Netflix’s dark western American Primeval is inspired by the true story of a brutal massacre

• Netflix’s American Primeval is inspired by the true story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

• The massacre is depicted in Episode 1 and is the inciting incident for the main characters’ journey.

• The real tragedy occurred in Utah in 1857. 120 people were murdered.

Netflix’s gritty new Western series American Primeval draws inspiration from a real-life American tragedy and depicts the harsh landscape of the 19th century West.

The six-episode limited series, released Thursday, focuses on the clashes between Native Americans, Mormons, westward settlers and the U.S. government from the perspective of two people who experience the conflicts in real time: Sara (Betty Gilpin ), a mother who moves west with her son and Isaac (Taylor Kitsch), a mountain man raised by the Shoshone tribe who is tasked with transporting them there safely.

While Sara and Isaac are fictional characters, many events in American Primeval are rooted in history. Case in point: The bloody massacre in the first episode is a dramatization of a real-life incident that occurred in Utah.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 claimed the lives of 120 men, women and children in southern Utah

In September 1857, emigrants traveling from Arkansas to California were attacked and murdered on a wagon trail by about 50 or 60 local Mormon militiamen assisted by Paiute Indians in Mountain Meadows, Utah. Seventeen children who were 6 years old or younger were spared.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre arose from a feud between Latter-day Saints (more commonly referred to as Mormons) and the American government, which later became known as the Utah War.

The Mormons, led by Brigham Young, feared being attacked by U.S. troops and driven out of the country, so they formed their own army called the Nauvoo Legion.

Although several people were involved in the massacre and subsequent cover-up, John Doyle Lee, a major in the militia, was the only person to face severe punishment.

Lee and Isaac Haight, who was also involved in the tragedy, were excommunicated from the church in 1870. Lee was later convicted and executed for his role in the massacre. He was sentenced to death by firing squad and executed at the site of the massacre in 1877.

In “American Primeval,” the massacre is the inciting incident that drives the plot forward

In the first episode, Gilpin’s character Sara Rowell struggles to protect herself and her son Devin (Preston Mota) when the group they are traveling with is attacked by Mormon soldiers disguised as Indians. Sara and Devin are about to be killed, but they are saved by Isaac, who hides them in the forest and helps them escape on horseback.

The brutality of the scene, which also shows a man being partially scalped, sets the stage for the rest of the season and is an important part of the season’s narrative.

“The Mountain Meadows massacre actually happened… and it became, for our storytelling purposes, an inciting conflict for our characters,” executive producer Eric Newman told Tudum, Netflix’s editorial site.

Sara, Devin and Isaac are persistently pursued by the Mormon soldiers who want to cover up their involvement in the attack.

“It was controlled by the Nauvoo Legion, but we have to understand that they perceived it as a threat,” added writer and executive producer Mark L. Smith. “They came to defend their world. It’s just another step – a very violent step – in the efforts they’ve made.”

“American Primeval” is now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider