Legends of the Old West - ORRIN PORTER ROCKWELL Ep. 2 | “Destroying Angel”

Episode Date: April 24, 2024

In the 1830s, Porter Rockwell and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – commonly known as the Mormons – battle locals and militias in Missouri. Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs is determined to push the Mormons out of his state, and he succeeds at a bloody cost. After the Mormons move to Illinois, Porter Rockwell returns to Missouri to fulfill a prophecy to kill Governor Boggs.   Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join   Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial.   On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Hit “JOIN” on the Infamous America YouTube homepage. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4V_wVD7N1gEB045t7-V0w/featured   For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Several years after their expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri, Porter Rockwell and some of his fellow Latter-day Saints huddled together at a secret meeting. and some of his fellow Latter-day Saints huddled together at a secret meeting. They agreed that their faith and their families were under direct threat from those outside of the church who disagreed with their religion and from dissenters within the church who threatened to rip their communities apart.

Each man took a vow, and they formed a secret society to enforce the will of Joseph Smith and to protect the church. These words were among those spoken by Porter Rockwell that day. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I promise and swear that I will regard the first president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the supreme head of the Church on earth,

and obey him the same as the supreme God, and that I will always uphold the presidency, right or wrong. I furthermore promise and swear that I will assist the sons of Dan in the utter destruction of apostates, and that I will assist in setting up the kingdom of Daniel in these last days, by the power of the highest and the sword of his might. Porter Rockwell was not a man to take such a vow lightly. He had sworn his service to the Mormon Church, to Joseph Smith, and to the sons of Dan, also known as the Danites. When Joseph Smith announced a prophecy that it was the will of God that Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs would meet with destruction, Rockwell believed his vow to the sons of Dan called him to act. His mission

would put him on the path to eternal infamy. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the story of the controversial figure Oren Porter Rockwell, the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre. This is Episode 2, Destroying Angel. Like many of his fellow Latter-day Saints, Porter Rockwell found himself in Clay County, Missouri in the weeks that followed the expulsion of the Saints from Jackson County in 1833. Though they were initially welcomed by the residents of Clay County, their swiftly growing numbers soon meant that the Rockwells and the other Mormon families were forced to flee once again from their homes. Three years after they had entered Missouri,

the Saints moved again, this time to Caldwell County, around 50 miles northeast of Kansas City. The Missouri General Assembly created Caldwell County in 1836, specifically to provide a new home for displaced saints, offering them a place where they could settle and govern themselves without conflict with Missouri's non-Mormon population. The town of Far West, founded in Caldwell County, became the new headquarters for the Mormon community. By the time Porter and his wife moved to Far West, they had welcomed two daughters, Emily and Caroline. While Porter watched over his growing family, his church faced trials on every front. In 1834, the year after the saints were expelled from Jackson County, Joseph Smith marched with a group of 204 men, known as the Zion Camp, to take back Mormon land and free the area from what some called the Gentile curse. The Zion Camp expedition ended in disaster when cholera broke out among its members.

The Zion Camp expedition ended in disaster when cholera broke out among its members. The outbreak resulted in the deaths of 14 men, further demoralizing the already struggling expedition. In the wake of the failure of the Zion Camp, the church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio faced a significant crisis. Members of the priesthood and church community began to question Joseph Smith's prophecies. Some went so far as to accuse Smith of being a false prophet, an adulterer, and a thief. On top of the growing dissent, there was a financial calamity. The Kirtland Safety Society, a church-affiliated bank, collapsed in 1837. The failure led to widespread economic hardship for its depositors, many of whom were church members. In response to growing opposition and threats to his safety, Joseph Smith fled Ohio for Missouri in early 1838.

Smith reunited with his old friend Porter Rockwell. And for Rockwell, the church's trouble in Ohio and Missouri was just God's way of showing his prophet Joseph Smith that his true place was in Far West. But even if that was true, it didn't stop trouble from following Smith to his new home. Soon, the church's high council decided to excommunicate, or disfellowship, five members. The move effectively replaced the leadership in Far West with Joseph Smith, his brother Hiram, and Sidney Rigdon. The trio now constituted the Mormon church's highest governing body, called the First Presidency. Some men in the community suggested that the best policy would be to kill dissenters, but others said nothing should be done until church leadership had spoken on the

