USA > Utah > History of Utah > Part 14
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On the 27th of October Governor Boggs issued an order to Major-General John B. Clark, giving him command of an over- whelming force of militia, with instructions to proceed at once against the Mormons. "Their outrages are beyond all description" said the Governor, "they must be exterminated or driven from the State." Other generals were ordered to take part, under Clark, in the military crusade.
General Atchison, upon whom the command rightfully devolved, had been ignored or relieved by the Governor,-apparently for the same reason that caused the wife of the newly fledged Thane of Cawdor to "fear the nature" of her lord. In General Clark, who was not so "full o' the milk of human kindness." but proved himself a pitiless tyrant. Boggs found a fitting instrument to execute his fell design. Another account states that Atchison, while raising troops to quell the disturbance, on learning of the Governor's exterminating purpose. exclaimed: "I will have nothing to do with so infamous a proceeding," and resigned.
Over two thousand troops, massed at Richmond under Major- General Samuel D. Lucas and Brigadier General Moses Wilson, both of Jackson County, during the closing days of October set out for Far West. General Clark. their commander, was elsewhere mustering another army for the same purpose. Lucas, on his march, captured two Mormons named Tanner and Carey. Tanner, an old man, was
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struck with a gun by one of the soldiers, and his skull laid bare. A similar blow dashed out Carey's brains. He was laid in a wagon, no aid being rendered him, and died within twenty-four hours. Thus the militia moved on toward the fated town of Far West.
Among the first fruits of the sanguinary edict of Missouri's executive was the Haun's Mill massacre. It occurred on the 30th of October. Haun's Mill was situated on Shoal Creek, about twenty miles south of Far West. Here dwelt, in the neighborhood of other lately arrived immigrants, all awaiting a lull in the warlike storm before proceeding farther, a few families of Latter-day Saints. Among them were Joseph Young and his family, lately from Kirtland.
About four o'clock in the afternoon a company of two hundred and forty men, commanded by one Nehemiah Comstock, fell upon the little settlement and butchered in cold blood, without warning or provocation, nearly a score of the unoffending Mormons. Men, women and children were shot down indiscriminately, their bodies stripped and mutilated, their camp plundered and their horses and wagons driven off by the murdering marauders. The dead bodies were thrown into an old well.
Among the victims was an aged man named Thomas McBride, a soldier of the Revolution who had served under General Washington. A Missourian named Rogers, after shooting the old man with his own gun, hacked him to pieces with a corn-cutter. Another victim was George Spencer Richards, aged fifteen, son of Phinehas Richards, and brother to Franklin D., the present Apostle. Franklin at that very time was making his way across the Alleghanies from his native town of Richmond, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to join his people at Far West.
Among those who survived the awful butchery, though almost riddled with bullets from the assassins' rifles, was the late Isaac Laney, father of Judge H. S. Laney, of Salt Lake City; also the late Alma L. Smith, of Coalville, Summit County, brother of Hon. Willard G. Smith, of Morgan County. His father, Warren, and his brother Sardius were among the slain.
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On the day of the massacre, the troops from Richmond, rein- forced to nearly three thousand men, advanced upon and beleaguered Far West. General Clark was still at a distance, mustering his forces. The whole surrounding region was now being over-run by marauding bands, shooting, burning and pillaging wherever Mormons were to be found. As the survivors of these savage raids came flee- ing into Far West for safety, their red-handed pursuers augmented the army of investment. Among those who thus joined the militia against the Mormons were Gilliam's painted guerillas and the perpe- trators of the Haun's Mill massacre.
The inhabitants of the doomed city, their mails having been stopped, had not yet heard of the Governor's exterminating order, but supposed the army of General Lucas to be an overwhelming military mob. Though greatly outnumbered by the besieging force, they prepared to make a vigorous defense and sell their lives as dearly as possible. Hastily throwing up some rude fortifications, they awaited the onslaught of the foe.
A messenger was now sent from Lucas to announce that to three persons in the town-Adam Lightner, John Cleminson and wife-two of them non-Mormons, amnesty would be given, but that the design was to lay Far West in ashes and exterminate the rest. "Then we will die with them !" heroically answered the three, and rejected the proffered pardon.
