The Mormon War

"In 1831, Joseph Smith, Jr, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, revealed that Zion, or "New Jerusalem," was to be established in rural Jackson County, Missouri. Smith sent followers from his community in Kirtland, Ohio, to begin the settlement, but they were soon expelled by locals who were suspicious of their new religion and abolitionist sympathies. Seven years later, in January 1838, Smith fled to Missouri from Ohio to avoid a warrant for his arrest, and joined other Mormons in Far West, Caldwell County, which became the new Zion. The same prejudices recurred…