The Salamander Letter was a document created by Mark Hofmann in the early 1980s.
The letter was one of hundreds of documents concerning the history of Latter Day Saint movement that surfaced in the early 1980s. The Salamander Letter presented a view of Latter Day Saint founder Joseph Smith's life that stood sharply at odds with the commonly accepted version of the early progression of the church Smith established.
Accepted by some document experts and collectors, and rejected by others,[1] the Salamander Letter generated much discussion and debate inside and outside the Latter Day Saint movement. Kenneth W. Rendell lent credence to it by stating that the ink, paper and postmark were all consistent with the period; he concluded, "[T]here is no indication that the document is a forgery."[2] The document was later demonstrated to be a forgery created by Hofmann, who had been responsible for the "discovery" of many other notable documents. Rendell then recast his conclusion, stating that while there was "the absence of any indication of forgery in the letter itself, there was also no evidence that it was genuine."[3]
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The contents of the letter implied a magical aspect to Smith's life, a controversial subject debated amongst scholars of Latter Day Saint history. The Salamander Letter was supposedly "written" by Martin Harris to William Wines Phelps, an early convert in the Latter Day Saint movement. Harris served for a short period of time as scribe for the translation of the golden plates, and assisting in the financing of the first printing of the Book of Mormon. A statement by Harris appears in the front of the Book of Mormon concerning his involvement in its translation.
The letter presented a version of the recovery of the golden plates which contrasted with the "orthodox" version of events as related by Joseph Smith and the Latter Day Saint movement, which would have, if true, confirmed some controversial aspects of Smith's life. Smith had been accused of "treasure digging" and use of a "seer stone".
According to this letter, when Smith dug up the plates a "salamander" appeared, which transformed itself into a spirit that refused to give Smith the plates unless his brother Alvin Smith was also present. This would have been very difficult, as Alvin was dead at the time of the alleged appearance. This reference may have been an attempt by Hofmann to associate the recovery of the gold plates to a rumor that Alvin's grave was dug up by Smith's family to use Alvin's remains in a magical ceremony.
Hofmann's use of a salamander drew upon legends about certain animals having supernatural powers. Hofmann may have been inspired by an early anti-Mormon work Mormonism Unvailed (sic) (1834), which claimed that a toad-like animal was rumored to have appeared to Smith in conjunction with the recovery of the plates.
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The letter was deemed authentic by experienced document examiners, a testimony to Hofmann's superior forgery techniques. The letter also seemed to support the opinions of Reed Durham, D. Michael Quinn and others regarding "magical" aspects of Smith's religious experiences.[4] Hofmann's disenchantment with the LDS Church may have played a role in his selection of subject matter to forge. The more sensational and controversial the subject, the higher its potential market value, but in addition, the content would act to cast suspicion on the Latter Day Saint origins, relieving Hofmann of some burden of his then failing faith.
The letter was initially offered to Don Schmidt of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) Church Historical Department on January 3, 1984, by Lyn Jacobs, who wanted to trade it for a $10 Mormon gold piece. Jacobs told Schmidt that he got the letter from a collector in the east, referred by Mark Hofmann. Later that day Jacobs also met with Gordon Hinckley, who said; "I don't really know if we [the LDS Church] want it." Jacobs changed his offer to a trade for a copy of A Book of Commandments. This offer was also rejected. Jacobs also suggested that Brent Ashworth might have an interest in it, although Hofmann had already showed a transcript of it to him and he had declared it to be fake. The contents of the letter also seemed too similar to Howe's Mormonism Unvailed (sic) to others in the church Historical Department. This was communicated to Hinckley who decided not to recommend to the First Presidency that the Church purchase it. The letter was also offered to other interested parties, including prominent critics of the Mormonism Jerrald and Sandra Tanner, who also expressed doubts as to its authenticity. A deal with the LDS Church was never reached. Hofmann finally sold the letter to Steven F. Christensen on January 6, 1984 for $40,000. Christensen wanted to try to authenticate it and then donate it to the LDS Church. A year later, Hinckley's doubts about it were still clear. In a Church news release on April 28, 1985 he stated; “No one, of course, can be certain that Martin Harris wrote the document. However, at this point we accept the judgment of the examiner that there is no indication that it is a forgery. This does not preclude the possibility that it may have been forged at a time when the Church had many enemies.”
The LDS church publicly released the contents of the Salamander Letter in April 1985.[5] At about this same time, the church also released a letter to its high school seminary program, suggesting that seminary teachers not encourage debate about the Salamander Letter, but that they should tactfully answer genuine questions on the subject. FARMS (a research group composed of LDS scholars, but which at the time had no formal connection to the LDS church) published several articles which examined the Salamander Letter, such as "Why Might a Person in 1830 Connect an Angel With a Salamander?"[6]
Hofmann drew suspicion for discovering so many astounding documents that others had missed, including the so-called "Oath of a Freeman", which he was attempting to sell to the Library of Congress.
