Primary Documents

The committee’s case rests on a small number of primary documents. The list below is ordered by what fraction of our argument would survive if the document were discredited.

1. The Palisade Photographs (1844) — three daguerreotypes, two authenticated. See Evidence File 001.
2. The Carthage Jailhouse Deposition (1844) — surviving 26 of 38 pages. See Evidence File 003.
3. The Joseph Smith Ledger, Page 47 (1842) — first transcribed 1862, re-transcribed 1889, two independent transcriptions agree. See Evidence File 002.
4. The Oliver Cowdery Private Diary (1829–1848) — recovered 1987, held in committee archive.
5. The Brigham Young Correspondence (1852) — MS 3421, fol. 88, Church History Library.
6. The USGS 1971 Radiometric Survey — leaked 1972 memo + committee FOIA counsel active.
7. The 1986 BYU Master’s Thesis — sealed; copy held in committee archive. See Evidence File 006.
8. The RIT-AUVAN Account (1843) — see Evidence File 004.

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