January 2004

ISSUE VIII January 2004

Esteemed Mormon Scholars Seek to Erase Covenant Status of the American Indians

Recent writings emanating from BYU professors suggest a completely different interpretation of the peoples of the Book of Mormon than what Joseph Smith taught, and what the Savior has communicated that He desires to be known among the American Indian people; the Lord Jesus Christ desires the American Indian people of this day to come to a knowledge that they are a favored covenant people of the Lord, with the many blessings that accompany being the Lord’s People. The Book of Mormon is plain and easy to understand by anyone who reads it, and means exactly what it says word by word, concerning the promised blessings and covenant status of the Lamanites(American Indians), beginning with the Title Page. In recent years, modern teachers of the Mormon religion have been teaching that only a fraction of American Indian ancestry is of the House of Israel. This introduces an element of mystery and confusion to scriptural meanings and is designed to plant doubt as to whether the real ancestry of American Indians is of the House of Israel at all.

Since Mark Hofmann convinced LDS Church leaders to support his forgeries and revise Mormon history according to fraudulent documents, this current generation of LDS Church leaders have accelerated the pace to lead the Mormon Church astray in similar fashion, in spite of the public limelight of the Hofmann embarrassment. From placing Satanic pentagrams on church buildings such as the Nauvoo Temple, to crafting new interpretations of the Book of Mormon and Church history, efforts of apostates holding official positions within the LDS Church have been steadily giving the anti-Mormon movement the advantage it has sought for but previously failed to achieve, after decades of directing their attacks from outside of the Mormon Church. Leading scholars representative of the current LDS Church have led much of the way in efforts to change long established understanding of the Book of Mormon covenant people. The House of Israel status of the American Indians is now not so clear as written in the Book of Mormon, according to highly regarded scholars among the current Mormon Church people, who use their positions within the Church to discredit the Mormon religion by altering authentic Church teachings and cannibalizing Church history.

"There have been from the foundation of the world two principles and powers——the principles of darkness and the principles of light, the principles of truth and the principles of error, the Spirit of God and the spirit of the Devil;——and there has been a mighty struggle between these two principles and powers. Hitherto the good, the virtuous, the pure and upright, the men of God, the Saints of the Most High have been trampled under foot and cast out——have wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, dwelt in deserts, dens, holes, and caves of the earth, of whom the world was not worthy; and the spirit and power of darkness have prevailed over the powers of light, error over truth, and the spirit of the Wicked One over the Spirit of God, to a certain extent; so much so, that truth, equity, and righteousness have always been at a discount, and men of God have been deprived of their rights and robbed of their inheritances." Quote from John Taylor, 3^rd President of the Mormon Church

Under the guise of defending the Book of Mormon by refuting the so-called "DNA research" (which purportedly seeks to discredit the Book of Mormon by concluding that there are lack of DNA links between American Indians and Jews), Mormon Church Scholars have been simultaneously using what should have been an opportunity to be valiant for their faith, to instead promote their own flawed opinions discrediting Lamanite ancestry - disguised as a rebuttal of flawed DNA research findings. The effect is a cleverly worded mixture of intelligent reasoning pointing out the flaws of hasty DNA research conclusions but also cleverly disguising nonsensical theories which would simultaneously discredit the blessed covenant status of American Indians.

" O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God?" Mormon 8:38

The guiding hand of the Lord has been evident in shaping the events of history to allow this opportunity for His favored American Indian children to come to Him at this time, in this country. The deceptive powers of evil which oppose the Lord’s works, have sought to gain control of everything which is good in the world, and destroying the Lord’s Church is the devil’s chief priority. In this earthly existence, the works of evil often seem to have their way to take advantage of mankind’s weakness:

"For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish; For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good. And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well__and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none__and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance." 2 Nephi 28: 19-22

Joseph Smith said that when an evil reaches a certain point, it becomes an evil in itself not to oppose it. Wo unto those who replace scriptures with their own interpretations and opinions! The help of all good men is needed at this very time, to bring out the truth of the Book of Mormon as established by Joseph Smith; to draw attention to and refute the evil corruptions coming into the Mormon religion by enemies of truth, and by the currently esteemed current LDS scholars.

"O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world! Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths!

"Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.

For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God." ( Helaman 12:4-8)

History does not support the modern myth that "most people will be saved and go to heaven anyway" etc., on the contrary, scriptural history teaches us that most inhabitants of the world were deceived by Satan to choose evil and numerous civilizations have been swept off of the face of the earth for disobeying God. When Jesus Himself was born into the world, only a handful of people initially accepted Him and the majority hated and rejected Him for His teachings. After the crucifixion, the Savior’s followers were hunted and eliminated from off of the face of the earth, and then men created their own authority to set up Christian churches patterned on their own ideas and offices of what they desired religion to be. We should have learned from history that most people in the world have been overpowered by evil and in many cases the evil has caused them to be destroyed by judgements of God, such as the flood in Noah’s time. We are living in that time likened in the scriptures to "the days of Noah," and most people of most Christian faiths acknowledge this, knowing that while the world is indeed in a very wicked condition ripe for judgement, they believe there will be "a few million"(or thousands, etc.) Christians, or Mormons, etc., that will be spared the indignation of God and deemed worthy of his presence. But this idea hardly sounds like an analogy to the days of Noah, for in the days of Noah only the family of one man and his three sons refused to succumb to the wickedness and ignorance of the world. This hardly equates to the preponderance of theories of which groups will escape the judgements of the Lord. The "days of Noah" analogy suggests the entire planet is wicked and in need of repentance, except for possibly an extremely small handful or handfuls of people, whoever and whithersoever they may be scattered.

