I
recently heard a member of the Church complain about the refusal of
the Church to acknowledge problems in Church history or other issues
that challenge testimonies. Critics continue to raise this charge,
while missing many genuine efforts of the Church to address past
areas of concern and other controversies.
This
addresses the challenges of violence from Latter-day Saints and gets
into the complex issues of the 1838
Mormon War, charges regarding the
mysterious “Danites,” and violence that occurred in Utah
in the nineteenth century.
Violence
in Utah did happen and was a problem. Tensions with outsiders coupled
with flaming rhetoric from Church leaders contributed to the problem,
as explained in the heavily documented and thoughtfully written
“Peace
and Violence” essay. I
recommend reading it carefully.
The
events in Utah must be understood in light of the persecution and
violence Latter-day Saints had experienced, as well as the wild
frontier culture they were in, where community violence was viewed as
acceptable and was far too common. Latter-day Saints had also been
largely abandoned by the U.S. government, which refused to protect
their basic rights.
As
a result, the presence of U.S. government officers and other
"gentiles" in the Utah region was viewed as not
particularly welcome or helpful to the future success and freedom of
the LDS community, so there was a natural desire to encourage them to
leave if they weren't interested in the LDS religion.
Thus,
some of the hostile rhetoric from Brigham Young and other leaders can
be understood, though it was still harmful and, in retrospect,
unwise.
In
the Church's 2014 statement on 19th-century violence, there is a
frank and painful discussion of the problems that occurred, including
the ominous Mountain Meadow's Massacre (numerous endnotes omitted):
The "Reformation" and the Utah War
In the mid-1850s, a "Reformation" within the
Church and tensions between the Latter-day Saints in Utah and the
U.S. federal government contributed to a siege mentality and a
renewed sense of persecution that led to several episodes of violence
committed by Church members.
Concerned about spiritual complacency, Brigham Young and
other Church leaders delivered a series of sermons in which they
called the Saints to repent and renew their spiritual commitments.
Many testified that they became better people because of this
reformation.
Nineteenth-century Americans were accustomed to violent
language, both religious and otherwise. Throughout the century,
revivalists had used violent imagery to encourage the unconverted to
repent and to urge backsliders to reform.
At times during the reformation, President Young, his
counselor Jedediah M. Grant, and other leaders preached with fiery
rhetoric, warning against the evils of those who dissented from or
opposed the Church. Drawing on biblical passages, particularly from
the Old Testament, leaders taught that some sins were so serious that
the perpetrator's blood would have to be shed in order to receive
forgiveness.
Such preaching led to increased strain between the
Latter-day Saints and the relatively few non-Mormons in Utah,
including federally appointed officials.
In early 1857, U.S. President James Buchanan received
reports from some of the federal officials alleging that Governor
Young and the Latter-day Saints in Utah were rebelling against the
authority of the federal government. A strongly worded memorial from
the Utah legislature to the federal government convinced federal
officials the reports were true.
President Buchanan decided to replace Brigham Young as
governor and, in what became known as the Utah War, sent an army to
Utah to escort his replacement. Latter-day Saints feared that the
oncoming army — some 1,500 troops, with more to follow —
would renew the depredations of Missouri and Illinois and again drive
the Saints from their homes.
In addition, Parley P. Pratt, a member of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles, was murdered in Arkansas in May 1857. News of
the murder — as well as newspaper reports from the eastern
United States that celebrated the crime — reached Utah in late
June 1857.
As these events unfolded, Brigham Young declared martial
law in the territory, directed missionaries and settlers in outlying
areas to return to Utah, and guided preparations to resist the army.
Defiant sermons given by President Young and other
Church leaders, combined with the impending arrival of an army,
helped create an environment of fear and suspicion in Utah.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre
At the peak of this tension, in early September 1857, a
branch of the territorial militia in southern Utah (composed entirely
of Mormons), along with some Indians they recruited, laid siege to a
wagon train of emigrants traveling from Arkansas to California.
As the wagon train traveled south from Salt Lake City,
the emigrants had clashed verbally with local Mormons over where they
could graze their cattle. Some of the members of the wagon train
became frustrated because they had difficulty purchasing much-needed
grain and other supplies from local settlers, who had been instructed
to save their grain as a wartime policy.
Aggrieved, some of the emigrants threatened to join
incoming troops in fighting against the Saints.
Although some Saints ignored these threats, other local
Church leaders and members in Cedar City, Utah, advocated violence.
Isaac C. Haight, a stake president and militia leader, sent John D.
Lee, a militia major, to lead an attack on the emigrant company.
When the president reported the plan to his council,
other leaders objected and requested that he call off the attack and
instead send an express rider to Brigham Young in Salt Lake City for
guidance. But the men Haight had sent to attack the emigrants carried
out their plans before they received the order not to attack. The
emigrants fought back, and a siege ensued.
Over the next few days, events escalated, and Mormon
militiamen planned and carried out a deliberate massacre. They lured
the emigrants from their circled wagons with a false flag of truce
and, aided by Paiute Indians they had recruited, slaughtered them.
