The Danites - Avenging Angel - Porter Rockwell - John D. Lee -

Lot Smith, a Mormon bishop and ex-Danite leader, has been killed by Navajo Indians.

March 11, 1843, Boon's Lick times, page 2, Orrin Porter Rockwell. Governor Boggs,


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July 21, 1854, Morning New Orleans Daily Crescent, page 2, Interesting from Salt Lake,


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September 26, 1857, New-York Daily Tribune, page 6, An Escape From Salt Lake,



John Davies - Brigham Young - Destroying Angels - Patrick Linch -William Parish -William Hickman -Porter Rockwell

See also: October 2, 1857, Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, page 2, The Mormons--Narrative of an Escaped Mormon. by John Davis,
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December 24, 1857, Memphis Daily Appeal., page 2, The Utah Expedition,




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December 28, 1857, New-York Daily Tribune, page 5, Letter From The Mormon War, [cont. page 6]

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January 16, 1858, The Kanzas News, page 4, Message of Acting-Governor Denver to the Territorial Legislature, January 4th, 1858,



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February 4, 1858, Preble County Democrat, (Eaton, Ohio) page 2, A Singular Statement,


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March 5, 1858, Cooper's Clarksburg register, (W. Va.) page 2, Latest from Utah and the Utah Expedition,



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March 11, 1858, M'arthur Democrat.,(McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) page 2, Jim Lane. Kansas branch of the Mormon Danites,


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March 20, 1858, Sunbury (PA) American., page 1, Murders In Utah Territory,


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March 20, 1858, Sunbury (PA) American., page 1, The "Danites" in Kansas,


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May 12, 1858, The Ashland Union, (Ohio) page 2, Life Among the Mormons,




Life Among the Mormons,

Suffering of the Hand Cart Train

BRIGHAM YOUNG PREPARING TO RETREAT TO THE MOUNTAINS.

Revelation of An Escaped Victim

Frederick Loba a highly educated but fanatical man, a native of Lucerne, Switzerland, becoming a convert to Mormon faith, left an honorable position in his native country and joined the Saints at Salt Lake. - found on bis arrival that he had been grossly deceived. A We give, below the substance of a long letter which he has recently published concerning Utah.

He had the command of a large Company from Liverpool, spent the winter of ISjS iu St. - Louis, and started for Utah in the spring of 1854. En route his wife died, illusion after illusion vanished, till he came in sight of Salt Lake City, where the horrible truth of the deception practiced upon him burst in all its dreadful reality upon him. Mr. Lobs was courteously received by Brigham Young, and elevated to high position in the Church of Latter-Day Saints. He submitted though, fully realizing his condition, he saw that escape was impossible, unless he feigned allegiance - to the Prophet. Having married again, and being possessed of a large family, he determined to wait patiently for some means of escape. Years rolled by. The tyranny of Brigham became more marked, he ruled with an iron rod. Murders and outrages that beggar description were of daily occurrence. Mr. Loba's orthodoxy being suspected, and his assassination determined upon, he concluded on the 1st of April, 1857, to leave the Valley at every risk. He did not communicate this determination to his wife till half an hour before he started. Mrs. Loba dressed herself in men's clothes, and at 10 o'clock in the night, April 1st, the two started for the States. They, had but fourteen pounds crackers, one blanket weighing about three pounds, a shot gun and some little valuables. They avoided all roads and took to the tops of the mountains. After a fortnight's wandering death seemed at hand. They were among the snows; wolves were even about them. Mrs. Loba's limbs were fearfully swollen. The husband had no strength to carry the wife, and both lay down to die.

They lived through the night, however, and in the morning heard the loo of an ox; soon after, an Indian was espied, and the unfortunate sufferers made another effort to save their lives. After some hours of weary plodding they came to a camp of Snake Indians, by whom they were kindly received. By tbe kind assistance and care of Gen. Burr, Mr. and Mrs. Loba arrived safely at Fort Laramie

Before leaving the valley, Mr. Loba had made an arrangement (with a relative) to take his family from the valley to Fort Laramie. They started in a wagon comfortably stored, and had progressed same 120 miles when they were overtaken by a band of Danites, who plundered the wagon, took off one yoke of oxen, and left the family in a perfectly destitute condition. Assisted by other trains, they managed finally to reach the fort, where all the' family were united. The past was forgotten in the joyful present, and Mr. Loba looked forward to a happier future, te purchased a moderate fit-out, : and secured a claim on the Black Vermillion. Sickness came on the unfortunate family. Three children died, and Mr. Loba left for Missouri. Arriving at Weston, his family were again prostrated, and finally made their way to this city, where they have been in a measure cared for.

