"Utah officials were more than happy to accept the apologies of the Illinois Legislature when it passed a resolution five years ago expressing regret for the way its citizens ran the Mormons out in the 1840s after the murder of church prophet Joseph Smith.

But state officials aren't so quick to make a similar gesture to American Indians who were driven from their homes and massacred after the Mormons settled into the territory, which eventually became Utah.

Rep. Mark Wheatley, D-Murray, introduced a resolution in this year's legislative session expressing regrets for, among other incidents, the 1863 Bear River massacre, in which more than 400 American Indians were killed. But Wheatley encountered resistance, mostly from Republicans, who questioned the historical accuracy of the resolution's accounts.

Wheatley decided to pull the resolution and send it to a study committee for a year-long review. "

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Paul Rolly: Apology for 1863 massacre is killed (The Salt Lake Tribune 2/18)