BOGGS ISSUES AN ORDER OF EXTERMINATION—GENERAL ATCHISON'S THREAT AGAINST THE TYRANT—AVARD ORGANIZES THE DANITES—THE HAUN'S MILL MASSACRE—FAR WEST BESIEGED—THREE NOBLE ONES REFUSE TO DESERT THEIR FRIENDS—COLONEL HINKLE'S BASE TREACHERY—"THESE ARE THE PRISONERS I AGREED TO DELIVER UP"—A COURT MARTIAL SENTENCES JOSEPH AND HIS COMPANIONS TO DEATH—GENERAL DONIPHAN'S NOBLE ACTION—DEMONIAC DEEDS ENACTED IN FAR WEST.
On the day of the martyr Patten's funeral at Far West, Lilburn W. Boggs issued to General John B. Clark an order of extermination against the Saints. His words were:
The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good. Their outrages are beyond all description.
The excuse of this tyrant was the encounter between the militia, sent out by Colonel Hinkle under judicial endorsement, and Bogart's mobbers. How quickly Boggs could respond when any of his assassins were checked in their career of massacre and plunder! Before making his order of extermination he had already directed two thousand troops to be raised; and in his edict of death, entrusted to General Clark, he authorized any desired increase of forces. He also directed Major-General Wallock and General Doniphan, with one thousand men, to intercept the retreat of the Saints, should they attempt one, by this act proving that the Saints were not to be permitted to leave the state, and that his order of extermination was intended to be construed absolutely and without alternative. He had taken the command from General Atchison and given it to General Clark because the latter was more suitable to his purpose, since he feared that Atchison might have some qualms of conscience. Incensed at this official slight, at a later time, General Atchison declared in a public speech:
If the governor does not restore my commission to me, I will kill him, so help me God.
To make some show of palliation for this unparalleled act of atrocity, Boggs published the most infamous lies concerning the doings and intentions of the "Mormons," making it appear that they, a little handful of poverty-stricken exiles, were about to flood the state with a ruinous war. His stories were full of tragedy and bombast. They would have been too ridiculous to be believed for an instant, but that the infuriate element for whose incitement they were addressed were eager as he to plunge the knife into the heart of innocence.
All the vile characters in that section of the country soon flocked to the mob-organizations. The most diabolical combinations were formed: one of the worst being under the direction of Dr. Sampson Avard, one of the apostate spirits, who formed a band which he called Danites, to aid him in purposes of plunder and murder, which he intended to attribute to the Church, and thus furnish an excuse for the attacks upon his former brethren. But his plot was discovered by the Prophet, and Avard was publicly excommunicated, so that the world might know that the Church had no part in this infamy. His plan was, by this prompt action, defeated almost before it had birth.
By the 26th of October twenty-five hundred of the mob militia had congregated at Richmond, and from there they took up their march for Far West, robbing, plundering, shooting, and threatening ravishment by the way. It was such rare sport, this outrage of the innocents, that it drew an overwhelming force to execute the ghastly order of Boggs, the executioner at wholesale.
The executive decree of massacre fell like music upon the ears of the wicked mob. On Tuesday, the 30th of October, 1838, a party of two hundred and forty of them fell upon a few families of Saints at Haun's Mill on Shoal Creek, and butchered them. The awful particulars of that deed must be left, with many others of like character, for another publication now in course of preparation, since the scope of this volume will not permit of more than a general view of events, however important, in which the Prophet had no personal part. But one or two circumstances of that atrocious deed can be detailed to show the unquenchable thirst for blood of Boggs' emissaries. Among the Saints at Haun's Mill was one old man named McBride, who had fought for independence under General Washington. This veteran patriot the mob seized and shot with his own gun, then they slashed him to pieces with a corn cutter. Stalwart Missourians slew and mutilated little children, and afterwards boasted of their deeds. They even robbed the dead.
On the 30th day of October the mob army beleaguered Far West. Their ranks were constantly augmented, and during the ensuing week six thousand demoniac men had taken part against that city.
On the first day of the siege a messenger was sent into the town to demand three persons to whom amnesty was to be accorded, as the mob declared their intention to massacre all the rest of the people and lay Far West in ashes. Adam Lightner, John Cleminson and wife were these three persons. When the messengers offered them the chance of life they responded: "If the people must be destroyed, we will die with them."
Elder Charles C. Rich was sent out, bearing a flag of truce, to hold a conference with General Doniphan and others; but when he approached the camp of the besiegers, Bogart, the Methodist preacher, fired upon him.
The defenders of the city threw up a temporary fortification of wagons and timber on the south, for they were in hourly expectation of the attack.
About eight o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, the 31st day of October, a white flag approached the city from the camp of the mobbers.
Colonel George M. Hinkle went out to meet it and accompanied it back to the camp. What he did there ought to have made even a Judas blush. He returned at evening and said to Joseph that hope had arisen for the settlement of the difficulties, and that the presence of the Prophet and some of his leading friends was desired by the officers of the militia. Hinkle pledged his own honor and that of the besieging generals that no harm was intended or would be permitted against the brethren.
Always ready to meet personal danger in a just cause, the Prophet complied, and was joined by the men whom Hinkle designated: Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight and George W. Robinson. Led by Colonel Hinkle they proceeded toward the camp and were met by General Lucas with one piece of artillery and the whole army at his heels. At this moment Hinkle earned his thirty pieces of silver, for he said:
These are the prisoners I agreed to deliver up.
