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Juanita Brooks Biography

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“George Powers of Little Rock, Arkansas, made a statement which was read at a public indignation meeting in Los Angeles on October 12, 1857, and which was widely reported in California newspapers. Describing conditions in Utah, he said: We found the Mormons making very determined preparations to fight the United States troops, whenever they may arrive. On our way in, we met three companies of 100 men each, armed and on the road toward the pass above Fort Bridger... We found companies drilling every evening in the city. The Mormons declared to us that no U.S. troops should ever cross the mountains; they talked and acted as though they were willing to take a brush with Uncle Sam... We came on to Buttermilk Fort, near the Lone Cedar 176 miles, and found the inhabitants greatly enraged at the train that had just passed... The people [the Mormons] had refused to sell the train any provisions, and told us they were sorry they had not killed them there; but they knew it would be done before they got in. They stated further that they were holding their Indians in check until the arrival of their chief, when he would follow the train and cut it to pieces.”

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“Speaking in the tabernacle to a large assembly, he [John Taylor, Mormon] said: Who would not rather die than bow to the yoke of the enemy? It would sweeten death to a man to know that he should lay down his life in defence of freedom and the kingdom of God, rather than to longer bow to the cruelty of the mobs, even when the mob have the name of being legalized by the nation. I thank God, and I rejoice that this people... are determined to have peace, if they have to fight for it. To this stirring appeal, the whole congregation responded with a loud and hearty Amen! Since this sounds suspiciously like treason...”

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“The feeling against the Mormons as expressed by the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin was: The blood of American citizens cries for vengeance from the barren sands of the Great Basin. The insulted dignity of the nation demands retribution from their infamous murderers. Virtue, Christianity and decency require that the vile brood of incestuous miscreants who have perpetrated this atrocity shall be broken up and dispersed. And the tide of popular opinion, now rolling up from every end of the land, calls loudly upon the Government to let no longer delay ensue before beginning the good work. And even should the news of the Mormon massacre upon the plains not suffice to incite to full activity the entire power of the Federal Officers, the position now taken by Brigham Young must do so. He has not waited to be attacked, but has commenced offensive warfare. The Independence of Utah Territory has been declared, and the determination announced of adhering to no laws except such as the Mormons make themselves.”

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“The full and free pardon granted by President Buchanan was received resentfully by most of the Mormons, who still felt that the sending of the army had been a gross insult to them. It was they who should have pardoned the President, they thought. But it had worked out well for them, and Brigham Young had conducted affairs in a masterful manner; his word would be law to them, regardless of who the civil officers were.”

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“In the meantime, before the civil authorities had been able to start an investigation [into the Mountain Meadows Massacre], the church conducted a private one, if we are to trust their own records. The leaders had to know the truth of this affair, even though the group loyalty which they had always encouraged would not permit them to make public their findings. Through long years they had developed the attitude that, right or wrong, they must stand together.”

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“So the official story of the massacre was written. While the visiting [Mormon] authorities might reprove the leaders, while they might administer severe chastisement in private, they would not turn the offenders over to the enemies of the church for judgment. Neither would they disgrace the local authorities before their followers. The group loyalty... demand[ed] that, while they might make a report of the massacre for the church... they should not bring into the public eye any of the participants if it could be avoided.”

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“[Jacob] Hamblin arranged to make a trip across the Colorado River in search of a child who might be missing. The motive behind this is clear… [I]n letters and in recorded speeches he had expressed an eagerness to labor among “the nobler branches of the race.” He had heard that the Hopis across the Colorado were a peaceful, agricultural people who had many skills… Thus, while his letters to Brigham Young and George A. Smith speak of this as a bona fide “mission” for the church, the records in the General Accounting Office in Washington D.C., show that he was paid $318 for expenses incurred while conducting a search for the purpose of finding a child, [al]though Jacob Hamblin knew well that no child had ever been in the hands of the Indians…”

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“Trial began on Friday, July 23, 1875... the jury which was finally selected consisted of eight Mormons, three Gentiles, and one Jack Mormon... When finally the case was closed and the case given to the jury, they could not agree upon a verdict, the eight Mormons all being for acquittal and the other four, all for conviction. The court was obliged to begin all over again and try the case before another jury. Even the most cursory examinations of the court records will show that between the first and second trials of Lee, something happened. When court opened again on September 14, 1876, the whole tone was changed... R.N. Baskin and other non-Mormons insisted that the leaders of the Mormon church had entered into an agreement with District Attorney Howard that Lee might be convicted and pay the death penalty, if the charges against all other suspected persons would be withdrawn. This was to be done by a jury composed only of Mormons, who would bring a verdict of "guilty", if names of other participants were left out of the discussion... This time the trial proceeded with dispatch. Men who had participated, and for almost twenty years had sealed their lips, now came forward to testify... On September 20, the case was given to the all-Mormon jury, who deliberated three and one-half hours and brought in a verdict of "guilty." [Lee was] convicted of murder in the first degree...”

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“In Pioche, Nevade [while in hiding], in April 1871, he [Philip Klingonsmith] made his affidavit regarding the massacre, the first of all who had participated to break openly the pact of silence. After acting as a witness in the first trial of Lee, he returned to Nevada... he was found dead in a prospector's hole in the state of Sonora, Mexico, apparently murdered, the inference being that he had been pursued by avenging members of the Mormons and had been killed for being a traitor...”

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