1838 Mormon War - Aftermath

Aftermath

General Clark viewed Executive Order 44 as having been fulfilled by the agreement of the Mormons to evacuate the state the following spring. The militia was disbanded in late November.

Missouri blamed the Mormons for the conflict and forced the Latter Day Saints to sign over all their lands in order to pay for the state militia muster.

Mormon leaders appealed to the state legislature to overturn the requirement that they leave the state, but the legislature tabled the issue until a date well after that when the Mormons would have left the state.

With the refusal of the Governor or Legislature to intervene, and having surrendered the bulk of their firearms, Mormons were left nearly defenseless to face the mob. Mormon residents were harassed and attacked by angry residents who were no longer restrained by militia officers. Judge Austin A King, who had been assigned the cases of the Mormons charged with offenses during the conflict, warned "If you once think to plant crops or to occupy your lands any longer than the first of April, the citizens will be upon you: they will kill you every one, men, women and children."