ACROSS THE DESERT 105 



from government officers, using the Tuba City 

 oasis as his chief rendezvous. It was during the 

 period following the massacre that he estab- 

 lished Lee's Ferry across the Colorado River, 

 at the head of Marble Canon, and blazed the 

 southern trail over which John and I were 

 traveling. 



There was a long-drawn-out controversy as 

 to the extent of the responsibility of the Mor- 

 mon church in the massacre. The church then 

 did and ever since has denied all connection 

 with it, and denies also that Lee, or those asso- 

 ciated with him, acted with the authority, con- 

 sent, or knowledge of the church officials. In 

 those days there were many adherents of the 

 Mormon church, however, who were fanatics 

 in a high degree, and possessed of a species of 

 religious frenzy that led them to the belief that 

 to kill a Gentile was to do the work of God and 

 to take forcible possession of a Gentile's prop- 

 erty and apply it to the work of the church 

 was to win special favor in the Lord's sight. 



It was this same species of religious frenzy 

 which led to the massacre of St. Bartholomew's 

 Eve; to the sacrifice of our early martyrs; to 

 the putting to death of supposed witches; to all 

 the terrible deeds that have been committed in 

 the name of religion since the world began. 