matter. The following Sabbath, Sidney Rigdon delivered a message that would come to be known as the Salt Sermon. Rigdon's sermon compared the dissenters to salt and said that if the salt has lost its flavor, it's good for nothing. It should be tossed out and, quote, trodden underfoot of men. Days later, Porter Rockwell and 82 other men signed a document telling the dissenters that they had three days to pack their belongings and leave Far West. If the dissenters dallied, the 83 men would force them out. If the dissenters resisted, they would be killed. The dissenting men consulted with attorneys in Clay County and returned to discover that their families had been forcibly removed from their homes and were waiting in the street with all of their belongings. The 83 men who had signed the document had followed through on the first part of the threat,

and the dissenters didn't want to wait around to find out about the second part. They fled far west. Afterward, Porter Rockwell and many of the men who had signed the letter and done the work felt emboldened. They met in secret and took the oath that made them the sons of Dan. Now, with their work against the dissenters done, they faced a new challenge, one that was much larger and more difficult. That challenge was Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch.

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Go to shopify.com slash r-e-a-l-m now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. shopify.com slash realm. As the saints in Far West grew in numbers and in their willingness to defend themselves, enforce the will of their prophet, and meet violence with violence, their neighbors in Missouri grew more mistrusting. Just as in Jackson and Clay counties, the Mormons met resistance from Gentiles or non-believers in Caldwell County. Most of the Mormons were Northerners, and many were either opposed to the expansion of slavery or were outright abolitionists. Many of their Missouri neighbors were slaveholders, and as the Mormon population of the area grew,

the slaveholders began to fear that the Mormons would vote together to end slavery in their county or state. On August 6, 1838, a group of Mormons rode into Gallatin, Missouri, south of Far West, to cast their votes on election day. A fight broke out between a local man and one of the saints. When some of the sons of Dan got involved, the fight spread. No one was killed, but rumors of deaths spread on both sides. Tension grew, and the next morning, Joseph Smith and about 20 men surrounded the house of a local justice of the peace. They demanded the justice sign an agreement to deal fairly with the saints. When the man refused, Joseph left. But half an hour later, a group of 150 Danites returned, this time under the command of Danite leader Samson Avard. Avard demanded the justice sign the agreement,

but again the man refused. Instead, the justice offered them a signed statement that he was bound to support the constitutions of the state of Missouri and the United States. But he offered a verbal compromise. He swore that as long as the states didn't antagonize him, he wouldn't antagonize them. Satisfied, Avard and the Danites left, but the standoff angered the Missourians. Warrants were sworn against Joseph Smith and another Mormon leader for threatening the life of the Justice of the Peace. Settlers from eleven counties were convinced

that the church leadership would resist arrest, and they rallied to take the church leaders by force if necessary. Lilburn Boggs, the man who had antagonized the Mormons as lieutenant governor when they were attacked and removed from Jackson County, was now governor. He raised 400 mounted militiamen in what he called a precautionary measure. The Mormons were outnumbered and outgunned. Joseph Smith sent a raiding party south to Davies County to intercept a shipment of rifles and ammunition that was intended for the militia. His defenders claimed that Smith was trying to keep the guns out of the hands of his enemies rather than trying to arm his own people. But whatever his intent, the result was the same. Governor Boggs

declared a state of insurrection in Davies and Caldwell counties and told his militia to march on far west to crush the Mormon uprising. The ensuing conflict led to sieges and raids on Mormon settlements. Porter Rockwell and the Danites struck back, attacking the towns of Gallatin, Millport, and Grindstone Fork. On October 24, 1838, Rockwell was present when fighting broke out at Crooked River. In the gunfire, three Mormons were killed, along with one member of the militia, with more wounded on both sides. Exaggerated reports of casualties soon reached Governor Boggs, who issued Missouri Executive Order No. 44 to the commander of the militia. It read, in part,

"...the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State." With the so-called Extermination order fresh in their minds, saints in the surrounding areas left their homes and retreated to far west while the militia pressed toward them. Six days later, on October 30th, almost five years to the day

from the start of the conflict in Jackson County, 240 members of the militia rode toward a mill on Shoal Creek that was owned by a Mormon man. A group of about 200 saints had gathered at the mill to seek refuge. When they saw the militia, women and children ran to hide in the woods while men retreated to a local blacksmith shop. Members of the militia fired into the shop and killed 17 Mormon settlers. The next day, the militia surrounded the town of Far West, and a delegation of Mormons was told that unless

Joseph Smith and other members of the church's leadership surrendered, the town would be sacked. When Smith and others failed to appear at the appointed time, the militiamen advanced on the town and Mormons braced themselves behind crude breastworks to meet the attack. Drums pounded and a trumpet sounded a call to arms. All-out battle seemed imminent, but it was avoided at the last minute when Smith and the others stepped forward to surrender. With their leadership in the hands of their enemies, the Mormons surrendered their weapons. Porter Rockwell and several other men who had participated in the fighting escaped into the woods, believing they would be killed if they were caught.

