Joseph Rinaldo's Blog
June 27, 2014
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM ReadLola���s...
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM
ReadLola���s probing interview of author and protagonists! http://www.authorscurtilage.com/2014/06/author-interview-joseph-m-rinaldo.html
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM ReadLola’s p...
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM
ReadLola’s probing interview of author and protagonists! http://www.authorscurtilage.com/2014/06/author-interview-joseph-m-rinaldo.html
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM Read Lola���...
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM
Read Lola���s probing interview of author and protagonists! http://www.authorscurtilage.com/2014/06/author-interview-joseph-m-rinaldo.html
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM Read Lola’s ...
NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON AUTHORSCURTILAGE.COM
Read Lola’s probing interview of author and protagonists! http://www.authorscurtilage.com/2014/06/author-interview-joseph-m-rinaldo.html
May 27, 2014
Proud to be interviewed on Writer Groupie (courtesy BlogT...
Proud to be interviewed on Writer Groupie (courtesy BlogTalk Radio) by host Kim Smith. We talked about my novel, Valerie's Retreat, and about the process of writing. Take a listen!
Find Additional Writing Podcasts with Writer Groupie on BlogTalkRadio
Please leave a comment on the site, and contact me if you have questions, comments, or would like a copy of my novel, a hot new romantic thriller for your book club or for a book review. Also check out my author web page at www.josephmrinaldo.com.
Find Additional Writing Podcasts with Writer Groupie on BlogTalkRadio
Please leave a comment on the site, and contact me if you have questions, comments, or would like a copy of my novel, a hot new romantic thriller for your book club or for a book review. Also check out my author web page at www.josephmrinaldo.com.
March 25, 2014
HEY, MY PEEPS! IT'S A NEW YEAR! IT'S A NEW DAY! IT'S A NE...
HEY, MY PEEPS! IT'S A NEW YEAR! IT'S A NEW DAY! IT'S A NEW BOOK!
I am proud to announce the rebroadcast of my author interview about my novel Valerie's Retreat on TheAuthorsShow.com. The interview is being broadcast again on 3/25/14 on the show page at http://www.wnbnetworkwest.com/WnbAuthorsShow.html. My thanks to Don McCauley and all the crew at The Authors Show for a fun, relaxed, entertaining interview. Take a listen!
When you've finished listening to the interview, and your appetite for a Romantic Thriller has been whetted, go to Amazon and take a "Look In" to read the first chapter of the novel.
Here's just a "taste":
The DJ played several more songs before he decided to pack it in for the evening. Janet and Valerie took Franco home. Valerie walked with him up to his apartment door. "Would it be all right if I called you sometime?" he asked nervously. "That would be fine," she smiled. "Do you have a pen to write down my number?" "Come on in, I’ll find one real quick so Janet doesn’t have to wait very long for you." "Relax, Franco, she doesn’t mind waiting." He held the door for her to enter first. To her relief and surprise, this bachelor pad struck her as being as clean and tidy as her own apartment. So far, no red flag with this guy, she thought. He grabbed a pen and paper off the coffee table and took down her number. They lightly kissed good night. The instant Valerie shut the car door Janet practically screamed, "What the hell are you doing?! He’s about fourteen years old!" "Oh, puh-leez!" a giddy, giggling Valerie shot back. "You’ll have to teach him how to drive in a few years!" "Janet, you’re just jealous." "Damn right I’m jealous! Did you make a man of him while you were in his apartment?" Janet howled with laughter. "Not yet." Valerie smiled. "So when are you two going out?" "He said he’ll call me." "You know what that means Val. No man ever calls when he says he will." "I know. Whatever; if he calls, great; if not, no big deal," she said, resigned to the truth of Janet’s words. "Did you ever find out how old he is?" "No, Janet." She looked at her friend with mock disapproval. "I couldn’t think of a way to bring it up tactfully. How old’s Charlie or whatever his name was that you threw yourself at?" "I don’t know, but he’s obviously a few years older than that child you clung to." "I bet he’ll be man enough for me," Valerie giggled again. "With that school-girl squealing, you sound as young as he IS!" Janet pulled up in front of Valerie’s apartment, and Valerie got out. "Thanks for dragging me to that dance. It was fun." "No problem, chicky, we’ll just have to wait and see if your young forbidden fruit calls you." "Well, Janet, in the unlikely event he calls, his fruit won’t be forbidden." Valerie smiled shutting the car door.
