In one of the meetings of the Danite band, one of the leaders informed them that the time was not far distant when the elders of the Church should go forth to the world with swords at their sides, and that they would soon have to go through the State of Missouri, and slay every man, woman, and child!  They had it in contemplation at one time to prophesy a dreadful pestilence in Missouri, and then to poison the waters of the State, to bring it about, and thus to destroy the inhabitants.

In the early part of the fall of the year 1838, the last disturbance between the Mormons and the Missourians commenced.  It had its origin at an election in Davies county, some of the Mormons had located.  A citizen of Davies, in a conversation with a Mormon, remarked that the Mormons all voted one way.  This was denied with warmth; a violent contest ensued, when, at last, the Mormon called the Missourian a liar.  They came to blows, and the quarrel was followed by a row between the Mormons and the Missourians.

A day or two after this, Smith, with a company of men from Far-West, went into Davies county, for the purpose, as they said, of quelling the mob; but when they arrived, the mob had dispersed.  The citizens of Davies gathered in their turn; however, the Mormons soon collected a force to the amount of five hundred men, and compelled the citizens to retire; they fled, leaving the country deserted for many miles around.  At this time, the Mormons killed between two and three hundred hogs, and a number of cattle; took at least forty or fifty stands of honey, and at the same time destroyed several fields of corn.  The word was given out that the Lord had consecrated, through the Church, the spoils unto His host.

All this was done when they had plenty of their own, and previous to the citizens in that section of the country taking anything from them.  They continued these depredations for near a week, when the Clay County Militia was ordered out.  The contest was a bloody one:  suffice it to say that, finally, Smith, Rigdon, and many others were taken, and, at a court of inquiry, were remanded over for trial.  Rigdon was afterwards discharged on habeas corpus, and Smith and his comrades, after being in prison several months, escaped from their guards, and reached Quincy, Illinois.  The Mormons had been before ordered to leave the State, by direction of the governor, and many had retired to Illinois previous to Smith’s arrival.

The Mormons, as a body, arrived in Illinois in the early part of the year 1839, in a state of great destitution and wretchedness.  Their condition, with their tales of persecutions and privations, wrought powerfully upon the sympathies of the citizens, and caused them to be received with the greatest hospitality and kindness.  After the arrival of Smith, the greater part of them settled at Commerce, situated upon the Mississippi river, at the lower rapids, just opposite the entrance of the river Des Monies, a site equal in beauty to any on the river.  Here they began to build, and in the short time of four years they have raised a city.  At first, as was before said, on account of their former sufferings, and also from the great political power which they possessed, from their unity, they were treated by the citizens of Illinois with great respect; but subsequent events have turned the tide of feeling against them.