Other pretended preachers of the gospel took part in the persecution—speaking of the Church as the common enemies of mankind, and exulting in their afflictions. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the 5th and 6th of November, women and children fled in every direction. One party of about one hundred and fifty fled to the prairie, where they wandered for several days, mostly without food; and nothing but the open firmament for their shelter. Other parties fled towards the Missouri River. During the dispersion of women and children, parties were hunting the men, firing upon some, tying up and whipping others, and some they pursued several miles.
Thursday, November 7. The shore began to be lined on both sides of the ferry with men, women and children; goods, wagons, boxes, provisions, etc., while the ferry was constantly employed; and when night again closed upon us the cottonwood bottom had much the appearance of a camp meeting. Hundreds of people were seen in every direction, some in tents and some in the open air around their fires, while the rain descended in torrents. Husbands were inquiring for their wives, wives for their husbands; parents for children, and children for parents. Some had the good fortune to escape with their families, household goods, and some provisions; while others knew not the fate of their friends, and had lost all their goods. The scene was indescribable, and, I am sure, would have melted the hearts of any people on the earth, except our blind oppressors, and a blind and ignorant community.
Next day our company still increased, and we were principally engaged in felling cottonwood trees and erecting them into small cabins. The next night being clear, we began to enjoy some degree of comfort.
About two o'clock the next morning we were called up by the cry of signs in the heavens. We arose, and to our great astonishment all the firmament seemed enveloped in splendid fireworks, as if every star in the broad expanse had been hurled from its course, and sent lawless through the wilds of ether. Thousands of bright meteors were shooting through space in every direction, with long trains of light following in their course. This lasted for several hours, and was only closed by the dawn of the rising sun. Every heart was filled with joy at this majestic display of signs and wonders, showing the near approach of the coming of the Son of God.
All our goods, were left behind; but I obtained some of them afterwards at the risk of my life. But all my provisions for the winter were destroyed or stolen, and my grain left growing on the ground for my enemies to harvest. My house was afterwards burned, and my fruit trees and improvements destroyed or plundered. In short, every member of the society was driven from the county, and fields of corn were ravaged and destroyed; stacks of wheat burned, household goods plundered, and improvements and every kind of property destroyed. One of this banditti afterwards boasted to one of the brethren that, according to their own account of the matter, the number of houses burned was two hundred and three.
The Saints who fled took refuge in the adjoining counties, mostly in Clay County, which received them with some degree of kindness. Those who fled to the county of Van Buren were again driven and compelled to flee; and those who fled to Lafayette County were soon expelled, or the most part of them, and had to move to wherever they could find protection.
When the news of these outrages reached the Governor of the State, courts of inquiry, both civil and military, were ordered by him, but nothing effectual was ever done to restore our rights, or to protect us in the least. It is true the Attorney-General, and a military escort under Colonel, afterwards General Doniphan, and our witnesses went to Jackson County and demanded indictments; but the court refused to do anything in the case, and the military, Attorney-General and witnesses were mobbed out of the county; and thus that matter ended.
The Governor also ordered them to restore the arms of which they robbed us, but they never were restored. Even our lands were robbed of their timber, and either occupied by our enemies for years or left desolate. Soon after Jackson County had rebelled against the laws and constitution of the General and State governments, several of the adjacent counties followed the example, by justifying her proceedings, and by opposing the Saints in settling among them. The counties of Clay, Ray, Clinton and various others, held public meetings, the tenor of which was to deprive the members of our society of the rights of citizenship, drive them from among them, and to compel them to settle only in such places as these outlaws should dictate; and even at that time some of their proceedings went so far as to publicly threaten to drive the whole society from the State. The excuses they offered for these outrages were:
First: The society were guilty principally of being eastern or northern people.
Secondly: They were guilty of some slight variations in manners and language from the other citizens of the State, who were mostly from the South.