Now that you've had a chance to sample the book, what do you think? It's an intriguing story of a May-December romance, only the gender roles have changed. Valerie's no "Cougar", but she's certainly not above involving herself with a man 16 years her junior. How do they meet? What draws them to each other? Is the attraction purely physical? What happens to them when their lives go inexplicably wrong?
Read Valerie's Retreat and find out the answers to these questions, and follow Valerie and her "boy toy", Franco, as they hatch a plan to abandon their angst-filled lives and re-invent themselves.
Amazon buy link (ebook): http://goo.gl/JH4Q1t
Amazon buy link (paperback): http://goo.gl/UdA1hw
Happy reading!
Joe
June 2, 2013
A MORMON MASSACRE - New Book Trailer!
With the invaluable help of my video crew, I have created and posted to YouTube my new book trailer for the novel A Mormon Massacre. I am offering it here for you to watch; please comment! The video shoot was very exciting, and I am already working on the video for my next release. Thanks!
April 13, 2013
Welcome to the Read Rinaldo Blog. This is the last chapte...
Welcome to the Read Rinaldo Blog. This is the last chapter in my analysis of the different people involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. This week, UTAH GOVERNOR MIKE LEAVITT.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) began in rural New York, moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Nauvoo, Illinois before stopping in Utah Territory. The LDS experienced a great deal of persecution at each location before settling in the distant and unpopulated Utah Territory. The persecution in Illinois included gunfights between locals and the Mormon Militia, eventually named Avenging Angels or Danites. The Mormons stockpiled weapons for these encounters. Having to guess at the cause of these fights from what I know about humans, I suspect the locals and the Mormons share fault for reaching this level of violence. Prophet Joseph Smith, LDS originator and leader, died when a mob of gentiles lynched him (Mormons define gentiles as non-Mormons). Brigham Young filled the void atop the LDS hierarchy and moved the Church to Utah.
During Brigham's leadership, approximately 150 Arkansans were slaughtered during a four day siege of their encampment in 1857. Eerily, though the siege lasted from September 7th to September 11th, nearly all of the emigrants died on September 11th. This ranked as the most deadly killing of Americans by Americans outside of the Civil War until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Local Mormons allegedly committed this atrocity. In 1999 two men digging with a backhoe unearthed bones at Mountain Meadows. Forensic scientists flocked to the area to quickly study the remains. Within days Governor Mike Leavitt ordered the bones reburied. Interestingly, Mike Leavitt is allegedly a direct descendant of one of the killers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider lineage of vital importance, and one's ancestry is something a faithful Mormon would definitely know. Please note that despite Mormons blaming local Paiute Indians for the killings, the scientists definitively concluded that every death they could account for happened with bullets, something the Paiute tribes in the area did not possess. Science, the limited federal investigation in the years following the massacre, and the surviving historical record irrefutably declares that Mormons killed these travelers. In 2007 the LDS officially expressed regret that the local Mormons participated in the massacre, but failed to admit sanctioning these murders.
UTAH GOVERNOR MIKE LEAVITT
Governor Mike Leavitt helped bring the Olympics to Utah, lowered crime by 25%, made health care more affordable, repaired Utah's freeway system, and revamped that state's welfare system. Most governors can only dream about accomplishing so much.
In 1999 two men working at Mountain Meadows to rebuild the monument there began digging with a backhoe. Before their equipment arrived, archeologists from Brigham Young University surveyed the ground looking for anomalies or any evidence of a massacre [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi]. According to Martha Beck's book Leaving the Saints, Brigham Young University has a notoriously poor reputation for all academic disciplines other than studying the Book of Mormon. The BYU archeologists assured the Mormon Church they had nothing to fear by digging at Mountain Meadows. True to their reputation, the scholars from BYU were completely wrong. The backhoe promptly dug up bones. Not reporting such a find would be a felony, and the men did as the law required [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi].
Not surprisingly, scientists flocked to Mountain Meadows to study these bones. The bones unearthed on the third of August 1999 were reinterred on the tenth of September 1999 [http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/1999...]. One day shy of being exactly 142 years since most of the victims died.