Because the Lord is merciful and desires that there be some who are not consumed by evil and have the opportunity to choose truth, He has established a link between Earth and the Truth of Heaven by restoring the Gospel through Joseph Smith, so that mankind will have access to the truth if they so choose, to be left with no excuse when the choice is darkness and evil verses truth. The Lord has been seeking a people that would not betray him since the beginning of the world. He has sought a people that wouldn’t hate His Word and wouldn’t pollute and make changes to the Holy Gospel.

The Lord has suffered that this country with its Constitution to be established and has restored the Gospel through Joseph Smith to prepare His people, the American Indians, for this long awaited day of their redemption and rich blessings. This doctrine was taught by Joseph Smith and all Mormons who were loyal to him.

"They who love and serve God with all their hearts rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; but they who try to serve God and still cling to the spirit of the world, have got on two yokes__the yoke of Jesus and the yoke of the devil, and they will have plenty to do. They will have a warfare inside and outside, and the labor will be very galling, for they are directly in opposition one to the other. Cast off the yoke of the enemy, and put on the yoke of Christ, and you will say that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. This I know by experience." Brigham Young, JD 16:127

The opinions of these current Mormon scholars have the primary agenda to gain the approval of the leaders they serve, by appeasing and edifying the men they follow. The agenda of these scholars is to give a stamp of legitimacy to the works of current men in the LDS Church, and whether or not the Book of Mormon is defended as valid scripture is not a primary concern, if any. Then by corrupting and polluting the message of the Book of Mormon, they evidently desire that the American Indians will dismiss the Mormon religion as folly; to brush it aside as more nonsensical reasoning that others outside of the Mormon Church have learned to associate with the mind-set of people representing the current Mormon Church. Current Mormon Scholars apparently hope that they will be undisturbed in their works to destroy The Lord’s Religion, before the American Indian people become aware that their promised blessings will be lost. The religion has been re-established primarily for the American Indians, and although many now the Church are traitors to the religion, the Lord has been awaiting an opportunity to perform a great work among the American Indian people and dwell in their midst, as many as will repent and come to Him.

In These Perilous Times

Certain critics of the Book of Mormon, in pointing to recent DNA studies, have supposedly shown that The American Indians are of Asian ancestry. It is particularly troubling in the fact that many eminent so_called scholars, including LDS scholars, have so readily abandoned professional standards in seizing upon these DNA studies, and in the process, have been either blithely ignoring or deliberately misrepresenting the findings to advance their own partisan agendas. Those responsible for these conclusions gleefully point out that The Book of Mormon must be wrong, because it states that the American Indians originally came from Jerusalem. There is no doubt that many LDS people have already apostatized because they have fallen for this flimsy theory put out by anti-Mormon sources.

The DNA studies are inconclusive, and no reputable study has actually been designed to specifically disprove the Book of Mormon. They must do the impossible to determine otherwise, they must go back well over 100 generations or 2,600 years of mind boggling DNA possibilities to conclusively prove with absolute certainty, the lineage of the American Indians. They must form a valid hypotheses, supported by valid scientific data, and use a proper method of analysis to properly identify and string together necessary facts of 2600 hundred years (unfathomable); they must account for complete DNA analysis existing in the Hebrew population of 2600 years ago, and account for which existing genetic variants took on a dominant role in each group of their descendants. It is not possible to do this accurately without documenting every known particular instance of intermarriage of Jews with other races, as well as knowing and identifying the specific characteristics of the DNA of the family of Lehi and the remnant of the Jaredite race in the Book of Mormon. There are possibilities of genetic variants within a single race which divides into two or more groups (different genetic variants can emerge as dominant in any person and permanently influence the DNA of their offspring) which may alter future DNA findings without intermarriage with other races; when DNA changes within a group of people it does not necessarily mean another race has mixed with them. If you cannot account for all changes in DNA over 2600 years of history - as intermarriage of just one of the early Jews with an unknown group can blend in with the population and over a time period can be distributed among the race and therefore completely skew the results - there is no possibility that you can rely on the accuracy of your research.

Certain DNA studies from which conclusions were made, were not attempting a study of Book of Mormon people verses other populations, nor would any reputable scientist attempt such a study without having access to multiple pieces of information that have been lost and forgotten since the family of Lehi arrived in the American Continents 2600 years ago. What they have proven however is that the Mitochondrial DNA which is passed down by the mothers is unique to only American Indians. DNA scientists make the statement that "the American Indians most likely have come from Asian origins." Most likely? If you don’t believe in the Book of Mormon then perhaps that would be your best guess. Also there is the possibility that they could be wrong. There has not been a valid scientific study attempted that specifically attempts to disprove the Book of Mormon by studying DNA. True scientists know that the attempt to make such a study would be an exercise in absurdity, based on the absence of necessary data. Some scholars with an agenda against the Book of Mormon have attempted to take findings from separate DNA research and link results to the Book of Mormon people to disprove the Book of Mormon. After 2600 years of separating any race of people it would be an exercise in futility to find common attributes when you have first not even proven which current Jews, if any, have a "pure" genetic signature unaltered by 2600 years of history and intermarriage with other races.

