But he didn't act alone...
Jun. 11th, 2011 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dee_burrisIn my extended family, we have our own version of a murder conspiracy.
John D Lee, one of the leaders of the Mormon Church, was executed for the 1857 massacre at Mountain Meadows UT, in which several members of my Wharton family were murdered.
From the Southern Standard, 31 Mar 1877:
John D Lee, the Mormon leader who participated in the murder of 120 men, women and children, nearly 20 years ago, who were emigrants from Arkansas to California, was shot last Friday. He was executed upon the grounds known as Mountain Meadows, the very grounds where the people he helped to murder were encamped when the ruffians attacked them. He made a confession implicating others and excuplating himself. He was given his choice as to the manner of his death by the court that sentenced him and prefered to be shot.
A fair number of historians see Brigham Young's hands firmly in the mix of the massacre - with followers committed to covering up his culpability.
Today's LDS Church would just like to see the whole thing fade away, without having to acknowledge the innocent blood on the hands of its leaders so long ago.
John D Lee, one of the leaders of the Mormon Church, was executed for the 1857 massacre at Mountain Meadows UT, in which several members of my Wharton family were murdered.
From the Southern Standard, 31 Mar 1877:
John D Lee, the Mormon leader who participated in the murder of 120 men, women and children, nearly 20 years ago, who were emigrants from Arkansas to California, was shot last Friday. He was executed upon the grounds known as Mountain Meadows, the very grounds where the people he helped to murder were encamped when the ruffians attacked them. He made a confession implicating others and excuplating himself. He was given his choice as to the manner of his death by the court that sentenced him and prefered to be shot.
A fair number of historians see Brigham Young's hands firmly in the mix of the massacre - with followers committed to covering up his culpability.
Today's LDS Church would just like to see the whole thing fade away, without having to acknowledge the innocent blood on the hands of its leaders so long ago.