[PzLdr]

The attack was carried out by Paiute Indians and Mormon militia. After the Arkansans surrendered, they were taken by the Mormons., who then killed every man, woman and child above eight years of age [there were survivors, recovered from Mormon families]. The controversy is not that the LDS was involved. Stephen D. Lee was convicted of the crime. The controversy is whether Brigham Young ordered the massacre. There are several excellent books on the subject, as well as monographs, written on ther subject.

[af_vet_rr]

The controversy is whether Brigham Young ordered the massacre.

And you've hit the biggest nail sticking up, right on the head. Even if Young wasn't responsible, the overzealous manners and actions of some Mormons over the years have led many to conclude that he was, and that pretty much convicted him in many peoples' eyes.

A lot of people refuse to look at if from both sides. The fact is, a lot of people were murdered by a group of Mormoms, including children down to around 7 or 8 years old, and there have been some coverups and/or denials over the years, and all of this mixed together with eyewitness accounts of children, and information about the bodies, etc. has created a problem.

If Young were involved, and if the Church said "yes, he was involved", I'm not so sure that some people from both parties would accept it anymore - the anger or denial has been with them too long.

[Quix]

My memory from the documents I had charge of is that Young did order it.

Interestingly . . . though the documents had been clearly and legally willed to the University Special Collections Dept of the Univ Library by an old Mormon pioneer of Northern AZ, the church tried to persuade the Univ to donate the documents to the Church.

The Univ refused. I forget the sequence of events. But the church tried to buy them. Then it toyed with a legal ploy but I think gave it up when it realized it would not get anywhere in the courts at all.

Then, they sent members to try and steal the docs. That was an interesting period in my job as acting Dir of the Special Collections Dept.