Mr. Loba gives some facts about Utah Territory that are particularly interesting at this time, and from his statements I make up a short article.

THE VALLEY

Is perfectly barren and arid. Nothing grows well but potatoes, gardens are cultivated with difficulty; everything is impregnated, with saleratus. Here are no trees except at a distance of twenty miles; no mineral within hundreds of miles; and the iron there found is of such a magnetic nature as to be comparatively useless for mechanical purposes. All cultivation is done by irrigation, and the Mormons just raise enough to support life.

THE POPULATION

Number altogether some 3O,000, no more. Out of this number no more than 3,500 could be relied upon to fight. The main part of the population are a miserable and degraded set of beings, who know nothing, care for nothing, and live from hand to mouth. The women rather preponderate, and are chiefly foreigners.

THE DANITES

The Danites or Destroying Angels number about 2,500; They are Brigham's trusty friends and choice devils.

The murdering and plundering is done by this band. They are, all well mounted, though but poorly provided with arms. The Danites have unlimited sway over life and property. They are frequently sent on missions to different parts of the world. Upon this band entirely Brigham relies for support and protection. They surround his person and do his bidding without question. If a man is suspected of not being a good Mormon, the Danites kill him instantly.

PUNISHMENT

"'No such thing as punishment for crimes is ever attempted in Utah. The most horrible deeds are perpetrated. and though the perpetrators are well known, they are allowed to go unpunished. Mr. Loba has not known a case of punishment since his residence in the valley. Killing a "d__ d Gentile" is thought to be praiseworthy in the extreme, and always elicits the warmest commendation from the Church authorities. In Utah, briefly it may be said, law is a mockery, justice but a word, and crime the religion of the Mormons.

THE WOMEN

Are poor, abject and forlorn. By cruel and coarse treatment they are degraded to the level of beasts. Every ennobling quality, every virtue, and every grace are sought to be eradicated, and the harems present a scene of. female degradation that no pen can, picture, no tongue portray. Innocent girls are seduced, women 'sealed' against their will and every horrid crime against female dignity and virtue perpetrated in the name of Israel's God. Thousands of these poor creatures are praying for a release from imprisonment far worse than death.

MEANS OF RESISTANCE.

The Mormons have no arms and no ammunition. There is no saltpetre in the valley, and no one there who could make powder, if saltpetre was to be had. They have never had but two pieces of artillery; and but one of them is now to use ; the other burst during a recent celebration. The talk, therefore, about the passes in the Rocky Mountains bristling with Mormon cannon is altogether fabulous. The Mormons may have adopted the Chinese method of painting cannon on canvass to frighten the outside barbarians; or they may have fortified the Rocky ' Mountains with stove-pipes and hollow tubes. But this is all they can do.

Hence, the folly of their talking about resisting regular troops and hence, too, the folly of the United States' Government in sending out thousands of Soldiers to combat against a mythical foe. The expedition will surely turn out to be a perfect and unmitigated farce.

WHAT THE MORMONS WILL DO.

It is the intention of Brigham, in case he cannot keep the troops out of the Valley, to withdraw theref, on with his Danites and seek a new settlement in the far north. He will leave the bulk of the Mormons to get along as best they may. Having plundered them of everything, of course he cares nothing more concerning their fate, and will let them perish or, not as chance may dictate. One thousand men with artillery, could wipe out all of the Mormons in the Valley. Brigham knows this. He knows he has neither arms, powder nor ooddod, and his only hope is to deceive our Government into a treaty or else to flee for bis life.

BRIGHAM YOUNG.