Governor Mike Leavitt ordered these bones reburied. Interesting action for a man rumored to be a direct descendant of a murderer at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider their lineage to be of the utmost importance, so a Mormon family would definitely know if this were true.
As governor, Mr. Leavitt wielded some impressive power. Despite state law requiring unidentified bones to be examined, he managed to cease excavation after only 38 days. As one of, if not the most popular governor in Utah's history, Governor Leavitt possessed a deep desire to keep the truth of Mountain Meadows from becoming national news. Good thing he buried the truth; President Bush hired him as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2003 to 2005 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2005 to 2009 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Lea...].
I find it disturbing that Mormons like Governor Mike Leavitt continue to consent to the Mountain Meadows massacre and cover-up by their silence and by silencing anyone who seeks to bring the truth to light about that horrible four days at Mountain Meadows. Why is a man known for doing so much good so scared of the truth?
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) began in rural New York, moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Nauvoo, Illinois before stopping in Utah Territory. The LDS experienced a great deal of persecution at each location before settling in the distant and unpopulated Utah Territory. The persecution in Illinois included gunfights between locals and the Mormon Militia, eventually named Avenging Angels or Danites. The Mormons stockpiled weapons for these encounters. Having to guess at the cause of these fights from what I know about humans, I suspect the locals and the Mormons share fault for reaching this level of violence. Prophet Joseph Smith, LDS originator and leader, died when a mob of gentiles lynched him (Mormons define gentiles as non-Mormons). Brigham Young filled the void atop the LDS hierarchy and moved the Church to Utah.
During Brigham's leadership, approximately 150 Arkansans were slaughtered during a four day siege of their encampment in 1857. Eerily, though the siege lasted from September 7th to September 11th, nearly all of the emigrants died on September 11th. This ranked as the most deadly killing of Americans by Americans outside of the Civil War until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Local Mormons allegedly committed this atrocity. In 1999 two men digging with a backhoe unearthed bones at Mountain Meadows. Forensic scientists flocked to the area to quickly study the remains. Within days Governor Mike Leavitt ordered the bones reburied. Interestingly, Mike Leavitt is allegedly a direct descendant of one of the killers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider lineage of vital importance, and one's ancestry is something a faithful Mormon would definitely know. Please note that despite Mormons blaming local Paiute Indians for the killings, the scientists definitively concluded that every death they could account for happened with bullets, something the Paiute tribes in the area did not possess. Science, the limited federal investigation in the years following the massacre, and the surviving historical record irrefutably declares that Mormons killed these travelers. In 2007 the LDS officially expressed regret that the local Mormons participated in the massacre, but failed to admit sanctioning these murders.
UTAH GOVERNOR MIKE LEAVITT
Governor Mike Leavitt helped bring the Olympics to Utah, lowered crime by 25%, made health care more affordable, repaired Utah's freeway system, and revamped that state's welfare system. Most governors can only dream about accomplishing so much.
In 1999 two men working at Mountain Meadows to rebuild the monument there began digging with a backhoe. Before their equipment arrived, archeologists from Brigham Young University surveyed the ground looking for anomalies or any evidence of a massacre [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi]. According to Martha Beck's book Leaving the Saints, Brigham Young University has a notoriously poor reputation for all academic disciplines other than studying the Book of Mormon. The BYU archeologists assured the Mormon Church they had nothing to fear by digging at Mountain Meadows. True to their reputation, the scholars from BYU were completely wrong. The backhoe promptly dug up bones. Not reporting such a find would be a felony, and the men did as the law required [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi].
Not surprisingly, scientists flocked to Mountain Meadows to study these bones. The bones unearthed on the third of August 1999 were reinterred on the tenth of September 1999 [http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/1999...]. One day shy of being exactly 142 years since most of the victims died.
Governor Mike Leavitt ordered these bones reburied. Interesting action for a man rumored to be a direct descendant of a murderer at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider their lineage to be of the utmost importance, so a Mormon family would definitely know if this were true.
