Mormons (And Ex-Mormons) in Missouri

Since moving to Missouri, I made traveling to Mormon historical sites a goal of mine. I am a lover of history, and Mormon history, in particular, has great meaning to me. So much of the history of Mormonism has affected my life, my upbringing, my culture of origin, and ultimately, my feelings about psychedelics. 

(Just kidding, but not kidding. That’s a great Mormon history rabbit hole that I will not be addressing today. I’ll just let that wet your palate, shall I?)

Mormon history, ultimately, led me to leaving Mormonism. Much of the trauma of leaving the religion of my origin had to do with “truth.” I have always been much of a “black and white” thinker. If it is true, then nothing else matters. If it is false, then it is not true, and it doesn’t matter. TRUTH has been a lifelong motivator. 

As I came to recognize that my church did not always behave morally, I wrestled with truth. If the church was TRUE - truth and authority for salvation restored by God - momentary human-wrought mistakes didn’t matter. The truth mattered, and the correct, or TRUE, method of “making it right” by God was of ultimate importance. 

Learning about the church’s history, however, convinced me this was no “restoration” act, but rather, a series of predictable, manipulative actions by an intelligent conman, carried away on his quest for power and dreams of grandeur. 

His grandeur is still spoken of, by the LDS Church. It’s in the retelling of “inspired” stories - his refusing alcohol for a leg surgery as a small child, or welcoming people off the boats of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, personally. The LDS Church has a great vision for who their prophet is and was. Studying history gave me a different perspective on Joseph Smith Jr. Here was a man who was a tad bit lazy. He was prone to violence and lust. He didn’t seem to feel it was wrong to deceive people to achieve his own ends. 

My trip to Nauvoo was a trip to study Joseph’s lust. I wrote about that dishonesty. Heck, I’ve FELT that dishonesty, and the sexism it bred in the society and culture that followed. This last weekend, however, I took advantage of a couple school holidays and brought my children (and mother!) to visit Kansas City and church sites there. The Mormons’ experience in Missouri is a different kind of study and lesson that can be learned from. Try as I might, I can’t think of a better descriptor of the lesson than this - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, Joseph, just SHUT UP!

To provide some history - 

New York, Kirtland Ohio, Jackson County (Independence) Missouri, Caldwell County (Far West/Adam-ondi-Ahman) Missouri, Nauvoo Illinois, Utah. (This is extremely simplified, but that’s your Mormon Locations Timeline.)

The Saints moved from Kirtland to Independence at the recommendations of Oliver Cowdery and others, who found a place on the western frontier that they felt the saints could settle, in relative safety and independence. Jackson County was already inhabited, however, and the saints arrived and immediately did not make a great impression with the locals.

Slavery was a part of it. Jackson County had slave owners. The Mormons were not huge into slavery at the time. In the “Mob Manifesto” of July 1833, which detailed the reasons behind the mob uprisings against the Mormons, they waste no time waxing long in their racist concerns regarding Mormons “inviting free negroes and mulattoes from other states to become ‘Mormons,’ and remove and settle among us.” The Jackson County citizens were rightly concerned that this would inspire their slaves to revolution. (While, simultaneously, racist-ly mentioning that “we are not prepared …to receive into the bosom of our families, as fit companions for our wives and daughters, the degraded and corrupted free negroes and mulattoes that are now invited to settle among us.”)

Hands down? This is a great reason to dislike the Jackson County locals, and side with the Mormons. No doubt, this is pretty racist and ugly, and, like I said, they didn’t mention this concern casually in the Mob Manifesto. Oh, they elaborate. This was a big deal to them.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t their only concern about the Mormons, though. They were not a fan of the Mormons’ religion. They viewed the Mormons as fanatics. They note, however, “If they had been respectable citizens in society and thus deluded, they would have been entitled to our pity rather than to our contempt and hatred.” They felt that the Mormons were lazy and idle. They felt that they had brought nothing with them to Missouri, and continued on, contributing nothing but social strife. 

“They declare openly that their God hath given them this county of land, and that sooner or later they must and will have possession of our lands for an inheritance.” 

