As a result of a conference with this committee, a written agreement was entered into, signed by the committee and the Mormons named in it, to this effect: That Oliver Cowdery, W. W. Phelps, W. E. McLellin, Edward Partridge, John Wright, Simeon Carter, Peter and John Whitmer, and Harvey Whitlock, with their families, should move from the county by January 1 next, and use their influence to induce their fellow-Mormons in the county to do likewise—one half by January 1 and all by April 1—and to prevent further immigration of the brethren; John Corrill and A. S. Gilbert to remain as agents to wind up the business of the society, Gilbert to be allowed to sell out his goods on hand; no Mormon paper to be published in the county; Partridge and Phelps to be allowed to go and come after January 1, in winding up their business, if their families were removed by that time; the committee pledging themselves to use their influence to prevent further violence, and assuring Phelps that "whenever he was ready to move, the amount of all his losses in the printing house should be paid to him by the citizens." In view of this arrangement there was no further trouble for more than two months.
The Mormon leaders had, however, no intention of carrying out their part of this undertaking. Corrill, in a letter to Oliver Cowdery written in December, 1833, said that the agreement was made, "supposing that before the time arrived the mob would see their error and stop the violence, or that some means might be employed so that we could stay in peace."* Oliver Cowdery was sent at once to Kirtland to advise with the church officers there. On his arrival, early in August, a council was convened, and it was decided that legal measures should be taken to establish the rights of the Saints in Missouri. Smith directed that they should neither sell their lands nor move out of Jackson County, save those who had signed the agreement.** It was also decided to send Orson Hyde and John Gould to Missouri "with advice to the Saints in their unfortunate situation through the late outrage of the mob."***
* Evening and Morning Star, January, 1834
** Elder Williams's Letter, Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 519.
*** Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 504.
To strengthen the courage of the flock in Missouri, Smith gave forth at Kirtland, under date of August 2, 1833, a "revelation" (Sec. 97), "in answer to our correspondence with the prophet," says P. P. Pratt,* in which the Lord was represented as saying, "Surely, Zion is the city of our God, and surely Zion cannot fail, NEITHER BE MOVED OUT OF HER PLACE; for God is there, and the hand of God is there, and he has sworn by the power of his might to be her salvation and her high tower." The same "revelation" directed that the Temple should be built speedily by means of tithing, and threatened Zion with pestilence, plague, sword, vengeance, and devouring fire unless she obeyed the Lord's commands.
*Pratt's "Autobiography," p. 100,
The outcome of all the deliberations at Kirtland was the sending of W. W. Phelps and Orson Hyde to Jefferson City with a long petition to Governor Dunklin, setting forth the charges of the Missourians against the Mormons, and the action of the two meetings at Independence, and making a direct appeal to him for assistance, asking him to employ troops in their defence, in order that they might sue for damages, "and, if advisable, try for treason against the government."
The governor sent them a written reply under date of October 19, in which, after expressing sympathy with them in their troubles, he said: "I should think myself unworthy the confidence with which I have been honored by my fellow citizens did I not promptly employ all the means which the constitution and laws have placed at my disposal to avert the calamities with which you are threatened.... No citizen, or number of citizens, have a right to take the redress of their grievances, whether real or imaginary, into their own hands. Such conduct strikes at the very existence of society." He advised the Mormons to invoke the laws in their behalf; to secure a warrant from a justice of the peace, and so test the question "whether the law can be peaceably executed or not"; if not, it would be his duty to take steps to execute it.
The Mormons and their neighbors were thus brought face to face in a manner which admitted of no compromise. The situation naturally seemed rather a simple one to the governor, who was probably ignorant of the intentions and ambition of the Mormons. If he had understood the nature and weight of the objections to them, he would have understood also that he could protect them in their possessions only by maintaining a military force.