Lucas brandished his sword and ordered his men to surround the Prophet and his companions. A fierce and exultant yell burst from the throats of the mob, and horrid blasphemies poured from them in torrents. They would not wait for an order to butcher before assailing the Prophet, so eager were they to take his life; and several of them snapped their guns at him, but he was spared. Arrived at the camp, the prisoners were placed in charge of a strong guard of obscene and blasphemous wretches, who hour after hour profaned the name of God, mocked at Jesus Christ and boasted of having defiled virgins and wives by force. They demanded a miracle from Joseph, saying:
There is one of your brethren here in camp whom we took prisoner yesterday in his own house, and knocked his brains out with his own rifle, which we found hanging over his own mantel; he lies speechless and dying; speak the word and heal him, and then we will all believe.
Among the people who came to gloat over them was William E. McLellin, the apostate. He taunted them with their impending fate, declaring that there was no hope for them.
When the news reached Far West the people were appalled. They had feared for Joseph and his brethren, because they knew that to go out was to enter the lair of a monster; and now they felt that their worst fears were confirmed.
That night the Prophet and his friends lay upon the wet ground, chilled by the rains of dawning November and subject to the most cruel and exasperating insults. The next morning Hyrum Smith and Amasa M. Lyman were dragged from their families in Far West and brought as prisoners into the camp.
On the evening of November 1st, 1838, Lucas convened a court martial, over which he presided. It was composed of seventeen preachers and some of the principal officers of the mob army. Its purpose was to put the Prophet and his friends on trial for their lives, but not one of them was permitted to be present during any part of its deliberations. A few moments were sufficient for the promulgation of its edict, since no testimony was to be heard and no pleas admitted. The sentence was that Joseph and his companions should be shot at eight o'clock the next morning, November 2nd, 1838, on the public square at Far West in the presence of their helpless wives and little children.
When the sentence was passed, General Doniphan said:
I wash my hands of this thing; it is murder!
Then he ordered his brigade of troops off the ground, or he would not permit them to take part in the assassination. General Graham also resisted the sentence with honor and manliness.
After the adjournment of the court martial the Prophet demanded from General Wilson the reason why he should be shot, since he had always been a supporter of the constitution and the government of his country. Wilson's answer was:
I know it, and that is the reason why I want to kill you.
It was an absurdity to try by court martial, even if that body had been a legal and just tribunal, a man who had not borne arms nor engaged in warfare nor committed any overt act. Joseph was a licensed minister of the gospel, not a soldier. He belonged to the class recognized always and everywhere as non-combatant. Probably this was the reason why Lucas had seventeen preachers as members of the court, to give the proceedings an ecclesiastical air.
On this same day, November 1st, 1838, Lucas required the Caldwell militia to give up their arms. They only numbered five hundred men, all told; while the mob army numbered thousands. But the diabolical purpose which they had in view made it desirable to the attacking horde that no one in the city should have any power of resistance remaining. Lucas gave color to his demand by the fact that Hinkle, the betrayer, who had commanded the forces in Far West, had made a treaty by which the disarmament of the Caldwell militia was conceded.
The brethren were all marched out of the town and their weapons taken from them. Then gangs of miscreants were turned loose in Far West to work their will. They rushed through the streets like wolves, tearing and devouring whatever came in their way. Such deeds were done that day as would make a savage hang his head in shame. Property was seized and carried away without a pretext; houses were fired; the sick and the infantile were insulted and abused; the men were secured as prisoners; and women were outraged in sight of their helpless husbands and fathers.
The Prophet's house was singled out for a special attack; his family was driven out and all his property seized or destroyed.
The brethren who possessed real estate were brought before Lucas, and at the point of the bayonet, were compelled to sign deeds of trust of all their possessions to pay the expenses of the mob.
A more appalling instance of cruelty history does not record. An innocent people are ordered exterminated. But before proceeding to the final act of massacre the immolators demand their pay in advance from the victims.
It was an awful night at Far West; but more awful it was feared the morrow would be, for the sentence of death pronounced upon the Prophet and his fellow-captives was promised to be executed at eight o'clock the next morning.
THE PROPHET'S LIFE SAVED BY THE VANITY OF LUCAS—FAREWELL OF THE PRISONERS TO THEIR FAMILIES—ON TOWARD INDEPENDENCE—CONTINUED RAVAGES AT FAR WEST—GENERAL CLARK'S INHUMAN ADDRESS—THE MOVEMENT AGAINST ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN.
On the morning of Friday, November 2nd, 1838, in pursuance of the sentence of the secret tribunal of preachers and mobocrats—misnamed a court-martial—the Prophet and his fellow-prisoners were marched into the public square at Far West. But the brutal murder which had been decreed, did not take place. The failure of Lucas to enforce that part of the sentence was due in part to the manly rebellion of Generals Doniphan and Graham, and in part to his own wish to drag the Prophet and his brethren through the country and exhibit them as his captives. General Clark was expected immediately at Far West. He wanted the prisoners delivered to him; and jealousy worked in the mind of Lucas. It was esteemed a high honor to hold Joseph Smith in captivity; and Lucas was determined not to share this glorious trophy of war with another. What the tears of women and children, the innocence of men, and a sense of justice could not accomplish in this bad man's mind, was easily achieved by the base motives of envy and vanity. He wanted to be recognized as a victorious general, and the presence of the captives would add to the pageantry of his march. If greater notoriety could have been achieved or greater admiration for his prowess secured by the murder of these men at Far West, he would not have stayed his hand. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for a militia leader to cover himself with the dishonors of war. Less than a quarter of a century from that time, the state of Missouri and all its citizens had ample occasion to deal with real enemies and to view in every city and village, and every field and every forest, and in every home the misery of fratricidal strife. Men who had thirsted for blood were given more than a glut of it, for hundreds of them weltered in their own gore.
Lucas prepared to continue his triumphal march, intending to take the brethren to Jackson County and expose them as captives at Independence. Before they left they begged to be permitted to bid their families farewell. This boon, so estimable to them and so trifling to the mob, was ostensibly granted, but under conditions which showed an inhuman desire to torture. Every prisoner was permitted, under a strong guard, to seek out his beloved ones, but was forbidden to speak to them. He might gaze on them with tearful eyes and wave them farewell, a long farewell—forever, if he would; but no word from his lips might fall as balm upon their bruised spirits.
