Dear HCN,
I think you missed the
point when you spoke of only one side of the Martin’s Cove story
being told on a Mormon-owned site (HCN, 9/30/02: This land holds a
story the church won’t tell).
The issue of a
“holier-than-thou” attitude that led to movement from New York to
Ohio to Missouri to Illinois to Utah is peripheral at best. The
pioneers in the Martin and Willie handcart companies were not
running from anything. They were marching toward their Zion, no
matter what led their church to Utah.
And I see
no reason why the Mormon church should be required (at Martin’s
Cove) to tell the story of how the Nauvoo, Ill., city
council-sanctioned destruction of a dissident press contributed to
Joseph Smith’s death the next month at the hands of a mob. There
were no former Nauvoo residents in the ill-fated handcart
companies.
Another (relevant) side is definitely
lacking at the Martin’s Cove site, but you missed it. This is it:
To what extent was Mormon leadership responsible for the deaths in
the Martin and Willie handcart companies? Many have blamed Brigham
Young for leadership decisions that led to the
deaths.
Take those other (legitimate but
misplaced) protests to other church-owned sites like Carthage Jail
or Nauvoo, Ill., or Kirtland, Ohio, or Independence, Mo., or. …
Bryce Petersen
Logan,
Utah
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline More stories to tell at Martin’s Cove.
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