Public Response and Media Coverage

Although the Mountain Meadows Massacre received some media coverage in the 1850’s immediately following the massacre, the incident was not largely reported to the public until the 1870’s when the trials to indict those responsible began.  Around this time coverage by the media exploded nationwide.  Immediately the public was outraged by the reports of the massacre and began demanding justice.  The LDS Church denied its involvement in the Mountain Meadows incident throughout most of the nineteenth century and used John D. Lee as their scape goat.  Almost all of the blame was placed on Lee, along with a select few others who were present.  Lee and another man by the name of Isaac Haight were excommunicated from the church and heavily slandered by Brigham Young among others.

The trial was covered extensively throughout the late 1800’s by newspapers from cities nationwide.  The Articles tended to portray Lee as the main person responsible and often wrote vicious things about him and his lack of taking responsibility for and lack of confession to the massacre.  The newspapers also covered the kidnapping of Arkansas children by the Mormons and spurred a movement to have the children returned to their family members in Arkansas, though this didn’t happen until several years after the massacre came to pass.  Overall the LDS Church took a stance of non-involvement until the turn of the century and the general public, as well as the United States government was outraged at reports of the massacre at Mountain Meadows and the likely involvement of Brigham Young and other prominent members of the Mormon Church.

Starting in the mid 1900’s many texts began to be composed about various aspects of the massacre, as well as many regarding the story as a whole.  Even now there are texts being published on the subject, including the most recent, a very in depth analysis of the event entitled Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley, and Glen M. Leonard.  In 2007 a historical fiction movie loosely based on the events was also made about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.  The movie is called September Dawn directed by Christopher Cain and stars Jon Voight and Terence Stamp as well as others.

SOURCE: Brooks, Juanita. The Mountain Meadows Massacre. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1950.