1838 Mormon War

Armed conflicts in Missouri, US Mormon War (disambiguation)Mormon War October 2019 February 2012 1838 Mormon War infobox 2/1/2 250 Charge of the Danites.jpg The Battle of Crooked River by C.C.A. Christensen.png Haun's Mill by C.C.A. Christensen.png Liberty Jail by C.C.A. Christensen.png Crossing the Mississippi on the Ice by C.C.A. Christensen.pngOrdered left-to-right, top-to-bottom: Gallatin election brawl Battle of Crooked River Hawn's Mill massacre Liberty Jail Mormons leave Missouri August 6, 1838 – November 1, 1838 Carroll, Daviess and Caldwell counties in Missouri, U.S. Anti-Mormon victory Missouri Executive Order 44 Anti-Mormon vigilantes Missouri (after the Battle of Crooked River) Mormons Missouri (before the Daviess County Expedition) Samuel Bogart Thomas Jennings Missouri John Bullock Clark George M. Hinkle David W. Patten Missouri David Rice Atchison Missouri Alexander W. Doniphan 1 killed ~100 displaced 21 killed (including 17 at Haun's Mill massacre) ~10,000 displaced The 1838 Mormon War (or Missouri Mormon War) was a period of civil unrest in northern Missouri during the summer and fall of 1838, beginning with local vigilante clashes, and concluding with the state-mandated expulsion or extermination of Mormons (Latter Day Saints) from the state. Tensions originated in 1831 when, driven by revelations to "gather," Mormons established a settlement in Jackson County, Missouri, while maintaining their main headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio. Local mobs violently expelled them from Jackson County two years later. Seeking a permanent compromise, the Missouri legislature created Caldwell County in 1836, intending to confine Mormon settlement. However, the 1837 collapse of the Ohio headquarters triggered a wave of migration to the region, reigniting local anxieties over Mormon political and economic expansion. A brawl erupted on August 6 when a crowd blocked Mormons from voting in Gallatin. In September, anti-Mormon vigilantes besieged the Mormon town of De Witt. Governor Lilburn Boggs refused to intervene, declaring the quarrel was "between the Mormons and the mob." Following the fall of De Witt, the vigilantes marched into Daviess County to continue their campaign. Left to their own defense, Mormons mobilized their state-commissioned militia and the Danite network to launch retaliatory raids. Following the Battle of Crooked River, Boggs declared the Mormons in open rebellion and issued Missouri Executive Order 44, mandating their expulsion or extermination. Days later, a rogue militia massacred 17 unarmed Mormons at Hawn's Mill. Mormons surrendered at Far West on November 1. Although a court-martial sentenced Mormon founder Joseph Smith and others to execution by firing squad for treason, Brigadier General Alexander Doniphan defied the command, denouncing it as "cold-blooded murder." Smith was instead imprisoned in Liberty Jail until guards allowed his escape in April 1839, joining 10,000 displaced Mormons seeking refuge in Illinois. Background Timeline of the 1838 Mormon War 1831 1833 (Jackson County) 1838 (Northwestern Missouri) January Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Frederick G. Williams, and other Mormon missionaries arrive in Missouri June Mormons begin settling Kaw Township in Jackson County, Missouri August Temple Lot dedicated in Independence, MissouriJuly 20th: Evening and Morning Star press (Mormon publication) is destroyed in Jackson County November 1st: Mormon storehouse in Independence sacked. 4th: Battle near the Blue River (3 casualties); Mormons surrender and are expelled from Jackson County. January Church of Christ headquarters relocated from Kirtland, Ohio, to Far West, Missouri in Caldwell County. June 17th: Salt Sermon; excommunicated Mormon leaders are expelled from Far West by Danites. July 4th: Sidney Rigdon's July 4th oration. August 6th: Election day battle at Gallatin (start of the war). October 1st: Siege of DeWitt. Mormons evacuate the town on the 11th. 16th: Daviess County expedition. 23th: Samuel Bogart's state militia unit patrols Bunkham's Strip; takes 3 Mormon prisoners. 24th: Battle of Crooked River (4 casualties). 27th: Missouri Executive Order 44 issued, ordering the "extermination" or expulsion of the Mormons from the state. 29th: Hawn's Mill massacre (17 deaths). 31st: Siege of Far West; Mormons surrender. See Aftermath Jackson County, 1831-1833 thumb|upright=1.2|Depiction of the Mormon printing press's destruction in Jackson County. Painting by C.C.A Christensen. In spring of 1830, Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon and founded the Church of Christ, a restorationist church. While Smith settled in Kirtland, Ohio, he sent some of his close associates to western Missouri to proselytize among Native Americans. After encountering some moderate success, Mormons began making permanent settlements in Jackson County, Missouri in 1831. In August 1831, Smith announced that Independence, Missouri and the surrounding area would become the "centerplace" of his planned "City of Zion", a gathering place within Mormon millennial theology. Mormon leadership in Missouri was instructed to make extensive land purchases in the area to be distributed to incoming members. Under the auspice of Mormon leaders in Kirtland, settlers trickled to the county during the following months. By 1833, Mormons numbered over a thousand, representing about a third and as much as half of the county's population.Which is it or across which years? September 2025 The Mormon settlers' religious, cultural, and political differences,Arrington Bitton 1979 49–50 economic cohesion,DeVoto 2000 84–85 their perceived affinity for neighboring Native American tribes,LeSueur 1990 10,17–21 and their divine claims to the land of "Zion" contributed to growing animosity. Most Latter Day Saint settlers were originally from New England and the Ohio Valley and, unlike their southern neighbors, generally opposed slavery.Bell 2017 77 Mormons were "northern people, who, on account of their declining to own slaves and their denunciation of the system of slavery, were termed ‘free soilers’"; Frampton 2014 182 The Mormons were generally "free-soilers" opposed to slavery. In July 1833, a local meeting was held by non-Mormon residents in Independence after an article titled "Free People of Color" was published in the Mormon newspaper, The Evening and Morning Star.Address from Jackson County citizens regarding the Mormons - July 20 1833 - Wikisource, the free online library https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Address_from_Jackson_County_citizens_regarding_the_Mormons_-_July_20_1833 2026-06-20 en.wikisource.org en The article's mention of the potential arrival of free black converts was particularly controversial.Wosnik 2017 38 They argued that the Mormons were already having a “corrupting influence on our slaves.” And despite the Mormons attempts to assuage the Missourians’ fears... [they] believed that the Mormons had made “an indirect invitation to the free brethren of color in Illinois, to come up, like the rest, to the land of Zion.” Attendees contended that the Mormons threatened civil society, and that local laws were insufficient to address the perceived dangers. They resolved to remove the Mormons, "peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must." The group then agreed to destroy the newspaper's printing press and demanded that Mormon leaders pledge to halt their activities and leave the county.Brodie 1971 192 When the Mormons refused, they then targeted and ransacked the Mormon storehouse in Independence. Mormon settlements in the outskirts of the city were increasingly harassed and raided throughout the summer and fall of 1833. By November 1833, vigilantes had forcefully expelled the Mormons from Jackson County. The expulsion from Jackson County informed the patterns of conflict between the Mormons and other Missouri residents over the course of the Mormon war.Hartley 2001 6–7 The expelled Mormons sought refuge in the neighboring counties, especially in Clay County. Lilburn Boggs, who would later be the Governor of Missouri during the 1838 war, was Lieutenant Governor and a Jackson County resident at the time. Mormon historian Richard Lloyd Anderson would later describe Boggs's role in the early upheavals: In 1833 Boggs passively saw community leaders and officials sign demands for Mormon withdrawal, and next force a gunbarrel contract to abandon the county before