Mountain Meadows landmark plan aims to heal, unite

Church representatives at the meeting included Richard Turley, Steve Olsen and Barbara Brown of the church's Family and Church History Department. They asked for input from the groups on proposed plans to create a second memorial with interpretive markers at the Burgess upper grave site, an area recently acquired by the church where remains of some of the victims are believed to be buried.

The church recently purchased 600 additional acres of land in the area to halt development of a residential subdivision.

"We talked to them about what would be appropriate to memorialize those good people whose lives were taken," Elder Jensen said. "With their input, we will put together conceptual plans and continue to collaborate with them until we reach the point where we decide what to do."

While Mountain Meadows is already 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, a review by the National Park Service and a government-appointed board of experts, and 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. Consensus developed among them late last year in their request for National Historic Landmark status of the property, and all three organizations sent the same letter to the church requesting its cooperation in December.

The groups held a three-day commemorative anniversary at the site in September, marking the 150th anniversary of the massacre. During one of those services, Bolinger offered Elder Henry B. Eyring, then a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve, a packet of documents, including 850 petitions, 400 letters from descendants of massacre victims and 56 from Arkansas politicians, seeking support for the landmark status.

"We did the legwork with all the letters," Bolinger said. "We're confident with what was told to us today that this is going to happen," because the church has "the size and the power to make it happen. There's a lot of political channels to go through, but they have the means to do it."

He said representatives from Arkansas will be in Utah periodically to help in decision-making for the upper grave site.

The massacre occurred Sept. 11, 1857, when LDS leaders directed 50 to 60 local Mormon militiamen, aided by some native people, in the slaughter of 120 people passing through Mountain Meadows on their way to California. Most were from Arkansas and were known as the Baker-Fancher wagon train.

The only survivors were a few small children the attackers believed were too young to tell anyone about the murders. They were parceled out to LDS families in Cedar City for a time and eventually returned to family and friends in Arkansas.