Netflix has just dropped the Western saga 'American Primeval', starring big names like Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, and Kim Coates. This six-part series transports viewers back to 1857. The show's blurb sets the scene: "Up is down, pain is everywhere, and innocence and tranquility are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace - even fewer know compassion.
"There's no safe haven in these wild lands, and only one goal matters: survival.". While 'American Primeval' isn't a retelling of an actual event, it paints a vivid picture of the real challenges faced during that era. One of the chilling incidents from that time was the Mountain Meadows Massacre in September 1857, a brutal chapter of the Utah War which saw over 120 members of the BakerFancher emigrant wagon train slaughtered, reports the Mirror US.
The perpetrators were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints alongside the Utah Territorial Militia. The victims were largely Arkansas families en route to California via the Old Spanish Trail. This atrocity was fuelled by escalating tensions between Mormon honcho Brigham Young and the US government.
Initially, when the Mormons settled in what is now Salt Lake City in 1847, they were on Mexican soil, but the territory was seized by the United States following the Mexican-American War. Experts point to a complex interplay of factors that led to the attacks, including widespread hysteria about a potential invasion of Mormon territory.