What? Could modern scholars and even scientists be wrong? Yes! A good example of this is when the most sophisticated, modern and up to date crime lab in the world belonging to the FBI authenticated the Mark Hoffman forgeries as being the real thing when they obviously were not. So how has this recent scientific controversy affected The Mormon Church?

The early Latter Day Saints correctly believed that the Book of Mormon was a history of the Lamanites (American Indians) and their ancestors, that it took place in the entire western hemisphere and that it was written for the American Indians of today (as stated in the title page). They believed that the Lamanite/Nephite peoples numbered in the millions, that they had extensive cities, with many architectural accomplishments that not only rivaled the old world but by far surpassed it. Their many highways, water delivery systems (that are still in use today), astrological observatories, massive stone temples (that are impossible to construct even today), huge pyramids, superior concrete (to what we posses in our modern time), written language, and an extremely accurate calendar, are just a few of the amazing things that once were here. Thousands of words used in American Indian languages have been linked to Hebrew, many artifacts of Hebrew origins have been discovered.

Scientific methods of brain surgery (trephining) were used to repair skulls damaged in battle. Some silver plates were fitted into the skulls with such precision that you could not feel the joint. Tempered copper as hard as surgical steel was made into surgical instruments, and even swords ( another process that eludes modern technology). This is but a small sampling of the vast accomplishments of the ancestors of the American Indians.

In spite of all of the volumes of evidence, the modern Mormon Church people have entered the slippery slope of change. Spearheaded by their great institutions of higher education, and what they attempt to portray as a gallant defense of their religion against DNA research, they have come up with scenarios allowing and explaining away these DNA studies. They even go to such lengths to disprove DNA research that they introduce flawed arguments for a separate agenda that shamelessly attacks basic tenets of the Mormon faith in doing so, showing that DNA research is poor science but unnecessarily doing great harm to the Mormon religion in the process. Rather than sticking by the Book of Mormon in the traditional sense, they have betrayed their religion, and sold their souls for that which cankers.

Most current LDS Church people now claim that the original descendants of Lehi "were limited in numbers and the lands they occupied were restricted in scale" of only a few hundred miles, and that there were other people here on these continents (probably of Asian descent?) to give themselves an out on the DNA question. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, an Apostle of the now modern Mormon Church is quoted as saying: "In contrast, if the Book of Mormon only purports to be an account of a few peoples who inhabited a portion of the Americas during a few millennia in the past, the burden of argument (about its historical accuracy) changes drastically. It is no longer a question of all verses none; it is a question of some verses none. In other words, in the circumstance I describe, the opponents of historicity must prove that the Book of Mormon has no historical validity for any peoples who lived in the Americas in a particular time frame, a notoriously difficult exercise."

So if you drastically reduce the scope of the Book of Mormon from an all inclusive western hemisphere with all of its accompanying majesty, to a very small by comparison obscure area, does this help anything? Absolutely not! If this could possibly be true, does this hurt anything? Yes!

To reduce the scope of the Book of Mormon down would mean that only some of the American Indians may have some of the blood of Israel in their veins etc. This is a grave insult to the Book of Mormon and to the American Indians. The modern Church people are also claiming that "the hill Cumorah was not in New York state but somewhere in Central America, and that the vagabond Moroni wandered to the New York area and deposited the plates in a small box on a hill." This statement makes Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery out to be liars, because of their account of the main depository where "many wagon loads of plates" were along the wall and under the table. If you believe the accounts and revelations of Joseph Smith and testimonies of the early Mormon Church apostles , all of the American Indians are descended from the royal blood of Israel and are subject to great blessings from God as foretold in the Book of Mormon. If you believe modern interpretation, you must discard the testimonies of Joseph Smith and the early Mormons, meaning you have nothing relating to the true Mormon religion.

The modern Church people are slandering the early Mormon Leaders from a wide range of fronts throughout the Church, such as the following statements, excerpted from writings of a current LDS apologist:

1) "However, there is no evidence that in the early years(of the Mormon Church) any detailed thought was given to geography".

2) "Actually, the Book of Mormon was little referred to or used among church members in the first decades except as a confirming witness of the Bible." 3) "The writings or preaching of some of the best_informed church leaders of that day show that they did not read the text carefully on matters other than doctrine." 4) "For instance no statement shows that anyone read the scripture closely enough to grasp the fact that the plates Mormon gave to Moroni were never buried in the hill of the final Nephite battle."

Response:

1): No detailed thought given to geography? Another grave insult insinuating a lack of education and intelligence. Many early members of the Church including Orson Pratt, in 1830, who at age 19 was one of the earliest converts, in his own words Quote; "To me, however, (The Book of Mormon) is one of the greatest marvels of the age. I am familiar with this; and I have read it, perhaps, more carefully that any other man that has lived in this generation, and probably ten or fifteen times more than any other man has done. Why when I was a boy, twenty one years of age, I had, for the two years during my first acquaintance with the book, read it so much that I could repeat over chapter after chapter, page after page, of many portions of the Book of Mormon and could do it just as well, with the book closed or laid to one side, as I could with the book open; and I have continued to read it from that day down to the present, without finding one contradiction in the book. I have read the comments, I have read the writings of our greatest opposers who have undertaken to examine the book from the beginning to the end. I have tried to follow their arguments, in relation to the contents of this book, but I have never unto the present day-and it is forty nine years since I became acquainted therewith, been able to find one contradiction in the whole work." JD 21 pages 168-178 September 21^st,1879.