This arch fiend and prince of devils lives on the sweat and blood of tbe poor. He has elegant houses built of white quartz,, and furnished with great magnificence. His wives number about ninety, though constantly accumulating. He is a drunkard, a thief, and a murderer. He stops at nothing to secure his ends, and his hands are dyed with blood. To dispatch him and his Danites is the only way to root out Mormonism.
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May 20, 1858, The Daily Dispatch., (Richmond, VA) page 2, The News from Utah,

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May 20, 1858, The Jeffersonian. (Stroudsburg, Pa.) page 2, Further Utah News, [Porter Rockwell]


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June 3, 1858, The Cass County Republican., page 2, Utah News,


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June 4, 1858, The Independent Press (Abbeville, S.C.) page 2,


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June 28, 1868, Memphis Daily Appeal., page 2, Obituary, Heber C. Kimball,



Heber C Kimball.

whose death at Salt Lake, on June 22d is announced, was born in 1801, and at his death had therefore reached the age of sixty seven years. He was converted to Mormonism in 1832, at Kirtland, Ohio where Sidney Rigdon and Joe Smith, the originators of Mormonism, with a few followers, afterward, in 1836, erected a temple. Mormonism was then in its infancy, and did not organize as a Church until the year following. He embraced Mormonism in the same year with Brigham Young, and we believe a few months earlier. Smith and Rigdon started a mill and store at Kirtland, and organized, without charter, a bank, of which Smith was President and Rigdon Cashier. The bank failed, and Smith and Rigdon were tarred and feathered. In all these troubles, as well as in their subsequent removal to Missouri and return to Kirtland "to make money," Kimball and Young shared. In 1833 he was ordained one of the twelve apostles, and in 1837 was sent with Orson Hyde from Kirtland, where the first Mormon temple was just completed, as a missionary to England. When the Constitution of the Mormon Church was perfected by the creation of a first Presidency, to preside over and govern the whole church it consisted of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Daniel C. Wells. To this triumvirate the twelve apostles, and the Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthood as well as the "State of Deseret," or civil Government pf Mormondom were all subject. Kimball would at any time, therefore, have succeeded Brigham Young as head of the Church in the event of the death of the latter. It is not improbable that Kimball has retired from life in order that Brigham Young, Jr. might take his place as the successor of the Prophet. Brigham was accustomed to speak of Kimball as the model saint. His sanctity consisted of an inexhaustible servility and sycophancy toward Brigham, and a lecherous gloating over the polygamic feature of Mormonism. He was uneducated, coarse and disgusting as a speaker; and full of low cunning and unrelenting in his vengeance. His large, powerful form inclined to corpulency, and he was in the habit of boasting that he had more wives than Brigham Young himself. Writers upon Mormonism do not, however, sustain this statement; one writer assigning him as few as eighteen wives in 1857. His son, recently returned from England, whither he had been sent as missionary along with Brigham Young, Jr., and his nephew, was several years ago implicated in and arrested for one of the secret Danite murders charged upon the Mormons. It is not safe to predict that the Mormon church will sustain any loss from tbe death of Kimball; on the contrary, it has for some time been well known that Brigham Young, Jr., was in some way to succeed the Prophet, and the death of Kimball, so far from being an affliction in the eye of Brigham, must be a great convenience.
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The Weekly North-Carolina Standard., June 30, 1869, page 3, Brigham Young's Thugs, The Danites of the Church---How they operate upon the Gentiles,


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October 31, 1871, The Daily Phoenix., page 3, Arrests and Trials in Mormondom,




SALT LAKE, October 29.-The Mayor of the city and four others have been arrested by the United States Marshal, charged with murder. The prisoners were taken to Camp Douglass. Some wild words attended the proceedings, but there was no resistance.

Orson Hyde, of the twelve apostles. fled Southward to avoid arrest.

A dead body has been found near the city with four bullets in it.

Warrants are out for Brigham Young and his son Joseph, on the charge of the murder of Richard Yates. The indictments are founded upon the testimony of Bell Hickman, formerly a Danite, or secret agent of the Mormons. Hawkins, for adultery, has been fined $500, and sentenced to three years hard labor. Notice of appeal to the Supreme Court has been given.

SALT LAKE, October 29.-The prisoners are quartered comfortably. Elder Geo. Q Cannon arrived this morning, from Sun Francisco, and preached this evening in the large tabernacle to an audience numbering at least 10,000. He counselled his hearers to abstain from any act of violence, and submit to the law. God would protect them, and deliver them from their persecutors. The crusade against them, he said, would only strengthen and glorify them in the end.. Their church could not be overturned. Their faith was the inspiration of the Divine Spirit, and would endure forever. Elder Pratt was not so conservative. He did not want any whining judge to say to him, as he did to Hawkins, "I am sorry for you." He wanted no sympathy.from any Federal official. He was ready to go to jail for twenty years, but did not want any pity from such a source. He predicted that God would totally overthrow and annihilate the present prosecutors of the Mormon people. Nothing further has been heard from Orison Hyde, the apotle.
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November 2, 1871, Holmes County (Ohio) Republican, page 2, Excitement in Utah,


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November 2, 1871, The Highland Weekly News, (Ohio) page 2, Arrest of Leading Mormons on a Charge of Murder,


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November 4, 1871, The New North-West., page 2, Warrants out for Brigham Young and son,.

