versions of the story and many had serious contradictions. College volleyball's opening weekend ended with a fan banned from Brigham Young University's athletic facilities and statements expressing regret from two universities and the governor of Utah. He is also the founder of the first Baptist church in America. In 1867, a group of non-Mormon pioneers from Missouri and Arkansas were trying to pass through Utah on their way to California but ran into trouble as they tried to get through the Beehive State. DJ Ferguson's family say he was first on the list to receive the transplant at Brigham and Women's Hospital but he is no longer eligible because of his vaccination status, CBS Boston reported. [5], Young was married to Lucy, the half-sister of Oliver Cowdery. He announced that they were scrolls written by Abraham and, a year later, he said he translated the hieroglyphics by the power of God. Why did Brigham Young allegedly send a message telling Southern Utahns NOT to kill the emigrants unless he was countermanding previous orders? The Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt had recently been murdered in Arkansas after essentially trying to kidnap children. Rockwell never directly denied the crime, even when he was tried for it, insisting, Ive never shot at anybody. Particularly telling is the testimony of those who did the killing at the Meadows. 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. Youngs fiery discourses calling for blood and vengeance, his encouragement of Indian attacks on wagon trains and the lies he told to cover up the crime all show he was intimately involved in fomenting a vicious act of vengeance. In August 1857, Young reactivated the Nauvoo Legion, a militia first created in pre-exodus Illinois. Young declared the site would be the groups new home, and they began building an adobe and log settlement where Salt Lake City now stands. No other group of people [comes] close.. The Love and Laws of God By President Russell M. Nelson ,, An address given at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on September 17, 2019. Brigham Young later privately set apart three other sons and Joseph F. Smith as apostles who served as "assistant Counselors to the First Presidency.". Tragically, Youngs letter arrived two days after the massacre, despite one of the epic rides in Western history. Was brigham young stabbed by a son named Phineas? Of course, anti-Young historians say otherwise. The incident occurred late Saturday afternoon at . The events at Mountain Meadows do not suggest a conspiracy, and certainly none involving Young. If those who are there will leave let them go in peace. 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. Then, his relationship with Joseph Smith (depicted above in a statue at the Temple Squares North Visitors Center) suffered due to a number of factors that strained the friendship including when Smith tried to marry Rigdons daughter (while Smith was already married) and his refusal to support polygamy. Richards. It's time to Hike and Light the Y and attend the much-anticipated BYU Spectacular! Young, himself, was subjected to house arrest for several weeks in 1872 and jailed briefly in March 1875. They primarily belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or LDS, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has more than 16 read more, When Brigham Young and his band of Mormon settlers marched into Utah in 1847, they saw a vast expanse of land they envisioned as a sanctuary. An early convert to Mormonism, Brigham Young succeeded founder Joseph Smith as the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1847; he led the church until his death in 1877. 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. (1975) "Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons Dean C. Jessee," BYU Studies Quarterly: Polygamy has long been a blight on Mormonisms public relations. By the summer of 1877, Youngs health was in decline, but he continued to play an active role in the Mormon church up until the end. He promised they wouldnt stop until the last drop of blood was spilled. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith had a vision in 1820 in which he saw God and Jesus (first vision depicted in a sculpture above). Brigham Young had six sisters and four brothers. All Rights Reserved. Those allegations have never been proven, but Young did indicate that he supported the sentiment even if he never ordered a murder. Though he initially resisted adapting the churchs controversial custom of plural marriage, Young later embraced it as his duty, and would eventually have 55 wives and 56 (or 57) children.