Church Seeks National Historic Landmark Designation for MMM holdings

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting, and the LDS newsroom has confirmed, that the LDS Church will seek National Historic Landmark designation for the church’s holdings at the Mountain Meadows Massacre site.  A longer AP news article is available here. 

This action is in response to a request from three organizations, the Mountain Meadows Association, the Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants, and the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation (MMMF).

The LDS Newsroom quotes Elder Marlin Jensen as saying, “A National Historic Landmark designation, along with the continued efforts of the Church and descendants groups, will ensure that those who died at Mountain Meadows will always be remembered as part of our nation’s history.”

The decision represents a reversal of the church’s position announced last June, when the church denied the MMMF’s request. 

The last year has been a fascinating period of time regarding commemoration of the massacre, with Richard Turley’s Ensign article on the massacre, the LDS Church’s participation in the MMM memorial services last September (which included an expression of “profound regret for the massacre” by then-Elder Henry B. Eyring), and the pending publication of a MMM history by Richard Turley, Ron Walker, and Glen Leonard.