Thirty-Three (1838)record. ***Joseph disappeared from view during the military action. ...But
Joseph did not command troops or bear arms.^67Political Unrest and Boggs’ Hand in Helping to End the Mormon Wars
The local people thought that the Mormons would be satisfied with their own place
and limit their expansion to Caldwell County.^68 But, as the Saints began to arrive from other
parts of the country, their numbers spilled into other counties and cities in the surrounding
areas. The established Missourians began to let rumor and their emotions rule them. They
feared the Mormons would vote as a block, overpowering the sprinkled opinions of the
locals with the solidified bias of this strange religious group, thus neutralizing the
customary expectations of their rights of democratic representation.
These fears culminated in a skirmish in August of 1838 near a voting station, which
escalated into violence between Mormons and the non-Mormons who did not want
Mormons to vote in their district.^69 From that fight, rumors spread that the Mormons were
trying to force their right to vote by any means. Questions arose concerning whether
Mormons should be allowed to settle in certain parts of Missouri, as some areas such as
Caldwell County had already become predominantly Mormon; and infusion into other
counties could begin to influence regional and state elections. Some members of the Church
had purchased lands and began spreading throughout the land. Fearing that new,
predominately Mormon communities would arise, the Missourians—in a turnabout on the
precedence set by the Mormons—were able to get referendums on the ballots to have the
Mormons leave their area. Then, they successfully voted to expel them from various
locations. The Mormons resisted, continuing their spread of not only their numbers, but also
their strange egocentric attitude and lifestyle. The LDS people didn’t have a clue what
Christ meant when he said,
ye shall not resist evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also; and if any man will sue thee at the law and take
away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.^70Countless biographies contain an accounting of the Mormon Wars of 1838. The
resurrected Joseph is not interested in expressing in greater detail how the early LDS people
trampled the “fullness of the everlasting Gospel” under their feet. LDS historians have
painted Governor Lilburn Boggs as an enemy for issuing an executive order to exterminate
the Mormons. However, in one of the strangest twists of one of Mormonism’s most self-
proclaimed and enduring calamities, it will now be revealed for the first time that nothing
could have been further from the truth. Lilburn Boggs had known the LDS people from their
beginnings in Independence in 1831, when he rented out a portion of his own home to Peter
Whitmer and had been impressed by Whitmer’s skill, honesty, and industrious behavior.
It was Boggs, in fact, in the proper execution of his office as governor to protect the
citizenry, who issued the infamous extermination order to protect the exasperating
LDS/Mormons from their own demise. He was persuaded by Alexander Doniphan to issue
the order and make Doniphan a Brigadier General in the Missouri Militia. This gave
Doniphan the power to execute the order and save the LDS people from the much stronger
and more defiant Missourians. Once the order was signed, state troops could become
involved in maintaining law and order. Had the Missouri state government forces not been