After over ten years of relentless efforts by the members and volunteers of the MMMF, the Federal Stewardship of the Massacre site near Cedar City, Utah, has finally come to pass.  While not fully what we all would like to see, this is a significant step towards ensuring honor to the site where 121 men, women and children’s earthly remains lay buried in mass graves or left scattered in the field where they were brutally murdered by the Mormon Militia on September 11, 1857.

We hope that persons who read this blog will take a moment in their busy day to thank God that recognition of these innocent people has been honored – hopefully in perpetuity. 

The National Park Service Advisory Board will meet April 13, 2011, from 8:30 to 5:00 pm to consider recommendations concerning National Historic Landmarks Program. The Mountain Meadows Massacre Site is on the agenda for consideration. The meeting will be held in room Golden Gate C of the Argonaut Hotel, Beach and Jefferson Streets, San Francisco, California. One of our board members, Ellie Porter, is planning on attending..

A jam-packed meeting room made the Annual Dinner meeting and auction events even more special than planned. Dr. Burr Fancher gave a PowerPoint tour of the Fancher history going back to the middle ages. Always affable, Doc Fancher provided us history salted with humor.

The meeting included a briefing on the financial condition and the business of the Foundation, and a report from Scott Fancher on the most recent updates from the LDS on the National Historic Landmark Status project.

The meeting closed with a rousing and always entertaining auction, put on by Foundation member Danny Dotson of American Auctioneers and our President, Phil Bolinger, Danny’s “sometimes cousin.”

Tulare was a significant element in the Mountain Meadows Massacre story – as it was the destination for much of the wagon train enroute from Arkansas to Claifornia. Tours of the area included local cemeteries to find pioneers who did “make it” and also the beautiful agricultural and forest regions nearby.

Local folks from Tulare, Visalia, and other locations on the West Coast learned about the event from the several articles written in the Fresno Bee, the Tulare/Visalia Times-Delta newspapers. Several people with ties to the wagon train or curiosity about the massacre decided to attend. it was surprising that so many commented that they lived there all their lives but were unaware of the massacre or where the wagon train was heading. They were very pleased with the media coverage and the meeting itself.

The meeting was indeed a huge success thanks to Susan Wright, Susan Fancher, and Ellie Porter; along with Doc Fancher, Bob Fancher, Phil Bolinger, and many others who pitched in. Special thanks goes to the Tulare Best Western Town & Country Inn for their superior handling of a doubling of the meeting room capacity; and to the Tulare Black Bear Diner for catering double the amount of people than planned with food to spare and nothing but accolades about the quality of the meal.

Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation has launched an outreach campaign via this blog.  The foundation views this as an opportunity to communicate and interact with our members and the public in a positive and proactive way. 

Viewers may ask questions, provide their opinions, and join with us in providing a lasting memorial to the 121 victims of one of America’s most tragic human-caused tragedies.

Please be courteous and proper in your comments.  Comments will be reviewed by the Blog Administrator before being considered for publication.  The Blog Administrator and the MMMF retains the right to edit, remove or not publish the submitted blogs.  The MMMF is not responsible for the accuracy or any other content of the blogs or comments.

Thank you for your participation, and we look forward to hearing from you.