Audiences are devouring the grisly Netflix miniseries “American Primeval,” a work of historical fiction centered around the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre in which Mormon militiamen in southwestern Utah slaughtered nearly an entire wagon train of men, women and children.
The tragedy occurred during the so-called Utah War, a time of heightened tensions after the federal government, wary of the theocracy in place, sent troops to the Utah Territory. For their part, Latter-day Saints, fearing war, grew distrustful of any outsiders.
As with many Hollywood treatments of true stories, the breakout hit contains a mountain of historical inaccuracies big enough to bury any frontier outpost — as detailed on a recent episode of The Salt Lake Tribune’s “Mormon Land” podcast.
(Netflix) The Netflix miniseries depicts a largely fictionalized telling of the real-life 1857 tragedy in which Latter-day Saints attacked and killed a wagon train of emigrants passing through the Utah Territory.
The same goes for the show’s depiction of polygamous prophet Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first governor of the territory.
“The only thing they got right,” said Janiece Johnson, a Latter-day Saint historian who has studied the media’s treatment of the legendary Western colonizer, “was his haircut.”
The Tribune spoke with Johnson and historian John Turner, author of the acclaimed 2012 biography, “Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet,” about how the Young of “American Primeval” compares to the historical record of this influential religious figure. (The following has been edited for clarity and brevity).
Viewers of the show could come away with the impression that Young authorized the Mountain Meadows Massacre. What does history show on this point?
Turner • When the settlers in southern Utah sent a letter to Young, he told them explicitly to leave the wagon train alone. But his response arrives after everybody’s butchered. He was fine with Natives attacking wagon trains. But, at the end of the day, he wasn’t trying to provoke a war with the United States.
On the other hand, the show depicts Young authorizing an attack on a Shoshone village. What was his attitude toward Native groups?
Turner • He’s well known for his maxim: “It’s better to feed them than fight them.” But, in reality, what usually happened was fight them and then feed them. He went back and forth between counseling peace and authorizing violence.
(Netflix) Makeup department head Howard Berger, right, applies a touch-up to actor Derek Hinkey, who plays the Shoshone character Red Feather, on the set of the Netflix limited series "American Primeval." The series depicts a fictional attack by a Mormon militia on a Shoshone settlement.
How would you describe Young’s character in the movie?
Johnson • The movie has him acting like a mafia don. That’s not [the real] Young.
Turner • You get this hypocritical sanctimony coupled with ruthlessness. The trope of religious hypocrisy is really attractive to viewers. In reality, he was just a much more complex figure.
Critics would say he did have a violent side that he justified with religion. What is missing from that description?
Turner • As far as he was concerned, he was defending the Kingdom of God on Earth. He wasn’t going to let enemies threaten that. But the show just wasn’t interested in getting into the fact that he was radically traumatized by previous persecution, particularly the murder of the faith’s founder, Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum in Illinois.
He became much more paranoid of internal dissent and was very much on edge when American officials threatened to interfere with or take control of the Utah Territory.
The filmmakers also don’t really bring up other parts of his personality. He could have gone back and forth with mountain man Jim Bridger with off-colored jokes.
(Netflix) The series shows Brigham Young giving a number of fiery speeches steeped in grievance and frequently violent language.
Speaking of Jim Bridger, the series has Young forcing the wilderness scout to sell his Wyoming fort to him before torching it. Young did, in fact, buy the place and later had it burned, albeit not necessarily in the time frame shown. What did you think of how the show portrayed Young’s involvement in those events?
Johnson • For one, Young wouldn’t have physically been there. He would have been sending messengers. But he did see Fort Bridger as a strategic place for the ability of the U.S. Army to enter the territory. Burning the fort was an attempt to make things very difficult for the advancing troops — not to kill people.
Turner • He was known for traveling up and down the territory regularly. But [laughing] he wasn’t popping up in Fort Bridger every other day like in the show.
The show depicts a Mormon militia attack on the U.S. troops. Did such an event ever take place?
Johnson • No, definitely not.
What about his physical appearance?
Johnson • The actor [Kim Coates] was quite a bit older than Young would have been at the time.
Turner • His hair was sandy red, not the dark brown shown.
He gives a few fiery speeches in the series. Did those ring authentic to you?
Turner • Historians in recent years have published some of those sermons. There’s one from August 1857 that is super bellicose. This also was during the reformation in Utah that began in 1856. So everything was already at a religious fever pitch in the territory and the Utah War added this additional layer of anxiety.
Johnson • You did have fiery speeches and some violent imagery during that time. But I’ve heard a lot of Brigham Young sermons and in the show he just sounded like someone’s classic ideas of what a 19th-century preacher would have sounded like.
The Young in the show just didn’t feel that compelling to me. Which leads me to wonder, why is anyone following him?