Jerald and Sandra Tanner (Salt Lake City residents who left the LDS church after coming to doubt the legitimacy of the church's claims) were suspicious of Hofmann's Salamander Letter. Though Hofmann's "discoveries" of important Mormon documents often appeared to bolster the Tanners' own arguments, Jerald had, by early 1984, concluded there was significant doubt as to the Salamander Letter's authenticity, and "to the astonishment of a community of scholars, historians and students, published an attack on the so-called Salamander Letter."[7] By late 1984, Jerald Tanner questioned the authenticity of most if not all of Hofmann's "discoveries" based in large part of their unproven provenance. The Tanners did concur with Hofmann in contending that the LDS church's apparent inability to discern the forged documents was evidence against church leadership being divinely inspired. John Tvedtnes, an LDS scholar, responded with Joseph Smith's statement that "a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such," and that purchasing historical materials is a business activity rather than a prophetic undertaking.[8] It is also asserted that the LDS leaders don't claim infallibility and that the Church's efforts to obtain and archive historically significant material extends to works even by anti-Mormon authors.
Hofmann was struggling under massive debt and falling behind on delivering on deals that he had made. In 1985, when he learned that the pedigree of the Salamander Letter was under widespread suspicion, he produced and sent a number of bombs as a diversionary tactic. Two people were killed: Christensen, the main target; and Kathleen Sheets. Hofmann himself was subsequently injured when a third bomb went off prematurely in his car. The police investigated this wave of destruction, and during a search of Hofmann's home found a studio in the basement where he could create counterfeited documents as well as a machine gun which had been converted to full automatic fire. This was later used as the basis for a federal indictment. Many of the documents Hofmann sold or donated were proven to be forgeries by a new forensic technique developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, chiefly to detect his forgeries. Salt Lake City Police Department forensic examiner George Throckmorton and Arizona document examiner William Flynn were the investigators who determined the letter was a forgery. They examined a poem supposedly written by Harris and placed in his old Book of Common Prayer and determined it had actually been created by Hofmann. Hofmann used the poem to authenticate the writing in the salamander letter. Although this was enough proof by itself that the letter was a forgery, Throckmorton and Flynn bolstered their case by getting in touch with Frances Magee, the widow of a descendant of Robert Harris. Magee's family had owned the book for many years, and Magee told investigators that she'd never seen the poem before. She suspected someone had planted it there after she sold the book. [9]
Church leaders, especially Gordon B. Hinckley, continued to field criticism for some time for "being duped" and being "unable to discern the evil intentions of a man like Hofmann". Hinckley later noted: "I accepted him to come into my office on a basis of trust.... I frankly admit that Hofmann tricked us. He also tricked experts from New York to Utah, however.... I am not ashamed to admit that we were victimized. It is not the first time the Church has found itself in such a position. Joseph Smith was victimized again and again. The Savior was victimized. I am sorry to say that sometimes it happens."[10]
Over twenty years later, effects of the letter still linger. The letter was referenced in research by both Mormons and critics of the Mormonism alike. Resulting publications that include conclusions based on the presumption that letter was authentic are still available and may influence the opinions of those seeking information on "deep Mormon doctrine" or evidence to support a naturalistic or magical historical view of Mormonism or Joseph Smith. In addition, Hofmann produced and sold several other documents relating to significant events in Latter Day Saint history which were fake. (see Mark Hofmann)
Grant Palmer, author of the book An Insider's View of Mormon Origins stated that his work was influenced in part by his original acceptance of the Salamander Letter as being valid and supportive of his view.[11] Palmer states that the "salamander letter" caused him to explore Joseph Smith's "mystical mindset".[12]
The Salamander Letter also influenced the content of the film The God Makers II, an alleged exposé of Mormonism. The film suggests that Joseph Smith was required to dig up his brother Alvin’s body and bring a part of it with him to the hill Cumorah in order to obtain the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was said to be translated.[13] Jerald and Sandra Tanner refuted this suggestion, and determined that the only known source of such a requirement would have been the Salamander Letter.[14]
The episode "The Saint" from the third season of Law and Order: Criminal Intent was based on the Salamander Letter case. In the episode, authenticator James Bennett (played by Stephen Colbert) forges several documents in an attempt to ruin the Brother Jerome foundation, named for a religious figure being considered for canonization. To conceal his forgery, Bennett murders an elderly woman with an exploding, lye-filled balloon.[15]
The episode "Hollywood A.D.," from the seventh season of The X-Files, was also based on the Salamander Letter case.
The radio play The Salamander Letter written by Dylan Ritson and directed by Ned Chaillet was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 15 January 2005.[16]
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