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| Extermination Order (Missouri) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Extermination Order (Missouri) |
| Date | October 27, 1838 |
| Location | Missouri |
| Issuer | Lilburn Boggs |
| Target | Latter Day Saint movement |
| Outcome | Mass expulsion of Latter Day Saint movement members from Missouri; later legal and political controversies |
Extermination Order (Missouri)
The Extermination Order was an 1838 directive issued by Lilburn Boggs, then Governor of Missouri, which declared that members of the Latter Day Saint movement must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state. The order followed clashes involving leaders and adherents such as Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith, and intersected with tensions in Jackson County, Missouri, Carroll County, Missouri, and Caldwell County, Missouri. The directive precipitated events like the Missouri Mormon War (1838) and the Haun's Mill massacre, provoking responses from legal figures including Thomas Hart Benton and national actors such as President Martin Van Buren.
Conflict over land, political influence, and religious differences developed during migration of Latter Day Saint movement adherents from Ohio and Illinois into Missouri in the 1830s. Settlements in Jackson County, Missouri and later in Caldwell County, Missouri collided with populations linked to families such as the Bates family and local politicians allied with David Rice Atchison and Alexander Doniphan. Political disputes involved militia musters and courts presided over by judges such as Austin A. King and lawyers like Thomas Reynolds, while pamphlets and sermons by figures like Sidney Rigdon and Orson Hyde heightened tensions. Incidents including skirmishes near Far West, Missouri, Daviess County, Missouri disturbances, and accusations of property seizure fed into wider anxieties among legislators in the Missouri General Assembly and newspapers such as the Missouri Republican.
After engagements in Daviess County, Missouri and the capture of David W. Patten at Adam-ondi-Ahman locales, Governor Lilburn Boggs issued a proclamation culminating in the October 27, 1838 order. The proclamation referenced actions by militia leaders like Alexander Doniphan and Samuel Bogart and followed reports to state officials including John Bullock Clark Sr. and William S. Harney. The order used language echoing contemporary partisan rhetoric found in publications such as the St. Louis Enquirer and was disseminated amid petitions to federal authorities including President Martin Van Buren and appeals to judges in United States District Court for the District of Missouri.
The Extermination Order coincided with violent episodes including the Haun's Mill massacre and sieges of Far West, Missouri leading to arrests of leaders like Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. Alexander Doniphan refused orders to execute detainees, citing legal standards and prompting correspondence with figures such as Thomas Hart Benton. Militia operations by commanders aligned with Daviess County and Ray County factions led to property destruction, forced expulsions to Illinois settlements including Nauvoo, Illinois, and diplomatic entreaties to clergy like Newel K. Whitney and newspapers such as the Warsaw Signal. Congressional observers and contemporaries including John C. Calhoun monitored fallout while legal petitions circulated to judges like Robert William Wells.
Legal contestation involved habeas corpus petitions, criminal indictments, and civil complaints filed in Missouri courts and federal venues that referenced constitutional protections argued by counsel such as Daniel Webster-era advocates and local attorneys akin to Alexander Doniphan. The order remained unrescinded for decades despite protests by Joseph Smith and later appeals from Brigham Young representatives and delegations to the Missouri Legislature. Efforts by legislators such as Thomas C. Reynolds and advocacy in newspapers including the Deseret News pushed for redress. In the twentieth century, political leaders like Governor Kit Bond and Governor Jay Nixon confronted the order’s legacy, culminating in a formal gubernatorial rescission by Governor Jay Nixon in 1976 that invoked evolving principles found in rulings of the United States Supreme Court.
The order shaped migration patterns that led the Latter Day Saint movement to concentrate under Brigham Young in Great Basin territories, influencing settlement of Salt Lake City and interactions with federal entities such as the United States Congress and the Department of the Interior. Memory of the order influenced legal doctrine about religious freedom, informing debates in cases cited alongside precedents like Reynolds v. United States and legislative measures concerning minority protections. Scholars including Richard L. Bushman and Leonard J. Arrington have analyzed its role in shaping Mormon migration narratives, while historians of Missouri and students of nineteenth-century American religion reference archives at institutions like the Church History Library and the Missouri Historical Society.
Public memory of the Extermination Order appears in monuments, scholarly works, and contested commemorations in places like Far West, Missouri and Haun's Mill memorial sites. Debates involve municipal officials in Caldwell County, Missouri and cultural organizations such as the LDS Church and local historical societies, while historians from universities including Brigham Young University, University of Missouri, and Harvard University contribute differing interpretations. Controversies continue over portrayals in curricula, tourism initiatives tied to Nauvoo, Illinois and Independence, Missouri, and legal discussions referencing civil rights frameworks developed in the twentieth century by actors such as Theodore Roosevelt-era reformers and later federal judges.
Category:1838 in Missouri Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement Category:Missouri politics