E93: Wight out and Liquid Scripture

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:34)
It was hot August 1838, right in the heart of the humid Missouri sprawl. And usually hot that summer, not even the wells were cold.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:43)
The local townsfolk who had spent the last handful of years carving out the dark, rich frontier soil and turning it into the upstart community of Gallatin donned their Sunday best as the sweat dripped through their heavy cotton shirts.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:56)
Missouri was rising as fast as the heat that day. The area was exploding with settler growth. The land said to be some of the best on the continent. Its banks and bottoms lined with the finest timber, the ground able to grow anything dropped into the soil.
The small settlement of Gallatin had a year earlier pushed out the remaining Sac, Fox and Potawatomi tribes and removed them to present day Kansas to make room for white encroachment. And encroach they did. Settlers rushed to the area and no one came faster than the Mormons.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:28)
By 1838 some estimates had Mormons clocked at 15,000 people. The majority of those were starting to pour into the Missouri frontier.
Davias County was newly formed and the excitement was palpable as they held their first ever election for local and state leadership under the sweltering August heat.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:45)
Was it the heat or the hate that day that led to the sound of screams and blood and.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:09)
First something a little less dangerous to your skull, a word from our friend's signature books. Without question, Mormonism's most influential scholar during the first half of the 20th century was BH. Roberts, historian, theologian, public intellectual, and member of the First Council of Seventy.
Outside of his official church duties and his passion for research and writing, Roberts was an active figure in partisan politics. Having run for Congress twice, elected once, but due to opposition from both political parties over polygamy was never ceded. This biography, by prize-winning historian and friend of the podcast, John Silito, the fullest and most scholarly assessment to date of the controversial church leader leader, examines Roberts' entire life with particular attention to the public figure who remains influential even today. Born in England to LDS convert parents, Roberts served as a missionary and several years after his call as a general authority, at age 60, began serving as a chaplain during World War I. From 1922 to 1927, he presided over the church's Eastern States mission. Although a hero to many even today for his scholarly output, a feat still rare among those called to church leadership, modern assessments recognize antiquated views on race and women's suffrage. Yet Roberts remains a deeply compelling figure worthy of study.
B. H. Roberts, A Life in the Public Arena by John Cilito, published by Signature Books.
Get it at Benchmark Books. Unless you want Lyman Wight whacking you in the head with an oak heart.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:38)
Damn it, Bryan. You really messed up my intro. It was dramatic, resolute, violent, but with a dash of pathos.
We were being serious. I was just getting theatrical. And you interrupted with B. H. Roberts?
I mean, it's a great book and people should buy it because B.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:54)
H.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:54)
Roberts had a weird, walky life. But we already skipped over Missouri and I was bringing us back. No, not to Nauvoo, but to Missouri.
You'd think B.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:04)
H.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:04)
Roberts would appreciate a comprehensive history of the church like that.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:07)
Wasn't that the Justin Timberlake song, I'm bringing Missouri back?
That was a crappy song. I know. Guys, we breezed over the Missouri period in Mormon history. Doo doo doo Jackson County, la dee da, far west. And then we were done with it. But don't worry. We returned to Jackson County all the time, just like the scriptures say. Yes, it's in a horseshoe pattern. Calm down.
Don't fret, Sister Park, Brother B. H. You should be pleased to know we're returning to Missouri for an appropriately apocalyptic scene, a classic example of large-scale violence involving Mormons and mobs. We're talking about the Gallatin Election Riot of 1838

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:45)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:47)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:49)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion, this isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (5:16)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (5:21)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.