Hyrum, the Prophet's beloved brother, who was never very far away from Joseph, was one of the captives. Hyrum's young wife, Mary—for he was again a husband—was prostrated with suffering. When he was dragged before her by his armed captors he would have solaced her agony with a few words of comfort and cheer. He wanted to bid her look up and trust in God; but the mob soldiers threatened to kill him at her feet if he breathed a syllable, and to spare her tortured soul this awful pang he held his peace. Mary saw her husband carried from her, perhaps to death; she gathered the motherless little children of Jerusha about her and sought to comfort them. She did not see her noble husband again until after she had passed through the trial and pain of maternity; for her son, Joseph Fielding Smith, was born eleven days after, and while his father was still a captive in the hands of the mob.
To moan and weep over the captive Prophet came his wife and babes, and his aged father and mother. He had begged to have a moment in which to comfort his wife, for she was utterly overpowered with fear for his life. He wanted to reassure her that the sentence of death was not to be executed that morning and to promise her that they should meet again in this life. But the mob guards with their swords rudely thrust his wife and little ones away from Joseph's side, and threatened to kill him if he should speak.
Joseph gazed upon the overwhelming scene at Far West as he was being marched forth a captive. He commended the city and its people to the care of that God whose kindness had always followed them into the dark valley of tribulation, and who alone could protect them from death and defilement.
That night the Prophet with Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight, Amasa M. Lyman and George W. Robinson, were started for Independence. Under a strong guard, commanded by Generals Lucas and Wilson, they camped at night on Crooked River.
A vision of hope and security came to Joseph that night, and when he arose in the morning he spoke to his brethren in a low and cheerful tone, saying:
Be of good cheer, my brethren, the word of the Lord came to me last night that our lives should be given us, and that whatever else we might suffer during this captivity, not one of us should die.
An express from General Clark demanding the august prisoners reached Lucas at this point. This commanding general had so far achieved little, the triumphs of the cruel contest being with his subordinates. He was therefore determined that the prisoners should be dragged at his chariot wheels and that their slaughter should be under his personal direction, to show Boggs and the populace that he was worthy of the truculent enterprise entrusted to him. But Lucas was no less determined that, having won the victory, he himself should enjoy the spoils and the plaudits; and with all possible speed he hastened forward with the captives.
Leaving the Prophet and his companions advancing toward their unknown fate, we must return with their anxious thoughts to the proceedings at Far West; as General Clark was marching upon that place, and the prisoners feared for their unprotected families.
Lucas had sent several companies of the mob militia including Neal Gilliam's band of painted wretches under General Parks to Adam-ondi-Ahman with instructions to disarm the militia at that place and to take prisoners. By his orders also a large body of troops had been left to guard some eighty brethren held captive at Far West.
General Clark did not arrive at the beleaguered city until the 4th of November, 1838; but on that day he came at the head of two thousand troops. In the interval of two days the people in the town had been subjected to every possible indignity. Apostates prowled through the streets pointing out to the mob all the men of influence or station in the Church, and aiding to put them in irons. At first it had been ordered that all who were not held as prisoners should flee the city on the instant. But finally the mob concluded to keep the people within the town until General Clark's arrival.
It was a joy to the sectarian ministers of the neighborhood to see this work of ruin; and many of them visited Far West to exult over the prisoners and their suffering families.
Many privations and tortures were endured. The captives were kept without food until they were on the verge of starvation. The mob continued their work of ruin, hunting and shooting human beings like wild beasts; and ravishing and murdering women.
Upon Clark's arrival at Far West he selected fifty-six of the leading men and held them under a strong guard for trial, for what offense neither he nor they could tell. He also sent a messenger to the commander of the troops advancing to assault Adam-ondi-Ahman, requiring him to take all of the "Mormons" prisoners and to secure all their property to pay the damages of other citizens.
On the 6th day of November, 1838, Clark assembled the people and delivered an address to them as follows:
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, 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 destroyed and your houses in ashes.
There is a discretionary power vested in my hands, which, considering your circumstances, 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 if I have done now. You need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the Governor's order shall be executed.
As 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 dye is cast, their doom is sealed.
I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so many apparently intelligent men found in the situation that you 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 yourselves 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.
The prisoners whom he had taken were sent by him to Richmond, in Ray County, for trial.
About this same time Boggs wrote a letter requiring Clark to finish the awful work which had been begun. He directed a movement against the Saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman and said:
My instructions to you are to settle this whole matter completely, if possible, before you disband your forces.
To fulfill this edict, Clark ordered General Wilson with his brigade to Adam-ondi-Ahman, although there were enough mob troops already there to furnish a special guard and a special executioner for every man, woman and child in the place. On the 8th of November a cordon was drawn about Adam-ondi-Ahman. A court of inquiry was instituted with the notorious Adam Black on the bench, and with a man from General Clark's army as prosecuting attorney. Not a thing could be proved against any of the brethren, except that they had been long-suffering victims of senseless hate, and they were acquitted; but not until a military order was prepared requiring them, one and all to vacate the place in ten days and to be outside of the state as early as the next spring or to be exterminated.
JOSEPH PREACHES IN JACKSON AND FULFILLS HIS OWN PROPHECY—FAVOR IN THE EYES OF THEIR CAPTORS—DRUNKEN GUARDS—IN RICHMOND JAIL—MAJESTY IN CHAINS—CLARK'S DILEMMA—THE MOCK TRIAL—TREASON TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE—CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1838.
Early in the year 1838, while it was more than his life was worth for any Saint to penetrate Jackson County, the Prophet made a public prophecy that some one of the Elders would preach a sermon there before the close of the ensuing December.