Orson Pratt mentioned in his writings that as a boy upon first reading the Book of Mormon that some of the rivers and other geographical details did not match the present day, but upon reading 3rd Nephi his questions were answered. 3 Nephi, Chapter 8 verse 6: "...insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder." Verse 9: "And the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea,..." Verse 10: "And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city there became a great mountain." Verse 11: "And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward." Verse 12: "But behold there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; "... and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth." Verse 13:" And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough. Verse 17: And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed,..." Verse 18: "And behold the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon the face of the land..."

No wonder the geography doesn’t match our present day. How could anyone read this section and not give detailed thought to the geographical layout of this area?

2): No use of the Book of Mormon in the first decades except as a confirming witness? Obviously the writers of this statement did not do their research! Everywhere the Book of Mormon went there was great excitement, many who read the book quite simply could not put it down. Some even read the near 600 page book nonstop practically without eating or sleeping. And what of the testimonies of the Three Witnesses, and the Eight Witnesses? And the fact that all of the religious sects, theologians etc. debated the subjects of the book, and yet the Book of Mormon has withstood all attempts to discredit it. The Book of Mormon was the catalyst that built the Church, the cement that held it together. All of the missionaries carried it among the people both here and abroad. It was the single most important scripture to come to mankind in 1800 years. Therefore the statement "little referred to or used" demonstrates an ignorance amazing in its absurdity!

3) Doctrine? ": A principle or position of the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief." This vague ambiguous statement makes little or no sense, although the Book of Mormon has many doctrinal points, the context was written mainly for the Lamanites (American Indians) and also to Jew and Gentile. It is filled with prophecy pertaining to our time, the history of two mighty civilizations, the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the time of his crucifixion and the events that lead to the destruction of those two civilizations. It would indeed be difficult to read these scriptures with such a narrow mind as to pertain only to doctrine.

4) "no statement shows that anyone read the scripture closely enough to grasp the fact that the plates Mormon gave to Moroni were never buried in the hill of the final Nephite battle." How arrogant, demeaning, and ignorant of the facts this statement is. It was common knowledge among all of the early Latter Day Saints that the hill Cumorah was the final battle ground. An Apostle of the early Mormon Church, Orson Pratt, said: "The hill Cumorah, with the surrounding vicinity, is distinguished as the great battlefield on which, and near which, two powerful nations were concentrated with all their forces, men, women, children, and fought till hundreds of thousands on both sides were hewn down, and left to molder upon the ground." Orson Pratt Quote: When Moroni ...made the deposit of the Book entrusted to him, he was, without doubt, inspired to select a department of the hill separate from the great sacred depository of the numerous volumes hid up by his father. ...the grand repository of all the numerous records of the ancient nations of the western continent was located in another department of the hill, and its contents under the charge of holy angels, until the day should come for them to be transferred to the sacred temple of Zion."

The history revisionists within the modern church are busily engaged in rewriting all of the early Church History in one form or another. For example, historical LDS fiction that is very popular among the members today distorts the real events, especially when a true sacred story is mutilated into a fictitious tale by an unprincipled author who only has profit for a motive. These have sold their souls for that which cankers, and all who read these contaminated accounts have difficulty separating the fact from the fiction, and often times mistake one for the other. It seems in this era, that many take it upon themselves to change, or adapt the religion to suit their needs. Joseph Smith said if any man taught any different doctrine than Joseph Smith taught in the Church, that man would be cursed. For the true religion is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

"Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth! For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish. (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 28:16)

Words from Joseph Smith For Those That Would Form or Join a Break-off Church:

"The old Catholic church traditions are worth more than all you have said. Here is a principle of logic that most men have no more sense than to adopt. I will illustrate it by an old apple tree. Here jumps off a branch and says, I am the true tree, and you are corrupt. If the whole tree is corrupt, are not its branches corrupt? If the Catholic religion is a false religion, how can any true religion come out of it? If the Catholic church is bad, how can any good thing come out of it? The character of the old churches have always been slandered by all apostates since the world began."

Attacks and Persecution on the Mormon Religion and its People

No other church, since the time the Savior personally set up His Church among the Jews, has endured as much evil and persecution directed against it as has the Mormon Church, a church set up for a glorious purpose to bring knowledge of truth to the Lord’s people. Satan has also performed works relating to the Holy Church of the Lord, much like when he used his influence to persecute and eliminate the Saints of Christ’s Church the Bible. Thousands of people have dedicated their entire lives to devising clever lies and schemes to turn the minds of as many people as they can reach against the Mormon religion. There is no other religion in the world that has so many enemies dedicating their lives to it's destruction as there is against Mormonism. Thousands of books and websites exist, accusing Joseph Smith, and any other Mormon of just about every conceivable crime under the sun.

