Who was responsible for the Mountain Meadows massacre? There on September 11, 1857 in a remote "mountain meadow" more than one hundred Arkansas born emigrants on their way to California were brutally murdered. A Mormon militia in what was then the Utah Territory carried out these murders. The Fancher train, named after the leader Captain Alexander Fancher, consisted of approximately fifty men, forty women, fifty children and 1200 cattle and horses. The Fancher train left Arkansas on March 29, 1857 headed for California. From there they expected to stop in Salt Lake City to stock up on supplies. When they reached Salt Lake City they were repeatedly denied trade and supplies, instead they were told to continue on. Finally, in the early days of September in 1857, the Fancher train reached Mountain Meadows. There they set up camp for a few days to let their cattle eat on the meadows before they journeyed into the desert. A few days later, bullets and arrows from what they thought were Paiute Indians besieged them. [1] The Standoff lasted five days until, under a flag of truce and a promise of safety they were brutally murdered by Mormon militiamen. [2] The only person ever held legally responsible for the massacre was the adopted son of Brigham Young, John Doyle Lee. However, despite Lee's conviction and execution for the massacre, the actual massacre was planned and carried out by orders of high officials in the Mormon Church. There is much evidence to suggest that the leader of the Mormon Church, Brigham Young, actually helped plan the massacre. The actions of Brigham Young incriminate him in his role in the massacre. Also, the words of John Doyle Lee also implicate Young and other high church officials in their roles as well.
Brigham Young's actions and fiery speeches helped to implicate him in his role behind the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Bringham Young had always been a hater of outsiders of the Mormon religion.
