MMM - Juanita Brooks - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Jeff Lebowski · 06-21-2007, 12:57 AM

OK. I just finished our "official book" on the plane. Is anyone reading it besides Archaea and me? Here are my thoughts:

For a first book by an amateur historian, it is quite well-written. On the other hand, there are a few things that annoyed me. She tended to overuse quotes and footnotes. I found myself wading through long letters for bits of information. She should have summarized more. And her writing was a bit disjointed.

It's a fascinating/disturbing/tragic story. Reminds me of "In Cold Blood" in many ways. Sad to see how mob action grips a group of men who end up committing unspeakable acts.

There was very clearly a large group of men involved in the MMM. However, the second the deed was done they all engaged in CYA for rest of their lives. Thus, it is a bit tough to work out some of the details of who did what. Furthermore, Sister Brooks did not have access to all of the records. At the end of the book, she said that she learned of a set of detailed affidavits from persons directly involved in MMM that had recently been given to the church. She called DOM's office and asked if she could see the documents. She was told to come to SLC. When she got there, the secretary told her that DOM couldn't see her. She indicated that she was willing to wait for days if necessary. One of the members of the first presidency then came out (documents in hand) and said that they had decided not to make the affidavits public. A real shame, IMO. I imagine that Turley and Co. will have access to these documents.

It seems pretty clear that BY did not authorize or direct the massacre. However, if he is guilty of anything, it would be stirring up the Indians. The saints had been trying to teach the Indians how to farm for the prior ten years and they hated it. With the US army on the march, Brigham told them that it would be open season on emigrants ("Americans") and the Indians were thrilled to get back to good old-fashioned plundering. The Indians were the first to attack the wagon train (apparently with the blessing of the southern Utah leaders) and thing gradually escalated from there. Once the deed was done, BY and the other leaders realized the mistake and told the Indians to back off.

One of the more memorable passages of the book for me was when Isaac Haight and William Dame (arguably the two leaders most responsible) toured the site and saw the rotting, naked, bloody corpses. Dame was clearly stunned and started in with his own excuse-making and diverting blame. Haight immediately started chastising him and telling him that there was no way he was going to order the murder and then pin it all on the men who followed his orders. Pretty vivid illustration of making a decision from a detached environment and then realizing the magnitude of the results of the decision. A poignant moment.

After the MMM, the leaders in the area divided the stock, wagons, and loot from the emigrants and kept it or sold it off. They also left the bodies to rot in the open for a long time. Pretty shocking, if you ask me.

I always wondered why only John D. Lee was prosecuted. Apparently the government had plans to prosecute all involved, but they caught Lee first and put him on trial. The first jury had eight mormons and four non-mormons. The prosecution team put on a case illustrating that Lee was one of many conspirators. After three days, the case resulted in a hung jury: eight mormons voting for acquital, the other four voting guilty. Between the first and second trial, BY contacted the prosecutor and made a deal. If the prosecution would agree to not pursue action against anyone else, he would get the witness (some were on the lam for the first trial) and the mormons on the next jury to cooperate. The lead prosecutor agreed and the second trial sailed through to a unanimous verdict without a hitch. It seems that Brother Brigham had a lot in common with Tony Soprano.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Juanita Brooks. For her to publish this book was an amazing act of courage. She has a bias to John D. Lee (her ancestor) but showed good balance and fairness overall. She was actually quite apologetic and maintained faithfulness to the church, but passionate about telling the truth about LDS history. Her harshest words were for Joseph Fielding Smith. Apparently, he had recently published a book that included a chapter on the MMM and he pinned it all on John D. Lee. She was disgusted that he would do so considering the wealth of documents and information that he surely had access to that would indicate otherwise.

All in all, an excellent book. Bravo, Sister Brooks. And I am looking forward to the Turley book.

P.S. I was curious to see what Will Bagley would say in the recent PBS documentary. I haven't read his book (Blood of the Prophets), but I know he has maintained all along that BY ordered the MMM. Well, he was interviewed in the documentary and he got his one shining moment to make his case to the entire world. And what did he say? "I am convinced that Brigham Young ordered it because nothing happened during that time without his knowledge." I thought to myself: "You have to be freakin' kidding me? That's all you have?" What a hack.

Archaea · 06-21-2007, 01:09 AM

I'll add my comments later, as given the seven other books I'm reading concurrently, I have slowed down my ability to finish them all in short order.

I agree that Bagley sounded dumb. Perhaps he didn't want to spoil his book.

BlueHair · 06-21-2007, 04:17 AM

I haven't read this yet, but I did read Blood of the Prophets. It's a long book, but I thought it was well done. I thought Bagley did a good job and I didn't feel he was trying to persuade readers to believe that Brigham Young was responsible. There were parts of the book that literally made my stomach turn. I agree with Lebowski about the CYA part. There should have been many convictions, not just John D. Lee. The two big things I took from the book was that the early church was scary and Brigham Young probably didn't order the executions, but is probably guilty of obstructing justice.

FMCoug · 06-21-2007, 04:18 AM

Some day I hope to be able to participate in the CG book club. Right now my serious reading is "Professional SQL Server Integration Services" and "SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services with MDX"

Stimulating stuff I tell you.

Jeff Lebowski · 06-21-2007, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FMCoug

Some day I hope to be able to participate in the CG book club. Right now my serious reading is "Professional SQL Server Integration Services" and "SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services with MDX"

Stimulating stuff I tell you.