Joseph Smith and the others were initially scheduled to be executed, but one of the militia leaders was a lawyer named Alexander Donovan, and he worked with the Saints five years earlier in Jackson County. Donovan told his supporters that he was happy to enforce the law, but refused to take part in an execution that he called cold-blooded murder. When he threatened to withdraw the troops under his command, the other militia leaders agreed to transport Smith back to the city of Independence to stand trial. Over the next five months, from the winter of 1838 to the spring

of 1839, the Mormons were forced to leave Missouri. Porter Rockwell and many others had been forced out of Jackson County, and then Clay County, and now Caldwell County, and the whole state of Missouri. Joseph Smith sat in jail in Liberty, Missouri, the town that most historians agree was the site of the first bank robbery of the James Gang. That robbery would happen 27 years after Joseph Smith's confinement as he waited for trial.

While the other saints dealt with the practicalities of transporting their people and possessions out of Missouri, Porter Rockwell began carrying messages from far west to Liberty and into the hands of Joseph Smith. Realizing that security at the jail was fairly lax, Rockwell began bringing in tools, which Smith and the others used to dig a hole through a cell wall. As they were almost through the wall, the handle of their auger broke, and Joseph asked Rockwell to bring a replacement. But the sheriff had grown suspicious of Porter's frequent visits, and he inspected the cell. He discovered the work of Smith and the other leaders

and he put a stop to their escape attempt. A second attempt happened weeks later when the captive Mormons made a break for the door during visiting hours, only to have the cell door slammed in their faces. In April 1839, Smith and the others were indicted for a myriad of serious crimes. Then, a curious thing happened. Three days after the leaders were indicted, the court abruptly changed the trial's location, and it scheduled the Mormon captives to be moved

to another county. During transport, the sheriff and his guards left their prisoners unattended, went for a drink, and became too drunk to check on the captives. Joseph Smith and the others escaped custody and fled Missouri. Most historians agree that the prospect of hanging Joseph Smith and the leaders of the Mormon Church had become problematic for Governor Boggs and the leadership of Missouri. The belief is that Smith and the others were deliberately freed, knowing that they would now leave the state to follow the rest of the church. Porter Rockwell was among the first to greet Joseph Smith when Smith rode into Quincy, Illinois on April 22nd, 1839. Rockwell followed Smith when the prophet purchased

a tract of land near a small hamlet called Commerce. Within a year, 250 homes dotted the landscape, and the town was renamed Nauvoo. In October of 1839, Porter left town to travel with Joseph Smith and four members of the church leadership to Washington, D.C. Their mission was to ask President Van Buren for the federal government to reimburse the church for damages at the hands of the Missouri militia. Van Buren told the Saints that he couldn't help them without losing Missouri in his next election. Next, the House of Representatives refused to take up Mormon claims

of $1.3 million in losses, which would be more than $40 million today. The party returned to Illinois, but found the state far more receptive than Missouri or Washington. The state of Illinois granted Nauvoo the status of city, with the power to enact laws, create courts, and raise a militia. Joseph Smith commanded the militia and named it the Nauvoo Legion. Illinois provided the new militia with three cannons, 250 rifles and pistols, and as much ammo as necessary. rifles and pistols, and as much ammo as necessary. But the arsenal didn't stop the bounty hunters who made regular attempts to capture Joseph Smith and return him to Missouri. For security, Smith asked Porter Rockwell and 39 other men to serve as protectors of

himself and the church's leaders. In April, the church convened its 10th annual conference, and word reached Nauvoo that a U.S. Senate committee decided not to take up the church's complaint against Missouri. The U.S. President, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives had refused to help. But there was still something that Porter Rockwell believed he could do to avenge the Mormons of their greatest adversary, Governor Lilburn Boggs. Joseph Smith announced a prophecy that said Boggs would, quote,

die by violent hands within a year. The exterminator should be exterminated, and the destroying angel will do it by the right hand of his power. I say it in the name of the Lord God. The destroying angel will do the work, for when God speaks, his voice must be obeyed. The oath that Porter had taken to the sons of Dan said the president of the church should be obeyed the same as the supreme God. So, when Joseph Smith, the first president, said Boggs should die, to Porter it was as if God himself wanted the man dead. Days later, Porter and his wife, who was eight months pregnant with their fourth child, left