spring planting...anti-Mormon goals were reached in a few simple stages. Executive paralysis permitted terrorism, which forced Mormons to self-defense, which was immediately labeled as an "insurrection", and was put down by the activated militia of the county. Once Mormons were disarmed, mounted squads visited Mormon settlements with threats and enough beatings and destruction of homes to force flight.Anderson 1994 Caldwell Compromise, 1836–1838 Despite appeals and legal efforts, the non-Mormons in Jackson refused to allow the Mormons to return. Reimbursement for confiscated and damaged property was denied.Arrington Bitton 1979 45 Mormons refused to sell their lands in the county, hoping that the government would eventually help them reclaim them. In 1834, Mormons attempted to effect a return to Jackson County with a quasi-military expedition known as Zion's Camp, but this effort also failed when the governor did not provide the expected support.LeSueur 1990 19 Recognizing the need for a more permanent solution, Alexander William Doniphan of the Missouri legislature proposed the creation of a new county specifically for Mormon settlement. In 1836, the Missouri legislature passed a law establishing Caldwell County, with Far West as its seat. Mormons had already begun buying land in the proposed county, including areas that were carved off to become parts of Ray and Daviess Counties.Bushman 2007 344–345 The Mormons chose a site in the town of Far West to build a temple, which was never finished due to the war.1837-11-06 Far West, November 6, 1837 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minutes-6-november-1837/2 2025-01-15 www.josephsmithpapers.org This arrangement brought about a period of relative peace. According to an article in the Elders' Journal, a Latter Day Saint newspaper published in Far West: "the Saints here are at perfect peace with all the surrounding inhabitants, and persecution is not so much as once named among them..."Far West, May 1838 https://archive.org/details/eldersjournalkir01unse/page/34/mode/2up Elders' Journal of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1 3 34 John Corrill, one of the Mormon leaders, remembered:Friendship began to be restored between (the Mormons) and their neighbors, the old prejudices were fast dying away, and they were doing well, until the summer of 1838Corrill John https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofch00tayl/mode/2up A brief history of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons) 1839 John Corrill The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church History Library St. Louis 26 The Internet ArchiveIn 1837, problems centered on the Kirtland Safety Society bank at the church's headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio led to schism. The church relocated in January 1838 from Kirtland to Far West, Missouri, which became its new headquarters. Hundreds of Mormon settlers from Kirtland and elsewhere poured into Missouri. They established new colonies outside of Caldwell County, including Adam-ondi-Ahman in Daviess County and De Witt in Carroll County.LeSueur 1990 29–31 In the eyes of many non-Mormon citizens (including Alexander Doniphan),Doniphan 1881 these settlements outside of Caldwell County were a violation of the compromise. The Western Star Liberty, Missouri September 14, 1838 The Mormons . Reprinted by Dale R. Broadhurst at sidneyrigdon.com The Mormons felt that the compromise only excluded major settlements in Clay and Ray counties, as they already had substantial population centers, but not the recently colonized Daviess and Carroll.LeSueur 1990 25–26 The earlier settlers felt politically and economically threatened by the expanding Mormon communities outside of Caldwell County. Salt Sermon and Danites Salt Sermon Danite With the Kirtland-based presidency now in control of the Missouri church, a leadership struggle emerged between the Kirtland arrivals and the previously established Missouri church leadership. Many of the oldest and most prominent leaders of the church, including Oliver Cowdery (one of the Three Witnesses and the church's original "second elder"), David Whitmer (another of the Three Witnesses and Stake President of the Missouri Church), John Whitmer, and William W. Phelps, were excommunicated on allegations of misusing church property and finance amid tense relations between them and Smith.Marquardt 2005 463 ; Remini 2002 128; Quinn 1994 93; Bushman 2005 324, 346–348Cannon Cook 1983 162–171 These "dissenters", as they came to be called, owned a significant amount of land in Caldwell County, much of which they purchased when acting as agents of the church.Hamer 2004 xv–xvii Ownership became unclear and the dissenters threatened the church with lawsuits. The presidency responded by urging the dissenters to leave the county using strong words the dissenters interpreted as threats. In his famous Salt Sermon, Sidney Rigdon announced that the dissenters were as salt that had lost its savor and that it was the duty of the faithful to cast the dissenters out to be trodden beneath the feet of men.Van Wagoner 1994 218LeSueur 1990 37–43 At the same time, Sampson Avard led a group of Mormons to organize a vigilante body known as the Danites. They were named for the Israelite tribe of Dan which is described in Genesis 49:17 thus: "Dan will be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider tumbles backward." The group's purposes included obeying the church presidency "right or wrong" and expelling the dissenters from Caldwell County.Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 97–108 Two days after Rigdon's Salt Sermon, 80 prominent Mormons, including Hyrum Smith, signed the so-called Danite Manifesto, which warned the dissenters to "depart or a more fatal calamity shall befall you." On June 19, the dissenters and their families fled to neighboring counties where their complaints fanned anti-Mormon sentiment.Quinn 1994 94Baugh 2000 36–40 On July 4, Rigdon gave an oration characterized by Mormon historian Brigham Henry Roberts as a "'Declaration of Independence' from all mobs and persecutions".Roberts 1965 p. 440 The text of this speech was endorsed by Joseph Smith, who appeared at the event and participated in the raising of a liberty pole.Bushman 2007 355 In the speech, Rigdon declared that the Latter Day Saints would no longer be driven from their homes by persecution from without or dissension from within: "and at mob that comes on us to disturb us, it shall be between us and them a war of extermination; for we will follow them until the last drop of their blood is spilled; or else they will have to exterminate us, for we will carry the seat of war to their own houses and their own families, and one party or the other shall be utterly destroyed". Initial clashes Election Day Battle at Gallatin Newly-formed Daviess County, Missouri, held its first elections on August 6, 1838.Arrington Bitton 1979 51 William Peniston, a candidate for the state legislature, referred to the Mormons as "horse-thieves and robbers" and warned them not to vote in the election.Smith Rigdon Smith 1840 16–17Greene 1839 18–19 Reminding Daviess County residents of the growing electoral power of that community, Peniston claimed in a speech made in Gallatin that if the Missourians "suffer such men as these [Mormons] to vote, you will soon lose your suffrage." Around 200 non-Mormons gathered in Gallatin on election day to prevent them from voting.LeSueur 1990 55–64 When about thirty Mormons approached the polling place, a Missourian named Dick Weldon declared that in Clay County the Mormons had been allowed to vote "no more than the negroes". One of the Mormons present, Samuel Brown, claimed that the statement was false and then declared his intention to vote. This triggered a brawl between the bystanders. At the start of the brawl, Mormon John Butler let out a call, "Oh yes, you Danites, here is a job for us!" which rallied the Mormons and allowed them to drive off their opponents. The crowd dispersed and the Mormons returned to their homes. This skirmish is often cited as the first episode of serious violence of the Mormon War.Bushman 2007 357–358 Rumor among both parties held that the conflict resulted in casualties. However, when Joseph Smith rode with volunteers to Daviess County to assess the situation, he discovered there was no truth to this. Non-Mormons began to organize themselves into vigilance committees.September 8, 1838 