would control the elections in the county, and have everything their own way. According to that not very elegant expression so frequently heard in the Mormon sermons, it was destined that "Israel should be the head and not the tail." As citizens, the Mormons had political rights, and would exercise these in their own interest; and, while no sensible person could blame them for this, the other citizens none the less felt that it was a calamity to them that these strangers had come amongst them. The only direct charge against the Mormons met with in the publications of the day is that of tampering with the slaves. The Evening and Morning Star had published something offensive on this subject; for though the Mormons believed that "Ham is a servant unto his brethren," they were opposed to the general treatment of the Africans in the South.
On the 20th of July a mob tore down the office of the Star, tarred, feathered, and whipped a number of the brethren, and insisted upon the Mormons leaving Jackson county. Three days later a second mob assembled, and at length the leaders of the Mormons in that locality agreed to leave. Some time in October, elders W. W. Phelps and Orson Hyde carried a petition to the Governor of the State for protection, and his Excellency answered that they had a right to the protection of the law if they chose to stay in the county and fight it out.
The anti-Mormons were, however, determined that the followers of Joseph should leave the county, and they resolved to get rid of them—"peaceably, if we can: forcibly, if we must, and believing, as we do, that the arm of the civil law does not afford us a guarantee, or at least a sufficient one, against the evils which are now inflicted upon us, and seem to be increasing by the said religious sect, deem it expedient and of the highest importance to form ourselves into a company for the better and easier accomplishment of our purpose." Such was the resolution which was followed by the pledge to each other of "bodily powers, lives, fortunes, and sacred honour."
On the 4th of November this hostile organization commenced its work; a "battle" took place, some persons were shot, and the people driven out of the county. Parley P. Pratt, in his "History of the Missouri Persecutions," presents a sad pic-
