Category: Mormon History (1845–1890)
-
“American Primeval” and the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Netflix’s American Primeval takes a wildly fictional swing at the Utah War, portraying Mormons as bloodthirsty villains in a brutal massacre of a U.S. Army camp that never happened.
-
Tracing the History of the Deseret Alphabet
In 1853, Brigham Young spearheaded the creation of the 38-character Deseret Alphabet to simplify English learning for immigrants and youth in Utah, but despite initial enthusiasm, costly printing efforts, and a brief stint in schools and the Deseret News, it floundered by 1870 due to resistance from English speakers, practical challenges, and its irrelevance to…
-
Book Review: Conflict in the Quorum: Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith
Review of Conflict in the Quorum: Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) by Gary James Bergera. Forget the idea that general authorities in the LDS Church have always gotten along. If anything else, reading Conflict in the Quorum by Gary James Bergera will certainly take care of that idea. In…
-
Mormon Pioneer Mary Lightner’s Mythic Heroism
Latter-day Saint Glenn Rawson, writing for the Idaho State Journal, recently published an article, “‘I’m A Full-Blooded Mormon’: Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner.” Drawing from Mary’s autobiography, Mr. Rawson relates a story that demonstrated Mary’s “uncommon courage for her faith.” Mr. Rawson explains that near the close of the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, the commander…
-
Leaving Nauvoo, 1846
Last week the Fort Madison [Iowa] Daily Democrat reported on the LDS commemoration of the 171st anniversary marking the start of the Mormon pioneer trek from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah. Beginning in early February 1846, Mormons left Nauvoo for a new home in the west. Every year since 1996 a gathering of…
-
Ordinary Mormon Families of Utah Territory
Deseret News recently ran a story about Richardson’s Point, a historic spot in Iowa along the Mormon Trail. The graves of the first two casualties of the Mormon westward migration are found at Richardson’s Point. In March of 1849 toddler James Tanner fell off the tongue of a wagon and was killed when the wagon…
-
Nauvoo’s Bloody Autumn of 1845
Nauvoo, Illinois, the city the Mormons built, was thriving and growing in the 1840s. The population was such that Nauvoo rivaled Chicago for “biggest city in Illinois.” Most visitors to today’s restoration of historic Nauvoo will learn that fact, perhaps from several different Mormon tour guides. One statistical comparison that isn’t mentioned, however, is that…
-
In the Line of Duty: The Mountain Meadows Massacre
“There was a massacre in these hills.…” (Stewart Lee Udall, The Mountain Meadows [1990], from a poem written by Udall, a descendant of John D. Lee, and read at the reinterment of victims bones at Mountain Meadows, September 1999) It was spring of 1857. Promises of a bright future in the west beckoned. A collection…
-
Proclamation of the First Presidency and Twelve, October 21, 1865 (rebuke of Orson Pratt)
From James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75), 2:, p.235-240 1865-October 21-MS October 21, 1865 § PROCLAMATION of The First Presidency and Twelve. In an article entitled “The Holy Spirit,” published by brother Pratt in the Millennial…
-
Hearken O Ye Latter-day Saints, August 23, 1865 (Rebuke of Orson Pratt)
From James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75), 2:, p.229-235 1865-August 23-Millennial Star 27:657-663 (October 21, 1865) § HEARKEN, O Ye Latter-day Saints, and all ye inhabitants of the earth who wish to be Saints, to whom…
-
Book Review: Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Written by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard The “Mountain Meadows Massacre,” as it has been called, has intrigued historians and laypeople alike for more than a century and a half. The story involves a group of southern emigrants to California on September 11th, 1857 (the original “September 11th”) who,…
-
The Dedication of Louie B. Felt
In December of 1866, three months after they first met, 26-year-old Joseph H. Felt and 16-year-old Sarah Louisa (Louie) Bouton were married in Salt Lake City. Louie became the first Primary general president in the Mormon Church, serving in that capacity for 45 years. She is featured in an article found in the July 2014…
-
Ballad of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
On September 11, 1857, a Mormon mob perpetrated the Mountain Meadows Massacre, killing 120 travelers in Utah. A ballad by Pete Moore recounts this tragic event, highlighting the betrayal and brutality experienced by the victims.
-
Were Mormons Ever Expelled From the United States?
The following was originally printed in the March-April 2009 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. Mormonism has a history of changing history. From the written history of the LDS Church to its recorded revelations, changes are ever-present. Today a new spin on a historical LDS event is in the air. Credo, a…
-
Horrific Tragedy in Mormon History
In two days, on October 30, 2013, the 175th anniversary of a very dark day in American history will pass mostly unnoticed. On this date in 1838, 18 men and boys were murdered at Haun’s Mill on the western Missouri frontier. Of the 18 victims, 17 were Mormons – mercilessly shot and killed by a…
-
Mormons Believe A Study in Scarlet is Inaccurate
Following the complaint of a student’s mother, the Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, has been reviewed and removed from a Virginia school district’s sixth-grade reading list as age-inappropriate. It isn’t because the archaic writing style may prove difficult for sixth-graders. It isn’t because of the stalking and graphic murders of the two main…
-
The House that John Built
John Patten, Jr. and Candace Smith were newlyweds when John built their home in Manti, Utah. Constructed in 1854, the Patten home is now a museum that “stands as a symbol for the same industry, faith and hope” as does the LDS temple in Manti, according to Deseret News. The LDS Church-owned newspaper recently highlighted…
-
An Account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre as Described by John D. Lee
The testimony of Lee given to his attorney, William W. Bishop that describes the events leading to, and during, the Mountain Meadows massacre of 1857.
-
Gathering to Zion
In the early days of the LDS Church, converts all over the world were commanded to gather in one place with all other Latter-day Saints. The appointed gathering place moved from Missouri to Illinois and finally to Utah. According to Brigham Young, the purpose of the gathering was “…for the express purpose of purifying ourselves,…
-
A Final Resting Place for Parley P. Pratt
One of the first LDS Apostles, Parley P. Pratt, was hastily buried near Van Buren, Arkansas on May 14, 1857. Murdered in cold blood and considered by many Latter-day Saints a martyr to his Mormon faith, Parley’s dying wish was to have his remains brought back to Utah to be buried among his friends. In…
You must be logged in to post a comment.