A contemporaneous revelation from the Doctrine and Covenants stated: “Wherefore, the land of Zion shall not be obtained but by purchase or by blood, otherwise there is none inheritance for you.” (D&C 63:29). 

David Whitmer warned against the publication of this revelation, foretelling that the citizens of the county would kick them out, in defense of their families and property if it was published. Whitmer recorded that in response to his warning, Joseph and Sidney (Rigdon) laughed at him.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, Joseph, just SHUT UP. 

But no. So, sure enough, the mob kicked the saints out of the county. The Mob Manifesto addressed the desired protocol for removal - “…After timely warning, and receiving an adequate compensation for what little property they cannot take with them, they refuse to leave us in peace, as they found us - we agree to use such means as may be sufficient to remove them.”

You can debate for a long time if this was fair - and honestly, I can see both sides. The Mormons, however, were not innocent. They claimed “dibs” to land that was already inhabited, and stated that it was rightfully theirs, and they would take it “by blood” if necessary. 

I would kick that kid off of my bus, too. 

What followed was the Mormon Missouri War, and the beginning of my historical sites trip. 

The site I wanted to see more than any other? The Battle of Crooked River.

The Battle of Crooked River (October 1838) was far from the first act of aggression in this war, but it was solidly not a good one, on the part of the Mormons. It was also one that I read about, early on in my deep dive into “not LDS approved literature” history, which shattered some of the illusions for me. 

At this point, there were ex-Mormons, who were fleeing Caldwell County for their safety, from a group innocently called “The Daughters of Zion,” who would eventually be more popularly known as Danites. The Danites were formed for the purpose of driving these ex-Mormons out of their community - ex-Mormons like Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer. The Danites swore an oath, under the direction of Joseph Smith Jr: “I do solemnly obligate myself ever to conceal, and never to reveal, the secret purposes of this society called the Daughters of Zion. Should I ever do the same, I hold my life as the forfeiture.” Thus, members of the society swore, under penalty of death, to keep their secrets. “Instruction was given by Joseph Smith Jr that if any of them should get into a difficulty, the rest should help him out; and that they should stand by each other, right or wrong.”

Joseph Smith Jr had given public addresses, noting that the Mormons “had been an injured people,” and then provided an anecdote about a captain who wanted to buy potatoes from a Dutchman, who wouldn’t sell him any. The captain charged his company, several times, “not” to touch the Dutchman’s potatoes, and by morning, the Dutchman didn’t have any potatoes left. *wink wink, nudge nudge* Joseph Smith followed it up by telling the people that “the children of God did not go to war at their own expense.”Lyman Wight, additionally, in testimony, was reported to have commented that, per the Mormon’s goals, he thought they would be in St. Louis before the end of winter, and “take it.” The Mormons were preparing for war, and not just in defense of their county. Joseph Smith had compared the church to the stone mentioned in Daniel - “the dissenters first, and the State next, was part of the image that should be destroyed by this little stone.” 

Shops were looted then set fire to in Gallatin and Millport. The Daughters of Zion set up articles which, upon reading, look very much like the beginning of constitution-like documents for a theocracy. Sidney Rigdon gave the “Salt Sermon,” which inferred the ex-Mormon dissenters were salt that had lost its savor, and should be trampled out - which Danites knew was their duty to do. Farr West was practically under marshall law, with members being told that they ought to take up arms, or lose their property. 

Lives were being threatened. According to reports, the people of Daviess County fled, as the Mormons moved on it. People were terrified, and the state militia was put on alert. Captain Samuel Bogart was given orders to protect the line between Ray and Caldwell Counties, and prevent invasion into Ray County by putting down violence or persons in arms, any means necessary.

Bogart responded by taking weapons and “hostages.” We have the names of the “hostages,” but no information about why they were being held. I am inclined to believe that they were likely threatening in some manner. To take hostages for personal, stupid reasons, seems unnecessary and unwieldy, given the circumstances. Captain Bogart would have been within his rights to suppress violence, and take violent prisoners. But the Mormons interpreted this action as cause for battle, and marched on Bogart, who, for reminder, had a “state appointed” militia. They were official. So while the Mormons had their own militia, technically, they were attacking one that was government sanctioned.