Charles C. Rich went out from the city with a flag of truce, to confer with General Doniphan, who was with Lucas. As he approached the camp of the militia Captain Bogart fired upon him.
It was at this critical juncture that Colonel George M. Hinkle, commanding the defenders of Far West, entered into negotiations with General Lucas, and without consulting his associates agreed upon a compromise, the terms of which were as follows :
(1) The Mormon leaders were to be delivered up to be tried and punished.
(2) The Far West militia were to surrender their arms.
(3) An appropriation was to be made of the property of all
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Mormons who had taken up arms, to indemnify for damages said to have been inflicted by them. This was afterwards construed to cover all the expenses of the militia in making war upon the Saints.
(4) The Mormons, as a body, excepting such as should be held as prisoners, were to forthwith leave the State. The prisoners were to include all Mormon participants in the Crooked River battle, who were to be tried for murder.
The observance of these conditions, it was promised, would avert bloodshed. The alternative was an immediate assault upon the city.
Under pretense of arranging a conference between the Mormon leaders and the besieging generals, and without notifying the former of the compact he had entered into, Colonel Hinkle, on the 31st of October, delivered up to General Lucas the following named persons, who had been demanded: Joseph Smith, junior, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight and George W. Robinson. Later were added to the list, Hyrum Smith and Amasa M. Lyman. They were placed under a strong guard and treated as prisoners of war.
Some writers have palliated Colonel Hinkle's conduct in this affair, on the score of obedience to his superior officer, General Lucas, who demanded the prisoners ; also because their delivery is supposed to have saved the lives of the other citizens. The Mormons, how- ever, will always regard George M. Hinkle as a traitor, who to save himself betrayed his friends, in the most cowardly and contemptible manner possible.
Next day, the army having advanced nearer the city, the Mor- mon militia laid down their arms, and were then compelled at the point of the bayonet and the cannon's mouth to sign away their property to pay the expenses of the war waged upon them. They had made no agreement to do so, but Hinkle, forsooth, had made it for them. All the men, save those who had escaped, were held in temporary durance, and the town then given up to pillage. Nameless crimes were committed by the ruthless soldiery, and their yet more ruthless allies, the banditti. Women were abused, some of them till
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they died, within sight of their agonized husbands and fathers, powerless to protect them. Let imagination paint the horror from which the historian's pen recoils.
William E. McLellin and other apostate Mormons were in Far West at this time, taking part against their former brethren.
On the evening of November 1st, General Lucas convened a court-martial, consisting of the principal officers of his army, and no less than seventeen Christian preachers. By a majority of this religio-military tribunal, Joseph Smith and his fellow prisoners, none of whom were permitted to be present during their trial, were sen- tenced to be shot at eight o'clock next morning, in the public square at Far West, in the presence of their wives and children. Generals Doniphan and Graham refused their assent to this decision, the former denouncing it as " cold-blooded murder," and threatening to withdraw his brigade from the scene of the proposed massacre. This caused Lucas and his murderous colleagues to hesitate, and finally to reconsider their action. On the morning set for the execu- tion they decided, in lieu of killing the prisoners, to parade them in triumph through the neighboring counties.
Prior to setting out from Far West, General Lucas allowed the prisoners to see for a few moments, in the presence of their guards, their weeping wives and children. Most of them were not permitted to speak, but merely look farewell to them, before being hurried away.
Mary Fielding Smith, wife of Hyrum Smith, a few days after this painful parting from her husband became a mother. The child thus born amid these warlike scenes, drinking in with his mother's milk a wholesome hatred of tyrants and mobs. and the courage to fearlessly denounce them, is known to-day as Joseph Fielding Smith, second counselor in the existing First Presidency.
Leaving a large portion of his troops at Far West, to await the arrival of General Clark, and having sent Gilliam and his banditti against the Mormons at Diahman, Lucas, with his confrere Wilson and a strong guard set out with the prisoners southward. As they neared the Missouri River orders were received from General Clark,
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demanding the return of the captives. Lucas, however, ignored the order, and pressed on with the prisoners to Jackson County.
