Battle of Crooked River
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Crooked River was a skirmish between Latter Day Saint (Mormon
) forces and Missouri
state militia
unit from southeast of Elmira, Missouri
in Ray County under the command of Samuel Bogart
. One of the principal points of conflict in the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, the battle resulted in the issuance of Missouri Executive Order 44, sometimes called the "Extermination Order" and ultimately the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri.
. The two counties were separated by a no man's land 24 miles long and 6 miles wide, known as "Bunkham's Strip" or "Buncombe Strip." This unincorporated strip was attached to Ray County for administrative and military purposes. The citizens of Ray County and their neighbors to the west in Clay County, first began to have concerns about the Mormons to the north when a group of "dissenters" from the church was expelled from Caldwell County. These dissenters, including David Whitmer
, William Wines Phelps, John Whitmer
and Oliver Cowdery
had been the leaders of the Latter Day Saint church in Missouri. They relocated their families to Richmond
and Liberty
, the county seats of Ray and Clay, respectively, and claimed that their lives had been threatened and their property had been stolen by the Mormons.
Conflicts between the Mormons and non-Mormons in Carroll County and Daviess County throughout the summer put settlers in the more settled counties of Ray and Clay increasingly on edge. This unease reached a bursting point when Thomas B. Marsh
and Orson Hyde
of the Mormon Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles arrived in Richmond and reported that the Mormons had invaded Daviess County and sacked the county seat of Gallatin
. They also charged that a Mormon group known as the Danite
s planned to burn Richmond and Liberty to the ground. This testimony sent the worried citizens into a near frenzy. Women, children and property were ferried across the Missouri River
for protection against an imminent Mormon invasion, and the state militia was put on alert.
Bogart and his party began visiting the homes of Latter Day Saints living in Bunkham's Strip, forcibly disarming them and ordering them to leave Ray County. Bogart then penetrated into Caldwell County and began to similarly harass Mormons there, advising them to remove to Far West
, the county seat. Returning to Ray County, his men captured three Mormons — Nathan Pinkham, Jr., William Seely, and Addison Green.
Reports quickly made it to Far West to the effect that a "mob" had captured and intended to execute a group of Mormon prisoners. About midnight, an armed rescue party formed. David W. Patten
led the contingent of Caldwell county militia. Patten, who had come to be known as "Captain Fear-not," for his bravery during the attacks in Davies County. The Mormon force quickly moved south along the main road connecting Far West and Richmond.
On the night of October 24, 1838, Captain Bogart's unit had camped along the banks of Crooked River
in Bunkham's Strip. Patten and the Mormon rescue company approached from the north along the main road, having traveled the 12 or so miles from Far West in the five hours since midnight. At daybreak on the 25th, the Mormons encountered the militia's sentries. A brief firefight ensued with each side testifying that the other had fired first. One of the sentries, John Lockhart, shot Patrick Obanion, the Mormons' scout. Obanion later died from this wound. Lockhart and the other guards then fled down the hill to the militia camp which took up a defensive position.
The Mormon company approached the camp of the Ray militia and formed a battle line in three columns, led by David W. Patten, Charles C. Rich
, and Patrick Durfee. Rich later recalled that soon after the Mormons had formed their lines, the militia "fired upon us with all their guns". A general firefight commenced, but the militia were situated behind the riverbank and held the strategically superior position. Patten decided to charge the militia position, shouting the Mormon battle cry of "God and Liberty!" The Missourians were without swords and so broke their lines and fled across the river in all directions. During the retreat, the Mormons continued to fire and one of the militiamen, Moses Rowland, was killed.
During his charge, however, Patten was shot and mortally wounded. Ebenezer Robinson recalled that Patten had been "brave to a fault, so much so that he was styled and called 'Captain Fearnought'". Although it was not immediately realized, Gideon Carter had also been killed, making a total of three Mormon fatalities and one militiaman fatality. The Mormons collected their wounded as well as the baggage Bogart's unit had left in the camp and made their way back to Far West.
