In 2007, when I travelled through Utah, Salt Lake City, I met numerous Mormons who tried to convert me. Since then, I’ve been intrigued by their religion, so when A Mormon Massacre, by Joseph Rinaldo came out last year, I wanted to read it. It’s fascinating and reveals shocking truths. I posted my review over on Amazon, Goodreads, and Shelfari.
Today, I’m pleased to welcome Joe to my blog to tell you a bit about his book:
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A Mormon Massacre: A Lesson in History? by Joseph Rinaldo
On September 11, 1857 in Utah Territory on a beautiful plain called Mountain Meadows, a group of militiamen called Danites, disguised as Paiute Indians, at the direction of Brigham Young, attacked a group of Arkansas emigrants who were making their way west to California. The wagon train of Arkansans unexpectedly fought back, leading the attackers to try a ruse. One of them, appearing in his own clothes, claimed to have brokered a peace treaty with the “Paiutes”, and offering to lead the settlers who were still alive out of Mountain Meadows to safety.
Low on ammunition and with many of their number wounded or dying, the settlers had no choice but to trust this man and go with him and his party of Mormon “friends”. The Mormons separated the men from the women and children, and each of the men had an armed escort. The women and children were kept at their campsite until the men had disappeared over a hill. The sound of gunfire alarmed the women, who began screaming and running with their children toward the location where they had last seen their husbands. All pretense of “helping” the settlers dropped, the Mormons began killing the women and any children they judged to be younger than eight years old. When the killing was over, nearly 150 emigrants lay dead, and a number of very young children had been taken back to the Mormon stronghold to be raised by “adopted” fathers and mothers in polygamous families.
Though historians disagree on whether it was really Mormons or indeed Paiute Indians who perpetrated the slaughter, evidence supports the theory that the LDS church, determined to possess the rich wagons and supplies of the travelers, was behind the murders. Following the massacre, Brigham Young was seen driving around in one of the settler’s wagons (the best of the lot) with his wives dressed in the clothing of the dead women. In 1999, bones were discovered on Mountain Meadows, but before a forensic investigation could take place, the Governor of Utah, Mike Leavitt, allegedly a direct descendant of one of the militiamen involved in the massacre, had the bones recovered and gave orders that they never be disturbed again and that no one ever reveal their existence.
A Mormon Massacre: In modern-day America, Jeremiah Cameron, a descendant of some of the victims of the Mountain Meadows massacre, learns about his ancestors’ deaths and vows to expose the truth. To further fuel his desire for revenge, he discovers that his mother, in a previous marriage, had been the victim of a polygamist husband who brutally abused her. This is enough to spur Jeremiah to join the Mormon Victims Action Committee; they train him in covert operations and insert him into a Mormon sect to learn all he can about the alleged abuse of women within this polygamous group. Jeremiah uncovers horrors he can barely believe, including the practice of the ritual of Blood Atonement, wherein “sinners” were tortured or killed to save them from damnation for the sin of apostasy or adultery. Once he has the evidence to expose this LDS sect as a group of murderous fanatics, can Jeremiah escape to tell his story to authorities, or will he be caught and punished?
A Mormon Massacre, available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback at http://www.amazon.com/A-MORMON-MASSACRE-ebook/dp/B008R26S18 and http://www.amazon.com/A-Mormon-Massacre-Joseph-Rinaldo/dp/1477505911. Read the reviews, take a sneak peek inside, and get a look at the cover of A Mormon Massacre on Amazon today.
Fascinating post and I recall a documentary on this tragic event. I am intrigued as well by the Mormons. They are currently trying to convert my father. Two members of the church, ladies who always travel together, and who travel the country to convert folks. I am gathering some interesting information about this religion from him.
They are interesting people to talk to. We traveled on the California Zephyr with lots of Mormons and Amish and found their religions most intriguing.
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