They were now treated with some degree of consideration. Wilson assured them that their lives should be spared, and that they should be protected : "We only want to take you over the river and let our people see what a d-d fine looking set of fellows you are," said this typical son of Jackson County. He also told them that one of the reasons for bringing them along was to keep them out of the hands of General Clark, "a G-d d-d old bigot." said he, "so stuffed with lies and prejudice that he would shoot you down in a moment."*
The Prophet, on the day of their arrival at Independence-Sun- day, November 4th-was permitted to preach to the multitude that thronged to gaze at him and his brethren. The feeling against them diminished daily, until it was almost in their favor. After four days' imprisonment at Independence, during which they were visited by curious thousands, the prisoners, in response to repeated demands from General Clark, were sent to Richmond for trial.
Clark, at the head of two thousand troops, had arrived at Far West on the 4th of November. He approved of all that Lucas had done, except the taking away of the Mormon leaders, whose persons he evidently desired as trophies of his own triumph. He solaced himself, however, by putting Bishop Partridge and fifty-five other prominent Mormons in chains and carrying them captive to Rich- mond.
Prior to departing, he sent a brigade of troops in the wake of Gilliam and his guerillas, to demand the surrender of Diahman. on the same terms as those enforced at Far West. He also delivered, before leaving, an address to the citizens of that place, of which the following was the substance :
*Wilson admitted, according to Parley P. Pratt, that in the reigning troubles, as well as those in Jackson County, the Mormons had not been the aggressors, but had been pur- posely goaded to resistance by the Missourians in order to furnish an excuse for their expulsion.
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GENTLEMEN :
You whose names are not attached to this list of names, will now have the privilege of going to your fields, and of providing corn, wood, etc., for your families. Those who are now taken will go from this to prison, to be tried and receive the due demerit of their crimes ; but you (except such as charges may hereafter be preferred against), are at liberty as soon as the troops are removed that now guard the place, which I shall cause to be done immediately.
It now devolves upon you to fulfill a treaty that you have entered into, the leading items of which I shall now lay before you. The first requires that your leading men be given up to be tried according to law ; this you already have complied with. The second is, that you deliver up your arms ; this has been attended to. The third stipulation is that you sign over your properties to defray the expenses of the war. This you have also done. Another article yet remains for you to comply with,-and that is, that you leave the state forthwith. And whatever may be your feelings concerning this, or whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me. General Lucas (whose military rank is equal with mine), has made this treaty with you ; I approve of it, I should have done the same had I been here. I am therefore determined to see it executed.
The character of this state has suffered almost beyond redemption, from the character, conduct and influence that you have exerted ; and we deem it an act of justice to restore her character to its former standing among the states by every proper means. The orders of the Governor to me were, that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the state. And had not your leaders been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this time you and your families would have been des- troyed, and your houses in ashes.
There is a discretionary power vested in my hands, which, considering your circum- stances, I shall exercise for a season. You are indebted to me for this clemency. I do not say that you shall go now, but you must not think of staying here another season or of putting in crops ; for the moment you do this the citizens will be upon you ; and if I am called here again in case of a non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think that I shall do as I have done now. You need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the Governor's order shall be executed.
-Is for your leaders, do not think, do not imagine for a moment, do not let it enter into your minds, that they will be delivered and restored to you again, for their fate is fixed, their die is cast, their doom is sealed.
I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so many apparently intelligent men found in the situa- tion that they are; and oh! if I could invoke that Great Spirit, the Unknown God to rest upon and deliver you from that awful chain of superstition, and liberate you from those fetters of fanaticism with which you are bound-that you no longer do homage to a man.
I would advise you to scatter abroad and never again organize yourselves with Bishops, Presidents, etc., lest you excite the jealousies of the people and subject your- selves to the same calamities that have now come upon you. You have always been the aggressors-you have brought upon yourselves these difficulties by being disaffected, and not being subject to rule. And my advice is, that you become as other citizens, lest by a recurrence of these events you bring upon yourselves irretrievable ruin.