In spite of what many Christians and anti-Mormons will tell you, the Mormons did suffer and endure tremendous persecution for their religion, many died for their beliefs. They were hated, and all manner of atrocities were committed and hideous evil directed against them. They endured abuse of every kind, they were repeatedly driven from state to state - principally from New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, until they found a home in Utah, thousands of miles away from any Christian settlement.

Joseph Smith petitioned Congress and the President of the United States for a redress of wrongs suffered in Missouri, but was not successful. Here is the portion of the petition to Congress:

"We need only say that the exterminating order of Governor Boggs was carried into full effect. After ... individuals were taken prisoners, all the "Mormons" in Far West, about five hundred in number, surrendered up their arms to the militia without any resistance. The "Mormons" now fled in every direction--women and children, through the dead of winter, marked their footsteps with blood, as they fled from the state of Missouri.

"The orders of the governor were, that they should be driven from the state or destroyed. About fifteen thousand souls, between the sacking of Far West and spring, abandoned their homes, their property, their all, hurried by the terrors of their armed pursuers, in want of every (necessity) of life, with bleeding hearts sought refuge in the state of Illinois, where they now reside.

‘We cannot trespass upon your time by the relation of cases of individual suffering; they would fill a volume. We forbear for our regard to humanity, to detail the particulars of the conduct of the Missouri militia. We could relate instances of house-burnings, destruction of property, robbings, rapes, and murder, that would shame humanity. One instance as a sample of many scenes which they enacted: Two hundred of the militia came suddenly upon some "Mormon" families emigrating to the state, and then encamped at Haun's mill in Caldwell County. The "Mormon" men and children took refuge in an old log house which had been used as a blacksmith's shop. On seeing the militia approach, the "Mormons" cried for quarters, but in vain; they were instantly fired upon; eighteen fell dead; and their murderers, putting the muzzle of their guns between the logs, fired indiscriminately upon children, upon the dead and dying. One little boy, whose father (Warren Smith) had just been shot dead, cried piteously to the militia to spare his life. The reply was, "Kill him, kill him (with an oath), he is a son of a damned Mormon." At this they shot his head all open, and left him dead by the side of his father. About the same time an old man by the name of McBride, a soldier of the Revolution, came up to them and begged his life; but they hewed him to pieces with an old corn cutter. They then loaded themselves with plunder and departed.

"Your petitioners have thus given a brief outline of the history of the "Mormon" persecutions in Missouri-- all which they can prove to be true, if an opportunity be given them. It will be seen from this their brief statement, that neither the "Mormons" as a body, nor individuals of that body, have been guilty of any offense against the laws of Missouri, or of the United States; but their only offense has been their religious opinion.

"The above statement will also show, that the "Mormons" on all occasions submitted to the law of the land, and yielded to its authority in every extremity, and at every hazard, at the risk of life and property. The above statement will illustrate another truth; that wherever the "Mormons" made any resistance to the mob, it was in self-defense; and for these acts of self-defense they always had the authority and sanction of the officers of the law for so doing. Yet they, to the number of about fifteen thousand souls, have been driven from their homes in Missouri. Their property, to the amount of two millions of dollars, has been taken from them, or destroyed. Some of them have been murdered, beaten, bruised, or lamed and have all been driven forth, wandering over the world without homes, without property.

"But the loss of property does not comprise half their sufferings. They were human beings, possessed of human feelings and human sympathies. Their agony of soul was the bitterest drop in the cup of their sorrows.

"For these wrongs, the "Mormons" ought to have some redress; yet how and where shall they seek and obtain it? Your constitution guarantees to every citizen, even the humblest, the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. It promises to all, religious freedom, the right to all to worship God beneath their own vine and fig tree, according to the dictates of their conscience. It guarantees to all the citizens of the several states the right to become citizens of any one of the states, and to enjoy all the rights and immunities of the citizens of the state of his adoption. Yet of all these rights have the "Mormons" been deprived. They have, without a cause, without a trial, been deprived of life, liberty and property. They have been persecuted for their religious opinions. They have been driven from the state of Missouri, at the point of the bayonet, and prevented from enjoying and exercising the rights of citizens of the state of Missouri. It is the theory of our laws, that for the protection of every legal right, there is provided a legal remedy. What, then, we would respectfully ask, is the remedy of the "Mormons?" Shall they apply to the legislature of the state of Missouri for redress? They have done so. They have petitioned, and these petitions have been treated with silence and contempt. Shall they apply to the federal courts? They were, at the time of the injury, citizens of the state of Missouri. Shall they apply to the court of the state of Missouri? Whom shall they sue? The order for their destruction, then extermination, was granted by the executive of the state of Missouri. Is not this a plea of justification for the loss of individuals, done in pursuance of that order? If not, before whom shall the "Mormons" institute a trial? Shall they summon a jury of the individuals who composed the mob? An appeal to them were in vain. They dare not go to Missouri to institute a suit; their lives would be in danger.

"For ourselves we see no redress, unless it is awarded by the Congress of the United States. And here we make our appeal as American Citizens, as Christians, and as Men--believing that the high sense of justice which exists in your honorable body, will not allow such oppression to be practiced upon any portion of the citizens of this vast republic with impunity; but that some measures which your wisdom may dictate, may be taken, so that the great body of people who have been thus abused, may have redress for the wrongs which they have suffered. And to your decision they look with confidence; hoping it may be such as shall tend to dry up the tear of the widow and orphan, and again place in situations of peace, those who have been driven from their homes, and have had to wade through scenes of sorrow and distress.

