The Mountain Meadow Massacre

So, yesterday during dead air time I watched Frontline's "The Mormons" Part I on-line. Interesting way to watch a documentary ... pausing whenever you feel like it. It takes some of the drum roll out of the mood .... or that one LOOOOOOONG minor chord they play for 'drama' so that you hold your breath.

Anyhoo (who dies when you use that word?), I was impressed with the gentleness the filmmaker displayed detailing the Mormons' spiritual birth and migration West, and how even handed they were with that history, allowing Mormon scholars to outline the why and wherefore of events from the Mormon perspective. And explaining how they were hounded out of every state until they left the US and entered Mexican territory.

Et cetera, ad nauseum. Then suddenly, something that I had never heard about before! The Mountain Meadow Massacre. I thought myself fairly knowledgeable on the Mormons, but this one came as an utter surprise. It suddenly made sense to me why Zane Grey's Rider of the Purple Sage western adventure stories depicted evil old Mormon men holding women hostage in Utah Badlands, in cahoots with the Mexican Imperial factions.

SO why did the Mormons go nuts and kill 160+ men, women and children from Arkansas? Payback? There were some bad days in Missouri and Arkansas for the Mormons as they moved West. Self defense? No, the Arkansans were unarmed at the time --- they were tricked into thinking that the local Indians were going to attack, and the Mormons told them that if they left all their things and guns behind, and just walked out of their encampment, they would be safe. That's when the Mormons shot them all, except for kids under the age of 8, who according to the Mormon dogma, did not have fully formed souls yet, so were "untainted". They were adopted by Mormon families.

No, it was pure terrorism. The US Army was on the way to 'enforce law and order' in the Utah territory after Washington obtained the Mexican Territories. They wanted to send a message to Washington that they were not to be effed with anymore.

Unfortunately, the Arkansans were in the wrong place at the right time.

Well, to add more juice the mix, there's a feature film coming out this year about The Massacre called "September Dawn".

How ironic it happened on September 11, 1857.