MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE: A PERSPECTIVE

bhunsaker — Mon, 28 May 2007 21:06:00 GMT

Mass murder is never an easy thing to talk about -- and mass murder that's close to home is even worse.

Thank you to all who have shared observations about my story and the upcoming film, "September Dawn." Now a few observations of my own:

-- There is no doubt what happened in September of 1857 in Mountain Meadows, Utah.

-- There's no doubt who fired the shots. (Although there remains some question on the extent of the involvement of Paiute warriors.)

-- To those who say we should not "promote that horrible movie." I say, "How can you ignore it?!" It opens on 1,000 screens nationwide right in the middle of the summer blockbuster season. A lot of people will see it. Remain silent and you allow the filmmakers to frame this dark day for the American public. Instead, I believe it should be the springboard for an open and frank discussion. Let the chips and the blame fall where they may, I believe MM must be addressed.

-- "What did Brigham Young know and when did he know it!?" How you answer largely depends on what you think of the man himself -- regardless of the specifics of the massacre. If you are disposed to believe Brigham was a man of God, you assume in him the best of motives and intentions. If you're not a "believer", you probably think BY is a pretender or delusional and therefore assign him the worst motives.

-- Based on that, those who call for an "impartial" history of the massacre are asking for what may be impossible.

-- I suggest the best we can hope for is a history that is impeccably researched and documented. I think the upcoming book by Ron Walker, Richard Turley Jr. and Glen Leonard may be that history. For those who can't wait, Juanita Brooks' account remains among the best scholarship on the subject -- which is saying a lot since it was also the first.

-- But the movie falls sort. It may well be great cinema, but based on the information I have and the interviews I've conducted, it takes too many "fictional" liberties and is selectively one-sided on the facts. But then again, I thought Oliver Stone's attempt to rewrite the JFK assassination was an abomination.

-- Some charge a "Mormon" bias in my story. I answer that I had a bias for facts over supposition. It's absurd for those who support the conspiracy theory to continue to say (as Christopher Cain said) that BY was such a control freak that nobody did anything in the far flung Utah Territory without his consent. And remember, MMM happened in the days before the territory even had a telegraph!

-- What’s more, conspiracy theorists ignore or dismiss offhand the most clear and pertinent piece of exculpatory evidence: The letter.

Isaac Haight asked (in a letter carried by messenger from Cedar City) what to do about the emigrant wagon train. (By the way, why would you have to ask if BY knew and ordered the slaughter?) BY replied immediately telling Haight to leave them alone. Cain told me that's "myth". On the contrary, Walker says it is very well documented. Not only does a copy of the original BY letter exist, there are also depositions, journal entries and logs kept at way stations for messengers -- all support its authenticity.

We even know the name of the rider who carried the message, James Haslam. Tragically, he arrived too late to stop the massacre.

You won't find Haslam's frantic, futile ride in "September Dawn." It apparently didn't fit the movie's simplistic presentation of a complicated, horrible crime. Too bad. I believe Cain and Co. missed an opportunity. Maybe in the sequel...

Brent Hunsaker

Brent Hunsaker's Blog

MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE: A PERSPECTIVE