John Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat

Rating:
Summary: A Reminder that Every Tale has Two Sides...
Review: I am pleased to be the first reviewer of this book who is not a decendent of John D. Lee, yet I, too, must give the book highest marks. While it is history, and a biography, it is as captivating as any novel, and a treat for the immagination as well as the rational mind. Full marks for the late Ms. Brooks in her ability to weave together the elements that make the man, her insight mostly derived from his own copious writings and those of his faithful wives. The result is a reasonably complete look at the complex man, faithful to his dying moments in the Church and gospel he thought he was defending, a look that includes his intimate thoughts, a sense of his apparent egotism, his devotion to his multiple families, and the role that his wives and children played in his life.

There is much that I appreciated about this book, not the least of which is the fact that Ms. Brooks did not shy away from the possibility that Brigham Young sacrificed J. D. Lee in a manner consistent with a Book of Mormon account, in which it is stated by God that "it is better that one man should perish, then a whole nation dwindle in unbelief." Lee himself implicates his "adoptive father," Brigham Young, in his farewell letter to his wives. At the same time, she does not for a moment lose the perspective of the seige mentality, the war-time thinking of both the perpetrators of the Mountain Meadow Massacre, and the leaders of the Church. Without this context, it is easy to stand in self-rightous judgement of what hindsight clearly dictates was a horrible act. With that psycho/social context, the fair-minded reader can at least admit that while John D. Lee was indeed a participant in an evil day, he was not an evil man. Far from it. Indeed, he may have paid the price with his life because he was in fact a man of high principles, and utmost regard for the God who gave him life. His faith sustained him through remarkable hardship, and sustained him in his own noble imprisonment and ultimatly his execution.

You will not be able to read this book without a strong sense of compassion for his wives, either. They were called upon to endure extreme hardship, and appear to have risen to the challenge. From their march across the plains, to the numerous times they were asked to open a new settlement, to eventually living practically alone in Navajo country to fend for themselves, even to birth children without so much as the help from an older daughter, these were women of enormous faith, incredible fortitude, and proud devotion to a man that their Church had marked as a scapegoat and sacrificial lamb.

It is likely that decendents of the Fancher Party would read this book with different emotions than I, but I found it to be highly stimulating and engaging, both to the sensitivities and the mind. It is a story of faith, of perseverence, of work and sacrifice, and ultimately betrayal by a man's dearest friends. If the book is too forgiving of Lee for his role in the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, it is only because his life was so much more than that one, dark day. The rest of his life was a labor of love, for his God, his Prophet, his friends, his wives, his children, and for the establishment of the Kingdom of God, of which he believed he was a key builder, in partnership with his God and his prophets.

Rating:
Summary: A Reminder that Every Tale has Two Sides...
Review: I am pleased to be the first reviewer of this book who is not a decendent of John D. Lee, yet I, too, must give the book highest marks. While it is history, and a biography, it is as captivating as any novel, and a treat for the immagination as well as the rational mind. Full marks for the late Ms. Brooks in her ability to weave together the elements that make the man, her insight mostly derived from his own copious writings and those of his faithful wives. The result is a reasonably complete look at the complex man, faithful to his dying moments in the Church and gospel he thought he was defending, a look that includes his intimate thoughts, a sense of his apparent egotism, his devotion to his multiple families, and the role that his wives and children played in his life.

There is much that I appreciated about this book, not the least of which is the fact that Ms. Brooks did not shy away from the possibility that Brigham Young sacrificed J. D. Lee in a manner consistent with a Book of Mormon account, in which it is stated by God that "it is better that one man should perish, then a whole nation dwindle in unbelief." Lee himself implicates his "adoptive father," Brigham Young, in his farewell letter to his wives. At the same time, she does not for a moment lose the perspective of the seige mentality, the war-time thinking of both the perpetrators of the Mountain Meadow Massacre, and the leaders of the Church. Without this context, it is easy to stand in self-rightous judgement of what hindsight clearly dictates was a horrible act. With that psycho/social context, the fair-minded reader can at least admit that while John D. Lee was indeed a participant in an evil day, he was not an evil man. Far from it. Indeed, he may have paid the price with his life because he was in fact a man of high principles, and utmost regard for the God who gave him life. His faith sustained him through remarkable hardship, and sustained him in his own noble imprisonment and ultimatly his execution.

You will not be able to read this book without a strong sense of compassion for his wives, either. They were called upon to endure extreme hardship, and appear to have risen to the challenge. From their march across the plains, to the numerous times they were asked to open a new settlement, to eventually living practically alone in Navajo country to fend for themselves, even to birth children without so much as the help from an older daughter, these were women of enormous faith, incredible fortitude, and proud devotion to a man that their Church had marked as a scapegoat and sacrificial lamb.