Lucas crossed the ferry of the Missouri River from Clay into Jackson County with his prisoners on the night of Saturday, the 3rd of November, 1838. His march had been made with great expedition, because he feared to be overtaken by a further demand from his superior officer for the captives.
The next morning was the Sabbath; and the people along the road came out in their best attire to view the "Mormon" Prophet, for the news had preceded his advent, and the whole country was aroused. While they were yet in camp on that morning a number of ladies and gentlemen visited them; and one woman inquired of the guards, "Which of the captives is the Lord worshiped by the Mormons?"
The mobocrat pointed to Joseph with a significant smile and said, "That is he." After gazing upon the Prophet for a moment the lady candidly asked whether he professed to be the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Joseph answered:
I am only a man, a humble minister of salvation sent by the Redeemer to preach His gospel.
Astounded at this reply, so different from what she had been led to expect, the lady pressed question after question upon the Prophet. As he responded many listeners gathered around, including a company of the wondering soldiers; and there on that Sabbath morning, with hundreds of spectators and his captors for a congregation, the Prophet preached as impressive a discourse as ever before in his life. He set forth the doctrines of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism for the remission of sin, with a promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost—as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. And by this sermon was his own prophecy fulfilled.
His listeners were filled with strange emotions, this man spoke as no other had ever talked in their hearing. The woman who had first asked to see the Prophet was wrought upon by a spirit of conviction. When Joseph finished his remarks, she arose and praised God in solemn tones, and she went away praying that the Lord would protect and deliver His servants.
At ten o'clock of that Sunday morning, the entire brigade having crossed the river, the march was resumed. As they passed along the road hundreds of people flocked to see them, and General Wilson often halted the cavalcade to introduce his prisoners to the populace, pointing out each one of the captives by name. A few hours later the prisoners entered Independence surrounded by the exultant troops, who blew every instant triumphant blasts upon their bugles to arouse the inhabitants into a frenzy of joy. Rain was falling in torrents, but it could not extinguish the blazing hate and exultation of the mob as they paraded the Prophet through the streets of the city whence his brethren had been once driven from homes and growing wealth.
But soon after their arrival a reaction of feeling set in, and the prisoners began to be treated with some show of compassion. It is true they were badly lodged, closely guarded and exhibited every day as a victorious Roman general might have exhibited his captive kings; but they were fed, partly shielded from the severity of the season and were permitted to plead their cause and proclaim their belief to any interested listener.
The effect of their situation and their teachings was most amazing. Here in this region where they had once met cruelty in its direst shape and whither they had been brought in hourly peril of their lives, they awakened feelings of pity, respect and personal regard.
They were permitted occasionally to walk out in charge of a guard; and then they visited the spot dedicated for a temple, which had been denuded of its noble forests and now lay desolate, and also the place where had once stood the dwellings of the Saints, but not a vestige of these habitations remained, for they had been consumed by fire or carried away by plunderers.
After four days' imprisonment at Independence, and after repeated demands from Clark for their persons, it was decided to send them to Richmond, Ray County; but the officers, now become somewhat friendly, could not give them any light concerning the charges to be made against them. It was agreed that they were not to be tried by civil process, because none had been served upon them; it was also agreed that they could not be tried by court martial since they were civilians—amenable to civil law; martial law had not been declared, and they had not committed any military offense.
It was extremely difficult to secure guards to accompany the brethren to Richmond. None would volunteer, and when drafted from the ranks they refused to obey orders. The soldiers, impressed by the personality of the captives, and wrought upon by the spirit of mercy, wished the brethren to go at liberty. Hundreds of the men who had fought against them with bitterness now entertained for them the kindest feelings; and, besides, both officers and troops disliked to see General Clark secure the triumph so ardently desired by him. The view entertained by Lucas was shared by his officers and men and was stated to the brethren by General Wilson in the following words:
It was repeatedly insinuated by the other officers and troops, that we should hang you prisoners on the first tree we came to on the way to Independence. But I'll be damned if anybody shall hurt you. We just intend to exhibit you in Independence, let the people look at you, and see what a damned set of fine fellows you are. And more particularly to keep you from that G—d damned old bigot of a General Clark and his troops, from down country, who are so stuffed with lies and prejudice that they would shoot you down in a moment.
Finally, three men consented to escort the prisoners to Richmond, and on the morning of Thursday, the 8th day of November, 1838, they started on their journey. What a reflection it is upon the doings of that time that the officers in charge of these captives should entrust seven of them to three guards! Joseph and his brethren had been designated and treated as the most desperate men in the state of Missouri. The mob proved their own assertion to be false when they arranged the journey to Richmond. That afternoon, between Independence and Roy's Ferry, the three guards became drunk. As Joseph and his brethren had no physical restraint upon them, they could easily have killed their guard and escaped; but instead of doing this, they merely secured the arms and the horses, that the intoxicated soldiers might not injure themselves or their prisoners and that the steeds might not stray away.
After crossing the Missouri they were met by Colonel Sterling Price with a guard of seventy-four men, by whom they were conducted to Richmond and thrown into a vacant house closely watched. A few hours after their arrival General Clark visited them. When they demanded the reason why they had thus been carried from their homes, and demanded a statement of the charge made against them, the great General Clark, called an eminent lawyer, answered that he could not then determine what particular offense could be alleged against them, but would think the matter over. Immediately after he had withdrawn, Colonel Price came in with ten armed men and some chains and padlocks. The guards were ordered to stand with muskets ready to fire. Then the windows were nailed down, and a man named John Fulkerson, chained the seven brethren together and fastened the manacles with padlocks.