At daybreak on the 25th, 150-200 Mormons marched on Bogart’s company at the Battle of Crooked River. Ultimately, four lives were lost - three of which were Mormons, but Bogart’s company scattered when the Mormons charged on them, crossing the river. It sounds like a fairly mild battle - only four casualties - but a small action that followed, at the end of the battle, changed my mind about the goodness of the parties involved in the battle.

When my family drove to the location of the site of the Battle of Crooked River, we found the site inaccessible. An old road had completely grown over with weeds and small trees, and the field was fenced off. But, in this picture we took from the road, the battle would have taken place just behind the tree line in the background. 

The Battle of Crooked River shocked me, because of the story of Samuel Tarwater. Samuel Tarwater was a member of Bogart’s militia. Tarwater was injured, and fell unconscious. The Mormons, then, did something that I, as an active Mormon, wouldn’t have expected. They mutilated him. 

Parley P Pratt and other Danites proceeded to slit the unconscious Tarwater’s throat, break his lower jaw, and cut off his cheeks. Then they left him for dead. Tarwater did NOT die, and actually became the first person to collect a pension in the state of Missouri - $100 a year, for the injuries he sustained in the Battle of Crooked River. He died at 93, and his obituary brags that despite the Mormons mutilating him and leaving him for dead, he managed to outlive even Brigham Young! 

I was horrified to read that Parley P Pratt slit the throat of an unarmed, unconscious man, and THEN mutilated him further. That cute little Mormon missionary?!? 

Further digging into Pratt led me to discovering that he was murdered in Arkansas by the angry ex-husband of Pratt’s 12th wife, which ultimately was a contributing factor in why the Mormons treated the Arkansas migrants of the Mountain Meadows Massacre as they did. (True history is always much more exciting, when it comes to Mormonism.)

But Pratt’s actions during this battle helped me reframe all those church movies for myself. I loved the church movies. Joseph Smith, always so handsome and gentle. The Missourians, always growling and cursing, and usually shown drinking with a gun in hand, yelling and mocking in gnarly voices, “Prophesy, Smith!” 

Reading about this battle was a huge turning point for me, in my understanding of Missouri and Mormon relations. Because, it turns out, the church movies were wrong. Joseph Smith was calling himself a General, was encouraging people to loot and steal, and had plans to take over territory in Missouri - by bloodshed, if necessary. He encouraged violent thinking. It was Mormons burning homes. It was their own violent speech and aggression that led to retaliation by Missourians, defending THEIR homes and families. It was after this battle that Governor Boggs issues the extermination order. Ironically, Sidney Rigdon had used the term “extermination” in regards to what the Mormons would do to the Missourians several months prior, in a Fourth of July speech. Mormons, just SHUT UP…

The Haun’s Mill Massacre took place AFTER the Battle of Crooked River, and has been termed a “Mad-Dog” killing in response to that battle. The Missourians, who had been driven from their homes and watched as the Mormons took over more and more land with looting and burning of buildings, and now bloodshed, including mutilation, viewed the Mormons as the dangerous aggressors. Do I think shooting people at Haun’s Mill was justified? No, I don’t. I’m actually opposed to violence in most situations. But I do see the Missourians’ actions as UNDERSTANDABLE. 

The Battle of Crooked River helped me understand that the narrative of victimhood was not accurate.

What happened, after all of this violence? Liberty Jail - the next stop on my personal family tour.

When we got to Liberty Jail, there were actual people present, and not just dirt roads and countryside that I had been dragging my children and mother through, looking for one specific spot on “some crooked river” that was important to me. 

The boys were thrilled to get out of the car and run around, and as always, there were lovely senior missionaries at the site, who always deserve an A+ on working with small children. I was a bit more impatient, this church history trip. When the sister missionary put us in a room to watch a “short video,” it turned out that it had nothing to do with Liberty Jail, but was, in fact, a video on the Plan of Salvation. 

I’m an ex-missionary, too. I knew the video, and didn’t feel it was helpful or appropriate for my children, who are now an age where I’m feeling VERY protective of them and the messaging they are receiving. So we left the video room and I politely informed the missionary that, “We really just wanted to see the jail, if that’s okay.” So she brought us in. 

