Originally Posted by hyrum
He cried? As the Leader of the Mormon Militia, Leader of the LDS Church, Federal Agent over the Indians in Utah Territory, and Governor of the Territory, it was required of him to immediately launch a thorough investigation, see to it that the victims were properly buried, arrange for proper legal custody of the child survivors, and properly account for the emigrants property. Then promptly punish those who did order and plan the massacre, as something of that scale does not happen by individual impulse, like a bar fight. Brigham Young had the authority to do all those things, but he did absolutely none of them. Those who were on the scene were not only allowed to go free, they were allowed to profit from the event -- many of the belongings of the Fancher Party (livestock, wagons, even clothes) wound up on the farms and in the homes of those involved. So its not such a strecth to believe he had no interest in knowing the true line of responsibility.
If you're looking for a smoking gun of an order, direct or implied, of course any of that kind of evidence has been destroyed. 20 years went by before the trial of John D. Lee, and many records were not-so-mysteriously missing by then. Even personal journals of the time had pages missing, etc, as some of the later documenters were members who felt they would rather destroy the truth than present something that might caste the LDS Church in bad light (tendency mentioned by Juanita Brooks).
So the movie producers and writers, like the thorough research of Will Bagley, concludes that Brigham Young was implicated, and the movie, apparently, reflects that opinion. Its a movie, not a documentary, so they can only take one position as to the chronology of events and present that.
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