A cautionary tale for those (I don't mean on here) who think that yelling 'kill him!' or thinking

[codjh9]

that US torture is 'OK' or keeping people in Guantanamo indefinitely without trial is 'OK' or secret torture prisons/locations in Europe are 'OK' or ...

I just saw a discussion on this book on Book-TV while eating dinner. If the link doesn't work, it's 'Massacre at Mountain Meadows', by 3 authors (but still easily found on Amazon or elsewhere). I didn't hear all of the details, and missed the beginning, but this was one of those - and yes, I know there have been plenty more (Nazi Germany for starters) - where mob behavior escalated quickly from 'maybe we can arrest 'em' to 'maybe we'll get the Indians to steal their cattle and a few of the 'bad men' will get killed' to 'let's kill 'em ALL'. It happened near Cedar City, UT, in 1857, when a group of immigrants passing through caused some kind of trouble in the town, or at least that's the way the people living there took it (all? mostly? Mormons). Obviously I need to read more on the subject, but as I'm saying, it fit into that situation that seems to far too easily get out of control, mob group'think'.

http://www.amazon.com/Massacre-Mountain-Meadows-Ronald-Walker/dp/0195160347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228007520&sr=1-1

[kestrel91316]

1. Mountain Meadows was not done by a local unruly mob. It was done by

the Danites on the orders of Brigham Young.

My g-g-g-grandfather was Chief of the Danites. There is contemporaneous and independent written evidence that he and the Danites followed the wagon train into southern Utah and returned in possession of certain notable belongings of the settlers'. They were there, they had motive (Young's orders, revenge against MO folks for J Smith's death, greed), and they were the community "enforcers".

But you have an excellent point otherwise.