there before the Saints, were of a shiftless, ignorant class from the
Southern States. They made but little improvement in their homes, being
content to live in small, log huts, many of them without windows or board
floors. They all believed it right to have negro slaves. They were also
eager to hold public office.

At that time there were also many persons in western Missouri who had fled
from the east on account of crimes which they had committed. Being near the
boundary line of the United States, these persons would need only to cross
the line into Mexico to be safe if an officer should come after them.

You will readily see by this what kind of neighbors the new settlers had.
Of course the Saints could not join with these wicked people in their horse
racing, Sabbath breaking, idleness, drunkenness, and other things which the
Missourians took delight in. Most of the Saints were from the Eastern and
Northern States and did not believe in slavery. They worked hard, and as
the land produced good crops, they were soon prospering, while their idle
neighbors remained in poverty.

All this naturally led the Missourians to hate the "Mormons," and as early
as the spring of 1832 they began to molest them by throwing stones into
their houses, etc. That same fall mobs began to come against the Saints,
burning some of their hay and shooting into their houses.

In April, 1833, the mobbers held a meeting at Independence to discuss plans
whereby they could rid the county of the "Mormons." However, the meeting
broke up in a row. July 20th, they held another meeting which was more
successful. An address was read to the people wherein the Saints were
falsely accused of all manner of wrong doings. It also set forth that no
more "Mormons" must settle in Jackson county; that the "Mormons" already