As governor, Mr. Leavitt wielded some impressive power. Despite state law requiring unidentified bones to be examined, he managed to cease excavation after only 38 days. As one of, if not the most popular governor in Utah's history, Governor Leavitt possessed a deep desire to keep the truth of Mountain Meadows from becoming national news. Good thing he buried the truth; President Bush hired him as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2003 to 2005 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2005 to 2009 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Lea...].
I find it disturbing that Mormons like Governor Mike Leavitt continue to consent to the Mountain Meadows massacre and cover-up by their silence and by silencing anyone who seeks to bring the truth to light about that horrible four days at Mountain Meadows. Why is a man known for doing so much good so scared of the truth?
Welcome to the Read Rinaldo Blog. This is the last c...
Welcome to the Read Rinaldo Blog. This is the last chapter in my analysis of the different people involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. This week, UTAH GOVERNOR MIKE LEAVITT.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) began in rural New York, moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Nauvoo, Illinois before stopping in Utah Territory. The LDS experienced a great deal of persecution at each location before settling in the distant and unpopulated Utah Territory. The persecution in Illinois included gunfights between locals and the Mormon Militia, eventually named Avenging Angels or Danites. The Mormons stockpiled weapons for these encounters. Having to guess at the cause of these fights from what I know about humans, I suspect the locals and the Mormons share fault for reaching this level of violence. Prophet Joseph Smith, LDS originator and leader, died when a mob of gentiles lynched him (Mormons define gentiles as non-Mormons). Brigham Young filled the void atop the LDS hierarchy and moved the Church to Utah.
During Brigham's leadership, approximately 150 Arkansans were slaughtered during a four day siege of their encampment in 1857. Eerily, though the siege lasted from September 7th to September 11th, nearly all of the emigrants died on September 11th. This ranked as the most deadly killing of Americans by Americans outside of the Civil War until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Local Mormons allegedly committed this atrocity. In 1999 two men digging with a backhoe unearthed bones at Mountain Meadows. Forensic scientists flocked to the area to quickly study the remains. Within days Governor Mike Leavitt ordered the bones reburied. Interestingly, Mike Leavitt is allegedly a direct descendant of one of the killers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider lineage of vital importance, and one's ancestry is something a faithful Mormon would definitely know. Please note that despite Mormons blaming local Paiute Indians for the killings, the scientists definitively concluded that every death they could account for happened with bullets, something the Paiute tribes in the area did not possess. Science, the limited federal investigation in the years following the massacre, and the surviving historical record irrefutably declares that Mormons killed these travelers. In 2007 the LDS officially expressed regret that the local Mormons participated in the massacre, but failed to admit sanctioning these murders.
UTAH GOVERNOR MIKE LEAVITT
Governor Mike Leavitt helped bring the Olympics to Utah, lowered crime by 25%, made health care more affordable, repaired Utah's freeway system, and revamped that state's welfare system. Most governors can only dream about accomplishing so much.
In 1999 two men working at Mountain Meadows to rebuild the monument there began digging with a backhoe. Before their equipment arrived, archeologists from Brigham Young University surveyed the ground looking for anomalies or any evidence of a massacre [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi]. According to Martha Beck's book Leaving the Saints, Brigham Young University has a notoriously poor reputation for all academic disciplines other than studying the Book of Mormon. The BYU archeologists assured the Mormon Church they had nothing to fear by digging at Mountain Meadows. True to their reputation, the scholars from BYU were completely wrong. The backhoe promptly dug up bones. Not reporting such a find would be a felony, and the men did as the law required [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi].
Not surprisingly, scientists flocked to Mountain Meadows to study these bones. The bones unearthed on the third of August 1999 were reinterred on the tenth of September 1999 [http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/1999...]. One day shy of being exactly 142 years since most of the victims died.
Governor Mike Leavitt ordered these bones reburied. Interesting action for a man rumored to be a direct descendant of a murderer at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider their lineage to be of the utmost importance, so a Mormon family would definitely know if this were true.
As governor, Mr. Leavitt wielded some impressive power. Despite state law requiring unidentified bones to be examined, he managed to cease excavation after only 38 days. As one of, if not the most popular governor in Utah's history, Governor Leavitt possessed a deep desire to keep the truth of Mountain Meadows from becoming national news. Good thing he buried the truth; President Bush hired him as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2003 to 2005 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2005 to 2009 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Lea...].
