P. P. Pratt, in his "Late Persecution," says that the prisoners were kept in chains most of the time, and that Riodon, although ill, "was compelled to sleep on the floor, with a chain and padlock round his ankle, and fastened to six others." Hyrum Smith, in a "Communication to the Saints" printed a year later, says; "We suffered much from want of proper food, and from the nauseous cell in which I was confined."
Joseph Smith remained in the Liberty jail until April, 1839. At one time all the prisoners nearly made their escape, "but unfortunately for us, the timber of the wall being very hard, our augur handles gave out, which hindered us longer than we expected," and the plan was discovered.
The prophet employed a good deal of his time in jail in writing long epistles to the church. He gave out from there also three "revelations," the chief direction of which was that the brethren should gather up all possible information about their persecutions, and make out a careful statement of their property losses. His letters reveal the character of the man as it had already been exhibited—headlong in his purposes, vindictive toward any enemy. He says in his biography that he paid his lawyers about $50,000 "in cash, lands, etc." (a pretty good sum for the refugee from Ohio to amass so soon), but got little practical assistance from them, "for sometimes they were afraid to act on account of the mob, and sometimes they were so drunk as to incapacitate them for business." In one of his letters to the church he thus speaks of some of his recent allies, "This poor man [W. W. Phelps] who professes to be much of a prophet, has no other dumb ass to ride but David Whitmer, or to forbid his madness when he goes up to curse Israel; but this not being of the same kind as Balaam's, therefore, notwithstanding the angel appeared unto him, yet he could not sufficiently penetrate his understanding but that he brays out cursings instead of blessings."*
* Times and Seasons, Vol. I, p. 82.
On April 6, Smith and his fellow-prisoners were taken to Daviess County for trial. The judge and jury before whom their cases came were, according to his account, all drunk. Smith and four others were promptly indicted for "murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing." They at once secured a change of venue to Boone County, 120 miles east, and set out for that place on April 15, but they never reached there. Smith says they were enabled to escape because their guard got drunk. In a newspaper interview printed many years later, General Doniphan is quoted as saying that he had it on good authority that Smith paid the sheriff and his guards $1100 to allow the prisoners to escape. Ebenezer Robinson says that Joseph and Hyrum were allowed to ride away on two fine horses, and that, a few Weeks later, he saw the sheriff at Quincy making Joseph a friendly visit, at which time he received pay for the animals.* The party arrived at Quincy, Illinois, on April 22, and were warmly welcomed by the brethren who had preceded them. Among these was Brigham Young, who was among those who had found it necessary to flee the state before the final surrender was arranged. The Missouri authorities, as we shall see, for a long time continued their efforts to secure the extradition of Smith, but he never returned to Missouri.
As the Mormons had tried to set aside their original agreement with the Jackson County people, so, while their leaders were in jail, they endeavored to find means to break their treaty with General Lucas. Their counsel, General Atchison, was a member of the legislature, and he warmly espoused their cause. They sent in a petition,* which John Corrill presented, giving a statement in detail of the opposition they had encountered in the state, and asking for the enactment of a law "rescinding the order of the governor to drive us from the state, and also giving us the sanction of the legislature to inherit our lands in peace"; as well as disapproving of the "deed of trust," as they called the second section of the Lucas treaty. The petition was laid on the table. An effort for an investigation of the whole trouble by a legislative committee was made, and an act to that effect was passed in 1839, but nothing practical came of it. When the Mormon memorial was called up, its further consideration was postponed until July, and then the Mormons knew that they had no alternative except to leave the state.
* For full text, see Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, pp. 586-589.
While the prisoners were in jail, things had not quieted down in the Mormon counties. The decisive action of the state authorities had given the local Missourians to understand that the law of the land was on their side, and when the militia withdrew they took advantage of their opportunity. Mormon property was not respected, and what was left to those people in the way of horses, cattle, hogs, and even household belongings was taken by the bands of men who rode at pleasure,* and who claimed that they were only regaining what the Mormons had stolen from them. The legislature appropriated $2000 for the relief of such sufferers.
* See M. Arthur's letter, "Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 94.
Facing the necessity of moving entirely out of the state, the Mormons, as they had reached the western border line of civilization, now turned their face eastward to Quincy, Illinois, where some of their members were already established. Not until April 20 did the last of them leave Far West. The migration was attended with much suffering, as could not in such circumstances be avoided. The people of the counties through which they passed were, however, not hostile, and Mormon writers have testified that they received invitations to stop and settle. These were declined, and they pressed on to the banks of the Mississippi, where, in February and March, there were at one time more than 130 families, waiting for the moving ice to enable them to cross, many of them without food, and the best sheltered depending on tents made of their bedclothing.*