Yesterday I got into another argument about Mountain Meadows. Even when I was a believing Mormon, I did not believe that past persecution of Mormons was justification for the slaughter at Mountain Meadows.
I have relatives who disagree and just keep harping about the persecution and Hauns Mill and the thousands of men, women and children who died because they were persecuted by mobs.
The early Mormons were persecuted, I do not doubt that, but I can't find a death count anywhere.
I found a count at Hauns Mill of 15 men, 2 boys and 13 wounded including 1 woman and 3 attackers.
I'm not sure how you would count those who died from exposure because they were driven from their homes, or those who died crossing the plains. Some of those deaths could be attributed to mismanagement by church leaders, accidents, natural causes, childbirth and infant mortality.
I'm wondering if anyone has a count of those who died a violent death at the hands of anti-Mormons.

Haun's mill wasn't exactly persecution.

Google "Battle of Crooked River"

Are you saying that your relatives justify Mountain Meadows? I
ran into a Mormon online who, in a Christian chat room did just
that--justified Mountain Meadows.

Here are two good discussions on the subject which ought to help.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1569634
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1763474

My LDS education at the hands of a loving family, we discussed MMM, not a proud moment in Church history, the use of wine in services until too many drank too much that BY changed it to water.

We also discussed problems within the Catholic church.

Other such discussions, very open and honest, this was back in the late 60's.

I should probably add that I had read the quote by B H Roberts from October 1907 where he states that 50+ died during the Missouri persecutions. I just think it's odd that a church that claims that they were severely persecuted doesn't have a list of those who died for the faith. Where is the list of martyrs? I'm surprised that none of the historians have compiled a list of the fallen.

I have read passages that say that dozens of men, women and children were killed at Haun Mill, but the list I find doesn't list any women killed and only two children. With a total of seventeen dead. That isn't dozens.

The other thing that Mormons refuse to ackowledge, is that it truly was a war between Mormons and non Mormons. Both sides were armed and both sides committed violent and sometimes reprehensible acts. At MMM the members of the Francer party were disarmed before they were killed.

Mormons using Hauns Mill and the martyrdom of JS as justification for Mountain Meadows is nothing new, but the fact that Mormons still make this claim even after TSCC took responsibility for the attrocity is surprising to me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2016 01:26PM by releve.

And don't forget that Gov. Boggs probably got the idea to use "Extermination Order" from Sidney Rigdon's months earlier call for mormons to exterminate their enemies, made during a stirring 4th of July speech in 1838. Joseph Smith must have been mighty proud of it because the speech was published later, thus confirming what non-mormons who heard it and reported on it.

Gov. Boggs was lucky to be alive after someone took Sidney seriously enough to shoot him in his home through the window. I think under those circumstances, most people would have issued the extermination order.

As for my latest M&M Massacre, I ate every last one in the bag.