Mormons https://www.newspapers.com/article/southern-advocate-mormons/163131099/ The Southern Advocate Column 2LeSueur 1990 70–71 When a rumor reached the Mormons that Judge Adam Black was gathering a mob near Millport, Joseph Smith sent Danite leaders Sampson Avrard, Cornelius Lott and Lyman Wight to his home. They surrounded it with one hundred armed men, including Smith's cousin George A. Smith.Dryden William August 28, 1838 The sworn statement of Adam Black, of Daviess County, Missouri https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/archives/resources/findingaids/miscMormRecs/rg005_01/B1F10_18380828.pdf typed transcript at https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/archives/resources/findingaids/fulltext/f10_f01.pdf They asked if this was true, demanding that he sign a document disavowing any connection to the vigilance committees. He refused but, after meeting with Smith, he wrote and signed a document stating that he "is not attached to any mob, nor will attach himself to any such people, and so long as they [the Mormons] will not molest me, I will not molest them."LeSueur 1990 65–67 The Mormons also visited Sheriff William Morgan and several other leading Daviess County citizens, forcing some of them to sign statements disavowing any ties to the vigilance committees as well. At a meeting at Lyman Wight's home between leading Mormons and non-Mormons, both sides agreed not to protect any law-breakers and to surrender all offenders to the authorities. With peace restored, Smith's group returned to Caldwell County. Black later swore an affidavit before the justice of the peace in Daviess county attesting to the treatment and threats he received from George Smith the other church members. On September 7, Smith and Lyman Wight appeared before Judge Austin A. King to answer the charges. Three Danite leaders testified convincingly in their defence. George Robinson asserted that evidence of wrongdoing was insufficient. However Judge King ordered Smith and Wight to stand trial in order to pacify the mob.LeSueur Stephen 1987 The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri https://catalog.archives.gov/ 2025-01-08 The Internet Archive University of Missouri Press Columbia Mormons expelled from De Witt In the spring of 1838, Henry Root, a non-Mormon and a major landowner in Carroll County, visited Far West and sold his plots in the mostly vacant town of De Witt to Mormons he had invited there. De Witt was strategically located near the confluence of the Grand and the Missouri Rivers. George M. Hinkle and John Murdock, members of the High Council at Far West, were sent to take possession of the town and to begin to colonize it.Baugh 2000 65 Carroll County ballot measure On July 30, citizens of Carroll County met in Carrollton to discuss this. The question of whether or not Mormons should be allowed to settle in the county was placed on the August 6 ballot; a heavy majority favored expulsion of the Mormons. A committee sent to De Witt ordered the Mormons to leave. The Mormon leaders refused, citing their right as American citizens to settle where they pleased.LeSueur 1990 54–58 Sentiment among the anti-Mormon segment of Carroll County's population hardened, and some began to take up arms. On August 19, 1838, Mormon settler Smith Humphrey reported that 100 armed men led by Colonel William Claude Jones took him prisoner for two hours and threatened him and the rest of the Mormon community.Johnson Clark V. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44419 Mormon redress petitions: documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 470 While Mormons were viewed as a fringe religious group, the sentiment reflected in the Southern Advocate questioned the legitimacy of the vigilante committees: By what color of propriety a portion of the people of the State, can organize themselves into a body, independent of the civil power, and contravene the general laws of the land by preventing the free enjoyment of the right of citizenship to another portion of the people, we are at a loss to comprehend.http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/MO/Miss1838.htm#083138 April 15, 2011 Southern Advocate September 1, 1838 The Mormons https://web.archive.org/web/20110515042529/http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/MO/Miss1838.htm May 15, 2011 dead Siege of De Witt As tensions built in Daviess County, other counties began to respond to Carroll County's request for assistance in expelling the Mormons from their midst. Citizens in Saline, Howard, Jackson, Chariton, Ray, and other nearby counties organized vigilance committees sympathetic to the Carroll County expulsion party. Some isolated Mormons in outlying areas also came under attack. In Livingston County, a group of armed men forced Asahel Lathrop from his home, where they held his family captive while they were sick. Lathrop wrote "I was com peled to leave my home my house was thronged with a company of armed men consisting of fourteen in number and they abusing my family in almost every form that Cret urs in the shape of human Beei ngs could invent."Johnson Clark V. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44204 Mormon redress petitions : documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 263 Lathrop, Asahel A. After more than a week, a company of armed Mormons assisted Lathrop in rescuing his wife and two of his children (one had died while prisoner). Lathrop's wife and remaining children died shortly after their rescue.Roberts B. H. https://archive.org/details/historyofchurcho04robe/page/66/mode/2up?view=theater History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1902 Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret News Harold B. Lee Library 65–66 On September 20, 1838, about one hundred fifty armed men rode into De Witt and demanded that the Mormons leave within ten days. Hinkle and other Mormon leaders informed the men that they would fight. They also sent a request for assistance to Governor Boggs, noting that the mob had threatened "to exterminate them, without regard to age or sex".LeSueur 1990 101–110 On October 1, vigilantes burned the home and stables of Smith Humphrey.Johnson Clark V. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44419 Mormon redress petitions: documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 470 Humphrey, Smith Later that day, the vigilantes sealed off the town. The besieged town resorted to butchering whatever loose livestock wandered into town in order to avoid starvation while waiting for the militia or the Governor to come to their aid. General Parks arrived with the Ray County militia on October 6, but his order to disperse was ignored. When his own troops threatened to join the attackers, Parks was forced to withdraw to Daviess County in hopes that the Governor would come to mediate. Parks wrote his superior, General David Rice Atchison, that "a word from his Excellency would have more power to quell this affair than a regiment."Perkins Keith W De Witt-Prelude to Expulsion Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint History: Missouri 1994 http://www.cumorah.org/libros/ingles/Regional_Studies_in_LDS_History_Missouri_-_Various_authors.html#29423 April 9, 2011August 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes On October 9, A. C. Caldwell returned to De Witt with the Governor's response: "the quarrel was between the Mormons and the mob" and they should fight it out. On October 11, Mormon leaders agreed to abandon the settlement and move to Caldwell County. On the first night of the march out of Carroll County two Mormon women died, one of exposure and the other, a woman named Jenson, in childbirth. Several children also became ill during the ordeal and died later. Daviess County violence thumb|upright=1.4|A map of Northwestern Missouri in 1838, showing points of conflict in the Mormon War Vigilante attacks In an October 16 letter, General Atchison relayed to Governor Lilburn Boggs that General Parks reported that "a portion of the men from Carroll County, with one piece of artillery, are on their march for Daviess County, where it is thought the same lawless game is to be played over, and the Mormons to be driven from that county and probably from Caldwell County." Atchison said further, "I would respectfully suggest to your Excellency the propriety of a visit to the scene of excitement in person, or at all events, a strong proclamation" as the only way to restore peace and the rule of law.Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 39 Boggs, however, ignored this plea as events unravelled. Meanwhile, a group of vigilantes from Clinton, Platte, and other counties began to harass Mormons in Daviess County, burning outlying homes and plundering property. Latter Day Saint refugees began to flee to Adam-ondi-Ahman for protection and shelter against the upcoming winter. As Joseph Smith returned to Far West in Caldwell County from De Witt in Carroll County to the west General Doniphan informed him of the deteriorating situation. Doniphan already had raised troops to prevent fighting between Mormons and those opposed to them in Daviess County. On Sunday, October 14, a small company of state militia under the command of Colonel William A. Dunn of Clay County arrived in Far West. Dunn, acting on Doniphan's orders, continued on to Adam-ondi-Ahman.Smith Rigdon Smith 1840 41–42Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 24 Although he was sympathetic to the Mormons' plight, Doniphan reminded the Latter Day Saints that their Caldwell County militia, led by church member Colonel George M. Hinkle, could not legally enter Daviess County. He advised Mormons traveling there to go in small parties and unarmed.Baugh 2000 85–87 Ignoring this counsel, Elias Higbee, a Mormon judge in Caldwell County, called on the Caldwell militia to defend church members' settlements in neighboring Daviess County.LeSueur 1990 131 They were joined by elements of the Danite vigilante organization. Mormon attacks On October 18, these two groups marched under arms in three groups to Daviess County. Lyman Wight attacked Millport, and David W. Patten attacked Gallatin, both of which had been evacuated before they arrived.LeSueur 1990 117–118 Seymour Brunson attacked Grindstone Fork, driving the unarmed Missourians from their homes to make their way to neighboring counties.https://books.google.com/books?id=XXokDwAAQBAJ My Best for the Kingdom: History and Autobiography of John Lowe Butler, a Mormon Frontiersman William G. Hartley April 18, 2017 69 C.L. Dalton Enterprises 9781365739682 Having taken control of the Missourian settlements, the Mormons plundered the property and burned the stores and houses. The county seat, Gallatin, was reported to have been "completely gutted" – only one shoe store remained unscathed.Missouri State Department https://archive.org/details/documentcontaini02miss/page/42/mode/2up?view=theater Correspondence, Orders, &C. in Relation to the Disturbances with the MORMONS 1841 Boon's Lick Democrat Fayette, Missouri 43–46 The Internet Archive Millport, Grindstone Fork and the smaller Missourian settlement of Splawn's Ridge were also plundered and had some houses burned.LeSueur 1990 117–124 The plundered goods were deposited in the Bishop's storehouse at Diahman.LeSueur 1990 120 During the days that followed, Mormon vigilantes under the direction of Lyman Wight drove Missourians who lived in outlying farms from their homes, which were similarly plundered and burned.Thorp 1924 91 According to one witness, "We could stand in our door and see houses burning every night for over two weeks... the Mormons completely gutted Daviess County. There was scarcely a Missourian's home left standing in the county. Nearly every one was burned."McGee 1909 13 The Missourians evicted from their homes were no better prepared than the Mormon refugees had been. After the stress of being expelled from Millport into the snow, Milford Donaho's wife gave birth prematurely, and the child was severely injured during the birth. Even Missourians who had been friendly to the Mormons were not spared. Jacob Stollings, a Gallatin merchant, was reported to have been generous in selling to Mormons on credit, but his store was plundered and burned with the rest. Judge Josiah Morin and Samuel McBrier, both considered friendly to the Mormons, both fled Daviess County after being threatened. McBrier's house was among those burned. When a Mormon band plundered and burned the Taylor home, one young Mormon, Benjamin F Johnson, argued his fellow vigilantes into leaving a horse for a pregnant Mrs Taylor and her children to ride to safety. Ironically, as a result of his kindness, he was the only Mormon who was positively identified to have participated in the home burnings. After several non-Mormons made statements to the authorities that Johnson had acted as a moderating influence on the Danites, he was allowed to escape rather than stand trial.LeSueur 1990 193–194 Many Latter Day Saints were greatly troubled by the occurrences. Mormon leader John Corrill wrote, "the love of pillage grew upon them very fast, for they plundered every kind of property they could get a hold of."Corrill John https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofch00tayl/mode/2up A brief history of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons) 1839 John Corril The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church History Library St. Louis 38 The Internet Archive Some Mormons claimed that some of the Missourians burned their own homes in order to blame the Mormons.Foote 25 None of these claims, however, purport to be eyewitness accounts. These claims are contradicted by the majority of both Missourian and Latter Day Saint testimony and also by the evidence of the looted property found in the possession of Latter Day Saints. Mormon leader Parley P Pratt conceded that some burnings had been done by Mormons.Bushman 2007 363–365,370–372 LeSueur estimates that Mormons were responsible for the burning of fifty homes or shops and the displacement of one hundred non-Mormon families. Millport, which at time was the largest settlement in the county and the center for trade, never recovered from the Mormon burnings, and became a ghost town.The Historical Record, Volumes 5-8 Andrew Jensen 1889 https://books.google.com/books?id=Is1LAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA732 732 Local citizens were outraged by the actions of the Danites and other Mormon bands. Several Mormon homes near Millport were burned and their inhabitants expelled into the snow. Agnes Smith, a sister-in-law of Joseph, was chased from her home with two small children when her home was burned.Johnson Clark V. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/43907 Mormon redress petitions : documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 666 With one child in each arm, she waded across an icy creek to safety in Adam-ondi-Ahman. Nathan Tanner reported that his militia company rescued another woman and three small children who were hiding in the bushes as their home burned. Other Mormons, fearing similar retribution by the Missourians, gathered into Adam-ondi-Ahman for protection. Thomas B. Marsh, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the church, and fellow Apostle Orson Hyde were alarmed by the events of the Daviess County expedition. On October 19, 1838, the day after Gallatin was burned, Thomas B. Marsh and fellow apostle Orson Hyde left the association of the Church.http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/2009/06/lds-history-october-14-1838.html LDS Church History: LDS History, October 14, 1838 On October 24, they swore out affidavits concerning the burning and looting in Daviess County. They also reported the existence of the Danite group among the Mormons and repeated a popular rumor that a group of Danites was planning to attack and burn Richmond and Liberty.Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 57–59New Page 2 http://www.tungate.com/TBMarsh.htm 2024-07-26 www.tungate.com Battle of Crooked River and Mormon Extermination order Battle of Crooked River Missouri Executive Order 44 thumb|upright=1.4|Map illustrating the Battle of Crooked River Fearing attack, many citizens of Ray County moved their wives and children across the Missouri River for safety. A militia under the command of Samuel Bogart was authorized by General Atchison to patrol the no-man's land between Ray and Caldwell Counties known as "Bunkham's Strip" – a territory 6 mi km east to west and 1 mi km on north to south.Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 108–110 Instead of staying in the strip, Bogart crossed into Caldwell County and began to disarm Mormons, reportedly threatening to attack Far West.LeSueur 1990 144 When rumors reached Far West that a mob had taken Mormons prisoner and were threatening to execute them, an armed party was quickly assembled to rescue these prisoners and drive the mob out of the county.Baugh 2000 102 When the Mormons arrived on the scene, the militia was camped along Crooked River in the Bunkham's Strip just south of Caldwell County. After a militia sentry shot at the crowd, the Mormons divided into three columns led by David W. Patten, Charles C. Rich, and James Durphee. The militia broke ranks and fled across the river. Although Mormons won the battle, they took heavier casualties than the militia, only one of whom, Moses Rowland, was killed. On the Mormon side, Gideon Carter was killed in the battle and nine other Mormons were wounded, including Patten, who soon after died from his wounds.LeSueur 1990 137–142 According to one Mormon witness, the deaths "threw a gloom over the whole place".Baugh 2000 108 News of the battle quickly spread and contributed to an all-out panic in northwestern Missouri. Exaggerated initial reports indicated that nearly all of Bogart's company had been killed.Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 60 Generals Atchison, Doniphon and Parks decided they needed to call out the militia to "prevent further violence". In a letter to US Army Colonel R. B. Mason of Ft. Leavenworth, they expressed: The citizens of Daviess, Carroll, and some other counties have raised mob after mob for the last two months for the purpose of driving a group of Mormons from those counties and from the State.LeSueur 1990 145 Missouri vigilantes continued to act on their own, driving Mormons inward to Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman.LeSueur 1990 147–149 Meanwhile, exaggerated reports from the Battle of Crooked River made their way to Missouri's governor, Lilburn Boggs. Boggs was considered more adversarial towards the Mormons than his predecessor, and, as Lieutenant Governor, had sided with the vigilantes who had expelled the Mormons from Jackson County in 1833.Lund Matthew 2012-05-01 The Vox Populi Is the Vox Dei: American Localism and the Mormon Expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1240/ All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023 10.26076/d96e-064b Boggs mustered 2,500 state militiamen to put down what he considered a Mormon insurrection against the state. Possibly playing on Rigdon's July 4 sermon that talked of a "war of extermination", Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44, also known as the "Extermination Order", on October 27, which stated that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace..."Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 61 The Extermination Order was officially rescinded on June 25, 1976, by Governor Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond. http://www.jwha.info/mmff/exorder.htm The Extermination Order and How it was Rescinded John Whitmer Historical Association 16 April 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110526042751/http://www.jwha.info/mmff/exorder.htm May 26, 2011 dead mdy-all http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/findingaids/miscMormRecs/eo/19760625_RescisOrder.pdf Governor Bond's Rescission order The Missouri Mormon War collection Missouri State Archives 16 April 2011 Hawn's Mill Massacre Hawn's Mill Massacre Agitation against the Latter Day Saints had become particularly fierce in the sparsely settled counties north and east of Caldwell County. Mormon dissenters from Daviess County who had fled to Livingston County reportedly told Livingston County militia under Colonel Thomas Jennings that Mormons were gathering at Hawn's Mill to mount a raid into Livingston County.LeSueur 1990 162–168 One 19th century Missouri historian noted: The Daviess County men were very bitter against the Mormons, and vowed the direst vengeance on the entire sect. It did not matter whether or not the Mormons at [Haun's] mill had taken any part in the disturbance which had occurred [in Daviess County]; it was enough that they were Mormons. The Livingston men became thoroughly imbued with the same spirit, and were eager for the raid ... feel[ing] an extraordinary sympathy for the outrages suffered by their neighborsBaugh 2000 115 Although it had just been issued, little evidence exists that the governor's "Extermination Order" had reached the attackers. None of the participants in the raid cited the order as justification for their actions.Baugh 2000 127 On October 29, this large vigilante band of about 250 men assembled and entered eastern Caldwell County. When the Missourian raiders approached the settlement on the afternoon of October 30, some 30 to 40 Latter Day Saint families were living or encamped there. Despite an attempt by the Mormons to parley, the mob attacked. Thomas McBride surrendered his rifle to Jacob Rogers, who shot McBride with his own gun. When McBride held out a hand, Rogers cut it off with a corn knife, then may have further mangled his body while McBride was still alive.Greene 1839 21–24 Other members of the mob opened fire, which sent the Mormons fleeing in all directions. thumb|Haun's Mill marker While Mormon women and children scattered and hid in the surrounding woods and nearby homes, Mormon men and boys rallied to defend the settlement. They moved into a blacksmith shop, which they hoped to use as a makeshift defensive fortification. However, the shop had large gaps between the logs which the Missourians shot into and, as one Mormon later recalled, it became more "slaughter-house rather than a shelter".Lee 1877 80 After firing at the shop for half an hour, some of the Missourians entered to kill the survivors. They found 10-year-old Sardius Smith hiding behind the bellows. William Reynolds of Livingston County shot and killed the boy, saying: "Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have become a Mormon" 17 were killed in total.Hartley 2001 6Arrington Bitton 1979 45 When survivors of the massacre reached Far West, the reports of the savagery of the attack played a significant part in the decision of the Mormons to surrender. No Missourians were ever prosecuted for their role in the Hawn's Mill Massacre. Siege of Far West and capture of Mormon leaders Most Mormons gathered to Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman for protection. Major General Samuel D. Lucas marched the state militia to Far West and laid siege to the Mormon headquarters on 1 November.LeSueur 1990 153–158 Surrounded by the state militia, Joseph Smith ordered Colonel George M. Hinkle, the head of the Mormon militia in Caldwell County, to ride out and meet with General Lucas to seek terms. According to Hinkle, Smith wanted a treaty with the Missourians "on any terms short of battle".Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 1920 13:449 Other Latter Day Saint witnesses remembered that Smith said to "beg like a dog for peace".Corrill John https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofch00tayl/mode/2up A brief history of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons) 1839 John Corrill The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church History Library St. Louis 41Peck 1839 24LeSueur 1990 168–172 Lucas' terms were one-sided. The Mormons were to give up their leaders for trial and to surrender all of their arms. Every Mormon who had taken up arms was to sell his property to pay for the damages to Missourian property and for the muster of the state militia. Finally, the Mormons who had taken up arms were to leave the state.Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 73 Colonel Hinkle stated that the Mormons would help bring to justice those who had violated the law, but he protested that the other terms were illegal and unconstitutional.Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 1920 13:450–451 Colonel Hinkle rode to the church leaders in Far West and informed them of the offered terms. According to Mormon witness Reed Peck, when Smith was told that the Mormons would be expected to leave the state, he replied that "he did not care" and that he would be glad to get out of the "damnable state" anyway.Peck 1839 24 Smith and the other leaders rode with Hinkle back to the Missouri militia encampment. The militia promptly arrested Smith and the other leaders. Smith believed that Hinkle had betrayed him,Jessee 1984 362 but Hinkle maintained his innocence and claimed that he was following Smith's orders. To William Wines Phelps, a fellow Mormon and witness to the events, Hinkle wrote: "When the facts were laid before Joseph, did he not say, 'I will go'; and did not the others go with him, and that, too, voluntarily, so far as you and I were concerned?"Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 1920 13:451LeSueur 1990 175–177 Joseph Smith and the other arrested leaders were held overnight under guard in General Lucas' camp. Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, and other leaders left at Far West warned the veterans of Crooked River to flee. "If found, they will be shot down like dogs," warned Hyrum.LeSueur 1990 174 Joseph Smith attempted to negotiate with Lucas, but Lucas considered his conditions to be non-negotiable. At 8:00 am, Joseph sent word to Far West to surrender. Ebenezer Robinson described the scene at Far West:General Clark made the following speech to the brethren on the public square: "... The orders of the governor to me were, that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the state, and had your leaders not been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this, you and your families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes."Robinson Ebenezer February 1890 Items of Personal History of the Editor, No. 10. https://archive.org/details/TheReturnExcerpts/page/n73/mode/2up The Return 211 Davis City, IA 2 2 The Far West militia was marched out of the city and forced to turn over their weapons to General Lucas. The men under the command of Lucas were then allowed to ransack the city to search for weapons.LeSueur 1990 180–181 Brigham Young recounts that, once the militia was disarmed, Lucas's men were turned loose on the city: [T]hey commenced their ravages by plundering the citizens of their bedding, clothing, money, wearing apparel, and every thing of value they could lay their hands upon, and also attempting to violate the chastity of the women in sight of their husbands and friends, under the pretence of hunting for prisoners and arms. The soldiers shot down our oxen, cows, hogs and fowls, at our own doors, taking part away and leaving the rest to rot in the streets. The soldiers also turned their horses into our fields of corn.The Manuscript History of Brigham Young, taken from the Millennial Star, 1801–1835Johnson Clark V. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44598 Mormon redress petitions: documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 649 Young, Brighamthumb|upright|Alexander William Doniphan, the man who refused to execute the Mormon leaders thumb|Liberty Jail by C.C.A Christensen Lucas tried Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders by court martial on November 1, the evening of the surrender. After the court martial, he ordered General Alexander William Doniphan: You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West and shoot them at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.LeSueur 1990 182 Doniphan refused to obey the order, replying: It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty to-morrow morning, at 8 o'clock, and if you execute those men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God!LeSueur 1990 183 The defendants, consisting of about 60 men including Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, were turned over to a civil court of inquiry in Richmond under Judge Austin A. King, on charges of treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny and perjury.Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 153–163 The court of inquiry began November 12, 1838. After the inquiry, most of the Mormon prisoners were released, but Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, Hyrum Smith and Alexander McRae were held in the Liberty Jail in Liberty, Clay County on charges of treason against the state, murder, arson, burglary, robbery and larceny.Bushman 2007 363–372 During a transfer to another prison in the spring of 1839, Smith and the other prisoners escaped. The exact circumstances that allowed for him to escape are not certain. John Whitmer suggests that Smith bribed the guards.Whitmer John The Book of John Whitmer 1832–1846 Book of Abraham Project Provo, UT http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/JWhitmer-history.html 20 April 2011 June 11, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110611101518/http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/JWhitmer-history.html dead Historian Richard Bushman believes that Smith's imprisonment had become an embarrassment, and that an escape would be convenient for Boggs and the rest of the Missouri political establishment.Bushman 2007 382–386 Smith and the other Mormons resettled in Nauvoo, Illinois, beginning in 1839. Daviess County residents were outraged by the escape of Smith and the other leaders. William Bowman, one of the guards, was dragged by his hair across the town square. Sheriff Morgan was ridden through town on an iron bar, and died shortly afterward from the injuries he suffered during the ride.LeSueur 1990 243–244 Aftermath General Clark viewed Executive Order 44 as having been fulfilled by the agreement of the Mormons to evacuate the state the following spring.Greene 1839 27 The militia was disbanded in late November. Missouri blamed the Mormons for the conflict and forced the Mormons to sign over all their lands in order to pay for the state militia muster. Mormon leaders appealed to the state legislature to overturn the requirement that they leave the state, but the legislature tabled the issue until a date well after that when the Mormons would have left the state. Having surrendered the bulk of their firearms, Mormons were left nearly defenseless against the mobs.Hartley 2001 8–22 Mormon residents were harassed and attacked by angry residents who were no longer restrained by militia officers.Greene 1839 26–28,34,36Johnson Clark V. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/43904 Mormon redress petitions : documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah See the accounts of Sidney Rigdon, Ruth Naper, Elijah Reed, Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, etc. Judge Austin A King, who had been assigned the cases of the Mormons charged with offenses during the conflict, warned "If you once think to plant crops or to occupy your lands any longer than the first of April, the citizens will be upon you: they will kill you every one, men, women and children." Flight of Mormons to Illinois Stripped of their property, most refugees made their way east to Illinois, where residents of the town of Quincy helped them. When faced with the Mormon refugees from Missouri, the people of Quincy were outraged by the treatment the Mormons had experienced. Black, Susan Easton Quincy—A City of Refuge http://www.mormonhistoricsitesfoundation.org/publications/studies_spring_01/MHS2.1Black.pdf Mormon Historical Studies 2 1 2001 83–94 20 April 2011 One resolution passed by the Quincy town council read: Resolved: That the gov of Missouri, in refusing protection to this class of people when pressed upon by an heartless mob, and turning upon them a band of unprincipled Militia, with orders encouraging their extermination, has brought a lasting disgrace upon the state over which he presides.Greene 1839 10 Eventually, the Mormons purchased and settled the mostly vacant city of Commerce, north of Quincy, which they renamed Nauvoo in 1839.Flanders Robert Bruce https://books.google.com/books?id=96AxeDnTchwC Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi 1965 University of Illinois Press 978-0-252-00561-9 en Political fallout Many of Boggs's constituents felt that he had mismanaged the situation by failing to intervene earlier in the crisis, and then by overreacting on the basis of partial and incorrect information. The Missouri Argus published an editorial on December 20, 1838, arguing that the Mormons should not be permitted to be forcibly expelled from the state:They cannot be driven beyond the limits of the state—that is certain. To do so, would be to act with extreme cruelty. Public opinion has recoiled from a summary and forcible removal of our negro population;—much more likely will it be to revolt at the violent expulsion of two or three thousand souls, who have so many ties to connect them with us in a common brotherhood. If they choose to remain, we must be content. The day has gone by when masses of men can be outlawed, and driven from society to the wilderness, unprotected. ... The refinement, the charity of our age, will not brook it.Hartley 2001 10 Even people who otherwise expressed no sympathy towards the