June 25, 1976 – Missouri Gov. Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order

[Sherman A1]

Missouri Executive Order 44, also known as the "Mormon Extermination Order"[1] (alt. exterminating order)[2] in Latter Day Saint history, was an executive order issued on October 27, 1838 by the governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs. It was issued in the aftermath of the Battle of Crooked River, a clash between Mormons and a unit of the Missouri State Guard in northern Ray County, Missouri, during the Mormon War of 1838. Insisting that the Mormons had committed "open and avowed defiance of the laws", and had "made war upon the people of this State," Boggs precipitously directed that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace—their outrages are beyond all description".[2]

While the order is often referred to as the "Mormon Extermination Order" due to the phrasing used by Boggs, relatively few people lost their lives as a direct result of its issuance. However, the state militia and other authorities used Boggs' missive as a pretext to expel the Mormons from their lands in the state, and force them to migrate to Illinois. Mormons did not begin to return to Missouri until 25 years later, when they found a more welcoming environment and were able to establish homes there once more. In 1976, citing the unconstitutional nature of Boggs' directive, Missouri Governor Kit Bond formally rescinded it.[3


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extermination_Order_(Mormonism)

[Democracyinkind]

1. I've never heard about the rescinding of the order.

very interesting read. I wrote a Master's Thesis about Missouri in the Civil War in which I discussed the Mormon episode as a harbinger of things to come.

[Sherman A1]

2. Missouri was then and

probably always will be a place with a wide array of opinions, viewpoints and outlooks.

There is soon to open a new museum on the Civil War near Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. I am looking forward to visiting when they get things going. I have been able to get around and see a few of the Civil War Battlefields such as Lexington and Pilot Knob, which are both run by the State. There were so many skirmishes and battles across the State that it would be impossible to see or find them all.

[Democracyinkind]

3. I've been to Wilson Creek and some others. (See what I did there? I'm a hopeless buff)

And the next time I'll be in the US I definitely want to see the new museum. People here think I'm crazy when they ask "which part of the US would you like to see again most" and I answer "Missouri". Spending almost a year reading nothing but historical books about Missouri can form strange bonds

It's crazy really, though Missouri was " a side show of the big show" it ended up on the third place as far as quantity of battles is concerned, behind Virginia and Tennessee. Which is quite a baffling fact. Thanks for sharing the story!

[lastlib]

4. The Lone Jack battle museum is three miles from where I live.

very interesting site! Jackson and Cass Counties, both on the border with Kansas, were subject to Gen. Ewing's Order No. 11, ordering Southern sympathizers to GTFO, which led to some really nasty fighting in this area.