General Clark spent many hours trying to find some definite charge against the prisoners and trying to find some authority to arraign them before a court martial. The result of his researches is shown in a letter addressed to the Governor at that time, in which he says:
I have detained General White and his field officers here a day or two, for the purpose of holding a court martial, if necessary. I this day made out charges against the prisoners, and called on Judge King to try them as a committing court; and I am now busily engaged in procuring witnesses and submitting facts. There being no civil officers in Caldwell, I have to use the military to get witnesses from there, which I do without reserve. The most of the prisoners here, I consider guilty of treason; and I believe will be convicted; and the only difficulty in law is, can they be tried in any county but Caldwell? If not, they cannot be there indicted until a change of population. In the event the latter view is taken by the civil courts, I suggest the propriety of trying Joseph Smith and those leaders taken by General Lucas for mutiny. This I am in favor of only as a dernier resort. I would have taken this course with Smith at any rate; but it being doubtful whether a court martial has jurisdiction or not in the present case—that is, whether these people are to be treated as in time of war, and the mutineers as having mutinied in time of war—and I would here ask you to forward to me the Attorney-General's opinion on this point. It will not do to allow these leaders to return to their treasonable work again on account of their not being indicted in Caldwell. They have committed treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny and perjury.
A more helpless state of mind than that of General Clark can scarcely be imagined. The document which has been quoted and which he closes with charges against the brethren of nearly all the offenses under the law—and yet does not know how to substantiate or legally punish a single one of them—proves that he was in a desperate state of mind.
He was determined that they should die and made his preparations for the commission of the murder before he had even decided what charge to bring against the prisoners. While this matter was pending, Brother Jedediah Grant, then a young man, put up at the same tavern with the General at Richmond. He saw Clark select the men to shoot Joseph and his fellow prisoners, and he heard the day of the execution fixed as Monday, November 12th, 1838. He saw the men who were selected load their rifles with two bullets each, and after this was done he heard General Clark say to them:
Gentlemen, you shall have the honor of shooting the Mormon leaders next Monday morning at eight o'clock.
Colonel Price, who had immediate charge of the prisoners, permitted all manner of abuse to be heaped upon them. They were kept chained together like wild beasts; left to lie upon the bare floor without any covering. When they might have forgotten their sufferings of body and mind in slumber, the inhuman guards kept them awake by yelling ribald songs and jests and by shrieks of laughter. Parley P. Pratt, who was one of the prisoners confined with Joseph, writes of one of these painful nights as follows:
In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep, till the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the Mormons while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women and children.
I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice, that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards, but I had said nothing to Joseph or anyone else, although I lay next to him, and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:
"Silence! Ye fiends of the infernal pit! In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still. I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant!"
He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon, calm, unruffled, and dignified as an angel, he looked down upon his quailing guards, whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet until an exchange of guards.
I have seen ministers of justice, clothed in ministerial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended upon a breath in the courts of England; I have witnessed a congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; 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.
More than fifty of the brethren from Far West were also held in captivity at Richmond; failing to find authority or excuse for trying any of these men by court martial, Clark informed them that the whole party would be turned over to the civil authorities. A court was convened with Austin A. King presiding, and Thomas C. Burch the state's attorney, for the prosecution. The first act of this strange tribunal was to send out a body of mobocratic soldiers, armed with guns instead of civil process, to bring in witnesses, who, when they arrived, were sworn at the point of the bayonet. Nearly forty persons gave evidence for the prosecution. Though they all swore in a general way monstrous crimes against the accused, not one definite charge was maintained. When the defense were asked for their witnesses they named as many as fifty, any of whom could have disproved the accusations. Captain Bogart, the Methodist preacher, was sent out with a company of soldiers to procure these witnesses, and when he brought them in under arrest, they were thrust into jail and kept there until after the trial, without being accorded an opportunity to testify or to see the defendants.
One day, while the trial was proceeding, a man named Allen, who knew something of the facts and was there as an interested spectator, was called by the defense and sworn. As his testimony was favorable to the Prophet and the other prisoners, the mob set upon him in open court and tried to murder him. When he left the building he was pursued by mobocrats with loaded guns. Observing the outrages inflicted upon people who wanted to tell the truth, the Prophet and his brethren ceased to demand witnesses, preferring themselves to suffer than to involve other people in the toils of mobocratic hate.
The mock investigation continued from day to day until Saturday, November 24th, 1838, when all of the brethren were discharged except Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander McRae, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, Luman Gibbs, Darwin Chase, and Norman Shearer, who were held for murder and treason.
The judge was a Methodist, and he had been particularly anxious to know whether the defendants believed in the prophecy of Daniel, that:
In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall break in pieces all other kingdoms, and stand forever.
And,
The kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given to the Saints of the Most High.
When it appeared clear that the prisoners believed in the Bible and in this particular part of it, their treason was established. The judge so decided in express terms and he then committed them; and as General Doniphan, who was present, remarked:
If a cohort of angels were to come down and declare the innocence of the prisoners it would be all the same; for King has determined from the beginning to throw them into prison.
King and Burch, the judge and prosecuting attorney, had sat in Lucas's secret tribunal in Far West which had sentenced the brethren to be shot; and they were anxious to take this new opportunity to wreak their vengeance. In open court the judge stated that there was no law to protect "Mormons" in the state of Missouri, and he was bound to aid the Governor's edict of extermination.
The prisoners had been kept in chains during the examination; and in chains they stood to hear the judgment of the court. It was that Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, Caleb Baldwin, and Sidney Rigdon be imprisoned in the jail of Clay County until delivered therefrom by due course of law. The others who were held were retained in Richmond jail.
Thus was the charge of treason maintained in that day; and upon the same grounds it has been repeated against the Saints down to the present time, for they still continue to believe that the Bible is the word of God.
