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.
CHAPTER XL.
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.