Mormons disapproved of Boggs's order and the treatment of the Mormons by the mobs. One contemporary critic of the Mormons wrote: Mormonism is a monstrous evil; and the only place where it ever did or ever could shine, this side of the world of despair, is by the side of the Missouri mob.Arrington Bitton 1979 57Turner 1842 58 LeSueur notes that, along with other setbacks, Boggs's mishandling of the Mormon conflict left him "politically impotent" by the end of his term.LeSueur 1990 258 Boggs assassination attempt Attempted assassination of Lilburn Boggs thumb|upright=1.2|Lilburn Boggs' assassination attempt site On May 6, 1842, Boggs was shot in the head at his home three blocks from Temple Lot.MISSOURI MORMON WALKING TRAIL MAP https://web.archive.org/web/20131224120338/http://www.jwha.info/mmff/mmtour.htm December 24, 2013 – jwha.info Boggs survived, but Mormons came under immediate suspicion, especially Orrin Porter Rockwell, bodyguard of Joseph Smith. Sheriff J.H. Reynolds discovered a revolver at the scene, still loaded with buckshot. He surmised that the perpetrator had fired upon Boggs and lost his firearm in the night when the weapon recoiled due to its unusually large shot. The gun was found to have been stolen from a local shopkeeper, who identified "that hired man of Ward's" as the most likely culprit. Reynolds determined the man in question was Rockwell.Dewey Richard Lloyd https://books.google.com/books?id=DqDtAAAAMAAJ Porter Rockwell: A Biography 1986 Paramount Books 978-0-9616024-0-6 en John C. Bennett, a disaffected Mormon, reported that Smith had offered a cash reward to anyone who would assassinate Boggs, and that Smith had admitted to him that Rockwell had done the deed.Bushman 2007 468 Joseph Smith denied Bennett's account, speculating that Boggs—who was campaigning for state senate—was attacked by an election opponent. One historian notes that Governor Boggs was running for election against several violent men, all capable of the deed, and that there was no particular reason to suspect Rockwell of the crime.McLaws 1965 Other historians are convinced that Rockwell was involved in the shooting.De Voto Bernard https://archive.org/details/yearofdecision1800devo_2/mode/2up?view=theater&q=%22porter+rockwell%22 The year of decision, 1846 1943 Little, Brown and Company Boston 146 The following year, Rockwell was arrested, tried, and acquitted of the attempted murder, after a grand jury was unable to find sufficient evidence to indict him, although most of Boggs' contemporaries remained convinced of his guilt. Rockwell famously stated that he "never shot at anybody, if I shoot they get shot!... He's still alive, ain't he?" LDSLiving - Porter Rockwell: 7 Unbelievable Facts and Stories You Didn't Know http://ldsliving.com/Porter-Rockwell-7-Unbelievable-Facts-and-Stories-You-Didn-t-Know/s/77142 https://web.archive.org/web/20160225064558/http://ldsliving.com/Porter-Rockwell-7-Unbelievable-Facts-and-Stories-You-Didn-t-Know/s/77142 2016-02-25 ldsliving.com Mormon reddress petitions Mormons reported threats of sexual violence, attempts to commit it and actual acts of rape perpetrated on Mormon women.Corrill John 1839 Brief History https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/john-corrill-brief-history-manuscript-circa-1838-1839/125 live https://archive.today/20250112032344/https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/john-corrill-brief-history-manuscript-circa-1838-1839/125 2025-01-12 2025-01-12 www.josephsmithpapers.org line 31 "It was said that women were insulted and even ravished, but the I doubt the truth of the latter. Some were insutld [insulted] yet as soon as the officers were informed they set guards to prevent further insult." Ruth Napier (whose husband William was killed in the massacre) swore before a justice of the peace that, in early November, after the Haun's Mill Massacre, armed non-Mormons billeted themselves in her home without her consent while she was living there as a widow with small children.https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44455 Mormon redress petitions : documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University Johnson Clark V. Provo, Utah 1992 506 Napier, Ruth One night as she was sleeping one of the men came to her bed and fondled her. She was so frightened she made some sort of commotion and crawled over her children to get away. He retreated and tried nothing more that night. Elijah Reed similarly swore before a clerk of the circuit court that, fleeing for his life from a group of armed Missouri settlers, he took shelter with the Jameson family (here spelled "Jimmison").https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44473 Mormon redress petitions : documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 523–524 Reed, Elijah On October 29, a group of Missourians came to the house, demanding entrance or they would break down the door. Mr. Jimmison answered the door while Reed hid under a bed. The men, identifying themselves as soldiers, said they had come to take Mr. Jimmison away. As Jimmison was taken to get a horse for him to ride away with them, he broke free and escaped. They returned to the house and began to assault Mrs. Jimmison, preparing to rape her as Reed witnessed this from under the bed. According to Reed, they stopped fondling her after she cried and begged for them to do so. Hyrum Smith stated under oath before a municipal judge that after the skirmishes that destroyed houses and farmlands, the Mormon leadership sent a message to General Atchison and expected an army to provide protection for them.https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44578 Mormon redress petitions : documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 629 Smith, Hyrum The army that arrived the evening of October 30 was led by General Doniphan and the far less friendly General Lucas, who had already murdered Mormons in the area in 1833 and 1834. The next day the Mormon leaders and men of Far West were lured to a cornfield on the pretext of a consultation with the generals and officers but they were surrounded and taken prisoner. November 1, the armed soldiers patrolling the streets of Far West were permitted enter homes, molest the people at their leisure, confiscate the firearms and ravish (rape) the women there. Parley P. Pratt attested before a municipal judge that he was among the group with Joseph Smith who were taken prisoner in the corn field.https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/44592 Mormon redress petitions : documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri conflict 1992 643 Pratt, Parley P. He said that while imprisoned, their guards named a couple of female Mormons and claimed that about twenty or thirty soldiers had tied the women down and raped them. The account John Murdock recorded in his journal reflects what Pratt and Smith avowed, adding that the rapes and abuse continued for as long as the Mormons remained in Missouri.Murdock John https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/68a3435d-0fae-4f44-b7a5-05865a22bf54/0/107 John Murdock journal and autobiography, circa 1830-1867 unpublished journal Page 108 of document viewer, page 104 of the book itself See also Latter-day Saints Missouri 30em Border Ruffian Illinois Mormon War (1844–1845) Latter Day Saint martyrs List of conflicts in the United States Missouri Executive Order 44 (1838 Missouri) Expulsion of Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri (1833) Mormon Exodus (1846–1857) Utah War (1857–1858) Notes 2 References 2 Anderson Richard L Richard Lloyd Anderson Clarification of Boggs' 'Order' and Joseph Smith's Constitutionalism Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint History: Missouri Garr Arnold K. Arnold K. Garr Johnson Clark V. 27–70 Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1994 Provo, Utah 1994 https://archive.org/details/regionalstudiesi0000unse_v1l4 November 30, 2024 Arrington Leonard J. Leonard J. Arrington Bitton Davis Davis Bitton The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints Alfred A. Knopf New York 1979 0-394-46566-0. Alexander L. Baugh Baugh Alexander L. A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri BYU Studies 2000 9780842524704 Baugh Alexander L "We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois": The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839 Mormon Historical Studies Spring 2001 59–82 https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3720/ November 30, 2024 Bell Angela Trouble in Zion : the radicalization of Mormon theology, 1831-1839 2017 Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia https://hdl.handle.net/10355/63802 10.32469/10355/63802 10355/63802 en free Brodie Fawn (McKay) No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet 1971 Knopf 978-0-394-46967-6 2nd New York Bushman Richard L. 1960 Mormon Persecutions in Missouri, 1833 https://www.jstor.org/stable/43043849 Brigham Young University Studies 3 1 11–20 0007-0106 43043849 Bushman Richard Lyman Richard Bushman Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling 2005 New York, NY Alfred A. Knopf 1-4000-4270-4 Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling Bushman Richard L Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling 2007 Vantage New York City, NY 978-1-4000-7753-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=_izMO9Xdq2UC 12 April 2011 . Cannon Donald Q. Lyndon W. Cook The Far West Record: Minutes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1844 Deseret Book Company Salt Lake City 1983 0877479011 9081193 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1968 Journal History (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) https://eadview.lds.org/findingaid/CR%20100%20137 https://web.archive.org/web/20121205020331/http://eadview.lds.org/findingaid/CR%20100%20137 dead 2012-12-05 Salt Lake City, Utah. Corrill John 1839 A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Commonly Called Mormons) St. Louis, Missouri. DeVoto Bernard The Year of Decision: 1846 St. Martin's Griffin New York City, NY 2000 0-312-26794-0 82–86. Doniphan Alexander Mormonism. The Settlement of The Peculiar People in Jackson County. And Subsequent Expulsion. Gen. Doniphan's Recollections of the Troubles of that Early Time. http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/MO/Miss1881.htm#061281 November 30, 2024 Kansas City Daily Journal June 12, 1881. Reprinted by Dale R. Broadhurst at sidneyrigdon.com. Frampton T. Ward 2014 "Some Savage Tribe": Race, Legal Violence, and the Mormon War of 1838 Journal of Mormon History 40 1 175–207 10.2307/24243875 0094-7342 24243875 2235206 Foote Warren The Autobiography of Warren Foote typescript in Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 16781035 Furniss Norman F The Mormon Conflict Yale University Press New Haven, CT 1966 https://www.amazon.com/Mormon-Conflict-Norman-Furniss/dp/B004CPPDWO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302193763&sr=8-2 12 April 2011 . Gentry, Leland Homer Todd M. Compton Fire and Sword: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri, 1836-39 Greg Kofford Books 2011 Salt Lake City, Utah 978-1-58958-120-3 Greene John P John P. Greene Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the "Exterminating Order" R. P. Brooks Cincinnati, Ohio 1839 http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/NCMP1820-1846&CISOPTR=2834&REC=16 https://archive.today/20121212045339/http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/NCMP1820-1846&CISOPTR=2834&REC=16 dead December 12, 2012 December 31, 2006. Hamer John Northeast of Eden: A Historical Atlas of Missouri's Mormon County Far West Cultural Center Mirabile, Missouri 2004 62190715 Hartley William G William G. Hartley Missouri's 1838 Extermination Order and the Mormons' Forced Removal to Illinois Mormon Historical Studies 2 1 2001 5–27 https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/MHS2.1Hartley.pdf 12 April 2011 . Jenkins, James H., Casus Belli: Ten Factors That Contributed to the Outbreak of the 1838 'Mormon War' in Missouri, Independence, Missouri: CreateSpace, 2014. Kinney Brandon G. https://books.google.com/books?id=xGhAYgEACAAJ The Mormon War: Zion and the Missouri Extermination Order of 1838 2011 Westholme 978-1-59416-130-8 en Dean C. Jessee Jessee Dean The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith Salt Lake City Deseret Book 1984 0877479747 Johnson Clark V. Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict Religious Studies Center, BYU 1992 0884948501 1005472124 John D. Lee Lee John D. Mormonism Unveiled: The Life and Confessions of John D. Lee and the Life of Brigham Young W.S. Bryan 1877 1127295640 William M. Bishop LeSueur Stephen C. 1990 The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri https://books.google.com/books?id=IhkUAAAAYAAJ University of Missouri Press 9780826206268. McGee Joseph H. Story of the Grand River Country Gallatin, Missouri North Missourian Press 1909 4647048 Marquardt H. Michael The Rise of Mormonism: 1816–1844 Xulon Press Grand Rapids, MI 2005 1-59781-470-9 Lund Matthew 2012-05-01 The Vox Populi Is the Vox Dei: American Localism and the Mormon Expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1240/ All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023 10.26076/d96e-064b Office of the Secretary of State of Missouri 1841 Document containing the correspondence, orders, &c., in relation to the disturbances with the Mormons; and the evidence given before the Hon. Austin A. King, judge of the Fifth judicial circuit of the state of Missouri, at the Court-house in Richmond, in a criminal court of inquiry, begun November 12, 1838, on the trial of Joseph Smith, Jr., and others, for high treason and other crimes against the state. http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/findingaids/miscMormonRecords.asp?rec=doc Fayette, Missouri Printed at the Office of the Boon's Lick Democrat 7835420 14 April 2011 . McLaws Monte B The Attempted Assassination of Missouri's Ex-Governor, Lilburn W. Boggs Missouri Historical Review 60 October 1965 1 50–62 Peck Reed 1839 The Reed Peck Manuscript http://www.mormoninformation.com/reedpeck.htm 13 November 2016. D. Michael Quinn Quinn D. Michael The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power Salt Lake City 1994 Signature Books 1560850566 490757176 Remini Robert V. Robert V. Remini Joseph Smith 2002 Penguin Group Penguin Lives New York, NY 0-670-03083-X https://archive.org/details/josephsmith00remi Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Journal of History, Volumes 13-14 https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=Ny9OAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-Ny9OAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1 1920 13 November 2016. Roberts Brigham H B. H. Roberts The Missouri Persecutions https://books.google.com/books?id=TcfYO8JFElcC 1900 14 April 2011 . Roberts Brigham H. A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Brigham Young University Press 1965 9780842504829 1 Provo Schindler Harold https://archive.org/details/orrinporterrockw00schi/mode/2up Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder 1983 University of Utah Press 978-0-87480-204-7 Smith Joseph Joseph Smith Rigdon Sidney Sidney Rigdon Smith Hyrum Hyrum Smith An appeal to the American people : being an account of the persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints, and of the barbarities inflicted on them by the inhabitants of the state of Missouri Cincinnati, OH Shepard and Stearns 1840 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/sidney-rigdon-appeal-to-the-american-people-1840/1 November 30, 2024. Thorp Joseph Early Days in the West Along the Missouri One Hundred Years Ago Liberty, Missouri I. Gilmer 1924 4968978 The True Latter Day Saints' Herald, Plano, Illinois. Turner J B 1842 Mormonism in All Ages; or the Rise, Progress and Causes of Mormonism; with the Biography of Its Author and Founder, Joseph Smith, Jr https://archive.org/details/mormonisminalla00turn New York City, NY Platt & Peters 22 April 2011 . Richard S. Van Wagoner Van Wagoner Richard S. Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess Salt Lake City 1994 1560850302 Signature Books Wosnik Peter J. Religious Liberty, Zion, and the Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1831–1839 2017 November 30, 2024 M.T.S Emory University https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/1c18df763 External links Far West Cultural Center primary sources https://web.archive.org/web/20050722012014/http://www.farwesthistory.com/map.asp July 22, 2005 Mel Tungate's Battle of Crooked River sources website Joseph Smith's Journal Entries History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Volume 2 Chapter 11 Category:Mormonism and violence Category:Mormonism-related controversies Mormon Mormon Category:Crimes in Missouri Mormon War Category:Electoral violence in the United States