Mountain Meadows Massacre Historical Site

I have lived in Utah all my life and you already know that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and the eternal truths we are taught, but even knowing the love and kindness of Jesus does not mean that every church member adheres to those principles. Just like most churches, we have had members make wrong choices, some even horrific and uncivilized. 

Such was the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

I won't go into tons of detail, but many people died that day when they were tricked by church members into believing they were being led to safety. After several skirmishes between the settlers, the Paiute Indians, and the church members, many believed they were headed for an all out war.

Although I have read about this tragedy, I have never had an opportunity to visit the actual site. So when we left St George and the baseball tournament on Saturday,  we decided to take the hour detour so that we could pay our respects as well.

This is a sad, sad story of miscommunication when word arrived too late from President Brigham Young telling them to allow everyone safe passage. Ultimately, the man responsible for ordering the deaths of these Arkansas settlers was executed near the same spot they were killed.

I'm so grateful we took the time to learn more about the history of Utah on this cold beautiful day.