"And your Memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray".

Quote of the Month

Missouri governor Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued an executive order in 1838, expelling anyone who claimed to be a Mormon from the State of Missouri, and authorizing the citizens of Missouri to shoot to death any Mormon found within the borders of the state, and confiscate their property. The order essentially legalized murder and robbery. Below is one of example of men carrying out this order to exterminate the Mormon people. This excerpt was taken from the book, Women of Mormondom, pages 116 - 132:

Below is an accont of the Haun's Mill massacre. It is quoted complete with it's nineteenth century sentiments, spelling, and language:

"Towards the close of October, 1838, several small detachments of migrants from Ohio entered the state of Missouri. They were of the refugees from Kirtland Ohio. Their destinations were the counties of Caldwell and Davies, where the Saints had located in that State. Haun's Mill, in Caldwell county, was soon to become the scene of one of the darkest tragedies on record.

"The mill was owned by a Mormon brother whose name it bore, and in the neighborhood some Mormon families had settled. To Haun's Mill came the doomed refugees. They had been met on their entrance into the state of Missouri by armed mobs. Governor Boggs(of Missouri, during the year 1838) had just issued his order to exterminate the entire Mormon community. The coming of the refugees into the inhospitable State could not have been more ill-timed, though when they left Kirtland they expected to find a brotherhood in Far West.

"‘Halt!’ commanded the leader of a band of well-mounted and well-armed mobocrats, who charged down upon them as they journeyed on their way. ‘If you proceed any farther west,’ said the captain, ‘you will be instantly shot.’

" ‘Wherefore?’ inquired the pilgrims.

" ‘You are d__d Mormons!’

" ‘We are law-abiding Americans, and have given no cause of offence.’

" ‘You are d__d Mormons. That's offence enough. Within ten days every Mormon must be out of Missouri, or men, women, and children will be shot down indiscriminately. No mercy will be shown. It is the order of the Governor that you should all be exterminated; and by G_d you will be.’

"In consternation the refugees retreated, and gathered at Haun's Mill.... To sister Amanda Smith must be given the pinciple thread of this tragedy, for around her centres the terrible interest of the Haun's Mill massacre, which even to-day rises before her in all the horrors of an occurring scene. She says:

"We sold our beautiful home in Kirtland for a song, and traveled all summer to Missouri -- our teams poor, and with hardly enough to keep body and soul together. We arrived in Caldwell county, near Haun's Mill, nine wagons of us in company. Two days before we arrived we were taken prisoners by an armed mob that had demanded every bit of ammunition and every weapon we had. We surrendered all. They knew it, for they searched our wagons. A few miles more brought us to Haun's Mill, where that awful scene of murder was enacted. My husband pitched his tent by a blacksmith's shop.

"Brother David Evans made a treaty with the mob that they would not molest us. He came just before the massacre and called the company together and they knelt in prayer. I sat in my tent. Looking up I suddenly saw the mob coming -- the same that took away our weapons. They came like demons...Before I could get to the blacksmith's shop door to alarm the brethren, who were at prayers, the bullets were whistling amongst them.

"I seized my two little girls and escaped across the mill-pond on a slab-walk. Another sister fled with me. Yet though we were women, with tender children, in flight for our lives, the demons poured volley after volley to kill us. A number of bullets entered my clothes, but I was not wounded. The sister however, who was with me, cried out that she was hit. We had just reached the trunk of a fallen tree, over which I urged her, bidding her to shelter there where the bullets could not reach her, while I continued my flight to some bottom land. When the firing had ceased I went back to the scene of the massacre, for there were my husband and three sons, of whose fate I as yet knew nothing.

"As I returned I found the sister in a pool of blood where she had fainted, but she was only shot through the hand. Farther on was lying dead Brother McBride, an aged white-haired revolutionary soldier. His murderer had literally cut him to pieces with an old corn cutter. His hands had been split down when he raised them in supplication for mercy. Then the monster cleft open his head with the same weapon, and the veteran who had fought for his country, in the glorious days of the past, was numbered with the martyrs. Passing on I came to a scene more terrible still to mother and wife. Emerging from the blacksmith shop was my eldest son, bearing on his shoulders his little brother Alma.

‘Oh! my Alma is dead!’ I cried in anguish.

‘No, mother; I think Alma is not dead. But father and brother Sardius are killed!’

"What an answer was this to appal me! My husband and son murdered; another little son seemingly mortally wounded; and perhaps before the dreadful night should pass the murderers would return and complete their work! But I could not weep then. The fountain of tears was dry; and the heart overburdened with its calamity, and all the mother's sense absorbed in it's anxiety for the precious boy which God alone could save by his miraculous aid.

"The entire hip joint of my wounded boy had been shot away. Flesh, hip bone, joint and all had been ploughed out from the muzzle of the gun which the ruffian placed to the child's hip through the logs of the shop and deliberately fired. We laid little Alma on a bed in our tent and I examined the wound. It was a ghastly sight. I knew not what to do. It was night now.

"There was none left from that terrible scene, throughout that long, dark night, but about half a dozen bereaved and lamenting women, and the children. Eighteen or nineteen, all grown men excepting my murdered boy and another about the same age, were dead or dying; several more of the men were wounded, hiding away, whose groans through the night too well disclosed their hiding places, while the rest of the men had fled, at the moment of the massacre, to save their lives.