Just stop posting on CB. You will have plenty of time. Priorities, man.

06-21-2007, 12:57 AM	#1
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	MMM - Juanita Brooks OK. I just finished our "official book" on the plane. Is anyone reading it besides Archaea and me? Here are my thoughts: For a first book by an amateur historian, it is quite well-written. On the other hand, there are a few things that annoyed me. She tended to overuse quotes and footnotes. I found myself wading through long letters for bits of information. She should have summarized more. And her writing was a bit disjointed. It's a fascinating/disturbing/tragic story. Reminds me of "In Cold Blood" in many ways. Sad to see how mob action grips a group of men who end up committing unspeakable acts. There was very clearly a large group of men involved in the MMM. However, the second the deed was done they all engaged in CYA for rest of their lives. Thus, it is a bit tough to work out some of the details of who did what. Furthermore, Sister Brooks did not have access to all of the records. At the end of the book, she said that she learned of a set of detailed affidavits from persons directly involved in MMM that had recently been given to the church. She called DOM's office and asked if she could see the documents. She was told to come to SLC. When she got there, the secretary told her that DOM couldn't see her. She indicated that she was willing to wait for days if necessary. One of the members of the first presidency then came out (documents in hand) and said that they had decided not to make the affidavits public. A real shame, IMO. I imagine that Turley and Co. will have access to these documents. It seems pretty clear that BY did not authorize or direct the massacre. However, if he is guilty of anything, it would be stirring up the Indians. The saints had been trying to teach the Indians how to farm for the prior ten years and they hated it. With the US army on the march, Brigham told them that it would be open season on emigrants ("Americans") and the Indians were thrilled to get back to good old-fashioned plundering. The Indians were the first to attack the wagon train (apparently with the blessing of the southern Utah leaders) and thing gradually escalated from there. Once the deed was done, BY and the other leaders realized the mistake and told the Indians to back off. One of the more memorable passages of the book for me was when Isaac Haight and William Dame (arguably the two leaders most responsible) toured the site and saw the rotting, naked, bloody corpses. Dame was clearly stunned and started in with his own excuse-making and diverting blame. Haight immediately started chastising him and telling him that there was no way he was going to order the murder and then pin it all on the men who followed his orders. Pretty vivid illustration of making a decision from a detached environment and then realizing the magnitude of the results of the decision. A poignant moment. After the MMM, the leaders in the area divided the stock, wagons, and loot from the emigrants and kept it or sold it off. They also left the bodies to rot in the open for a long time. Pretty shocking, if you ask me. I always wondered why only John D. Lee was prosecuted. Apparently the government had plans to prosecute all involved, but they caught Lee first and put him on trial. The first jury had eight mormons and four non-mormons. The prosecution team put on a case illustrating that Lee was one of many conspirators. After three days, the case resulted in a hung jury: eight mormons voting for acquital, the other four voting guilty. Between the first and second trial, BY contacted the prosecutor and made a deal. If the prosecution would agree to not pursue action against anyone else, he would get the witness (some were on the lam for the first trial) and the mormons on the next jury to cooperate. The lead prosecutor agreed and the second trial sailed through to a unanimous verdict without a hitch. It seems that Brother Brigham had a lot in common with Tony Soprano. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Juanita Brooks. For her to publish this book was an amazing act of courage. She has a bias to John D. Lee (her ancestor) but showed good balance and fairness overall. She was actually quite apologetic and maintained faithfulness to the church, but passionate about telling the truth about LDS history. Her harshest words were for Joseph Fielding Smith. Apparently, he had recently published a book that included a chapter on the MMM and he pinned it all on John D. Lee. She was disgusted that he would do so considering the wealth of documents and information that he surely had access to that would indicate otherwise. All in all, an excellent book. Bravo, Sister Brooks. And I am looking forward to the Turley book. P.S. I was curious to see what Will Bagley would say in the recent PBS documentary. I haven't read his book (Blood of the Prophets), but I know he has maintained all along that BY ordered the MMM. Well, he was interviewed in the documentary and he got his one shining moment to make his case to the entire world. And what did he say? "I am convinced that Brigham Young ordered it because nothing happened during that time without his knowledge." I thought to myself: "You have to be freakin' kidding me? That's all you have?" What a hack. __________________ "... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr. Last edited by Jeff Lebowski; 06-21-2007 at 01:01 AM.

06-21-2007, 01:09 AM	#2
Archaea Assistant to the Regional Manager Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Orgasmatron Posts: 24,338	I'll add my comments later, as given the seven other books I'm reading concurrently, I have slowed down my ability to finish them all in short order. I agree that Bagley sounded dumb. Perhaps he didn't want to spoil his book. __________________ Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα

06-21-2007, 04:17 AM	#3
BlueHair Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 1,148	I haven't read this yet, but I did read Blood of the Prophets. It's a long book, but I thought it was well done. I thought Bagley did a good job and I didn't feel he was trying to persuade readers to believe that Brigham Young was responsible. There were parts of the book that literally made my stomach turn. I agree with Lebowski about the CYA part. There should have been many convictions, not just John D. Lee. The two big things I took from the book was that the early church was scary and Brigham Young probably didn't order the executions, but is probably guilty of obstructing justice.

06-21-2007, 04:18 AM	#4
FMCoug Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kaysville, UT Posts: 3,151	Some day I hope to be able to participate in the CG book club. Right now my serious reading is "Professional SQL Server Integration Services" and "SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services with MDX" Stimulating stuff I tell you.