Joseph and his companions were carried to Liberty, Clay County, in irons. As they entered the town considerable excitement prevailed among people desirous to view them. Arrived at the jail, they descended from the vehicle and walked up the steps to a landing or platform in front of the entrance of the prison building. Joseph wore a suit of black and had a cloak of dark colored material hanging on his arm. Hyrum followed him and the others stood close around. The gaze of the spectators was concentrated upon Joseph, and his majestic air made a deep impression upon them. One lady in the crowd cried: "Their Prophet looks like a gentleman!" Another looking at the group expressed the opinion: "Well, they are fine looking men if they are Mormons."
It was on the 30th day of November, 1838, that they were incarcerated in Liberty jail; and at once an order was made to cut off all communication between them and their friends, while every effort was put forth to drive away or frighten any witnesses whose testimony might be desirable for the defendants. And at the same time the threat went out through all that region that if judges or juries or courts of any kind should clear the prisoners, they would be slaughtered.
After a little time the rule concerning communications was relaxed, and Joseph was able to write to his brethren. In one of his letters, dated from Liberty jail, December 16th, 1838, he said:
But we want you to remember Haman and Mordecai: you know Haman could not be satisfied so long as he saw Mordecai at the king's gate, and he sought the life of Mordecai and the people of the Jews. But the Lord so ordered it, that Haman was hanged upon his own gallows. So shall it come to pass with poor Haman in the last days. Those who have sought by unbelief and wickedness, and by the principle of mobocracy, to destroy us and the people of God, by killing them and scattering them abroad, and wilfully and maliciously delivering us into the hands of murderers, desiring us to be put to death, thereby having us dragged about in chains and cast into prison, and for what cause? It is because we were honest men, and were determined to save the lives of the Saints at the expense of our own. I say unto you, that those who have thus vilely treated us like Haman, shall be hanged on their own gallows; or in other words, shall fall into their own gin and snare, and ditch and trap, which they have prepared for us, and shall go backwards and stumble and fall, and their names shall be blotted out, and God shall reward them according to all their abominations.
The people were making their preparations to leave the state; but in the meantime they addressed a memorial and petition to the legislature of Missouri, setting forth the wrongs and outrages committed upon them. These appeals were presented, but after an angry discussion they were laid upon the table. At the same time an appropriation of $200,000 was made to the mob to pay them for their crimes against the Saints.
This action was so outrageous that something must be done to distract public attention, and the mob element secured the publication of the most enormous falsehoods against the people. In these accounts the wickedness of the mob was disguised or denied. But the Prophet exposed them in the following words:
But can they hide the Governor's cruel order for banishment or extermination? Can they conceal the facts of the disgraceful treaty of the generals with their own officers and men at Far West? Can they conceal the fact that twelve or fifteen thousand men, women and children have been banished from the state without trial or condemnation? And this at the expense of two hundred thousand dollars—and this sum appropriated by the state legislature in order to pay the troops for this act of lawless outrage? Can they conceal the fact that we have been imprisoned for many months, while our families, friends and witnesses have been driven away? Can they conceal the blood of the murdered husbands and fathers, or stifle the cries of the widow and the fatherless? Nay! The rocks and mountains may cover them in unknown depths, the awful abyss of the fathomless deep may swallow them up—and still their horrid deeds stand forth in the broad light of day, for the wondering gaze of angels and men! They cannot be hid.
The year drew to a close. The Saints were impoverished and scattered. The Prophet and his companions, loaded with chains, were in a noisome dungeon; several times they were poisoned, and, during a period of five days, human flesh was served to them as meat. The guards called it "Mormon beef," and the Prophet warned his companions not to touch it.
The earth was wrapped in gloom for the people of God when the sun sank for the last time upon the year 1838; but beyond and above this sphere was the star of eternal faith, whose light no prison walls could shut out from trusting souls.
THE PLEDGE FOR THE POOR SAINTS IN MISSOURI—BRIGHAM YOUNG DRIVEN FORTH—EFFORTS TO SECURE THE PROPHET'S RELEASE—REMOVAL TO GALLATIN— EXAMINATION OF THE CASE BY A DRUNKEN JURY—WHOLESALE INDICTMENT—CHANGE OF VENUE TO BOONE—ESCAPE FROM MISSOURI TO ILLINOIS.
With the dawn of 1839, a pledge was given by many of the brethren in Missouri that they would assist each other and assist the poor to escape from the state; and the promise was sacredly redeemed.
But the persecution did not cease. Brigham Young who had been chosen president of the Twelve in place of Thomas B. Marsh, an apostate, was driven out of Far West by mobs that sought his life. He with other fugitive Saints went to Illinois, and the charitable people of Quincy, Adams County, extended to the persecuted people a hand of kindness.
In January, Heber C. Kimball and Alanson Ripley went to Liberty and began to importune at the feet of judges for relief for their suffering Prophet and brethren in prison. One Judge Hughes believed that they were pleading the cause of the innocent and wanted the captives admitted to bail; but his associates were hardened and would not consent. The two supplicants were soon compelled, by mob fury, to desist from their importunities and were driven away from Liberty.
A writ of habeas corpus was secured about the close of January to bring the prisoners before Judge Turnham. An examination was held, but it was a farce. Nearly all the officers of the law, if not in league with the mob, were in terror of its power. Sidney Rigdon alone was released at the hearing upon the writ; but he had to return to jail because the rabble swore they would kill him if he were turned loose. A little later Sidney was let out of the prison secretly in the night by a friendly jailor, and he escaped to Quincy.
The families of Joseph, Hyrum and the other captive brethren gathered up to Quincy after undergoing the most appalling privations. It was Stephen Markham who escorted Emma, Joseph's wife, and their children from Far West, through all the dangers of Missouri and to a place of safety. The Saints were arriving there in large numbers during the winter and early spring, but were not decided yet where to settle.
On the 15th day of March the Prophet and the other brethren in Liberty jail made petitions to the judges of the supreme court for writs of habeas corpus, by which they hoped to have the proceedings of their imprisonment examined; but they were obstructed by the hatred against them. It was evident that the purpose of their enemies was to withhold judicial hearing until after the brethren had suffered death in prison. And their efforts from this time on during their captivity were continuous to secure such hearing.