"The women were sobbing, in the greatest anguish of spirit; the children were crying loudly with fear and grief at the loss of fathers and brothers; the dogs howled over their dead masters and the cattle were terrified with the scent of the blood of the murdered. Yet was I there, all that long, dreadful night, with my dead and my wounded, and none but God as our physician and help.

"’Oh my Heavenly Father, I cried, what shall I do? Thou seest my poor wounded boy and knowest my inexperience. Oh Heavenly Father direct me what to do!’ And then I was directed as by a voice speaking to me. The ashes of our fire was still smoldering. We had been burning the bark of a shag-bark hickory. I was directed to take those ashes and make a lye and put a cloth saturated with it right into the wound. It hurt, but little Alma was too near dead to heed it much. Again and again I saturated the cloth and put it into the hole from which the hip joint had been ploughed, and each time mashed flesh and splinters of bone came away with the cloth; and the wound became as white as chicken's flesh.

"Having done as directed I again prayed to the Lord and was again instructed as distinctly as though a physician had been standing by speaking to me. Near by was a slippery-elm tree. From this I was told to make a slippery-elm poultice and fill the wound with it. My eldest boy was sent to get the slippery-elm from the roots, the poultice was made, and the wound, which took fully a quarter of a yard of linen to cover, so large was it, was properly dressed. It was then I found vent to my feelings in tears, and resigned myself to the anguish of the hour.

"And all that night we, a few poor, stricken women, were thus left with our dead and wounded. All through the night we heard the groans of the dying. Once in the dark we crawled over the heap of dead in the blacksmith's shop to try to soothe the sufferer's wants; once we followed the cries of a wounded brother who hid in some bushes from the murderers, and relieved him all we could. It has passed from my memory whether he was dead in the morning or whether he recovered. Next morning brother Joseph Young came to the scene of the massacre.

"’What shall be done with the dead?' he inquired, in horror and deep trouble. There was not time to bury them, for the mob was coming on us. Neither were there left men to dig the graves. All the men excepting the two or three who had so narrowly escaped were dead or wounded. It had been no battle, but a massacre indeed.

"'Do anything, brother Joseph,' I said, 'rather than to leave their bodies to the fiends who have killed them.'

"There was a deep dry well close by. Into this the bodies had to be hurried, eighteen, or nineteen in number. No funeral service could be performed, nor could they be buried with customary decency. The lives of those who in terror performed the last duty to the dead were in jeopardy. Every moment we expected to be fired upon by the fiends who we supposed were lying in ambush waiting for the opportunity to dispatch the remaining few who had escaped the slaughter of the preceeding day. So in the hurry and terror of the moment some were thrown into the well head downwards and some feet downwards.

"But when it came to the burial of my murdered boy Sardius, Brother Joseph Young, who was assisting to carry him on a board to the well, laid down the corpse and declared that he could not throw that boy into this horrible grave. All the way on the journey, that summer, Joseph had played with the interesting lad who had been so cruelly murdered. It was too much for one whose nature was so tender as Uncle Joseph's, and whose sympathies by this time were quite overwrought. He could not perform that last office. My murdered son was left unburied.

"'Oh! they have left my Sardius unburied in the sun,' I cried, and ran and got a sheet and covered his body. There he lay until the next day, and then I, his mother, assisted by his elder brother, had to throw him into the well. Straw and earth were thrown into this rude vault to cover the dead. Among the wounded who recovered were Isaac Laney, Nathaniel K. Knight, Mr. Yokum, two brothers by the name of Myers, Tarlton Lewis, Mr. Haun and several others, besides Miss Mary Stedwell, who was shot through the hand while fleeing with me, and who fainting, fell over the log into which the mob shot upwards of twenty balls.

"The crawling of my boys under the bellows in the blacksmith's shop where the tragedy occurred, is an incident familiar to all our people. Alma's hip was shot away while thus hiding. Sardius was discovered after the massacre by the monsters who came in to despoil the bodies. The eldest, Williard, was not discovered. In cold blood, one Glaze, of Carroll county, presented a rifle near the head of Sardius and literally blew off the upper part of it, leaving the skull empty and dry while the brains and the hair of the murdered boy were scattered around and on the walls. At this one of the men, more merciful than the rest, observed:

"'It was a d__d shame to kill those little boys.'

"'D__n the difference!' retorted the other; 'nits make lice!'

"My son who escaped, also says that the mobocrat William Mann took from my husband's feet, before he was dead, a pair of new boots. From his hiding place, the boy saw the ruffian drag his father across the shop in the act of pulling off his boot.

" 'Oh! you hurt me!' groaned my husband. But the murderer dragged him back again, pulling of the other boot; 'and there,' says the boy, 'my father fell over dead.' Afterwards this William Mann showed the boots on his own feet, in Far West, saying: 'Here is a pair of boots that I pulled off before the d__d Mormon was done kicking!'

"The murderer Glaze also boasted over the country, as a heroic deed, the blowing off the head of my young son. But to return to Alma, and how the Lord helped me to save his life. I removed the wounded boy to a house, some distance off, the next day, and dressed his hip; the Lord directing me as before. I was reminded that in my husband's trunk there was a bottle of balsam. This I poured into the wound, greatly soothing Alma's pain.