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April 20, 1872, Nashville Union and American., page 1,


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March 29, 1877, The Stark County Democrat, (Canton, Ohio) page 6, Lee's Confession-He Joins The Danites,







Mountain Meadows Massacre; With the Life and Confession of John D. Lee, (Philadelphia: Barclay & Co. Pub. 1877, 1880)

http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/artindex.htm

http://www.olivercowdery.com/smithhome/smithhis.htm
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March 30, 1877, The State Journal, (Jefferson City, Mo.)  page 6, John D. Lee As Our Neighbor,
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January 29, 1879, Clearfield Republican, page 1, The Mormon Problem,



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February 24, 1880, Sacramento Daily Record-Union., page 1, Mormonism



Castleburg (Ky.), February 23d.— A genuine Mormon colony has been discovered on the Big Sandy river of about fifty persons. Two young men are preaching the doctrine of the Latter Day Saints and making converts.

Chicago, February 22d.— Elder Mark M. Forscutt, of the "Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ," preached here yesterday on "The Danites." The Mormons have been holding services here for several weeks with a view of organizing a church, and this was Elder Forscutt's seventh sermon. He alluded to the charge which was voiced in the play running at McVicker's that the Mormons had a Society known as the Danites. He was a Mormon, had lived in Utah, and knew of the Danites. That such a society existed was incontestable, but he could not hold the Mormon Church responsible for the crimes which the Order had undoubtedly committed. He took a very liberal view of Mormonism; denied that the Mormons were polygamists in Nauvoo, or that Joseph Smith taught polygamy. Polygamy was not a part of Mormonism. and there had been a time when those who practiced it had been punished therefor by the Mormons themselves. He closed by asking his hearers when they heard attacks on the Mormon Church to distinguish between, the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ, of which he was a member, and the Utah faction.
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March 3, 1880, The Somerset (PA) Herald, page 4, A Reformed Danite,

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July 30, 1885, The Salt Lake Herald.,page 8, In Early Times. A Narrative of Old "Uncle Porter Rockwell," A Pueblo Man who Found "Port" Anything but a Destroying Angel,


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September 9, 1890, Arizona Republican. (Phoenix), page 2, Obituary-Judge Sumner Howard,


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July 14, 1891, The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. (WV.), page 6, Stories of Nauvoo,


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June 30, 1892, The Princeton Union. (Minn.), page 2, The Wicked World,

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November 21, 1896, The Union (St. George, Utah) page 2, Incidents,


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October 15, 1904, The Minneapolis Journal, page 12, Lyceum--"The Danites"

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February 4, 1909, The National Tribune (Washington, D.C.) page 5, Senator Sutherland of Utah,

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December 12, 1909, The Salt Lake Tribune, page 6, The Danite Band Admitted,



Danite Band (Destroying Angels) members
Dr. Sampson Avard
Thomas B. Marsh
Apostle Orson Hyde
Sidney Rigdon
Joseph Smith
David Whitmer
Apostle David Patton
(killed engaging in Danite raid, Far West Missouri)
Elder Dimmick B. Huntington
Elder John Corrill
Elder Reed Peck
Hyrum Smith
Lyman Wight
Dick Tarpin
Alexander McRae
Elder Bill Hickman
Elder Seymour Brunson
Elder W.W. Phelps
Porter Rockwell, Danites
Ephe Hanks
Lott Smith, or Lot Smith
Joseph J. Hawkeni
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March 5, 1910, The Salt Lake Tribune,page 6, That Family Feud,


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December 19, 1910, The Salt Lake Tribune, page 4, Why the Danites?


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May 22, 1911, Daily Public Ledger. (Maysville, Ky.) page 1, Lott Smith Family Graveyard,


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El Paso Herald. March 24, 1919, HOME EDITION, Page 6, Image 6



El Paso Herald. (El Paso, Tex.), March 29, 1919, HOME EDITION, Page 6, Image 6
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November 6, 1921, New-York Tribune, page 11, A Wild West Tale,



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