Copyright 1913, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

CHAPTER 5

AN UNTENABLE EDEN

BEFORE going farther with the history of Brigham Young, it is necessary to trace the course of Mormon settlement in Missouri.

In the fall of 1830, Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, and a man named Peterson were sent by Smith to preach to the "Lamanites," or Indians west of the Missouri River. They went, afoot and carrying their scanty packs on their shoulders much of the way, and reached Independence, Missouri, in the spring of 1831. Two of them went to work as tailors in the settlement. The other two crossed the river and began to preach to the Indians, but were turned back by the Indian agent. Balked of their original purpose, the four pioneers preached Mormonism to the settlers, and apparently made some converts. But the preachers became more enamoured of the new land than their hearers did of the new doctrine; and after a short time, Pratt was sent back by the other three to carry an account of this western paradise to the faithful in Kirtland.

The message found a ready audience. The westward flow of population had been the dominant note in American life for a generation, and was to remain such for more than a generation to come. Besides, the Mormons were already drawing apart as a peculiar people, and beginning to gather in compact communities. Kirtland was their Mecca for the time; but Kirtland was in the midst of a comparatively well-settled country. Missouri would offer more freedom if equally suitable otherwise. The prophet and some thirty of his disciples started on a visit of inspection to Missouri.

Smith and his followers arrived at Independence in July, 1831. The prophet approved the site, declared it was the original location of the Garden of Eden issued a revelation setting forth the grandeur of the community which the Saints were to build there, and staked out a site for a temple. Some of his followers took up land from the government or from the state, which had a considerable grant in Jackson county. Others bought of the original settlers. The prophet returned to Kirtland in time to meet Brigham Young; and word went abroad that the city of the Saints was to be built in western Missouri, on ground hallowed by the footsteps of Adam and Eve, before their primal innocence was sullied by worldly wisdom derived from the Tree.

The tide of Mormon emigration which set westward seems to have surprised even the prophet. The roving tendency which even yet marks the American was then at its strongest; and the idea of settling on the site of the Garden of Eden might appeal to any one. Mormons flocked to Missouri -- most of them very poor -- but a few with possessions enough to secure a comfortable establishment in the new home. By July, 1833, there were 1,200 Mormons in Jackson County -- one-third of the total population; and destruction was at hand.

Much ingenuity has been wasted explaining, or rather, assigning blame for the quarrel between Mormons and the Gentiles in Jackson county. The real cause of the difficulty is not far to seek. A rude but aspiring democracy was brought into contact with a rude but aggressive theocracy; and the two systems flew at each other's throats like strange dogs. Had the civilization of the day and place been less imperfect, the conflict might have taken a gentler form, but it could not have been suppressed. Men who believe that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed cannot work in harmony with men who accept the despotic rule of a prophet appointed by the Most High God. Men accustomed to divide and cross-divide on public questions as their whims or principles or interests dictate, do not love men who take their political opinions ready-made from a secret conclave of priests. Mormonism and Americanism have clashed wherever they have met; and they will continue to clash so long as the church tries to occupy the field set apart in our land for the state.

Trouble began in Jackson county early in 1832; and from beginning to end, the "Gentiles" seem to have been the aggressors. By 1833, matters had reached an acute stage. A mass-meeting was called July 20 at the court-house in Independence, and resolutions were passed ordering they Mormons to leave the county, pledging the purchase of their property at a fair price. This manifesto, even now, does not inspire the reader with much faith in the high honour of those who framed it; and the Mormon disciples, given fifteen minutes to consent to exile, very properly refused compliance. The mob thereupon tarred and feathered Bishop Partridge and one of his co-workers, wrecked the office of the church paper, The Millennial Star, and repeated their order for all Mormons to leave the county on pain of indefinite but assumedly dire penalties. Three days later, the Mormons accepted the terms off their enemies, and moved or signed an agreement for moving.

It was a treaty extorted from a weaker party by lawless force; and no great casuistry was used to argue away its binding force on the Mormons. They appealed to the governor for aid, and received a perfectly correct statement of their legal rights. They appealed to Joseph Smith, and received a revelation. Thus encouraged by the law and the prophet, the Mormons stayed on, and thereby tempted a fate which was eager for temptation. Troubles recommenced. Armed bullies raided isolated Mormon communities, flogged the men, and drove out the women. There were a few skirmishes, and then the Mormons gave up, and fled across the Missouri river into Clay county, early in November. The sudden move was marked by much hardship and more pecuniary loss, and was the first of a long series of events which embittered the leaders of the church against American institutions in general and the state of Missouri in particular.

The revelation marking Jackson county as the site chosen by the Lord for His city of Zion has never been recalled, superseded, nor forgotten. After four emigrations and fourscore years, yellow parchment deeds to property in Independence may be found in Utah homes; and more than one man high in the councils of the church to-day boasts that neither he nor his forbears ever relinquished title to their holdings in the City of God in western Missouri.

The people of Clay county received the fugitives kindly, and condemned -- as all law-abiding men mint -- the actions of the Jackson county mob. Joseph Smith issued several revelations pertaining to the case, and organized the expedition whose story was told in the last chapter. Mormons flocked into Clay county, which at least had the advantage of being near to the "Garden of Eden"; and with the growth of the church came trouble. The old, irrepressible conflict rose to view as the Saints gained numbers and confidence.

Fortunately, there were men in Clay county of higher character than those who had dominated the councils of Jackson; and the Mormon leaders had learned that fear of the mob is sometimes the beginning of safety. A mass-meeting of Gentiles was held in June, 1836; and the Mormons were asked to leave the county. "We do not contend," says the remarkable document drawn up on this occasion, "that we have the least right, under the constitution and laws of the country, to expel them [the Mormons] by force." But, pointing out the growth of bitterness, and the certainty of armed conflict if the Mormons remained, the resolutions asked them to leave while their exit could be made in peaceable fashion.

The Mormons consented. A committee of Clay county Gentiles was appointed to raise money with which to buy at a fair price the lands and property of such Mormons as had anything to sell, and to help the needy in their emigration. The affair was conducted with honour and self-control, and is a credit to the leaders of both sides. Moving north by east, the Mormons entered an unsettled region. Caldwell county was organized for their benefit; the town of Far West was founded, another stake of Zion was set; and for the third time, the weary Saints of Missouri pitched their tents in temporary peace.