Brigham's Destroying Angel

William A. Hickman's book is a nineteenth-century exposé portraying the Latter-day Saint movement as secretive, violent, and politically coercive.

Hickman presents himself as an insider familiar with church leaders and frontier conflicts.

Scott Woodward notes that later writers borrowed heavily from it when attributing violent deeds to Porter Rockwell.

Because the work is polemical and its claims are difficult to corroborate, historians treat it cautiously.

Nevertheless, it played an important role in creating the enduring image of Rockwell as a Mormon avenger.