The Saints were in fear that the mob might swoop down upon them at any moment, and placed guards around the settlement to give warning of the first indication of danger. About one o'clock in the night the alarm was sounded. "The mob is upon us!" The men rallied and prepared to offer the best defense they could, while the women hastily dressed themselves and the children and awaited in terror they knew not what. But to their surprise and relief the supposed mob proved to be a party of the brethren from Far West. The relief, however, was only temporary, for word was brought that the Saints in Far West had been besieged and had capitulated to save bloodshed; that the Prophet Joseph Smith and others were in the hands of their enemies; and that the Saints in Adam-ondi-Ahman were notified that they would be called upon to surrender about ten o'clock the following morning. True to promise, Colonel Parks with five hundred Missourians under his command, appeared before the town, formed a hollow square and demanded that the Saints march therein and surrender their arms and ammunition within an hour. The brethren who had come from Far West having brought word that it was the advice of the Prophet Joseph Smith that the Saints comply with the demands of the mob without resistance, they did so, but with grave misgivings.
After disarming them Colonel Parks notified the defenseless Saints that he would allow them ten days in which to remove from the state, and detailed 200 of his men to remain "as guards," and to see that his order of eviction was complied with.
Shortly afterward, while Anson Call and his family were eating their breakfast in their camp in the fallen treetop, two of these guards appeared before them and asked a number of questions. The replies not suiting them, they shocked and frightened the family by the abusive language they indulged in and leveled their guns at Anson and threatened to shoot him, which they evidently expected to frighten him, and seemed chagrined that it did not have that effect.
[CHAPTER II.]
SUFFERING FROM COLD WEATHER—ANSON VISITS ELK HORN—CAPTURED AND ILL-TREATED BY A MOB—TREATS THE MOB TO WHISKEY, AND ESCAPES—TIRESOME JOURNEY TO FAR WEST—VISITS HIS FARM CONTRARY TO COUNSEL—FINDS HIS PROPERTY IN POSSESSION OF MOBOCRATS, WHO ASSAULT HIM—APOSTATES TRY TO USE ANSON TO DISCREDIT THE PROPHET—ANSON'S FIDELITY.
The second night after the surrender was extremely cold, and many of the Saints, including the Call family, who were almost without protection from the elements, suffered severely. Little Moroni Call had his fingers so badly frozen that the nails came off shortly afterwards as a consequence. Anson, fearing the effect of further exposure of his family to such inclement weather, applied to Colonel Parks for permission to go to Far West, and received the following permit from him:
"I permit Anson Call to remove to Far West and thence out of the State."
The "guards" appeared to take a fiendish delight in preying upon the defenseless Saints. They wantonly killed any of their animals they took a fancy to, appropriated and used their horses, and displayed their base natures by insulting women. The people were not allowed to leave the settlement except to procure wood to burn; and, although they had been ordered to vacate the State, they were not permitted to go in search of their horses or cattle to use on the journey.
After locating in Far West, Anson started, on the 23rd of December, 1838, to go to a farm near Elk Horn to make sale of two-thirds of thirty acres of corn which he had raised on shares. He left without knowledge of the mob or "guard," and soon after he arrived at the farm he was taken prisoner by ten armed Missourians who were accompanied by an old negro. They took him into the back part of a store and ordered him to give up his weapons. When told that he had none, they thoroughly searched his person, and, finding that he was defenseless, they threatened and abused him in a most vindictive manner. He controlled his natural inclination to resent their indignities, and submitted to their taunts and abuse, with the result that they gradually grew bolder and apparently felt more safe in continuing it, and after awhile stood their rifles up against the wall, and, seating themselves, engaged in whittling with their bowie knives, at the same time indulging in tantalizing remarks. Their hope evidently was to goad him beyond endurance, when, if he resisted, they would have some excuse for executing summary vengeance upon him. One of their number, James Ogle by name, more bold than the rest, repeatedly struck him in the face, declaring that the "Mormons" had wronged him, and that this defenseless victim must now atone for it. He also proposed to strip him and flog him on the bare back with hickory withes, which proposition was not acted upon, as no one else seemed to favor it. He repeatedly dared Anson to fight with him, and even offered him a knife to defend himself with, but all in vain; Anson bore it all in stolid silence, mentally praying to the Lord in the meantime to restrain his tormentors and not allow them to take his life. After he had endured this treatment more than two hours, Ogle said "It is getting near night, and we must make a finish of this business," whereupon Anson was marched out into the street to the accompaniment of a threat that they would treat him as they said they had treated a "Mormon" some time previously; strip, tie and flog him, and leave him tied until morning. With a view of doing so, the old negro who accompanied the gang was sent off to procure a rope. While awaiting his return Anson was marched up and down the street between two files of his "guard," he appearing as unconcerned as possible, but secretly watching for some opportunity to escape. Seeing a grocery keeper leaning out of a window watching him the thought occurred to him that he might treat his captors and thus gain an advantage. Calling out to the grocer he asked if he would sell him a bottle of whiskey, and when it and a tumbler were passed out to him he invited the "guard" to have a drink at his expense, suggesting that as it was Christmas eve it was an appropriate time for so indulging. The invitation was readily accepted and the fiery liquor was soon gurgling down their throats.
Noticing that a thicket of hazel brush was within a few feet of where he stood, he took advantage of the momentary diversion by dashing into it. The excitement that immediately followed was intense. The whiskey was forgotten in the hasty chase that ensued. Anson proceeded only a short distance into the thicket when he lay down, and was overlooked by the maddened Missourian who charged past him and on into the dense brush, while he skirted around in the edge of the brush and made his way unseen towards Far West.