Nauvoo, Illinois for Independence, Missouri. On the surface, the trip was so she could be with her parents for the birth. But when other saints asked Joseph Smith where Porter Rockwell had gone, Smith said only, he has gone to fulfill a prophecy. On the evening of May 6, 1842, Lilburn Boggs was at home with his family. The former governor of Missouri had built his house in independence on land that had belonged to the Mormons before they were forcibly removed from Jackson County. His home was just three blocks east of the spot where Joseph Smith had laid the cornerstone of what he planned as the

first Mormon temple, at the heart of what he had called the City of Zion. Boggs had been out of the governor's office for two years, but as lieutenant governor for four years and then governor for four years, he had presided over the arrival of and expulsion of the Mormons. After dinner that night, Boggs returned to his study to check the newspapers for coverage of his campaign for Missouri Senate. Outside, it was dark and stormy, pane for Missouri Senate. Outside, it was dark and stormy, with the sound of heavy rain drumming on the glass window panes. The noise muffled the sound of Boggs' six-year-old daughter Minnie, sitting at his feet and rocking the cradle of her infant sister. And then the evening erupted with the roar of a gun, the shattering of a glass window, the groan of Lilburn Boggs, and the terrified

shriek of his six-year-old daughter. Boggs' son and wife rushed to the room, where they found him slumped in his chair, bleeding from the head and neck. The son rushed to the window, searching the darkness beyond the shattered glass while his mother held her hands over her husband's wounds to try to stop the bleeding. The son rushed out into the night for help, returning shortly with their neighbor, a judge. The sheriff and a doctor arrived minutes later. The doctor quickly examined Boggs and discovered that two pellets of buckshot had pierced Boggs' skull.

Another had lodged in his neck, and a fourth had gone through his throat and into his mouth. The sheriff counted 13 pieces of shot buried in the walls, the floor, and the furniture. Somehow, those pieces had all missed Minnie and the baby. Neighbors rushed to the house, and soon almost 200 people waited to see what had happened. One of the neighbors noticed a pair of boot prints in the mud and a four-barreled pistol in a puddle nearby. The neighbor took the pistol to the sheriff, who noted that three of the weapons barrels had been filled with buckshot. The sheriff surmised that with such a heavy charge, the gunman must have dropped the weapon when it recoiled and then he escaped through the storm

when he couldn't find his pistol in the dark. While they were discussing the theory, a local shopkeeper, who had come to see what the commotion was about, recognized the gun. It had recently been stolen from his shop. He told the sheriff that just before the gun went missing, Mr. Brown had come into the store to look at it. It didn't take long for the sheriff to learn the true identity of Mr. Brown, Oren Porter Rockwell. Rockwell had been using the name of Brown for the past couple weeks while he had been living in the area as he waited for his wife to give birth. While the group put the pieces together outside Boggs' home, Rockwell was already on his way back to Illinois. It's about 180 miles from Independence to Nauvoo as the crow flies,

and eight days after the shooting, Rockwell stepped off a steamboat at the Mormon settlement. At a town meeting the following day, Joseph Smith announced to the Saints that he had just received word from Missouri that their enemy Lilburn Boggs had been shot. A note in the town's newspaper the next day said, "...Boggs is undoubtedly killed, but who did the noble deed remains to be found out. A newspaper in Quincy, Illinois reported, Boggs was assassinated. He was alive on the 7th, but no hopes are entertained of his recovery. Rumors throw the crime upon the Mormons.

