APPENDIX IV.
CALDWELL COUNTY.
(By Crosby Johnson.)
Mormon emigration.—Shortly prior to the organization of the county, the "Mormons," driven from Jackson County, sent J. Whitmer and others to select a home in the wilderness. Far West was chosen, which was approved by The Church authority.
Far West.—The site chosen for Far West was a high, rolling prairie, visible for a long distance from all directions. The plat of the town as laid off embraced a square mile, to-wit: Northeast quarter, section fifteen; northwest quarter, section fourteen; southeast quarter, section ten; southwest quarter, section eleven. In the center of the town a large square was left as a site for a temple which it was their design to erect. The square was approached by four main streets, each a hundred feet wide. * * * As its population increased, additions to the town were laid out. At the time of the "Mormon" war the population of Far West was about two thousand five hundred, and it was the largest town in the State north of the Missouri.
"Mormon" War.—The "Mormons" as a people were honest, sober and industrious, but the object of the leaders was to make money and obtain power. Joe Smith and his brother Hyrum, with The Church funds, purchased of the government large tracts of land around Far West, which they did not scruple to sell to their followers at exorbitant prices. When the leaders set the example of speculating in the devotion of the people, it is scarcely to be wondered at if the subordinates went to greater extremes to fill their purses, and if they had but little respect for their obligations to each other, they had less for the laws of the State or the rights of their Gentile neighbors. Some of their daring leaders taught the doctrine that the Lord had given the earth and the fullness thereof as an inheritance to his people, and they were his people and had a right at pleasure to take what pleased their appetite or fancy. At the time of the difficulties in Jackson County, Joe Smith organized a band of men called the army of Zion, to protect his people against the attacks of their enemies. Among these were many who were too lazy to earn a living by the sweat of their brow. Desperado and vagabond joined his band for the purpose of plundering. Squads of them strolled about the county threatening the men, intimidating the women, and appropriating in the name of the prophet any property which pleased their taste. As the "Mormons" largely outnumbered the Gentiles, they elected to all offices of honor and trust persons of their own faith. Smith was careful that the persons selected should be subservient to the will of himself and his apostles. The Gentiles declared it was impossible for them to get a fair hearing before the "Mormon" magistrates and juries; that the trials were farces: that the leaders taught and the members acted on the principle that a Gentile had no rights that a "Mormon" was bound to respect, and that not the merits of the cause, but the creeds of the contestants determined which way the scales should turn.
Whether these complaints were true or false, they were believed by many and naturally excited deep indignation against the "Mormons." Tales of debauchery, theft and murder were told of them, and their expulsion from the county demanded. These bitter feelings engendered broils and riots. Crowds of excited fanatics pelted obnoxious Gentiles on the streets of Far West with clubs and stones. In retaliation armed Gentiles rode into public meetings where their lawless conduct was being denounced, seized the speakers and applied the lash until the blood trickled down their backs. Both sides ceased to resort to legal methods in the enforcement of their rights.
Amid so much excitement and insubordination the civil authorities were powerless to enforce the laws and punish offenses.
Finally, in 1838, the disorder became so great and outrages so frequent that the State authorities felt it their duty to interfere. Governor Boggs issued a proclamation calling out the militia to aid in restoring order and enforcing the laws. The generals in command were Generals John B. Clark, David R. Atchison, A. W. Doniphan. General Doniphan's brigade removed to Far West. The main body of the army of Zion under the command of G. M. Hinkle, whom Smith designated as commander in chief of the "Mormon" forces, was held in reserve to act as emergencies might require. Smaller forces were thrown forward to guard the approaches from the south and the east.
Haun's Mill.—On the thirtieth of October an engagement was fought at Haun's Mill on Shoal Creek, south of Beckenridge. At that point a "Mormon" outpost entrenched in the mill and a blacksmith shop was attacked by the Livingston County militia under Captain Comstock. After a brief struggle the "Mormons" threw down their arms in token of surrender, but one of the militia men, being savagely wounded, his comrades were so enraged that their officer was unable to check them until eighteen of the "Mormons" were killed and a number wounded. Haun, the proprietor of the mill, was killed and with the rest of the dead buried in a well that stood near by.
"Mormon" Exodus.—The surrender took place in November. The days were cold and bleak, but the clamor for the instant removal of the "Mormons" was so great that the old and young, the sick and feeble, delicate women and suckling children, almost without food and without clothing were compelled to abandon their homes and firesides to seek new homes in a distant State. Valuable farms were sold for a yoke of oxen, an old wagon or anything that would furnish means of transportation. Many of the poorer classes were compelled to walk. Before half their journey was accomplished the chilly blasts of winter howled about them and added to their general discomfort. The suffering they endured on this forced march though great, was soon forgotten in the prosperity of Nauvoo, their new asylum. Their trials and sufferings instead of dampening the ardor of the Saints, increased it ten fold. "The blood of the martyrs became the seed of The Church."
The exodus of the "Mormons" reduced the population of the county from six thousand to less than one thousand; but the deserted farms and houses offered inducements to emigration that were not despised and new settlers rapidly filled the places of the departed ones.
Visions.—If that strange people who built Nauvoo and Salt Lake, who uncomplainingly toiled across the American Desert and made the wilderness of Utah bloom like a garden, had been permitted to remain and perfect the work which they had begun here, how different would have been the history of Far West. Instead of being a farm with scarcely sufficient ruins to mark the spot where it once stood, there would have been a rich populous city, along the streets of which would be pouring the wealth of the world, and instead of an old dilapidated farm house there would have been magnificent temples, to which devout Saints from the farthest corners of the world would have made their yearly pilgrimages. But the bigotry and intolerance of the Saints toward the Gentiles and especially toward dissenters from the new revelations of Joe Smith, rendered such a consummation impossible.