I find it disturbing that Mormons like Governor Mike Leavitt continue to consent to the Mountain Meadows massacre and cover-up by their silence and by silencing anyone who seeks to bring the truth to light about that horrible four days at Mountain Meadows. Why is a man known for doing so much good so scared of the truth?
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) began in rural New York, moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Nauvoo, Illinois before stopping in Utah Territory. The LDS experienced a great deal of persecution at each location before settling in the distant and unpopulated Utah Territory. The persecution in Illinois included gunfights between locals and the Mormon Militia, eventually named Avenging Angels or Danites. The Mormons stockpiled weapons for these encounters. Having to guess at the cause of these fights from what I know about humans, I suspect the locals and the Mormons share fault for reaching this level of violence. Prophet Joseph Smith, LDS originator and leader, died when a mob of gentiles lynched him (Mormons define gentiles as non-Mormons). Brigham Young filled the void atop the LDS hierarchy and moved the Church to Utah.
During Brigham's leadership, approximately 150 Arkansans were slaughtered during a four day siege of their encampment in 1857. Eerily, though the siege lasted from September 7th to September 11th, nearly all of the emigrants died on September 11th. This ranked as the most deadly killing of Americans by Americans outside of the Civil War until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Local Mormons allegedly committed this atrocity. In 1999 two men digging with a backhoe unearthed bones at Mountain Meadows. Forensic scientists flocked to the area to quickly study the remains. Within days Governor Mike Leavitt ordered the bones reburied. Interestingly, Mike Leavitt is allegedly a direct descendant of one of the killers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider lineage of vital importance, and one's ancestry is something a faithful Mormon would definitely know. Please note that despite Mormons blaming local Paiute Indians for the killings, the scientists definitively concluded that every death they could account for happened with bullets, something the Paiute tribes in the area did not possess. Science, the limited federal investigation in the years following the massacre, and the surviving historical record irrefutably declares that Mormons killed these travelers. In 2007 the LDS officially expressed regret that the local Mormons participated in the massacre, but failed to admit sanctioning these murders.
UTAH GOVERNOR MIKE LEAVITT
Governor Mike Leavitt helped bring the Olympics to Utah, lowered crime by 25%, made health care more affordable, repaired Utah's freeway system, and revamped that state's welfare system. Most governors can only dream about accomplishing so much.
In 1999 two men working at Mountain Meadows to rebuild the monument there began digging with a backhoe. Before their equipment arrived, archeologists from Brigham Young University surveyed the ground looking for anomalies or any evidence of a massacre [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi]. According to Martha Beck's book Leaving the Saints, Brigham Young University has a notoriously poor reputation for all academic disciplines other than studying the Book of Mormon. The BYU archeologists assured the Mormon Church they had nothing to fear by digging at Mountain Meadows. True to their reputation, the scholars from BYU were completely wrong. The backhoe promptly dug up bones. Not reporting such a find would be a felony, and the men did as the law required [American Massacre, Sally Denton, Vintage Books 2003, page xxi].
Not surprisingly, scientists flocked to Mountain Meadows to study these bones. The bones unearthed on the third of August 1999 were reinterred on the tenth of September 1999 [http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/1999...]. One day shy of being exactly 142 years since most of the victims died.
Governor Mike Leavitt ordered these bones reburied. Interesting action for a man rumored to be a direct descendant of a murderer at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider their lineage to be of the utmost importance, so a Mormon family would definitely know if this were true.
As governor, Mr. Leavitt wielded some impressive power. Despite state law requiring unidentified bones to be examined, he managed to cease excavation after only 38 days. As one of, if not the most popular governor in Utah's history, Governor Leavitt possessed a deep desire to keep the truth of Mountain Meadows from becoming national news. Good thing he buried the truth; President Bush hired him as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2003 to 2005 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2005 to 2009 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Lea...].
I find it disturbing that Mormons like Governor Mike Leavitt continue to consent to the Mountain Meadows massacre and cover-up by their silence and by silencing anyone who seeks to bring the truth to light about that horrible four days at Mountain Meadows. Why is a man known for doing so much good so scared of the truth?