, who responded by calling out 2,500 state militiamen to put down what he perceived to be open rebellion by the Mormons. This so-called "extermination order" commanded that the Mormons must be "exterminated, or driven from the state," and directed the militia to carry this into effect. In the end, the leaders of the Mormon church were captured and the bulk of the membership were subsequently forced to leave the state.
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
) forces and Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
state militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
unit from southeast of Elmira, Missouri
Elmira, Missouri
Elmira is a village in Ray County, Missouri, United States. The population was 50 at the 2010 census.The Battle of Crooked River in the Mormon War was fought two miles southeast of the village.-Geography:Elmira is located at ....
in Ray County under the command of Samuel Bogart
Samuel Bogart
Samuel Bogart was an itinerant Methodist minister and militia captain from Ray County, Missouri who played a prominent role in the 1838 Missouri Mormon War before later moving to Collin County, Texas, where he became a Texas Ranger and a member of the Texas State Legislature...
. One of the principal points of conflict in the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, the battle resulted in the issuance of Missouri Executive Order 44, sometimes called the "Extermination Order" and ultimately the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri.
Background
1838 saw an escalation in tensions between the members of the Latter Day Saint church and their neighbors in northwestern Missouri. Ray County was located immediately south of the Mormon Caldwell CountyCaldwell County, Missouri
Caldwell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. , the population was 8,969. Its county seat is Kingston. The county was organized in 1836 as a haven for the Mormons, who had been previously driven from Jackson County, Missouri in November of 1833 and had been refugees in...
. The two counties were separated by a no man's land 24 miles long and 6 miles wide, known as "Bunkham's Strip" or "Buncombe Strip." This unincorporated strip was attached to Ray County for administrative and military purposes. The citizens of Ray County and their neighbors to the west in Clay County, first began to have concerns about the Mormons to the north when a group of "dissenters" from the church was expelled from Caldwell County. These dissenters, including David Whitmer
David Whitmer
David Whitmer was an early adherent of the Latter Day Saint movement who eventually became the most interviewed of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates.-Early life:...
, William Wines Phelps, John Whitmer
John Whitmer
John Whitmer was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates...
and Oliver Cowdery
Oliver Cowdery
Oliver H. P. Cowdery was, with Joseph Smith, Jr., an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836, becoming one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of...
had been the leaders of the Latter Day Saint church in Missouri. They relocated their families to Richmond
Richmond, Missouri
Richmond is a city in Ray County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,797 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ray County.-Geography:Richmond is located at...
and Liberty
Liberty, Missouri
Liberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2007 population estimate, the city population was 29,993...
, the county seats of Ray and Clay, respectively, and claimed that their lives had been threatened and their property had been stolen by the Mormons.
Conflicts between the Mormons and non-Mormons in Carroll County and Daviess County throughout the summer put settlers in the more settled counties of Ray and Clay increasingly on edge. This unease reached a bursting point when Thomas B. Marsh
Thomas B. Marsh
Thomas Baldwin Marsh was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He served as the first President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from 1835 to 1839...
and Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
of the Mormon Quorum of the Twelve
Quorum of the Twelve
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve was one of the governing bodies of the church hierarchy organized by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, Jr., and patterned after the twelve apostles of Christ In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the...
Apostles arrived in Richmond and reported that the Mormons had invaded Daviess County and sacked the county seat of Gallatin
Gallatin, Missouri
Gallatin is a city in Daviess County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,789 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Daviess County.-History:...
. They also charged that a Mormon group known as the Danite
Danite
The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West in Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigilante group and took a central role in the events of the 1838 Mormon War...
s planned to burn Richmond and Liberty to the ground. This testimony sent the worried citizens into a near frenzy. Women, children and property were ferried across the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
for protection against an imminent Mormon invasion, and the state militia was put on alert.
