The Mountain Meadows Massacre

On September 11th, 1857, over a hundred men, women, and children were brutally slaughtered. The victims belonged to a wagon train that had left Arkansas months prior, bound for California. They followed the Cherokee Trail before cutting north till they reached Fort Bridger. Up until then, things had gone relatively well. They were making good time and figured they’d reach their destination by late fall. Little did they know they were headed straight to their deaths. You see, to get to California from Fort Bridger, they’d need to first pass through Utah. Where, as fate would have it, a war was brewing between the United States government and the Church of Latter-day Saints. A conflict that would ultimately lead to Mormon militiamen and their Paiute allies committing one of the most horrendous atrocities in all of American history. But why? What could have possibly motivated such an attack against a peaceful wagon train? And who gave the command? Was it just a militia leader gone rogue, an attempted robbery gone wrong, or did the orders come from the top dog himself, Brigham Young? And just how accurate was the massacre’s portrayal on the Netflix series American Primeval?   Check out the website! https://www.wildwestextra.com/   Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/   Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/   Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra   Pierre Delacote! https://www.delacote.ca/   American Massacre | Sally Denton – https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/american-massacre-the-tragedy-at-mountain-meadows-september-1857_sally-denton/442012/#isbn=0375412085   Blood of the Prophets | Will Bagley – https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/blood-of-the-prophets-brigham-young-and-the-massacre-at-mountain-meadows_will-bagley/338626/#isbn=0806136391 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Wild West Extravaganza is a weekly history podcast that explores the real-life people and events of the Old West. You'll meet shootists and scoundrels, lawmen with more grit than glory, drifters, dreamers, and the Indigenous peoples whose presence shaped the land long before the rest came calling. These aren't dime-novel yarns, but the kind of history that sticks with you—messy, human, and stubbornly true. So, saddle up and discover the real Wild West—the good, the bad, and the ugly.