Massacre Rocks

Book excerpt: This is the untold story of the devastating consequences of a misdirected federal response to domestic terrorism in the mid-1800s. Idaho's Massacre Rocks State Park is a crime scene, and the identity of the perpetrators of robbery and mass murder at Massacre Rocks has been successfully suppressed since 1862. The truth has been hidden by a well-orchestrated propaganda campaign. Even some modern-day historians have played a pivotal role in hiding what really happened at Massacre Rocks and the surrounding region. Countless emigrants were victims of mass murder, torture and robbery along the Oregon Trail and at Massacre Rocks, and propaganda successfully steered the federal response to innocent Northern Shoshonis at Bear River. The Bear River Massacre of 1863 was the worst massacre of Native Americans in this country's history. This book delves into some current Native American issues within the region of southeast Idaho and Utah, including the use of "redface" and Indian-themed mascots in several Idaho high schools. Pocatello, Idaho, has a distinctly relevant connection to the history of Massacre Rocks. The use of the "Indians" mascot at Pocatello High School illustrates a continuing view of Native Americans that has deep ties with the historical use of Indian themes in America, but also with the Mormon Church. This book traces the influence the Mormon Church had on the common understanding of events that occurred in central Utah and southeast Idaho, from the mid-1800s to today. The suppressed history must be told if there is to be justice. The countless emigrants who were murdered on their way west, and the victims who perished in the Bear River Massacre, deserve to have their stories told. This is a part of their untold story.