meetings of the Danite band, one of the leaders informed
them that the time was not far distant, when the elders of the Church
should go forth to the world with swords at their sides, and that they
would soon have to go through the state of Missouri, and slay every man,
woman, and child! They had it in contemplation at one time to prophesy
a dreadful pestilence in Missouri, and then to poison the waters of the
state, to bring it about, and thus to destroy the inhabitants.

In the early part of the fall of the year 1838, the last disturbance
between the Mormons and the Missourians commenced. It had its origin at
an election in Davies county, where some of the Mormons had located. A
citizen of Davies, in a conversation with a Mormon, remarked that the
Mormons all voted one way: this was denied with warmth; a violent
contest ensued, when, at last, the Mormon called the Missourian a liar.
They came to blows, and the quarrel was followed by a row between the
Mormons and the Missourians.

A day or two after this, Smith, with a company of men from Far-West,
went into Davies county, for the purpose, as they said, of quelling the
mob; but when they arrived, the mob had dispersed. The citizens of
Davies gathered in their turn; however, the Mormons soon collected a
force to the amount of five hundred men, and compelled the citizens to
retire; they fled, leaving the country deserted for many miles around.
At this time, the Mormons killed between two and three hundred hogs, and
a number of cattle; took at least forty or fifty stands of honey, and at
the same time destroyed several fields of corn. The word was given out,
that the Lord had consecrated, through the Church, the spoils unto his
host.

All this was done when they had plenty of their own, and previous to the
citizens in that section of the country taking any thing from them.
They continued, these depredations for near a week, when the Clay County
Militia was ordered out. The contest was a bloody one: suffice it to
say, that, finally, Smith, Rigdon, and many others were taken, and, at a
court of inquiry, were remanded over for trial. Rigdon was afterwards
discharged on _habeas corpus_, and Smith and his comrades, after being
in prison several months, escaped from their guards, and reached Quincy,
Illinois. The Mormons had been before ordered to leave the state, by
direction of the governor, and many had retired to Illinois previous to
Smith's arrival.

The Mormo