A conference was held at Quincy on the 17th of March, 1839, over which Brigham Young presided as the head of the Twelve. Thomas B. Marsh and several other persons of some prominence were excommunicated from the Church.
A gathering place for the Saints was necessary. This the Prophet felt every hour. While he was in prison in Liberty the brethren had friendly communication with one Dr. Isaac Galland upon the subject of settlement by the Saints in Iowa Territory and at Commerce, Illinois. From his dungeon the Prophet pressed the Elders to make a close examination of this matter, as the springtime was at hand and the crops for the year must be planted.
In prison, Joseph was in constant communion with the heavens and he received revelations, without which he and his brethren must have been cast down and without hope. He also sent epistles full of instruction and hope to leading men among the Saints. And his cheerful courage under the most trying circumstances of his life was very helpful in animating the banished people to pursue their migration with energy and fortitude.
While the Prophet and companions were still in Liberty jail, and after having repeatedly and vainly sought release by law, they thought they saw an opportunity to escape. At Hyrum's instance Joseph prayed to the Lord and asked if it were His will that they should depart from prison. The answer came to the Prophet that if they were all agreed in faith and purpose they might escape that night. When this response was made known, all of the brethren except Lyman Wight coincided in the opinion that they should seize their liberty, for they relied implicitly upon the promise given. But Lyman trembled, hesitated; and, as his companions would not resolve to leave him and as the promise of the Lord was based upon their unanimity, they resolved to wait until the next night as Lyman Wight agreed to then accompany them. The delay was fatal; they broke the conditions of the promise and remained in durance. On the night for which the promise was given the jailer came in alone with their suppers and left the doors wide open, so that they might easily have escaped. The next night he brought a double guard with him and also six visiting brethren. As the jailor was leaving their dungeon some of them attempted to follow him; but they were foiled. The guards were so enraged at the effort, although it had been a vain one, that they locked up the visiting brethren and made threats against their persons and property. The attempt to escape created great excitement; and the people of the town swarmed around the jail proposing various plans to destroy Joseph and all his companions. But the Prophet told his brethren to have no fear; not a hair of their heads should be harmed, and the brethren who had come in to comfort them should not lose any of their personal belongings—not even a horse or a saddle. He told them that they had risked their lives to bring joy to himself and companions and the Lord would bless them. These promises were fulfilled to the letter.
When the visiting brethren were called for trial, Brother Erastus Snow, who was one of them, plead their cause as he had been counseled by Joseph. He did so in such a forcible and eloquent manner that orders of discharge in some cases and orders for bail in the others were immediately entered. Elder Snow's argument had been so strong and logical in its legal deductions that the lawyers who heard him supposed that he was a trained attorney.
Many enemies of the Prophet were permitted by the guard to visit and insult him in prison. It was their habit to charge him with murder. Several different men accused him of having killed their sons at the battle of Crooked River; several more, who were no kin to each other, charged him with having killed their brothers in the same battle. And this was the texture of the accusations made against him in and out of court. It had been alleged that only one man was killed at the battle of Crooked River, so it was impossible for several different men to lose sons and brothers there; and Joseph was not near the scene of that contest.
On one occasion a company under the leadership of William Bowman made solemn oath that they would never eat or drink more until they had taken the life of Joseph Smith. Bowman himself went to one of the Elders and made this boast:
After I once lay eyes on your Prophet I will never taste food or drink until I have killed him.
As these men all saw the Prophet soon afterward, and as he lived more than five years from that time, they either broke their oath or endured a long fast.
Before Brigham Young was driven out of Missouri into Illinois he went with Elders Heber C. Kimball and George A. Smith to see the Prophet in prison. Joseph enjoyed two visits with them; and when they left him they were much affected and were determined to do something further for his release. In the latter part of March, Elders Heber C. Kimball and Theodore Turley, carrying with them the papers in the case, went to see the Governor. As Boggs was absent from the capital the secretary of state reviewed the documents; and he was amazed that any man should be held in custody upon such papers, for they were in every sense illegal, insufficient and absurd. However, nothing was done from the executive office to relieve them; and Elders Kimball and Turley then applied to the supreme court judges for a writ of habeas corpus but without avail. When these devoted men returned to Liberty and reported the failure of their mission, the Prophet bade them be of good cheer and said:
We shall be delivered; but no arm but that of God can save us now. Tell the brethren to be of good cheer and to get the Saints away from Missouri as soon as possible.
On Saturday, the 6th day of April, 1839, Judge King ordered the Prophet and his fellow-prisoners off to Gallatin, Daviess County. This judicial autocrat feared a change of venue or some movement from a superior tribunal to secure the release of the prisoners or their removal from his personal power, and he determined to carry them away from Liberty. He sent them under a guard of ten men, promising the brethren that they should be permitted to go through Far West to see their friends, as that place was directly on their route. Instead, however, of fulfilling his promise, the guards carried the captives eighteen miles out of the direct course to avoid the city, dragging them through a dangerous country, apparently in the hope that some of their sworn enemies would fall upon and massacre them.
The journey to Gallatin was very painful, for Joseph and his brethren had been greatly enfeebled by their long confinement and the privations which they had endured while enchained in Liberty dungeon. Before they had started on this journey, some of the captive brethren had desired to have a party of friends to accompany them for protection. But as they never did anything without asking the Prophet, they consulted him upon this point. He responded:
In the name of the Lord, if we put our trust in Him alone we shall be saved and no harm shall befall us, and we shall be better treated than ever before since we have been prisoners.