"'Alma, my child,' I said, 'you believe that the Lord made your hip?'

"'Yes, mother.'

"'Well, the Lord can make something there in the place of your hip, don't you believe he can, Alma?'

"'Do you think that the Lord can, mother?' inquired the child in his simplicity.

"'Yes, my son,' I replied, 'he has shown it all to me in a vision.'

"Then I laid him comfortably on his face, and said, 'Now you lay like that, and don't move, and the Lord will make you another hip.'

"So Alma laid on his face for five weeks, until he was entirely recovered -- a flexible gristle having grown in place of the missing joint and socket, which remains to this day a marvel to physicians. On the day that he walked again I was out of the house fetching a bucket of water, when I heard screams from the children. Running back in affright, I entered, and there was Alma on the floor, dancing around, and the children screaming in astonishment and joy. It is now nearly forty years ago, but Alma has never been the least crippled during his life, and has traveled quite a long period of time as a missionary of the gospel and a living miracle of the power of God.

"I cannot leave the tragic story without relating some incidents of those five weeks when I was a prisoner with my wounded boy in Missouri, near the scene of the massacre, unable to obey the order of extermination. All the Mormons in the neighborhood had fled out of the state, except a few families of the bereaved women and children who had gathered at the house of brother David Evans, two miles from the scene of the massacre. To this house Alma had been carried after that fatal night. In our utter desolation, what could we women do but pray? Prayer was our only source of comfort; our Heavenly Father our only helper. None but He could save and deliver us. One day a mobber came from the mill with the captain's fiat:

"'The captain says if you women don't stop your d__d praying he will send down a posse and kill every d__d one of you!'

"And he might as well have done it, as to stop us poor women praying in that hour of our great calamity. Our prayers were hushed in terror. We dared not let our voices be heard in the house in supplication. I could pray in my bed or in silence, but I could not live thus long. This godless silence was more intolerable than had been that night of the massacre. I could bear it no longer. I pined to hear once more my own voice in petition to my Heavenly Father. I stole down into a corn field, and crawled into a 'stout of corn.' It was as the temple of the Lord to me at that moment. I prayed aloud and most ferevntly. When I emerged from the corn a voice spoke to me. It was a voice as plain as I ever heard one. It was no silent strong impression of the spirit, but a voice, repeating a verse of the saint's hymn:

"That soul who on Jesus hath leaned for repose,

I cannot, I will not desert to its foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeaver to shake,

I'll never, no never, no never forsake!"

"From that moment I had no more fear. I felt that nothing could hurt me. Soon after this the mob sent us word that unless we were all out of the State by a certain day we should be killed. The day came, and at evening came fifty armed men to execute the sentence. I met them at the door. They demanded of me why I was not gone? I bade them enter and see their own work. They crowded into my room and I showed them my wounded boy. They came, party after party, until all had seen my excuse. Then they quarreled among themselves and came near fighting. At last they went away, all but two. These I thought were detailed to kill us.

Then the two returned. "'Madam,' said one, 'have you any meat in the house?'

"'No,' was my reply.

"'Could you dress a fat hog if one was laid at your door?'

"'I think we could!' was my answer.

"And then they went and caught a fat hog from a herd which had belonged to a now exiled brother, killed it and dragged it to my door, and departed. These men, who had come to murder us, left on the threshold of our door a meat offering to atone for their repented intention. Yet even when my son was well I could not leave the State, now accursed indeed to the saints. The mob had taken my horses, as they had the drove of horses, and the beeves, and the hogs, and wagons, and the tents, of the murdered and exiled.

"So I went down into Davies county (ten miles) to Captain Comstock, and demanded of him my horses. There was one of them in his yard. He said I could have it if I paid five dollars for it's keep. I told him I had no money. I did not fear the captain of the mob, for I had the Lord's promise that nothing should hurt me. But his wife swore that the mobbers were fools for not killing the women and children as well as the men -- declaring that we would 'breed up a pack ten times worse than the first.'

"I left without the captain's permission to take my horse, or giving pay for it's keep; but I went into his yard and took it, and returned to our refuge unmolested. Learning that my other horse was at the mill, I next yoked up a pair of steers to a sled and went and demanded it also. Comstock was there at the mill. He gave me the horse, and then asked if I had any flour.

"'No; we have had none for weeks.'

"He then gave me about fifty pounds of flour and some beef, and filled a can with honey. But the mill, and the slaughtered beeves which hung plentifully on its walls, and the stock of flour and honey, and abundant spoil besides, had all belonged to the murdered or exiled saints. Yet was I thus providentially, by the very murderers and mobocrats themselves, helped out of the State of Missouri.

"The Lord had kept his word. The soul who on Jesus had leaned for succor had not been forsaken even in this terrible hour of massacre, and in that infamous extermination of the Mormons from Missouri in the years 1838-39. One incident more, as a fitting close. Over that rude grave -- that well -- where the nineteen martyrs slept, where my murdered husband and boy were entombed, the mobbers of Missouri, with an exquisite fiendishness, which no savages could have conceived, had constructed a rude privy. This they constantly used, with a delight which demons might have envied, if demons are more wicked and horribly beastly than were they.

"Thus ends my chapter of the Haun's mill massacre, to rise in judgment against them!"

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