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General Clark then proceeded with his captives to Richmond, where the Prophet and his fellow prisoners soon arrived. A pro- tracted examination before Judge Austin A. King,-who, with the public prosecutor, Thomas Burch, had sat in the court-martial at Far West and sentenced these same men to be shot,-failed to fasten guilt upon any of them. Finally, all save Joseph Smith, Sidney Rig- don, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Parley P. Pratt, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander McRae, Morris Phelps, Luman Gibbs, Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer, were discharged. These were held for murder, arson, treason,-in fact nearly all the crimes in the calendar.
One evidence of their treason, as cited in open court, was their avowed belief in the prophecy of Daniel-Chapters II. and VII .- relative to the setting up of the latter-day kingdom of God. Their taking up arms in the late troubles was also construed as treason. Their murders were the battles and skirmishes they had had with the mob. The depredations and deeds of blood committed by the Missourians against the Mormons apparently cut no figure in the case. The Haun's Mill massacre was as completely ignored as if it had never occurred. Said General Doniphan to the defendants, whose attorney he was : "Offer no defense; for if a cohort of angels should declare your innocence it would be all the same. The judge is determined to throw you into prison."
Colonel Sterling Price had charge of the captives at this time. The yet to be noted Confederate general seems to have done all in his power to render their situation as miserable as possible. One method employed by their guards to entertain them was the recital in their hearing of the murders and rapes that they-the soldiers- boasted of having committed at and in the vicinity of Far West. Finally the Prophet, arising in his chains, in a voice of thunder rebuked the crime-stained wretches and commanded them to be still. So overpowering was his indignation, his metaphysical force, that the armed guards quailed before him and begged his pardon .*
* Says Parley P. Pratt of the Prophet on that occasion : "He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty, chained and without a weapon. * *
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Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Alex- ander McRae and Caleb Baldwin were now removed to Clay County, and immured in Liberty jail. The remainder of the prisoners were still held at Richmond. The Clay County captives were treated with great barbarity. Several times their food was poisoned, nearly caus- ing their death, and they even declared that cooked human flesh, called by their guards "Mormon beef," was repeatedly served up to them.
Months passed. Various efforts were made by legal process to free the prisoners. Among those actively engaged in their behalf were Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, who, being comparatively unknown by the Missourians, had escaped arrest and incarceration. Stephen Markham was another faithful friend. Generals Atchison and Doniphan lent their aid, and Judge Hughes, of the Supreme Court of Missouri, also favored the release of the captives. It was conceded by many that they were illegally held, but owing to the prevailing prejudice, their friends were powerless to do much for them. Again and again they were put upon trial and nothing was proven against them, even after their own witnesses had all been driven from the State. Finally by proceedings in habeas corpus Sid- ney Rigdon was let out on bail. Threatened by the mob after his liberation he was compelled to flee for his life. His companions were remanded to prison, where they passed the winter of 1838-9.
Meantime such of the leading Mormons as had retained or regained their liberty addressed a memorial to the Missouri Legisla- ture, reciting the wrongs and sufferings of the Saints in that State and praying for redress of grievances. The total loss of property sustained by the Mormons in Missouri was estimated at about two million dollars. The Legislature, after much delay, appropriated
I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on a breath in the courts of England ; I have wit- messed a congress in solemn session to give laws to nations ; * but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains at midnight, in a dungeon, in an obscure village of Missouri."
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some thousands of dollars to be distributed among the people of Daviess and Caldwell counties, " the Mormons not excepted." Some say that only two thousand dollars were thus appropriated ; others that two hundred thousand was the amount. The latter seems the more reasonable, and the Missourians should be given the benefit of the doubt .*
In the absence of the First Presidency-in prison-the authority to direct the Church devolved upon the Twelve Apostles. Their some time president, Thomas B. Marsh, had apostatized during the Far West troubles, which event, with the death of David W. Pat- ten, left Brigham Young the senior Apostle and consequently the President of the Twelve. Being sustained as such by his brethren Brigham now took charge of the Church and planned and directed the exodus of the Saints to Illinois.