Lead Up to the Battle
General David R. Atchison, of Clay County, commander of the state militia in northwestern Missouri ordered a company led by Captain Samuel Bogart of Ray County to patrol Bunkham's strip to "prevent, if possible, any invasion of Ray county by persons in arms whatever". According to Peter Burnett, a resident of Liberty, "Captain Bogard was not a very discreet man, and his men were of much the same character". Bogart had previously participated in a vigilante group that harried the Mormons in Carroll County.Bogart and his party began visiting the homes of Latter Day Saints living in Bunkham's Strip, forcibly disarming them and ordering them to leave Ray County. Bogart then penetrated into Caldwell County and began to similarly harass Mormons there, advising them to remove to Far West
Far West
Far West most frequently refers to the American Old West.Far West may also refer to:* "Far West", a common colloquial term for a distinct area of the far Western United States* Far West, Missouri...
, the county seat. Returning to Ray County, his men captured three Mormons — Nathan Pinkham, Jr., William Seely, and Addison Green.
Reports quickly made it to Far West to the effect that a "mob" had captured and intended to execute a group of Mormon prisoners. About midnight, an armed rescue party formed. David W. Patten
David W. Patten
David Wyman Patten was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
led the contingent of Caldwell county militia. Patten, who had come to be known as "Captain Fear-not," for his bravery during the attacks in Davies County. The Mormon force quickly moved south along the main road connecting Far West and Richmond.
The battle
Crooked River (Missouri)
The Crooked River is a tributary of the Missouri River in west-central Missouri in the United States. The river was the site of the Battle of Crooked River during the Mormon War of 1838...
in Bunkham's Strip. Patten and the Mormon rescue company approached from the north along the main road, having traveled the 12 or so miles from Far West in the five hours since midnight. At daybreak on the 25th, the Mormons encountered the militia's sentries. A brief firefight ensued with each side testifying that the other had fired first. One of the sentries, John Lockhart, shot Patrick Obanion, the Mormons' scout. Obanion later died from this wound. Lockhart and the other guards then fled down the hill to the militia camp which took up a defensive position.
The Mormon company approached the camp of the Ray militia and formed a battle line in three columns, led by David W. Patten, Charles C. Rich
Charles C. Rich
Charles Coulson Rich was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
, and Patrick Durfee. Rich later recalled that soon after the Mormons had formed their lines, the militia "fired upon us with all their guns". A general firefight commenced, but the militia were situated behind the riverbank and held the strategically superior position. Patten decided to charge the militia position, shouting the Mormon battle cry of "God and Liberty!" The Missourians were without swords and so broke their lines and fled across the river in all directions. During the retreat, the Mormons continued to fire and one of the militiamen, Moses Rowland, was killed.
During his charge, however, Patten was shot and mortally wounded. Ebenezer Robinson recalled that Patten had been "brave to a fault, so much so that he was styled and called 'Captain Fearnought'". Although it was not immediately realized, Gideon Carter had also been killed, making a total of three Mormon fatalities and one militiaman fatality. The Mormons collected their wounded as well as the baggage Bogart's unit had left in the camp and made their way back to Far West.
Aftermath
Although the battle resulted in only four fatalities, the effect was a massive escalation of the Mormon War. Exaggerated reports of the Mormon incursion into Daviess County and the battle (some claiming that half of Bogart's men had been lost) made their way to Missouri Governor Lilburn BoggsLilburn Boggs
Lilburn Williams Boggs was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known by Mormons as the "Extermination Order", issued in response to the ongoing conflict...
, who responded by calling out 2,500 state militiamen to put down what he perceived to be open rebellion by the Mormons. This so-called "extermination order" commanded that the Mormons must be "exterminated, or driven from the state," and directed the militia to carry this into effect. In the end, the leaders of the Mormon church were captured and the bulk of the membership were subsequently forced to leave the state.
External links
- Mel Tungate's Battle of Crooked River sources website
- Charles C. Rich's Account of the Battle
- Farwesthistory.com Interactive Map — Includes numerous resources on the Battle.