Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows/Use of sources/William Hawley account

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William Hawley account



Critics rely on William Hawley's account of being chained up while he protested about the massacre. [1]

Critics are often happy to accept any attack on the Church uncritically, and leave unmentioned (or hidden in endnotes) qualifying statements which would help the reader evaluate the claim's reliability.

Noted one reviewer:

'Vignettes should be presented with balance, regardless of which point of view they support. Bagley reports the account of William Hawley's objections to the massacre and how he was chained to a wagon wheel when he voiced his objections to the massacre plan (pp. 119—20, 143). It might have helped our understanding of this story had Bagley not relegated to a footnote (p. 407) the explanation that Hawley was one of the massacre perpetrators and that his story was written from the headquarters of a schismatic organization opposed to polygamy and Brigham Young. [2]


Notes

  1. Will Bagley, Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows (University of Oklahoma Press, 2002), 119-120, 143.
  2. Robert D. Crockett, "A Trial Lawyer Reviews Will Bagley's Blood of the Prophets," FARMS Review 15/2 (2003): 199–254. off-site Headings and minor punctuation changes for clarity may have been added; footnotes have been omitted. Readers are advised to consult the original review.