Late in January and early in February, meetings were held at Far West, and the following committee appointed to arrange for the exodus: John Taylor, Alanson Ripley, Brigham Young, Theodore Turley, Heber C. Kimball, John Smith, Don C. Smith, Elias Smith, Erastus Bingham, Stephen Markham and James Newberry. A sub- committee was also appointed. They were William Huntington, Charles Bird, Alanson Ripley, Theodore Turley, Daniel Shearer, Shadrach Roundy and Jonathan H. Hale. "On motion of President Brigham Young," says the record, "it was resolved that we this day enter into a covenant to stand by and assist each other to the utmost of our abilities in removing from this State, and that we will never desert the poor, who are worthy, till they shall be out of the reach of the exterminating order of General Clark, acting for and in the name
* Heber C. Kimball thus describes the manner in which was distributed to the Mormons their share of the appropriation : "Judge Cameron,"-who with one McHenry had charge of the distribution,-"drove in the hogs belonging to the brethren (many of which were identified) shot them down in the streets, and without further bleeding they were half dressed, cut up and distributed by MeHenry to the poor, charging four or five cents per pound, which, together with a few pieces of refuse calicoes, at double and treble price, soon consumed the appropriation."
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of the State." This covenant, signed by several hundred persons, was faithfully kept.
That winter from ten to twelve thousand Latter-day Saints, men, women and children, still hounded and pursued by their merciless oppressors, fled from Missouri, leaving in places their bloody foot- prints on the snow of their frozen path-way. Crossing the icy Mississippi they cast themselves, homeless, plundered and penniless, upon the hospitable shores of Illinois. There their pitiable condition and the tragic story of their wrongs awoke wide-spread sympathy and compassion, with corresponding sentiments of indignation and abhorrence toward their persecutors.
The main body of the Mormons were now beyond the reach of the Missourians. But some of the Committee on Exodus and a few scattered families yet remained. These were now the objects of mobo- cratic malice. About the middle of April a lawless band, encouraged by Judge-once Captain-Bogart, assaulted and drove away the committee, threatened the lives of the remaining Mormons, and plundered and destroyed thousands of dollars' worth of property with which the committee were assisting the poor to remove .*
At Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, where most of the exiled Saints found refuge and a kindly welcome, they were joined late in April or early in May by the Prophet and his brother Hyrum, who had recently escaped with others of their captive companions from their imprisonment in Missouri.
* Says Heber C. Kimball : " One mobber rode up, and finding no convenient place to fasten his horse, shot a cow that was standing near while a girl was milking her, and as the poor animal was struggling in death he cut a strip of her hide from the nose to the tail to which he fastened his halter."
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CHAPTER XI. 1839-1842.
NAUVOO-THE SAINTS IN ILLINOIS AND IOWA-DANIEL H. WELLS-THE APOSTLES DEPART FOR EUROPE-THE PROPHET LAYS THE GRIEVANCES OF HIS PEOPLE BEFORE THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT-PRESIDENT VAN BUREN'S REPLY-" YOUR CAUSE IS JUST, BUT I CAN DO NOTHING FOR YOU "-ILLINOIS POLITICS-WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS-THE MORMONS HOLD THE BALANCE OF POWER-A CLOUD ON THE HORIZON-MISSOURI DEMANDS OF ILLINOIS THE MORMON LEADERS AS FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE-THE REQUISITION RETURNED UNSERVED -THE NAUVOO CHARTER-THE APOSTLES IN GREAT BRITAIN-THE BEGINNING OF MORMON IMMIGRATION FROM ABROAD-THE SAINTS CONCENTRATE AT NAUVOO-THE POLITICIANS ALARMED-RISE OF THE ANTI-MORMON PARTY-THE MISSOURI WRIT RE-ISSUED AND THE PROPHET ARRESTED-HABEAS CORPUS-JUDGE DOUGLAS-LIBERATION- JOHN C. BENNETT- THE SHADOW OF A COMING EVENT-THE PROPHET PREDICTS THE FLIGHT OF HIS PEOPLE TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
AUVOO, the Beautiful. Such was the name of the fair city founded by Joseph Smith and his followers on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, after their flight and expulsion from Missouri. It was in Hancock County, Illinois, fifty miles above the town of Quincy.
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