Liberty Jail was the first maximum security prison in the country. The walls were designed specifically so that if a prisoner was tunneling out, once they hit the loose rocks in the center, the jailers would hear them and be alerted to the problem. Joseph Smith was one of those situations, apparently. He had attempted to tunnel out, but when it was discovered, he and his party were moved to the basement dungeon, and subsequently had fewer visitors and worse conditions. Again? Joseph, SHUT UP. He brought the conditions on himself. 

The missionary began explaining why Joseph was jailed. “Charges of treason.” Smart-mouthed me remarked we had just come from the Battle of Crooked River site. The missionary was ready to tango in historical facts, apparently! “Only four lives were lost in a battle that took less than five minutes - three of whom were Mormons!”

I’ll sum up a few conversation key points, in my own words.

“So you don’t believe Joseph Smith actually WAS guilty of treason?” (I’ve read the Senate document (189) from his trial for treason and crimes against the state.)

“They didn’t even let Mormons testify.” (They did.)

“What do you think of quotes where Joseph Smith states that the laws of man no longer apply to him?” 

“Those are misquoted and inaccurate.” 

(“When God sets up a system of salvation, he sets up a system of government. When I speak of a government, I mean what I say. I mean a government that shall rule over temporal and spiritual affairs.” OR, from the senate documents in his treason trial - “Smith said he had been before courts some twenty odd times… and that made him of age; and he would submit to it no longer.”)

“How did Joseph eventually escape from the jail?”

“They let him go.” (He bribed the guards during a prison transfer.) 

It was triggering that this woman had more than your average knowledge, when it came to the Mormon Missouri War, but that she continued to ignore and discredit credible sources, to put the Mormons in the best light possible. We left relatively quickly, as a jail is a jail, and I didn’t want to hear her boo and woe about how cramped tall Joseph Smith must have felt down in that cold dungeon he put himself inside of. I also didn’t want to be mean to her. (I can tolerate some oversimplification of Mormon history, but not from people who have more knowledge, and STILL make Joseph a victim.)

After Liberty Jail, we went to Independence - the location where the Mormons started out, in Missouri, and the location where the Mormons believe they will eventually return, some day. The Visitor’s Center there reminded me of the Visitor’s Center on Temple Square - complete with cute little houses and videos about families and temples for children. I met Sister and Elder DeMille - related to me through Freeborn DeMill, but through the other son, Oliver. We went through the historical tour downstairs, where I informed my children that these were stories about their ancestors, and about their ancestor’s beliefs. They didn’t talk war, but general Book of Mormon, which I was fine with my children hearing about. The guide was wonderful, and catered her presentation to the children, telling them about the homes of the time period, and showing them how books were made from printing presses. My children had a great time playing in the pioneer house, and on the horse and wagon which their ancestors would have traveled by.

Independence and other portions of Missouri were simply lessons, for me, in what the Mormons COULD have had if they had just learned to SHUT UP about how great they thought they were, and about how God wanted them to have what other people had, and how they’d take it by force, and recruit the indigenous Americans to help them go to war to take what wasn’t theirs in the first place, because GOD said that…

SHUT. UP.

SHUT UP and focus on love. SHUT UP and stop focusing on your differences, and what you think makes you better. Joseph Smith, just SHUT. UP. and stop making your people suffer because of your stupid big fat head and all the things you want. Just SHUT UP. 

When my children are older, I will answer their questions about all of this myself. 

And I hope that they DO ask questions. I hope they ask every question they can think of, and that they don’t take my word for it, on any of my answers. My children will be raised by ex-Mormons, who have had their pasts inescapably painted by this religion. I want them to know for themselves the questions we wrestled with, the decisions we made, and why. I want them to know that everything I did, I did for them. I want them to be able to make informed, free decisions for themselves, without fear of manipulative social, familial, or eternal repercussions. 

I know these children, and they are good. They are better than the supposedly good men that they would have been taught to follow if I had remained a Mormon. Their futures don’t need to be tied to faulty visions of the past. They can be their own men. (And woman!) And I am so proud to see what they choose to make of their own lives, by their own authority, with their own goodness.