Michael P. Ghiglieri, Thomas M. Myers
Amazon Price: $15.61
List Price: $22.95
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Puma Press
Amazon Marketplace: 66
new & used starting at $7.08
|
Buy at Amazon.com
|
Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> Arizona
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Sociology -> Death
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 95
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Historical Inaccuracies/Conjecture With Entertaining & Morbid Stories 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Having hiked all established trails in the Grand Canyon except the Nankoweap and North Bass (and parts of the Tonto Trail), and having kayaked/rafted the length of the Colorado River on private, 3-week expeditions twice, one could say that I have considerable interest and respect for that awe-inspiring place. So naturally, when I saw this book by Ghiglieri & Myers at a Grand Canyon bookstore, I was immediately interested. For the most part, I found it entertaining and instructive...I have used some of the incidents as "case studies" for training Boy Scout leaders in desert hiking.
I am disappointed, however, at the flippant and sensational manner in which Ghiglieri & Myers accuse Mormons of murdering the three expedition members (William Dunn and the Howland brothers) who had departed the river at Separation Canyon. The authors make the fairly lame guilt-by-association justification that this was "likely" (pp 328) because of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which had occurred in September, 1857...twelve years previous to Powell's first expedition in 1869...(what a stretch!!) To buttress this accusation, Ghiglieri & Myers cite two sources: John Sumner, a Civil War Veteran who was a pillar of strength during the 1869 Expedition but had obvious bias against Mormons (despite the fact that the St. Thomas, Nevada Mormon Bishop saved his/their lives at the mouth of the Virgin River by rescuing them with food/transportation back to civilization); and a cryptic letter written by a Mormon, William Leany, a resident of Toquerville, Utah discovered by Professor Wesley Larson in the 1980s.
After the 1869 Expedition, Sumner lived the rest of his days in "theocratic" Vernal, Utah. (To this day, a large and vocal non-Mormon population in Utah will whine that Utah is a "theocracy" because hard liquor is not available at every corner grocery store and gas station...) Apparently, Sumner was bitter toward Powell for not receiving credit for his considerable contributions and reimbursement for the thousands of dollars worth of supplies he provided the expedition. And obviously Sumner took every opportunity to denouce the prevailing religion of the Utah Territory in the most strident terms. (Interesting that such people continue to move to and live in Utah...) Though he could produce absolutely no evidence to support his accusations, Sumner asserted to his death that the three were murdered by Mormons and not by Indians, as most historians agree to be the more likely culprits.
The Leany letter was discovered in a Toquerville attic by Larson and provides some tantilizing information which may or may not be relevant to this story. Larson had the letter authenticated to the period (hopefully not another Mark Hoffman type forgery). It speaks cryptically of the murder of three men in a Mormon Chapel with two rooms (which at the time could only describe the Toquerville Mormon church). The theme of the letter is not the murders...the murders are only mentioned as an aside--which is why it is such an enigma. But it does lend credence--however remote--that the Three Hikers made their way north following the Hurricane Cliffs to the first settlement, which at that time was Toquerville. Ghiglieri & Myers treats this letter as definitive proof when it is way too crytic and non-specific for any connection to be verified. The authors fail to make this analysis and argue for its validity because to do otherwise would detract from a primary and salacious selling-point for the book.
On page 332, second paragraph, the authors state that Larson "suspects" that Church authorities ordered the execution of the executioner of the Howlands and Dunn "to stop the shedding of more blood". Larson also purportedly "suspects" that the blame was placed on the Indians "who also took the blame for the Mountain Meadows Massacre and for uncounted other deeds committed by Mormon militias who dressed up as Indians to rustle Gentile's cattle or to assassinate enemies". I spoke by phone with Larson and found that he was unaware his name was being used in this book. I made an appointment and personally took this section to Larson for him to read his purpored statements. He denied he ever said any of this...he also said the story of him being denied access to Mormon Church Archives, listed on the same page, was contrived...just not accurate. For the authors to end their treatment of the Three Hikers story with Larson's contrived "denial" of access to the Church Archives amounts to an unfounded ad-hominin attack on the Mormon Church. Further, Larson stated that the first full paragraph on page 333 relating to his exchange with a Mr. Scott Thybony was further "contrived". Obviously, someone with an agenda is stretching this story way out of proportion to lend it credence...
A just-as-likely hypothesis with the available (scant) evidence at hand could postulate that the Howlands and Dunn simply took the expensive equipment and cash they had on hand and deliberately disappeared. (They made no bones about their contempt for Major Powell and his brother...why should they care about returning his notes and equipment?) But that would not be near as salacious as accusing Mormons of unsolved murder...
Beyond these two sources and any extraneous hypothesis, there is much evidence to suggest that the three were in fact murdered by Indians. The strongest evidence was that the Shivwits Paiute band acknowledged at the time that they had killed three whites because of their brutalizing one of their women. This came from multiple sources. However, no artifacts were ever collected from these Indians which would make this acknowledgement a sure thing. Others would argue these acknowledgements were made initially to Jacob Hamblin, a Mormon, who would have "ulterior motives" to report such admissions to "cover-up" the crime. Later admissions were made to other Mormons, who likewise would be "disqualified" because of religious affiliation, at least from a Mormon-Hater perspective.