April 5, 2013
Welcome to the Read Rinaldo Blog. Over the next several w...
Welcome to the Read Rinaldo Blog. Over the next several weeks this site will analyze different people involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. This week, RANK AND FILE MORMON ASSASSINS.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) began in rural New York, moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Nauvoo, Illinois before stopping in Utah Territory. The LDS experienced a great deal of persecution at each location before settling in the distant and unpopulated Utah Territory. The persecution in Illinois included gunfights between locals and the Mormon Militia, eventually named Avenging Angels or Danites. The Mormons stockpiled weapons for these encounters. Having to guess at the cause of these fights from what I know about humans, I suspect the locals and the Mormons share fault for reaching this level of violence. Prophet Joseph Smith, LDS originator and leader, died when a mob of gentiles lynched him (Mormons define gentiles as non-Mormons). Brigham Young filled the void atop the LDS hierarchy and moved the Church to Utah.
During Brigham's leadership, approximately 150 Arkansans were slaughtered during a four day siege of their encampment in 1857. Eerily, though the siege lasted from September 7th to September 11th, nearly all of the emigrants died on September 11th. This ranked as the most deadly killing of Americans by Americans outside of the Civil War until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Local Mormons allegedly committed this atrocity. In 1999 two men digging with a backhoe unearthed bones at Mountain Meadows. Forensic scientists flocked to the area to quickly study the remains. Within days Governor Mike Leavitt ordered the bones reburied. Interestingly, Mike Leavitt is allegedly a direct descendant of one of the killers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider lineage of vital importance, and one's ancestry is something a faithful Mormon would definitely know. Please note that despite Mormons blaming local Paiute Indians for the killings, the scientists definitively concluded that every death they could account for happened with bullets, something the Paiute tribes in the area did not possess. Science, the limited federal investigation in the years following the massacre, and the surviving historical record irrefutably declares that Mormons killed these travelers. In 2007 the LDS officially expressed regret that the local Mormons participated in the massacre, but failed to admit sanctioning these murders.
RANK AND FILE MORMON ASSASSINS
A few names of the Mormon leadership who orchestrated the massacre at Mountain Meadows have survived from 1857 to the present, but what about the rank and file Mormons involved in the killings? They faithfully served their church by killing approximately 150 people they had never even met. In fact, the wagon trains made the Utah Territory survivable for the frontier inhabitants. The wagon trains brought frying pans, ammunition, guns, metal knives, hatchets, and all the other items a person living on the frontier couldn't manufacture themselves. The people of the wagon trains traded these industrialized goods for perishable items such as flour, corn, bread, etc. This barter economy benefited both parties. So why would these Mormon frontiersmen kill this wagon train?
The Mormons living along the wagon trail had to know word of this massacre would eventually reach the East, causing all traffic on this path to California to cease. This massacre verged on suicide.
Mormons during this period had followed Joseph Smith and later Brigham Young from New York state, to Ohio, to the Illinois-Missouri border before settling in the Utah Territory. They had been attacked and reviled at every stop. Their belief in Joseph Smith as God's one true prophet and plural marriage had separated them from the typical citizen. Joseph Smith preached that the gentiles who persecuted Mormons (defined by him as anyone not Mormon) represented all gentiles. After Joseph Smith was arrested and murdered by a gentile mob, Brigham Young's claims of being persecuted by not only individual gentiles but the government sounded all too true to the faithful.
Imagine the faith of these men to follow Brigham Young, after Joseph Smith's lynching, from the Midwest to Utah Territory. Utah offered nothing but barren land. The Mormons had to build everything from scratch. If you wanted a house for your family, you needed to help the six families with men of higher rank in the church build their houses first so they might help you later. No doubt several families shared the first house until others were built. The residents in those first few years most likely considered all food communal knowing they might have prairie dog to eat today, but tomorrow they wouldn't and the Jones's would.
