The star of Pascagoula. [volume] (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1873-1878, 1877-05-04
Nv IN ngasgts
EWass N-efWew@fHfs - W.
vassfs Fss@ss WH~sF ~
a FaFefe~ NHHfHH

a #uT ws6b ma.ta N Son
iaeaHl.t u fYf1ai wife NJ
"a tslas. BE- frisi hfIp sf
f..m ab NHfW a t1f
Y 10y do W.fH1r fifh With
..sf mUf lIfH iFI we
w H# Hf ta
...a.I I.f Fr' iH NF r1ff
ge.s la vu sweet fit'rrH and
fl,.Iy f.af ItnryeafsI1tf aHe w1s
.gidia0t OIn fp thIHnr'g
5e.IE Mormon NtH hefafW Rh1m
t.f.a.I through 7rl.s W giriai
Il. 80 V.aluf. ft NfHrlu. in IfuNif
8g IulmrY t1 Utah aHd through
eide Hni tptIlfmeufs ni ihnt iiluIu
e..g lIe hHf encountered lHifIs
.r.uyb t1drfe 20 sensitive woman
~. VET neither her hcpIth n'f het
r. afa broken The worst thing eng
4f fret On endure after Jp4fPh
emifla revelation in 1888 concern
~, r,Iyg4my. VIVA The accession Of her
.fatpd Ia other wives. First BE- brought
"g, vile. who. according t0 Mrs Webb,
.,s very good girl When he
..,,bf three more wives, and aIl IN the
caurse Of q month" s1ys Mrs webb,
GIt that my heart was sore" Mrs.
W.Ebs long residence in Utah, her
ocouaintance Of ~ years with Brigham
Young. and the former close connection
nj her daughter with the prophet rem.
dered her statements In regard to his re-
sponsibility for the Mountain meadow
massacre very important.
vmEyCE AGAINST BRIGHAM YOUNG.
She received me pleasantly this morn
inc nj her cottage home, and thus re-
sponded to my questions: 81,
"Have you any opinion or evidence, ~
I asked. ain regard to Young's connec-
tion withthe Mountain Meadows affair =
81 have a positive conviction" she re
piled.
"To what effect ?"
"Tnat Brigham Young instigated, and
probably ordered, the slaughter. This
conviction was long in forming, but 1t
has been matured since fifteen months"
Please state your reasons"
"They are several. They spring out
of thorough knowledge of the life and
character OF Brigham Young, experience
of the fanaticism and regulations OF the
Mormon church, recollection of circum.
stances at the time of the massacre, and
the testimony of men familiar with tie
facts. Brigham YOung's abilities are
not to be dcspised, although he is popu'
larly credited with many that he has not
To this day, after all the shocks the
Mormon church and his own reputation
have met with, he continues to hold 200
u 600 people in subsection Some he hOld'
through their fears or their sense OF self
interest; but the most of them are stu
physically, morally and intellectually
PROSTATE before him. At the time o
the butchery at Mountain Meadows hi
mastery over his people was far NOR
absolute than the pope of Rome coult
ever have boosted OF.
BRIGHAM AS GODS M%oUTHPIECE.
His word was law; it was, in fact
accepted as the word of God himself
"A |, among thousands of others, implicit,
believed it to be so, and every membe
of the Church of Jesus Christ OF Latte
Dav Sainsts was sworn, as John ID lie
was sworn. to obey all the orders of tn
priesthood of which Brigham Young wa
the head. lie was acknowledged, almos
worshipped, as prophet, priest, revelatol
To the most ignorant of the Mormon
he was the only God they knew any
thing about, and to the rest he stood q
mediator between them and the A
mighty. All, excepting, of course, VIII
held the mental reservations whlc
nobody can allege for or against a telIo
being, imagined that they must compl
with Brigham YOung's requirements {
suffer the Supreme Gods displeasure'
A BRUTAL TYRANT.
"Did this feeling, that they mu
obey Young and the priesthood go to a
lengths? Did itnotstDp shOrtat crime
"Why no. The command OF Il
prophet to do anything whatever mac
obedience a sacred duty. 1t took ava
from all crimes, so called, the faint
c%riminality. 1t made vice virtue.
sanctitied practices totally abhorrent
Christians-even to civilized human n
ture. For example, Young frequent
permitted or directed the marriage
his favorites to their own wives daug
tiers by other men. Privately he encot
aged the marriage of brothers and siste
and once he married a couple who we
children OF the same mother but not
the same father. He admitted that t
people were not sufficiently advanced
bear much of this, but no m dar
openly gainsay him when asked by h
to swallow it. The man who welded
influence like this had no difficulty
getting sanything accomplished.
made himself feared, as well as respect
through the terrible order of the Danit
from which the Destroying Angels
the Church were selected. John
Lee, Dame, and others, all belonged
this misnamed, devilish clan. III
were ready to strike at anybody at
lifting of Brigham Young's finger, e'
at such a signal as the scratching OF
nose"
WHY THE MASSACRE WAS ORDERED
"But what could have been Your
motive for directing the commission
so horrid a crime?"
"Some," responded Mrs. Webb, "h
ascribed a~varice as a motive, tor ii
reasons: That the Arkansas emigr
train was the richest that had pas
through Utah since the Mormon set
ment there, and that Brigham is, perh'
the most avaricious false prophet
ever lived. Yet, no; it was not ava
that chiefly prompted him on that o
sion"
"What, them"
"A brutal and misguided resentm
laundering military encouraged by
fanatic desperation of the Nor
priesthood next under him. At
time the whole Mormon fabric was
dangered for the third or fourth tim
the power of the United States gov
ment. The outside prejudice ag'
M%ormonism, east and west, was int
and a report was circulated that
people of the approaching emigrant
had used b~rllirerent %lanpnape. On