The authors on page 325 state that the explanation of Shivwits Paiutes killing the three "makes little sense". Without context, this is puzzling; but in historical context, it makes tremendous sense. Just because local Indians had been "baptized" into the church didn't mean these same Indians shared the White Man's culture; "baptized" Indians on occasion did in fact kill their fellow Mormons or others who happened to be white. There are many instances of this, such as the "Walker War" (Chief Walker had been baptized, as with almost his entire tribe) and the "Black Hawk War" where "baptized" Indians killed a considerable number of their "brother" Mormons. Does this seem incongruent now? Of course. But from the records and historical perspective, those are the facts.
The authors mention that the United States Calvary was engaged in a brutal war against the Navajos. In the context of the Three Powell Party Hikers, the U.S. Army also was engaged against the Hualapais during the years 1867 through 1869. It is well known among Indians that the Hualapais on the South Rim traded/raided/etc. their cousins the Paiutes on the North Rim. Tradition has it that communications regularly took place via such side canyons as Mohawk/Staircase Canyons (mile 171, Steven's Guide). Such a campaign by the U.S. Army would give the Shivwits additional motive to go after the three hikers. Further, to suggest that miners would not be in the area because no mining records exist would not be credible. Individual miners/prospectors now and then have generally been an antisocial, secretive and paranoid lot, and not terribly literate. From these perspectives, the authors historical analysis seems inconsistent and downplays its implications so that they can add credibility to the sensational charge that Mormons were the culprit in this mystery.
If Mormons were the culprits, and robbery and/or protection from Federal spies were the motive, why didn't the Mormons kill Powell and his brother at the mouth of the Virgin or on their way to catch the train east? Why didn't they kill the entire party? Most of the expensive expedition equipment there in the boats with those six. The authors document that money was in their hands. Obviously, it would have been a much greater heist to take the expensive stuff from off the boats that was the "bird in hand" than would be retrieved from an exhaustive search for three hikers in the wastes of the Shivwits Plateau, the "bird in the bush". If Mormons were as homicidal as is implied in this book, the fact that these six survived to tell their stories makes little sense. Why should isolated Mormon farmers on the Virgin River care or respect who John Wesley Powell was in the first place? Powell certainly advertised himself as being with the Federal Government. And wouldn't the explanation that the entire party had perished in the "impossible" Canyon be credible?
Anyone can make fictitious accusations and put them into writing. Just because such fictitious accusations are on an old document that checks out as to the context of the time it came from does not mean the accusations are credible. (Mark Hoffman was particularly adept at forging such accusations...) Leany certainly appears to have had an ax to grind against his fellow Mormons. Non-Mormon Sumner spent a considerable portion of his life grinding that hateful ax. Does this make their accusations probable? No--not given the amount of evidence currently available. Possible? Perhaps. But with the existing historical information we have, such accusations are still a BIG stretch. Could the scenario attributed to Professor Larson have taken place? There isn't--at least by the information in this and other books--near sufficient evidence to call the scenario probable--only a single letter from a disgruntled Leany.
My problem with this book is that the authors go through considerable lengths to "Pin The Tale On The Mormons" for these murders in a fairly reckless and aggressive manner despite the evidence which (mostly) suggests the deed was done by the Shivwits Paiutes. And obviously, there was some information distorted between the authors and Professor Larson that really should be clarified...probably to the detriment of the hypothesis/accusations made in this book. There is a remote possibility that Mormons committed these crimes...but this "remote" factor is not apparent in this book. (Mormon-Haters will typically argue that Brigham Young--the supposed "theocratic dictator" of the territory--"always" made such important decisions...and probably did despite the fact that Young sent the St. Thomas Bishop to the Virgin/Colorado River confluence to rescue Powell's Expedition...)
In summary, this entertaining book is not a book of history but a book of conjecture and even biases. And slanderous of the Mormons, who are essentially tried in a historical kangaroo court and can't possibly be given a break because of Mountain Meadows. (Jon Krakauer adds to this echo-chamber by referencing this material in his polemic book "Under the Banner of Heaven" to further his bigoted thesis that Mormons and all people of faith are prone to random murder...) This factually is way too much of a stretch...but it certainly sells books.
The explanation of the Mountain Meadows Massacre is incomplete and inaccurate in many respects; I recommend the book "Massacre at Mountain Meadows" recently published by Oxford University Press by Michael Walker, Richard Turley and Glen Leonard as the most up-to-date and objective source of information on this atrocity.
Editorial Review:
Gripping accounts of all known fatal mishaps in the most famous of the World's Seven Natural Wonders. Two veterans of decades of adventuring in Grand Canyon chronicle the first complete and comprehensive history of Canyon misadventures. These episodes span the entire era of visitation from the time of the first river exploration by John Wesley Powell and his crew of 1869 to that of tourists falling off its rims in Y2K.
These accounts of the 550 people who have met untimely deaths in the Canyon set a new high water mark for offering the most astounding array of adventures, misadventures, and life saving lessons published between any two covers. Over the Edge promises to be the most intense yet informative book on Grand Canyon ever written.