Smith, the Mormon prophet, prophesied Boggs' death by violent means. Joseph Smith responded through his own newspaper, suggesting that the likely culprit was a political opponent running against Boggs for Missouri State Senate. In the midst of the speculation, John Bennett, the former mayor of Nauvoo, stepped forward and published a series of accusations against Joseph Smith. Bennett had been removed as mayor and replaced by Smith himself. And now Bennett's letters to a newspaper leveled various accusations against Smith. But more to the point, Bennett also said it was Porter Rockwell who pulled the trigger that rainy night in Independence. Bennett said Joseph Smith had offered $500 and a new carriage to any man who would secretly assassinate Governor Boggs.

Bennett claimed Smith tried to use clever wording to deflect responsibility, and Bennett quoted Smith as saying, The destroying angel has done the work, just as I predicted. Rockwell was not the man who shot, the angel did it. When Rockwell was told of Bennett's accusations, Rockwell rushed to proclaim his innocence. He went to Bennett's house, pushed three men aside, and demanded to speak to Bennett privately. Rockwell didn't consider Bennett an enemy, pushed three men aside, and demanded to speak to Bennett privately. Rockwell didn't consider Bennett an enemy, but he said he would whip any man who told lies about him. Bennett laid out some of the interesting coincidences. Rockwell was out of town when the shooting occurred. Rockwell had returned to town right before reports of the shooting surfaced.

Other people had seen Rockwell in Boggs' neighborhood, and everyone knew the fanaticism of Porter Rockwell. Rockwell replied, I was there all right, but if I shot Boggs, they've got to prove it. I've done nothing criminal. If you tell people that Joseph Smith paid me to shoot Boggs, I'll be back. With that threat hanging in the air, Rockwell left Bennett's home, stepped into the new, expensive carriage that Joseph Smith had just given him, and drove away. Smith claimed he had given his friend the carriage to start a new business, a taxi service that would transport newcomers from the steamboat landing to the town and back. But for those who wanted to believe John Bennett's accusations,

it was yet another interesting coincidence. Despite the best efforts of the gunmen, Lilburn Boggs did not die. He was recovering in his home when John Bennett contacted him to share his suspicions that Porter Rockwell had pulled the trigger. Bennett convinced Boggs to sign a sworn statement that said Boggs believed Rockwell was the shooter. Based on the sworn statement, lawmen in Illinois could arrest Rockwell and Smith, with Smith labeled as accessory before the fact. and Smith, with Smith labeled as accessory before the fact. On August 8, 1842, Porter Rockwell was arrested by deputy sheriffs on the orders of the governor of Illinois. Joseph Smith was arrested shortly thereafter. While the two men sat in jail, the deputies traveled to the governor's office to seek further instructions about the sticky situation.

With the deputies gone, the prisoners were freed. Rockwell fled east to Indiana, and Smith fled west to Iowa with some of his loyal congregants. Smith recorded a list of those who had remained faithful to him. High on the list was the name Oren Porter Rockwell, whom Smith called a fellow wanderer in exile, like Smith himself. Rockwell looked for work in Indiana and in Ohio before traveling to Philadelphia. He missed his wife and children, but his wife had, for some time, felt that her husband's devotion to her and her children was second to his devotion to Joseph Smith. A saint in Philadelphia wrote to Joseph Smith to say that Rockwell was healthy but depressed

and would stay in the city until he heard from Smith. Then a new governor was elected in Illinois, and a judge declared that the sworn affidavit by Boggs was not adequate to charge Joseph Smith with a crime. Smith returned triumphantly to Nauvoo. When Porter Rockwell heard the news in Philadelphia, he assumed his warrants had been dismissed as well, and he set off for the long voyage home. Six weeks later, when his riverboat docked in St. Louis, Porter must have been relieved. He had spent months in exile, and now it was just a few days' ferry ride up the Mississippi to his family, his friends, and his prophet. Then he felt the hard metal barrel of a revolver pressed against his back, and he heard a voice behind him say,

Orrin Porter Rockwell, you are under arrest on a charge of assault with intent to kill Lilburn W. Boggs. Keep your hands where I can see them. The reward poster says, dead or alive. Next time on Legends of the Old West, Porter Rockwell rots in jail for the attempted assassination of former Governor Lilburn Boggs before experiencing a strange legal twist. When he reunites with the saints, he becomes Joseph Smith's bodyguard. But then Rockwell and the entire community suffer a terrible tragedy

which leads to a change of leadership in the church. That's next time on Legends of the Old West. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week to receive new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships are just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Matthew Kearns. Original music by Rob Valliere. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer.

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