Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows/Index

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows A work by author: Will Balgey

Use of sources

Index to claims made in Blood of the Prophets

Claims made in SECTION TITLE

Page	Claim	Response	Author's sources
9	Author's quote: ...[Mormons gave] total submission to a leader they considered ordained by God....	Omissions: "total submission"?	[ATTENTION!]
15	Joseph Smith fought against freedom of the press because of the destruction and suppression of the Expositor.	Nauvoo Expositor	[ATTENTION!]
15	Joseph Smith was charged with seduction, polygamy, counterfeiting, and setting up a theocracy.	Nauvoo Expositor Joseph Smith and polygamy Counterfeiting at Nauvoo? Theocracy: Council of Fifty? Theocracy: Nauvoo city charter? Theocracy: power usurped at Nauvoo?	[ATTENTION!]
21	Author's quote: [Temple requires members] to avenge the blood of the Prophet, whenever the opportunity offered, and to teach their children to do the same....	Oath of vengeance in temple endowment?	[ATTENTION!]
50-52	Blood atonement is presented as an active teaching, as prelude to the Massacre.	Blood atonement	[ATTENTION!]
51	Blood atonement to be implemented for those guilty of "the unpardonable sin."	Use of sources: unpardonable sin Blood atonement	[ATTENTION!]
58	Treatment of violent past of Alexander Fancher.	Double standard: Double standard: violence in immigrants	[ATTENTION!]
63	Treatment of violent past of John "Jack" Baker.	Double standard: Double standard: violence in immigrants	[ATTENTION!]
77	Author credits the report of Judge William W. Drummond on Mormon "murders."	The author's claim is false: William W. Drummond and murders	[ATTENTION!]
99	Author's quote: ...[A]ll information about the emigrants' conduct came from men involved in their murder or cover-up....	Junaita Brooks pointed out that accounts of provocation from the immigrants appeared within days as far away California, and from multiple sources.  Double standard: Double standard of skepticism	[ATTENTION!]
121	The author claims that Mountain Meadows was known among the Mormons as "a preferred location for the quiet execution of unpleasant tasks."		[ATTENTION!]
137	The author dismisses the letter which Brigham Young wrote sparing the immigrants by writing, "Whatever the letter's intent, it carried a hidden but clear message for Isaac Haight: make sure the Mormons could blame whatever happened on the Paiutes."	Mind reading: author has no way of knowing this.  Misrepresentation of source: Brigham Young ordered massacre? Brigham Young letter	[ATTENTION!]
117 and others	The author frequently refers to dubious, anonymous, or folklore evidence without much skepticism.	Use of sources: double standards of skepticism	[ATTENTION!]
119-120	Account of William Hawley	Use of sources: William Hawley account	[ATTENTION!]
143	Account of William Hawley	Use of sources: William Hawley account	[ATTENTION!]
151	It is claimed that Jacob Hamblin's adoptive son Albert raped two women at the Massacre, which tales "cannot be discounted entirely."	Use of sources: Rape by Albert Hamblin?	[ATTENTION!]
170	Brigham meets with two Indian chiefs (Tutsegabit and Youngwuds) on 1 September, who then participated in the massacre.	History unclear or in error: these chiefs were not at Mountain Meadows. Omissions: Tutsegabit and Youngwuds at Mountain Meadows?	[ATTENTION!]
170	Brigham supposedly "rewarded" Indian chief Tutsegabit for his role in the massacre by ordaining him to the priesthood.	Prejudicial or loaded language: Dimmick Huntington said that Tutsegabit was ordained to "preach the gospel & baptize among the house of lsreal [sic]."[1]	[ATTENTION!]
196	Brigham gave a gift of salt to the U.S. army, which it was implied was poisoned.	Use of sources: Gift of salt?	[ATTENTION!]
220	Bagley claims to have found another source by John D. Lee, upon which he relies.	"Anonymous sources are usually worthless....Blood of the Prophets...spends several pages with the "Discursive Remarks,"...[and] attributes the work to John D. Lee, as if another Lee account can be trusted."[2]	"Discursive remarks," anonymous manuscript in Utah State Historical Society archives. [ATTENTION!]
304-305	It is claimed that Jacob Hamblin's adoptive son Albert raped two women at the Massacre, and Hamblin would later blame this on John D. Lee.	Use of sources: Rape by Albert Hamblin?	[ATTENTION!]
367	Author says that historian Thomas Alexander claimed that "the Indians made them do it."	Misrepresentation of source: Use of sources: Alexander on reasons	Thomas G. Alexander, Utah, the Right Place: The Official Centennial History (Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 1995), 132.  [ATTENTION!]

Endnotes

1. [note]  Robert D. Crockett, "A Trial Lawyer Reviews Will Bagley's Blood of the Prophets," FARMS Review 15/2 (2003): 199–254. off-site