[.ca] The Mountain Meadows Massacre (ISBN 0806123184)

the book that open the ugly chapter:
This was the book that first got me interested in the Mountain Meadow Massacre, what I called the 9-11 of 19th Century. It was one of the biggest mass murders in the history of the American west and ironically speaking, the killers were white men, murdering white people in cold blood. With considerable courage, the author painted a very clear picture of what this massacre was all about and within her limited means, gave a cause and effect of the incident. I used that term "limited means" because the author was (now deceased) a member of LDS and she probably compromised some of more inflamatory elements of the massacre so other writers like Will Bagley and Sally Denton can go at it. Her defense of John D. Lee was bit surprising to me but I figured that she knew that Lee was nothing more then a scrapgoat for the Mormon Church. But she did not take any inroads to the actual responsibility of the massacre. Like I wrote in the earlier reviews on books written by Bagley and Denton, I would considered this book to be a valuable first book of three that honestly deal with the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

Some historical value, weak argument:
This book is an attempt to "bring to light" the facts that surrounded the Mountain Meadows Massacre, one of the darkest moments in LDS history. With the aid of journals, testimonies, and court proceedings, Ms. Brooks attempts to dispel all myths surrounding the tragedy and bring the truth forward. While the book gives many previously unpublished facts and details about the massacre, one cannot help but notice Brooks's very strong bias. Serving as an advocate to John D. Lee, the man executed because of his involvement, and under a mask of "objectivity", she endeavors to show that, while the leaders of the Mormon church did not know about the massacre at the time it was commited, they later covered up the facts and hid all the evidence so as not to implicate the church. In trying to prove that Brigham Young was party to the trial that led to the conviction of Lee, much of Brooks's logic is faulty, at best. She presents the facts and then speculates on the rest.Her evidence to support her claims are nothing more than gossip, and that not even first hand. To me, a statement made by someone who's grandmother once told them that she had heard one of the leaders admit to something 70 years earlier, holds absolutely no historical value whatsoever. Though Brooks was a member of the LDS church, I was surprised to see that the last chapter was devoted to what she deemed a conspiracy to again hide the facts. Many will be shocked to find the names of Joseph Fielding Smith, David O. Mckay, and J. Reuben Clark listed among those who she implicates as covering up the evidence of the massacre. Her conclusion that, since the church never publicly denounced her work, it must have supported it, is a reflection of the faulty logic that dominates the book throughout. While This book is of some historical value, it should be read allowing for the bias against Brigham Young and the LDS leaders.

First Authoritative, Honest Text About Mt. Meadows:
Juanita Brooks, a life-long southern Utahn, used her considerable native talent, her drive for the truth, and many years of effort to compile this first exhaustive, honest examination of the Mountain Meadows massacre. It is especially impressive given the fact that Ms. Brooks wasn't by vocation a historian or scholar. Her narrative is lucid and complete. Her analysis has proven, in the context of additional investigation, to be principally correct. Throughout it all, Ms. Brooks remained also a faithful LDS (Mormon) woman, in spite of her disappointments with her contemporary LDS church leadership as it related to her investigation. This should be a starting point for any serious student of the Mountain Meadows massacre. Ms. Brooks shows us a world of grays with very human characters whom she places into a carefully resurrected context.

Bang:
YOu need to remer the good with the bad, which is why this book wrapped me up like amummy. A mummy wrapped up in afection and the desire for facts that are beyond question.

A not unbiased view:
Ms. Brooks is to be commended for the research effort which went into this book, but the sources are so far removed from today and from the first hand knowledge of the occurance as to have only questionable value. The book is divided into three major parts, the lead-in to the massacre, the massacre and the aftermath. In the very lengthy first part, Ms. Brooks devotes most of her effort to justifying the slaughter on the basis of self defence, as an American army was approaching the territory for the purpose of restoring US control and the unbelievable assertion that the Fancher train rode through Utah loudly bragging of the involvement of members of the train in the death of John Smith and assaults on Morman communities in Missouri and Illinois. At no point is there reference to the fact that Utah was a US territory and as such subject to US laws and that by his actions in rousing his community against a US army, Brigham Young not only acted as a traitor, but established the atmosphere among Indians and LDS members which led directly to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, whether or not Young approved it in advance. Ms. Brooks, perhaps horrified by the event itself, mannages only one brief chapter covering the massacre and the heinous acts of the Mormans who participated. The aftermath, devoted to an attempt to establish that the Church leadership covered-up the facts of the event and selected one relatively innocent soul as a scapegoat, is the most believable and least well documented of the books sections.