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Date: June 23, 2021 10:38PM
>Ummmm What were the standing instructions????
Consider the Santa Clara Ambush described here which took place 7 months before MMM for a picture of what BY was OK with.
https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume73_2005_number1/s/10142619It involves a couple of petty larcenists, and the son in law of apostle Charles Rich.
"Ambrose and Betts made efforts to leave the territory as soon as weather and their means permitted. By early February they had traveled as far as Garland Hurt’s Indian farm at Spanish Fork, sixty miles south of Salt Lake City. Brigham Young, despite heavy responsibilities to church and territory and his own recent illness, was well aware of their location and plans. On February 3, he wrote to Bishops Aaron Johnson at Springville, John L. Butler at Spanish Fork, and George W. Bradley at Nephi:
We learn of some noted persons congregating at the Indian farm on Spanish Fork with a view of going out with the mail south or some other time not far distant for California. In this crowd are two persons who have lately served out a short period in the Penitentiary in this Territory.We consider it wisdom to be on our guard in relation to our Stock and the Stock of our settlements generally, especially our horses now on the range near the south end of Utah Lake, lest they attempt to make a break upon them. ...What we wish of you is to have a few men on the look out and ready to act in case of emergency. It would be well to have them go out and make a short trip around to see that all things are right.
Presumably, if no theft occurred Ambrose and Betts were to pass on their way unhindered. But,“if any such thing as we have suggested should occur we shall regret to hear a favorable report; we do not expect there would be any prosecutions for false imprisonment or tale bearers left for witnesses.” Unambiguous if not explicit, these instructions left so little room for misinterpretation that Brigham Young closed his letter with the caution to “have a few men that can be trusted on hand, and make no noise about it and keep this letter safe. We write for your eye alone and to men that can be trusted.”
There can be no doubt as to the letter’s authenticity. The retained copy of this letter, although unsigned, appears in correct date order in the bound letter books of Brigham Young’s office now preserved in LDS archives. Letters acknowledging its receipt were addressed to Brigham Young and are filed in his incoming correspondence.“[I]t is done as you requested,” wrote Aaron Johnson, a Nauvoo Legion brigadier as well as Springville’s bishop, immediately after assembling his town’s leadership to hear the letter read and satisfy themselves as to its authenticity. “Your letter dated Feb. 3rd. came to hand on the evening of the eleventh inst. And I have governed myself according to the instructions therein contained,” replied Bishop George W. Bradley from Nephi. Bradley’s letter had been delivered by the regular southbound mail, which left Salt Lake City on February 8, but Johnson’s letter was hand-delivered by Brigham Young, Jr."
"Following the same route five days later, the California-bound mail carried letters from Brigham Young dated February 6, 1857, and addressed to Lewis Brunson at Fillmore, William H. Dame at Parowan, and Isaac C. Haight at Cedar City.These letters, the retained copy of which appears over Brigham Young’s name, echoed the ominous language of the earlier instructions:
Be on the look out now, & have a few trusty men ready in case of need to pursue, retake & punish.We do not suppose there would be any prosecutions for false imprisonments, or tale bearers for witnesses. ... Make no noise of this matter, & keep this letter safe.We write for your eye alone, & to men that can be trusted.”
While more explicit in one respect (“pursue, retake & punish”), these letters were silent in another critical detail: Unlike the earlier letters, they did not state that a penalty was to be imposed only after the theft of stock."
"The Santa Clara ambush was not what Brigham Young intended, in that it eas not two backsliding felons who were attacked in the dark. But the ambush was the result of events he set in motion. He directed subordinates to take extra-legal action under specified conditions, knowing that innocents might suffer with the guilty because no “tale bearers” were to be spared. If he did not intend Dame and Haight to read his instructions as they have been interpreted here, that reading is justified by the indirect phrasing of his letters. If residents of southern Utah went beyond the mark in implementing his instructions, no effective chastisement occurred. All of the men to whom letters were sent retained their church, civil, and military positions as though nothing untoward had happened.
But something untoward had happened, with repercussions beyond the injuries and losses to Tobin and his companions. News of the attack spread quickly through the nation, heightening tensions on the eve of the Utah War. When the wounded victims were carried to San Bernardino, rumors flared that endangered the lives of Mormons living there. Lack of accountability following the Santa Clara ambush did nothing to allay a local impression that violence was a suitable response to perceived threat, an impression, which seemingly played a role at Mountain Meadows later that year. Most chilling to contemplate, survival of the Santa Clara victims and their public exposure of the attack may have strengthened a determination at Mountain Meadows to spare no competent witnesses."
*** "He directed subordinates to take extra-legal action under specified conditions, knowing that innocents might suffer with the guilty because no “tale bearers” were to be spared"
*** "Lack of accountability following the Santa Clara ambush did nothing to allay a local impression that violence was a suitable response to perceived threat, an impression, which seemingly played a role at Mountain Meadows later that year. Most chilling to contemplate, survival of the Santa Clara victims and their public exposure of the attack may have strengthened a determination at Mountain Meadows to spare no competent witnesses."