I just received word that the next issue (47:2) of BYU Studies “will be a special issue of important documents about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, some never before seen.” Guest edited by Rick Turley and Ron Walker, this volume of documents includes “affidavits and interviews” used by the authors for their forthcoming Massacre at Mountain Meadows: An American Tragedy (see BCC review here).

The documents will be produced in “full-color plates and meticulous facing transcriptions,” and will also include “a detailed introduction explains the origins and significance of this trove of documents.” Turley and Walker will also share insight concerning their experience in researching and writing the book.

Other features to be included in the volume:

• “biographical sketches . . . [of] the people behind these documents, some of whom were personally involved in the massacre.”
• Book review of Shannon A. Novak’s House of Mourning: A Biocultural History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre by Joel C. Janetski (reviewed at the Juvenile Instructor by Jared T. here).
• Book review of Walker, Turley, and Leonard’s Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Brian Cannon.

I don’t know whether all new (previously unavailable or unknown) documents used by the authors of the new MMM book will be included or not. I do applaud the effort to make these documents available to other researchers and interested individuals. The biographical register should also be helpful, and it will be interesting to see what kind of review Janetski and Cannon give each book.