Between the first attack and the final slaughter, the
massacre destroyed the lives of 120 men, women, and children in a
valley known as Mountain Meadows. Only small children — those
believed to be too young to be able to tell what had happened —
were spared.
The express rider returned two days after the massacre.
He carried a letter from Brigham Young telling local leaders to "not
meddle" with the emigrants and to allow them to pass through
southern Utah. The militiamen sought to cover up the crime by placing
the entire blame on local Paiutes, some of whom were also members of
the Church.
Two Latter-day Saints were eventually excommunicated
from the Church for their participation, and a grand jury that
included Latter-day Saints indicted nine men. Only one participant,
John D. Lee, was convicted and executed for the crime, which fueled
false allegations that the massacre had been ordered by Brigham
Young.
In recent years, the Church has made diligent efforts to
learn everything possible about the massacre. In the early 2000s,
historians in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints scoured archives throughout the United
States for historical records; every Church record on the massacre
was also opened to scrutiny.
In the resulting book, published by Oxford University
Press in 2008, authors Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and
Glen M. Leonard concluded that while intemperate preaching about
outsiders by Brigham Young, George A. Smith, and other leaders
contributed to a climate of hostility, President Young did not order
the massacre.
Rather, verbal confrontations between individuals in the
wagon train and southern Utah settlers created great alarm,
particularly within the context of the Utah War and other adversarial
events.
A series of tragic decisions by local Church leaders —
who also held key civic and militia leadership roles in southern Utah
— led to the massacre.
Aside from the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a few
Latter-day Saints committed other violent acts against a small number
of dissenters and outsiders. Some Latter-day Saints perpetrated acts
of extralegal violence, especially in the 1850s, when fear and
tensions were prevalent in Utah Territory.
The heated rhetoric of Church leaders directed toward
dissenters may have led these Mormons to believe that such actions
were justified. The perpetrators of these crimes were generally not
punished.
Even so, many allegations of such violence are
unfounded, and anti-Mormon writers have blamed Church leaders for
many unsolved crimes or suspicious deaths in early Utah.
There
was also tragic violence against some members of the Ute Indian tribe
in Utah as a result of misunderstandings between Mormons and Native
Americans, although for the most part the Mormons in Utah respected
their "Lamanite" brethren and maintained healthy
relationships, in contrast to the more consistently unjust treatment
of Native Americans throughout the United States.
In
its conclusion, the 2014 statement on 19th-century violence offer
this important reminder:
Many people in the 19th century unjustly characterized
the Latter-day Saints as a violent people. Yet the vast majority of
Latter-day Saints, in the 19th century as today, lived in peace with
their neighbors and families, and sought peace in their communities.
Travelers in the 19th century often noted the peace and
order that prevailed in Mormon communities in Utah and elsewhere.
Nevertheless, the actions of relatively few Latter-day Saints caused
death and injury, frayed community relationships, and damaged the
perception of Mormons as a peaceful people.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints condemns
violent words and actions and affirms its commitment to furthering
peace throughout the world. Speaking of the Mountain Meadows
Massacre, Elder Henry B. Eyring, then a member of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles, stated, "The gospel of Jesus Christ that we
espouse abhors the cold-blooded killing of men, women, and children.
Indeed, it advocates peace and forgiveness. What was done here long
ago by members of our Church represents a terrible and inexcusable
departure from Christian teaching and conduct."
Throughout the Church's history, Church leaders have
taught that the way of Christian discipleship is a path of peace.
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
connected the Latter-day Saints' faith in Jesus Christ to their
active pursuit of love of neighbor and peace with all people:
"The hope of the world is the Prince of Peace....
Now, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
what does the Lord expect of us? As a Church, we must 'renounce war
and proclaim peace.' As individuals, we should 'follow after the
things which make for peace.' We should be personal peacemakers."
The
shortcomings of men dealing with violence and other threats to the
community of Latter-day Saints in the 19th century are grievous and
painful to consider. In a violent society, the tensions between the
necessity of self-defense and the necessity of peacemaking as
disciples of Christ led to gross errors that continue to pain us
today.
May
we handle the hazards of the future more wisely and not overreact.
Jeff Lindsay has been defending the Church on the Internet since 1994, when he launched his
LDSFAQ website under JeffLindsay.com. He has also long been blogging about LDS matters on
the blog Mormanity (mormanity.blogspot.com). Jeff is a longtime resident of Appleton,
Wisconsin, who recently moved to Shanghai, China, with his wife, Kendra.
He works for an Asian corporation as head of intellectual property. Jeff and Kendra are the parents of 4 boys, 3 married and the the youngest on a mission.
He is a former innovation and IP consultant, a former professor, and former Corporate Patent
Strategist and Senior Research Fellow for a multinational corporation.
Jeff Lindsay, Cheryl Perkins and Mukund Karanjikar are authors of the book Conquering
Innovation Fatigue (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
Jeff has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and is a registered US
patent agent. He has more than 100 granted US patents and is author of numerous publications.
Jeff's hobbies include photography, amateur magic, writing, and Mandarin Chinese.