Massacre Rocks: A Campaign of Deception

This is the untold story of domestic terrorism in the mid-1800s. Idaho's Massacre Rocks State Park is a crime scene, and the identity of the killers of emigrants along this section of the Oregon Trail has been successfully suppressed since 1862. The truth has been shrouded by a well-orchestrated propaganda campaign. Even some modern-day historians have played a pivotal role in hiding what really happened. A leader of a small band of Shoshoni who the locals called "Pocatello" was made the scapegoat for the killings of countless emigrants along the Oregon Trail, and the real killers escaped justice. Organized propaganda successfully steered the federal response that ended with the massacre of innocent Northern Shoshonis at Bear River in 1863. It was the worst massacre of Native Americans in this country's history. In addition to revealing inaccurate historical accounts, this book delves into current use of "redface" at pioneer celebrations and Indian-themed mascots in several Idaho high schools. Pocatello, Idaho, has a distinct connection to the history of terrorism at Massacre Rocks. The Pocatello community has only recently agreed to discontinue the use of the "Indians" mascot at Pocatello High School, but the true history of Pocatello's innocence is yet to be told. This book traces the influence the Mormon Church had on the common understanding of events that occurred in central Utah and southeast Idaho, from the mid-1800s to today. The Mountain Meadows massacre on September 11, 1857, where Mormons dressed as Indians and slaughtered 120 emigrants, was only the beginning. This book shows how modern-day domestic terrorist groups use eerily similar tactics as those used in the 1800s, for similar reasons. Like the misdirected response to the terror campaign along the Oregon Trail, the federal response to modern-day white supremacists has long been delayed. The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol Building is one recent example. The FBI only recently identified white nationalists as a domestic terror threat. Lessons from the past as exposed in this book can help guide the proper response to today's domestic terrorists, or the consequences can be as horrific as they were at the Bear River Massacre of 1863.