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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A historian says The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is working diligently on an application to secure National Historic Landmark status for Mountain Meadows, the southern Utah site of a pioneer wagon train massacre.
National Park Service staff has given positive feedback on the proposal, said Richard Turley, assistant church historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We're very optimistic about getting National Historic Landmark status. We haven't had anybody so far tell us, 'No way,"' Turley said. "Most people have said this sounds like a promising thing."
On Sept. 11, 1857, 120 men, women and children from the Baker-Fancher wagon train were attacked and murdered at Mountain Meadows by Cedar City-area church and militia leaders. The Arkansas-based travelers were bound for California when their stopover in the meadows turned deadly.
For decades the Church downplayed its role in the killings, instead laying the blame on nearby American Indians and angering descendants of the 17 young children who survived the attack.
The 2,500-acre Mountain Meadows site is already on the National Register of Historic Places. The grassy valley includes several mass grave sites and two monuments. A rock cairn marks the spot where the siege erupted, and a memorial wall inscribed with the names of the dead overlooks the valley. Most of the land is owned by the Church, although some is federal forest land and a few parcels are privately owned.
Nearly a decade ago, some descendants began pushing for landmark status, believing that the site should not be controlled by the Church. Landmark status would guarantee public access and federal oversight that includes public input on any construction or development.
The Church announced its plans to seek landmark status in March 2008.
The process, however, is complicated, Turley said. The Church is now working with consultants to meet the specific proposal requirements.
"The two key things that we look for in a potential National Historic Landmark are the national significance and the high level of physical integrity of the site," said Lysa Wegman-French, a historian for the National Park Service's Intermountain Regional Office in Denver who has provided feedback on the initial proposal.
It takes about nine months from the date of submission to get a decision, Wegman-French said.
Based on events and the undeveloped state of the site, the Church should be able to make a strong case that Mountain Meadows is more than just a significant place in Utah history, she said.
Turley agrees. "It affected not just people in Utah, but affected vastly more the family members of the victims who were living in Arkansas, in California and other locations," Turley said. "It is a story about westward migration. These are people who were not from Utah, and who weren't looking to terminate their stay in Utah. These are people who had hopes and dreams for a life in California."
Turley and other church officials will meet with the three descendant organizations -- Mountain Meadows Association, Mountain Meadows Descendants and the Mountain Meadows Massacre Foundation -- on May 29 to update them on the proposal's progress.
"There's a definite common purpose here. We've basically started a friendship," said Phil Bolinger, the president of the MMM Foundation, who lives in Hindsville, Ark. "It's taking longer than we expected, but I just feel like the Church has the power and the influence to get it done."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
