5 ms·
The article is an interesting take on the time period For one example, I think Porter Rockwell is less considered a lawman, and more of a hitman or enforcer. H
by fooey 4y ago
The article is an interesting take on the time period
For one example, I think Porter Rockwell is less considered a lawman, and more of a hitman or enforcer. He's suspected of having a body count somewhere in the 150 range
edit:
It also completely leaves out the entire Mountain Meadows Massacre incident, where Mormons slaughtered around 120 men women and children in a wagon train headed to California in September of 1857
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre
For a little bonus Utah trivia, the only person actually punished for the Massacre is current Senator Mike Lee's great-great-grandfather.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- DavidAdams 4y agoPorter Rockwell was dubbed the "Destroying Angel," but he was definitely a bona fide law man. But you're right that there is some evidence that he was also kind of the frontier version of a James Bond type secret service or special forces operative with a license to kill. And his boss was Brigham Young, who was a bit drunk on power. Mountain Meadows is absolutely a disgrace and a scandal that should (and does) taint the reputations of Young and other Mormon leaders of the time, but it's more understandable once you consider the greater context of the Utah war. The Utahns were paranoid and on high alert. And Brigham Young in particular was concerned about being deposed and jailed, so he had an interest in keeping people whipped up.
- swatcoder 4y agoIt's an interesting aspect of studying history that you can watch time and peace turn a mass murder into a "disgrace" and "scandal" that "taints reputations" but is "understandable in context". Those may be fair and uncontroversial words with 150 years of remove, but would obviously not have gone over well nearer the time of massacre itself.
- codazoda 4y agoJust in case you were also confused, 1957 is a slight typo. The Massacre occurred in 1857.
- fooey 4y agowhoops, thanks!
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]