Danite - Background

Background

The Danites organized in the milieu of mutual hostility and conflict between the Mormon settlers and the more established Missourians, with numerous acts of violence perpetrated on both sides. They were active as a formal organization in Missouri in 1838. They began as a group of zealots determined to drive out internal dissention among the Mormons— the so called 'dissenters' which group included former high ranking Mormons including the Three Witnesses— but progressed to becoming involved in militia and paramilitary conflicts with U.S. forces and both civilians and law enforcement of Missouri.

The Latter Day Saint movement had experienced periods of conflict and violence with neighboring communities. Prior to this period, Joseph Smith, Jr had promoted a non-violent policy, but this era of pacifism was coming to an end. In August 1833, Smith recorded a revelation that stated:

This revelation encouraged church members "to bear it patiently and revile not" when "men will smite you, or your families" yet also justified self-defense: If, after being endangered three times, "he has sought thy life and thy life is endangered by him, thine enemy is in thy hands and thou art justified."

Prior to 1838, the Latter Day Saint movement had two centers — one in Kirtland, Ohio and the other in northwestern Missouri. The headquarters and First Presidency of the church were in Kirtland, while the Missouri church was led by a Stake Presidency made up of David Whitmer, W. W. Phelps, and John Whitmer. In 1836, John Whitmer and Phelps founded the town of Far West, Missouri, which became the headquarters of the church in Missouri. Throughout 1837, the church in Kirtland was experiencing internal conflicts over the failure of the church's bank. Ultimately, Joseph Smith, Jr. and Sidney Rigdon of the First Presidency lost control of the headquarters, including the Kirtland Temple, to dissenters led by Warren Parish. Smith and his followers relocated to Far West during the early part of 1838, beginning a period where Smith and other church leaders began to take the view that the church was fighting for its life.

In spring 1838, events came to a boiling point as the number of Mormons swelled in Missouri and Ohio and rifts within the church itself developed. Sudden heavy Mormon immigration, combined with their tendency to vote in a bloc for whichever candidate Smith endorsed, aroused hostility from the native Missourians. These tensions were escalated by the fact that Smith had been issuing prophecies that Missouri was meant to belong to Mormons since 1831. These prophecies were given a militant flavor by LDS leaders such as Sidney Rigdon, whose "Salt sermon" and "July 4 Oration" encouraged the Danites to try driving non-Mormons and Mormon dissenters from the state. LDS claims to rights to Missouri were countered back and forth with hostile rhetoric from non-Mormon news sources and politicians. Eventually the situation became dire, with one government agent writing:

"The citizens of Daviess, Coroll, and some other normal counties have raised mob after mob for the last two months for the purpose of driving a group of fanatics, (called mormons) from those counties and from the State. These things have at length goaded the mormons into a state of desperation that has now made them the aggressors instead of acting on the defensive."