This is one of my favorite portions of the book, because almost any guy would be up for discussion of guns and rifles. This business of weaponry has been the focus of my career, working as I do for the organization formerly known as the Department of War.
John Taylor is my ancestor. He shared my interest in math, geometry, and warfare. Shortly after Joseph Smith was killed, John Taylor calculated the location from which a shooter could have shot Hyrum in the back, the shot that appears to have killed him. Taylor did the trigonometry to determine that the shooter was located 100 yards to the east of the jail in order for the ball to clear the lower sill of the window and hit Hyrum in the back as Hyrum was helping block the door to the upper sitting room, the door throughwhich the mob was attempting to attack. I’ve replicated that trigonometry, taking into account the small amount gravity would have pulled the ball down from a straight trajectory.
The thing is that I also believe the account that the Carthage Greys had no ammunition in their guns. But I hypothesize that there was another shooter about 100 yards from Carthage Jail, positioned so that his rifle was on a rest. The fellow and his friends bragged he was the killer, so I’m just taking them at their word.
The report of a light shining across Joseph’s fallen body suggests that the shooter was using a mirror reflecting the setting sun (approximately 20 degrees above the horizon at that time) to enhance accuracy.
It is also interesting that the shot was not exactly from the east. Had the shooter been positioned exactly to the east, the light from the setting sun would have been blinding. Instead, the angle from the window to the door indicates the shooter must have been positioned slightly to the south of due east.
There is no longer a clear shot possible, since a tree has been planted outside the jail that blocks the line of site out the window from the door where Hyrum was positioned.
I was amused by the way at least one account attempts to reconcile the reported facts. This account suggests Hyrum was shot in the face, then turned around and was shot from the back via the door. But this doesn’t align with the time it would have taken for the men at the door to reload their muskets. And it entirely discounts John Taylor’s account. Even though John was wrong to decide the Carthage Greys were responsible, it strains credulity that he could have remained certain that the ball came from the east if he’d seen Hyrum pivot.
I don’t much care what exactly happened, since all the victims and perpetrators are long dead. But I do care that hypotheses agree with known facts.
As I hope will be true going forward, this video goes live at 6p tonight.