(rough cut) The Story of the Battle of Fort Utah - the massacre on the Provo River

[@crazysarge9765]

This doc is excellent. More media needs to be produced about this massacre.

[@utahwimmers]

What a great story. I only knew a bit about Fort Utah previously. This is some great work that you have done. I also am questionable of Brigham Young not wanting the settling of the Provo area but unfortunately sometimes the only records that we have for that are the Mormon Church's own records.

[@GreatBasinCarShops]

I don't see any reason to doubt the primary source records. Later compilations and secondary records of course should be questioned. Brigham did try to keep the peace with the Utes very early on including the order that permanent settlements not be built in the Utah Valley, and Captain Stansbury, a staunch opponent to Brigham and anti-Mormon, wrote in his official report of Brigham's hesitance to send help once news of the impending conflict reached Salt Lake City. Stansbury recorded that he himself told Brigham that eradication of the Timponogos people was the only route and provided men, weapons and provisions from his military encampment to settle the matter; I personally wonder if this event would have happened had the United States Military not been present; certainly the outnumbered Mormon settlers would have been more hesitant to continue escalation without its backing. This is not to say that Brigham was wholly innocent, because that would be a lie, but he was stuck between a rock and a hard place with an aggressive United States government on one side, relations with the natives on the other, and the best interests of his people in the center, and with our omniscient hindsight he obviously made the wrong choice. As a side note, I learned about a year and a half of cutting this version of the interviews that the Timponogos band prefers to be identified with the Shoshone peoples, rather than the Ute. Unfortunately it is difficult to edit film to update with newer information.

[@lynnbernhard9195]

This documentary is excellent. The interview with Forrest ,Such ofe awesome. Perhaps he can be given a video of his own about how Utah valley was part of Ute life for time immemorial.

[@kernhuerta9225]

I came here because I had a supernatural experience close to the mouth of the Provo river.