Episode 17: Boys and Bayonets

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:47)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:48)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:50)
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** (1:17)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:22)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:31)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:55)
The vision that Joseph Smith had for Zion, identified as Jackson County, Missouri, was very potent.
It fired the imagination of Mormon spurring them to leave their homes and families to gather while Kirtland remained the headquarters because Joseph Smith oddly did not, you know, go to Zion. Zion was still Zion. People trekked there, arriving at what was then the end of white civilization. They slowly built houses and established several communities in the fertile lands. So by the fall of 1832, there were about 800 Mormons living there, but tensions began to grow. By late 1833, just two years after arriving in the area, Mormons were forced out at Point of Bayonet.
What happened? Where are you at, Zion?

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:09)
We've covered some of the beginnings of Mormons in Missouri. So if you remember, four missionaries were called by Revelation to travel to Zion.
But along the way, their more effective missionary work in Kirtland resulted in a gathering spot being established there, rather than Missouri. Then in Missouri, they ended up getting booted from Indian territory and started resorting to just preaching to white settlers there. They made just 10 converts initially, but then they relied on Mormons moving from the East to build the settlement.
And life in Missouri was pretty Mormony. We talked in the Bad Girls episode about the rampant charismatic experiences going on there.
It was just a little more groovy when you're on the frontier. And the conflicts? Well, those actually began from within.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:49)
I saw their eyes, I saw their eyes, I saw their eyes Looking down from the train through those busted window panes They were calling out my name, boy, you're next Edward Partridge was appointed to oversee things in the outpost. Early on this guy butted heads with Joseph Smith and disagreements over land and Zion festered and eventually meeting minutes from March, 1832 indicated that Partridge had quote, insulted the Lord's prophet in particular and assumed authority over him in open violation of the laws of God, end quote. The nerve. So Partridge apologized being the good Mormon that he was, but that was not the end of their being salty to each other. Oh no.
So previous efforts to implement this law of consecration, there had gone, well, okay, just about as good as consecration ever goes.
Not well. In November, 1832, Joseph Smith wrote a letter to WW Phelps in Missouri and he commented on things there. Oh, and he inspired about a billion prophets and set in motion some murders, you know, totally normal things.

**Bryan Buchanan** (5:08)
This letter is really important because of one key idea, the one mighty and strong.
As the only person on earth possessing a shirt proclaiming them to be the one mighty and strong, I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to comment on this. The combination of trying to implement consecration combined with the difficulties of communicating via letters, talked about this, over hundreds of miles led to some snags.
So in the version of this letter that was copying into his official letter book, Joseph Smith actually, interestingly, in his own handwriting rather than a scribe declares, it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong. Close quote.
Well, this one would need to quote, set in order the house of God and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints. Close quote.
As for the dude trying to steady the ark in the face of what Joseph Smith felt was clear and unmistakable instructions, well, he would, you know, quote, fall by the shaft of death like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning. Close quote. Yikes. Now, Oliver Cowdery the following year clarified that Joseph Smith's words, quote, does not mean that anyone had at the time, but it was given for a caution to those in high standing to beware. Close quote. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing to do with Edward Partridge. So if you read the history of their interactions, Oliver's line of reasoning is very difficult to buy. Now, don't worry. Later generations would come up with a zillion different options to choose from as to who is the one mighty and strong. We just might even talk about some of them later on. However, and this is important, if you ever find yourself wondering who it is, just remember, do they have the t-shirt?