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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Reconciling Utah's Mountain Meadows Massacre
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- NPR's Morning Edition aired the first part of
a two part story yesterday on the Mountain Meadows Massacre this
morning, examining the history of the tragedy and recent attitudes
toward the tragedy. The more than eight minute report includes
comments by historian Will Bagley, Glen Leonard of the LDS Church's
Museum of Church History and Art, and descendants of the victims. The
second part of the story was broadcast this morning.
NPR reporter Berkes gives a sense of the environment that led to the
massacre, and even relies on audio clips from university archives of
a congregation singing the pre-1950 lyrics of "O Ye Mountains High"
by LDS General Authority Charles Penrose, which contained lyrics that
might be seen as threatening, and "The Ballad of the Mountain Meadows
Massacre." In the second part of the story, Berkes also gives a sense
of the disagreement between some historians, such as Bagley, who
argue that the attack had to have been ordered by Brigham Young, and
LDS Church officials and supporters, who argue that the southern Utah
pioneers that committed the atrocity acted on their own.
Real audio files of the reports will be available on NPR's website
later today. The website also refers listeners to the website of the
Mountain Meadows Association at http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com .
Source:
Reconciling Utah's Mountain Meadows Massacre
National Public Radio 8Aug00 N1
By Howard Berkes
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