This selection from the writings of John Doyle Lee include his autobiography, his confession (regarding the Mountain Meadows Massacre), letters, poems, last words for his families, as well as related historical documents regarding his arrest, trials and execution. The book includes 14 engravings from the 1891 edition, as well as a bibliography.
A reprint of John Doyle Lee's 1891 autobiography, this edition includes the story of Brigham Young, early Mormonism, and the Mountain Meadows massacre.
John Doyle Lee (1812-1877) was a prominent early Latter-day Saint (LDS or Mormon) who was executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows massacre. In September 1857, the Fancher party, an emigrant group from Arkansas, camped at Mountain Meadows, a staging area in southern Utah used to prepare for the long crossing of the Mohave desert by groups travelling to California. They were attacked by a group of Mormon militiamen dressed as Native Americans. After a siege, Lee approached the Fancher encirclement and convinced the emigrants to surrender their weapons and property to the Mormons in return for safe conduct to nearby Cedar City, whereupon approximately 120 of the Fancher party were killed by Mormon militia, leaving only about 17 small children as survivors. In 1874, he was arrested and tried for leading the massacre. The first trial ended in a hung jury, but he was tried again in 1877 and sentenced to death. On March 23, 1877, Lee was executed by firing squad at Mountain Meadows on the site of the 1857 massacre.
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Mormonism Unveiled is John Doyle Lee's confessional exposé of malpractices in the Mormon Church, including his own role as an assassin responsible for several murders. In chronicling his years as a member of the church, Lee discusses how he came to meet and associate with Joseph Smith: the founder and prophet of Mormonism. The processes by which the charismatic Smith drew in followers is catalogued. Personal habits, including the notorious practice of polygamy where he would take multiple wives, are mentioned. Lee himself partook enthusiastically in polygamy, taking a total of 19 wives and siring some 56 children. After Joseph Smith's death at the hands of an angry mob in 1844, Brigham Young assumed control of the Mormon Church. It was under Young that several of the most controversial schemes associated with Mormonism entailed. For his part John D. Lee became an enforcer, carrying out orders from Brigham Young in appropriating belongings of fellow Mormons, such as cattle from impoverished ranchers.
In 1857, a group of pioneers from Arkansas heading for California were ambushed by a group of Native Americans and Mormons. It is estimated that nearly 140 men and women were massacred. Though his role in the massacre was not publicly known for decades after the attack, Mormon leader John D. Lee is believed to be one of the masterminds behind the violence. In this autobiography, Lee discusses his life before and after the so-called Mountain Meadow massacre.
John D. Lee (1812-1877) was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois and joined the LDS Church at an early age. He was a pioneer and settler in southern Utah. In 1857 Lee helped lead a combined army of Mormon militia and Native Americans in the massacre of the Fancher wagon train at Mountain Meadows. He was arrested, tried and executed.
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