LDS Church will seek landmark designation for Mountain Meadows

The LDS Church will seek a National Historic Landmark designation for the property where 120 men, women and children were massacred in 1857 by local LDS leaders and members in the Cedar City area.

Elder Marlin K. Jensen, historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told leaders of three descendant organizations on Friday in Carrollton, Ark., that the church will seek that designation for property it owns in southwest Utah where the Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred.

Late last year leaders of the Mountain Meadows Association, the Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants and the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation unanimously asked for the landmark status.

"A National Historic Landmark designation, along with the continued efforts of the church and descendants groups, will ensure that those who died at Mountain Meadows will always be remembered as part of our nation's history," Elder Jensen said in a press release sent to Utah media by the LDS Church on Friday.

The release said that during his meeting with the three groups, Elder Jensen "also sought input from the descendants groups on proposed plans to create a second memorial with interpretive markers at the Burgess upper gravesite, an area recently acquired by the Church where remains of some of the victims are thought to lie."

The church recently purchased 600 additional acres of land at Mountain Meadows to avert its development into a residential subdivision. Elder Jensen said, "The land will be left undeveloped to preserve the sanctity of that hallowed area and out of respect for those who died there."

While Mountain Meadows already is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, requirements for a landmark designation involve a process of documenting the historic significance of the site, a public comment period and review by the National Park Service and a government-appointed board of experts, with a final decision by the secretary of the interior.

The three descendant organizations long have discussed stewardship of the site, but their approach to dealing with church leaders and their ultimate goals often have been different. Some consensus developed among them late last year in their request for National Historic Landmark status for the property, and all three organizations sent the same letter to the church requesting its cooperation in December.