To watch this episode on YouTube, click HERE.
Let’s talk about what American Primeval gets right and very, very wrong about Latter-day Saints, or “Mormons”.
The main storyline really has little to do with Latter-day Saints — it’s the story of a mother and son trying to travel safely through the western frontier to a fictional location called Crooks Springs. She’s primarily running from her past, bounty hunters, and at one point, the French.
The other two main storylines do intersect more with Latter-day Saints. One plot tells of Jim Bridger, who has to deal with Brigham Young’s earnest attempts to acquire Fort Bridger. The other tells the story of a fictional LDS couple, Jacob and Abish Pratt, who become separated after a brutal massacre perpetrated by the Mormon militia.
So let’s dig right in. First: The Mountain Meadows Massacre. It is true that a group of local Latter-day Saint militia in southern Utah attacked and massacred a group of settlers passing through the area. It’s a horrible stain on our history. It never should have happened. It was absolutely egregious, and those involved will have to answer to God for it.
The American Primeval portrayal of the event, however, gets a lot wrong. For example, the militia that carried out the attack was composed of local settlers — it was not an organized company of the Nauvoo Legion roaming around, causing trouble. And while those involved did try to disguise themselves as Native Americans, they did not wear these incredibly impractical but successfully creepy bags on their heads.
According to the show, Brigham Young was the man behind the curtain who ordered the attack. The available evidence indicates he did not give the order and had no knowledge of the attack until after it happened. The reality is that when Brigham Young heard about tensions with the settlers passing through southern Utah, he sent a letter south that said the following:
“In regard to emigration trains passing through our settlements, we must not interfere with them until they are first notified to keep away. You must not meddle with them … if those who are there will leave, let them go in peace.”
That’s not quite the reaction portrayed in American Primeval. The real problem, I think, is that Brigham Young was, is, and will continue to be a controversial figure, and the possibility of branding him a mass murderer in a sinister conspiracy was (and apparently is) too tempting for many to pass up.