Although this surprised the brethren, it satisfied them. But when they arrived at the place where the court was to be held at Gallatin, they began to think the Prophet had been mistaken for once, for the rabble rushed out upon them shrieking, "Kill them; ———— ———— them, kill them!" There was apparently no chance for escape except to fight, and they were unarmed. At this instant the Prophet rose to his feet and said:
We are in your hands; if we are guilty, we do not refuse to be punished by the law.
Some of the bitterest mobocrats hearing these words and being impressed by the power with which they were uttered, warned the blood-thirsty rabble back and quieted the storm. During the time of their stay in Gallatin the Prophet's promise was fulfilled; for they enjoyed all the comforts and some of the luxuries of life, tendered them by men who sympathized with their long-suffering and patient endurance. The day after their arrival at Gallatin, an examination of their case commenced before a drunken jury. Austin A. King, who acted here as the presiding judge, was as drunk as the jurymen. The same perjured testimony was invoked at this time as on previous occasions. Everything which was prejudicial to the prisoners, even when it was a patent falsehood, and even when, if true, it could have had no relevancy to the case, was eagerly seized and applauded. Stephen Markham desired to testify to some facts which were favorable to the defendants. He had reached Gallatin on the afternoon of the 9th, having hastened from Far West, swimming several streams by the way, to bring money and comfort to the Prophet and his companions. At his request his testimony was received. It did not suit the mobocratic guards, and they attempted to kill him. The notorious Colonel William P. Peniston was one of their number. Judge King and all the members of the grand jury saw the attack upon Markham, and the threats against his life, but they took no cognizance of these outrages.
On the 11th of April, 1839, the grand jury brought in a bill against Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Alexander McRae, Caleb Baldwin and Lyman Wight for "murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft and stealing." All of these counts were embodied in one indictment, and not one of them was sustained by any specific statement of circumstances. The language of the bill proves that the grand jury, like General Clark, had failed to find a definite charge which they could substantiate, and so included everything which they could think of. That night Elder Markham stayed with the brethren and while he slept a vision came to Joseph, showing him that his beloved Brother Markham was in peril of his life, at the same time showing him that his own deliverance and that of his captive companions, was nigh. The Prophet aroused Stephen and told him to hasten away from Gallatin, because if he waited until broad day—according to his expectation for the purpose of meeting the lawyers—he would be waylaid by a mob which intended to assassinate him. Stephen knew that the warning was from the Lord and he fled, thereby baffling the mobocrats who, as shown to Joseph in the vision, had really made their plot to kill Stephen. After he was gone, an armed party pursued him a long distance on the road to Far West; but they were unable to overtake him.
Elder Alexander McRae, who was a prisoner with Joseph at this time, says that it was the Prophet's characteristic to always defend his companions no matter how unpopular it might be to speak in their favor. He was much more solicitous for them than for himself. And as an illustration Brother McRae says that while they were at Gallatin, Peniston began to insult one of the captive brethren. Joseph darted a glance of lightning upon the wretch and said in tones of thunder: "Your heart is as black as your whiskers."
Peniston threw his hand over his beard, which was as black as a crow and rushed from the room quaking in every limb.
Elder Markham had left with the brethren a recent statute which enabled them to secure a change of venue upon their own affidavit; and after the mock examination in Gallatin the Prophet and his companions procured a change of venue to Boone County, for which place they departed on the 15th day of April, 1839, under charge of a strong guard. On the evening of the 16th, while pursuing their journey, all of the guards became intoxicated. It was a favorable moment for an escape, and the brethren seized the opportunity. The Prophet's reasons for consenting to this escape were stated by him at the time in the following language:
Knowing the only object of our enemies was our destruction, * * * we thought that [escape] was necessary for us, inasmuch as we love our lives, and did not wish to die by the hands of murderers and assassins; and inasmuch as we love our families and friends.
By this act the brethren took their change of venue from the state of Missouri to the state of Illinois. After indescribable hardships, traveling by night and suffering all manner of privations, they arrived in Quincy, Illinois, and met the congratulations of their friends and the embraces of their families.
Reviewing the awful experience through which he and his fellow captives had passed, Joseph wrote on the day of his arrival at Quincy as follows:
We were in their hands, as prisoners, about six months; but notwithstanding their determination to destroy us, * * and although at three different times (as we were informed) we were sentenced to be shot, without the least shadow of law (as we were not military men) and had the time and place appointed for that purpose, yet through the mercy of God, in answer to the prayers of the Saints, we have been preserved and delivered out of their hands, and can again enjoy the society of our friends and brethren, whom we love and to whom we feel united in bonds that are stronger than death, and in a state where we believe the laws are respected, and whose citizens are humane and charitable.
During the time we were in the hands of our enemies, we must say that although we felt anxiety respecting our families and friends, who were so inhumanly treated and abused, and who had to mourn the loss of their * * * slain, and, after having been robbed of nearly all that they possessed, be driven from their homes, and forced to wander as strangers in a strange country, in order that they might save themselves and their little ones from the destruction they were threatened with in Missouri, yet as far as we were concerned, we felt perfectly calm, and resigned to the will of our Heavenly Father. We knew our innocency, as well as that of the Saints, and that we had done nothing to deserve such treatment from the hands of our oppressors. Consequently, we could look to that God who has the hearts of all men in His hands, and who has saved us frequently from the gates of death, for deliverance; and notwithstanding that every avenue of escape seemed to be entirely closed, and death stared us in the face, and that our destruction was determined upon, as far as man was concerned, yet from our first entrance into the camp, we felt an assurance that we, with our families, should be delivered. Yes, that still small voice, which had so often whispered consolation to our souls, in the depths of sorrow and distress, bade us be of good cheer, and promised deliverance, which gave us great comfort. And although the heathen raged, and the people imagined vain things, yet the Lord of Hosts, the God of Jacob, was our refuge, and when we cried unto Him in the day of trouble, He delivered us; for which we call upon our souls to bless and praise His holy name. For although we were troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.