Mountain Meadows Massacre: What Role Did Mormons Play?

LDS Perspective

On September 11, 1857, approximately 50 to 60 local militiamen in southern Utah—who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—aided by American Indian allies, massacred roughly 120 emigrants from Arkansas traveling by wagon train to California. The attack occurred at Mountain Meadows, about 35 miles southwest of Cedar City, and spared only 17 children age six and under, who were deemed too young to tell what had occurred. The emigrants, led by Alexander Fancher and John Baker, were besieged for five days before being lured from their circled wagons under a white flag of truce, then systematically murdered by the militiamen and their allies. This atrocity represents a terrible and inexcusable departure from the teachings of Jesus Christ and stands as one of the most tr

Historical Perspective

The Mountain Meadows Massacre was the systematic slaughter of approximately 120 men, women, and children from the Fancher and Baker emigrant companies, which occurred in September 1857 in southwestern Utah Territory. The victims were Arkansas families traveling west to California when they were attacked at a watering hole called Mountain Meadows. Initially, Mormon settlers attempted to blame the massacre on local Native Americans, but historical evidence conclusively establishes that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints carried out the killings, making it the deadliest atrocity against overland emigrants in American history and the darkest chapter in Mormon history. The massacre occurred during a period of extreme tension known as the Utah War, when President James B