It is likely that decendents of the Fancher Party would read this book with different emotions than I, but I found it to be highly stimulating and engaging, both to the sensitivities and the mind. It is a story of faith, of perseverence, of work and sacrifice, and ultimately betrayal by a man's dearest friends. If the book is too forgiving of Lee for his role in the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, it is only because his life was so much more than that one, dark day. The rest of his life was a labor of love, for his God, his Prophet, his friends, his wives, his children, and for the establishment of the Kingdom of God, of which he believed he was a key builder, in partnership with his God and his prophets.

Rating:
Summary: Juanita Brooks is an Incredible Story Teller!
Review: I could not put this book down until I had finished it cover to cover. It is a gripping narative that is historically accurate. (None of the criticisms I have heard change the nature of the story at all.) She draws on primary resources and was often able to obtain documents no one else could. Her analysis, especially of Lee's second trial, is very insightful.

I was surprised to learn that the group of 12 or so men known as the "Misouri Wildcats" who were probably the target of the massacre had parted with the Francher company the day before the the first Indian raid and hence escaped being in the massacre.

I am not a descendant of John D. Lee.

Rating:
Summary: Juanita Brooks is an Incredible Story Teller!
Review: I could not put this book down until I had finished it cover to cover. It is a gripping narative that is historically accurate. (None of the criticisms I have heard change the nature of the story at all.) She draws on primary resources and was often able to obtain documents no one else could. Her analysis, especially of Lee's second trial, is very insightful.

I was surprised to learn that the group of 12 or so men known as the "Misouri Wildcats" who were probably the target of the massacre had parted with the Francher company the day before the the first Indian raid and hence escaped being in the massacre.

I am not a descendant of John D. Lee.

Rating:
Summary: just a little story
Review: I loved this book!!! This man is my fourth great grandfather and I am extremely proud of him especially after reading this book. I thank Juanita Brooks for her hard work and incredable insight. I have also done some searching and have found her accounts to be the most accurate. I would and do recommend this book to others.

Rating:
Summary: Tantalizing Possibilities
Review: The Mountain Meadows Massacre is usually recounted in one of two simple version: 1) Brigham Young ordered the assassination of innocent Gentile travellers; or 2) John D. Lee took it upon himself to do the same.

Brooks deals with the Massacre more thoroughly in her appropriately-titled _Mountain Meadows Massacre_, also available on this fine website. But the picture is incomplete without an understanding of who John D. Lee was. That picture is provided in great detail by this book, and it is sometimes startling.

Lee was not some renegade Danite chieftain. Raised on the American frontier, he joined the Mormons and became a pillar of the southern Utah community -- a church leader, the federal government's Indian farmer, and an officer in the militia. He was widely respected and reputed to have spiritual gifts of prophecy and healing.

And on the day of the Massacre, he was in a bad spot. Caught between conflicting and ambiguous military orders and facing the alternatives of killing not-completely-innocent travellers and alienating the native american population at a moment when the U.S. Federal government had declared war on the Utah Mormons, he made a tough choice.

Eventually, of course, Lee was banished for his crime, living out his last years as a ferryman with a greatly reduced family on the Utah-Arizona border. Some odd details strike you when reading Brooks' account, though:

1. There's plenty of evidence that people talked about Lee's excommunication, but in the well-kept church records, no sure indication that it actually happened.

2. Lee was a spiritually powerful man and a firm believer. Moreover, he was an intimate of Brigham Young (Young's adopted son, in fact).

3. Lee was a frontiersman through and through, one of the few Mormon pioneers (along with, say, Orrin Porter Rockwell and Bill Hickman)really equipped to deal with the harsh desert environment.

4. Lee was banished not when Brigham Young found out about the Massacre, but years later, and almost certainly in response to public sentiment.

So ask yourself this: if you were Brigham Young, and you needed to sacrifice someone to protect the church, who would it be? It's hard not to wonder whether John D. Lee's banishment was a calling. Maybe he wasn't excommunicated at all, but sent away as a visible sacrifice for the good of the community. Only a man with Lee's faith, independence and wilderness skills could be called on to make such a sacrifice.

Likewise, Lee seems to have virtually surrendered to his own execution, but it's not clear why. Was he again sacrificing himself for Brigham Young and the church? Did he feel the guilt of the Massacres and seek to atone by offering his own life?

I don't know, but I know this: if you're interested in Mormon history, Utah history or even the history of the American West, you should read this book.