This interwoven faith/community meant sticking together. If the person representing the path to heaven named Brigham Young told you to kill a wagon train full of friendly strangers, you did it. If the fight lasted longer than expected, you stayed and fought, in this case a four-day siege ending in a fictitious truce that required you to shoot either an unarmed man, woman, or child. These low-ranking Mormons had tremendous faith in their church, its leader Brigham Young, and one another. Too bad these mindless soldiers used their power for murdering fellow Americans who were searching for a better life just like them.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) began in rural New York, moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Nauvoo, Illinois before stopping in Utah Territory. The LDS experienced a great deal of persecution at each location before settling in the distant and unpopulated Utah Territory. The persecution in Illinois included gunfights between locals and the Mormon Militia, eventually named Avenging Angels or Danites. The Mormons stockpiled weapons for these encounters. Having to guess at the cause of these fights from what I know about humans, I suspect the locals and the Mormons share fault for reaching this level of violence. Prophet Joseph Smith, LDS originator and leader, died when a mob of gentiles lynched him (Mormons define gentiles as non-Mormons). Brigham Young filled the void atop the LDS hierarchy and moved the Church to Utah.
During Brigham's leadership, approximately 150 Arkansans were slaughtered during a four day siege of their encampment in 1857. Eerily, though the siege lasted from September 7th to September 11th, nearly all of the emigrants died on September 11th. This ranked as the most deadly killing of Americans by Americans outside of the Civil War until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Local Mormons allegedly committed this atrocity. In 1999 two men digging with a backhoe unearthed bones at Mountain Meadows. Forensic scientists flocked to the area to quickly study the remains. Within days Governor Mike Leavitt ordered the bones reburied. Interestingly, Mike Leavitt is allegedly a direct descendant of one of the killers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Mormons consider lineage of vital importance, and one's ancestry is something a faithful Mormon would definitely know. Please note that despite Mormons blaming local Paiute Indians for the killings, the scientists definitively concluded that every death they could account for happened with bullets, something the Paiute tribes in the area did not possess. Science, the limited federal investigation in the years following the massacre, and the surviving historical record irrefutably declares that Mormons killed these travelers. In 2007 the LDS officially expressed regret that the local Mormons participated in the massacre, but failed to admit sanctioning these murders.
RANK AND FILE MORMON ASSASSINS
A few names of the Mormon leadership who orchestrated the massacre at Mountain Meadows have survived from 1857 to the present, but what about the rank and file Mormons involved in the killings? They faithfully served their church by killing approximately 150 people they had never even met. In fact, the wagon trains made the Utah Territory survivable for the frontier inhabitants. The wagon trains brought frying pans, ammunition, guns, metal knives, hatchets, and all the other items a person living on the frontier couldn't manufacture themselves. The people of the wagon trains traded these industrialized goods for perishable items such as flour, corn, bread, etc. This barter economy benefited both parties. So why would these Mormon frontiersmen kill this wagon train?
The Mormons living along the wagon trail had to know word of this massacre would eventually reach the East, causing all traffic on this path to California to cease. This massacre verged on suicide.
Mormons during this period had followed Joseph Smith and later Brigham Young from New York state, to Ohio, to the Illinois-Missouri border before settling in the Utah Territory. They had been attacked and reviled at every stop. Their belief in Joseph Smith as God's one true prophet and plural marriage had separated them from the typical citizen. Joseph Smith preached that the gentiles who persecuted Mormons (defined by him as anyone not Mormon) represented all gentiles. After Joseph Smith was arrested and murdered by a gentile mob, Brigham Young's claims of being persecuted by not only individual gentiles but the government sounded all too true to the faithful.
Imagine the faith of these men to follow Brigham Young, after Joseph Smith's lynching, from the Midwest to Utah Territory. Utah offered nothing but barren land. The Mormons had to build everything from scratch. If you wanted a house for your family, you needed to help the six families with men of higher rank in the church build their houses first so they might help you later. No doubt several families shared the first house until others were built. The residents in those first few years most likely considered all food communal knowing they might have prairie dog to eat today, but tomorrow they wouldn't and the Jones's would.
This interwoven faith/community meant sticking together. If the person representing the path to heaven named Brigham Young told you to kill a wagon train full of friendly strangers, you did it. If the fight lasted longer than expected, you stayed and fought, in this case a four-day siege ending in a fictitious truce that required you to shoot either an unarmed man, woman, or child. These low-ranking Mormons had tremendous faith in their church, its leader Brigham Young, and one another. Too bad these mindless soldiers used their power for murdering fellow Americans who were searching for a better life just like them.
