According to a published account attributed to the Deseret News, two statues—one of Joseph Smith and one of Hyrum Smith—were completed around 1907 by sculptor Mahonri M. Young, the grandson of Brigham Young.

These were not symbolic likenesses.

The faces were modeled from the actual death masks of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

The statues were specifically fitted for two niches beside the east doors of the Salt Lake Temple—the primary ceremonial entrance where members ascended stairs and entered to receive their endowment.

The stated purpose was explicit:

“These statues were placed as a reminder to those entering the temple of the oath they had entered into.”

This matters.

The connection between temple entry and temple oath was not implied—it was intentional.

The Oath of Vengeance

The oath was added to the temple endowment in 1845, during the Nauvoo period, under the direction of Brigham Young, shortly after the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage Jail.

The wording, as remembered and testified to repeatedly, required participants to covenant:

“That you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.”

“The prophets” referred to Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

“This nation” referred to the United States.

The oath entered the endowment at a time when many Latter-day Saints openly hoped for retribution.

Prayer… or Personal Action?

Some later defenders claimed the oath required only prayer for divine justice.

But historical records show that not all leaders understood it that way.

During testimony related to the U.S. Senate investigation of Apostle Reed Smoot, former members and leaders stated under oath that the covenant was understood to include personal obligation if opportunity arose.

John D. Lee, later executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, wrote in his confession:

“I believed then as I do now, that it was the will of every true Mormon in Utah, at that time, that the enemies of the Church should be killed as fast as possible… the killing of all of them would be keeping our oaths and avenging the blood of the Prophets.”

Lee was executed by firing squad—a method long associated with blood atonement theology in Utah.

Blood Atonement and Sacred Violence

The oath of vengeance did not exist in isolation.

Early LDS leaders—including Brigham Young—frequently taught that certain sins required the shedding of blood for atonement, echoing language found in LDS scripture about blood “crying from the ground.”

This theology created a culture where:

  • Violence could be framed as obedience
  • Loyalty could be measured by willingness to act
  • Sacred covenants blurred into political hostility

The oath, blood atonement rhetoric, Danite enforcement, and real-world violence all overlapped in time.

Removal Without Explanation

The statues remained at the east doors only a few years.

In June 1911, they were quietly removed and relocated to the west side of what is now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Later:

  • The grand east staircase was removed
  • The entrance was leveled
  • The once-symbolic threshold became a wedding photo backdrop

No announcement.

No explanation.

No acknowledgment that the symbolism ever existed.

Beginning in 1919, church leadership initiated revisions to the endowment ceremony. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Oath of Vengeance was eliminated entirely.

Most members were never told it had existed.

A Biblical Contrast

Scripture presents a very different picture:

  • God alone avenges blood (Deut. 32:35)
  • Messiah teaches forgiveness, not generational vengeance
  • The New Jerusalem descends from heaven—it is not built by men
  • And in that city:

“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

— Revelation 21:22

The final dwelling of God does not require oaths, threats, or reminders carved in stone.

God Himself dwells with His people.

Why This Still Matters

This history is uncomfortable—not because it is false, but because it is true and largely forgotten.

Stone once preached a message that words alone could not.

And when that message became too visible, the stone was moved.

Truth does not fear examination.

But it does require honesty.