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.
