Kingdom in the West Series Volume 12

Description

"Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier Series Volume 12

"Original sources documenting a frontier atrocity and its cover-up.

"The slaughter of a wagon train of some 120 people in southern Utah on September 11, 1857, has long been the subject of controversy and debate. Innocent Blood gathers key primary sources describing the tangled story of the Mountain Meadows massacre. This wide array of contrasting perspectives, many never before published, provide a powerful and intimate picture of this "dastardly outrage" and its cover-up. The documents David L. Bigler and Will Bagley have collected offer a clearer understanding of the victims, the perpetrators, and the reasons a frontier American theocracy sought to justify or conceal the participants' guilt. These narratives make clear that, despite limited Southern Paiute involvement, white men planned the killing and their church's highest leaders encouraged Mormon settlers to undertake the deed. This compelling documentary record presents the primary evidence that tells the story from its contradictory perspectives. The sources let readers evaluate and track the evolution of such myths as the Paiutes' guilt, the emigrants' provocation of their murderers, Brigham Young's ignorance of what happened, and John D. Lee's sole culpability. Clearly revealed is the part Utah authorities took in blocking the investigation until it became expedient to sacrifice Lee.

"Together, these narratives show how the massacre's story has been continually distorted and then revealed over 150 years—and how the obfuscation and cover-up continue. Innocent Blood conveys the encompassing impact the atrocity had on people's lives, then and for generations after. It is a valuable sourcebook sure to prove indispensable to future research." (Description from publisher.)

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Maps
Preface
Editorial Procedures
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. "I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger": The Arkansas Families
2. "Travelin' Through This World Below": The Mormon Reformation
3. "Dark Clouds Are Going to Gather 'Round Me": The Murder of Parley Parker Pratt
4. "My Way'll Be Rough and Steep": The Emigrants Go South
5. "I'm Only Going over Jordan": First Reports of the Emigrant Massacre
6. "Only Goin' over Home": Not One Left to Tell the Story
7. "The Santa Clara Expedition": The Army Cracks the Case
8. "Survivors of Sebastopol": The Children
9. "A Dose of Rope": Fire from Within and More Obstruction
10. "The Bar of Justice": The Trials of John D. Lee
11. "The Old Man Never Flinched": Lee's Execution
12. "Not an Accessory before or after the Fact": The Defense of Brigham Young
13. "The Sheerest Nonsense": Damning the Dead and Inventing the Missouri Wildcats
14. "These Painted Blood-Thirsty Indians": Participant Accounts
15. "You Don't Forget the Horror": The Survivors Remember
16. "The Shadow of Treachery and Death": The Legacy of Mountain Meadows

Afterword
Appendix: Mountain Meadows Massacre Timeline
Selected Bibliography
Index