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One of the most murderious was Porter Rockwell who did his shooting for the church. A colorful westerner who deserves to be remembered. It was a time that needed people like that—the Mormons faced terrible repression and even murder at the hands of Anti-Mormons.

Well, let's see...Rockwell -- who allegedly murdered between 150 and 200 others -- was an adult living in the 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s.

Let's review those 5 decades from both a Mormon & historical perspective:

1870s: The Mormons, as law-breakers committing bigamy/polygamy, were still not being arrested for polygamy (that didn't happen til the 1880s). Conclusion: No Lds were being murdered in the 1870s; no Lds were being "repressed" in the 1870s. [Rockwell died the same year -- 1878 -- as the Reynolds Supreme Court polygamy case was being decided]

1860s: America was too tied up in the Civil War to do much other than to pass the 1862 Morrill anti-polygamy act. Still, No Lds were being murdered in the 1860s; no Lds were being "repressed" in the 1860s [The railroad didn't pass thru Utah til 1869, so Utah was still rather isolated from the rest of the country]

1850s: There was indeed the threat of the Mormon wars with the feds in the latter 1850s. Never materialized other than Porter Rockwell leading ambushes of the supply caravans headed to Fort Bridger. FR poster Zakeet estimated 40 U.S. soldiers perished as a result of these Mormon raids. A Oct. 5, 1857 Brigham Young ordered raid on a U.S. Army supply caravan killed four soldiers in the attack; another three dozen soldiers died due to malnutrition and scurvy the Winter of 1857-58. In addition, there was THE first 9/11 terrorist attack in this country -- committed by Mormons -- upon children, moms & dads of a wagon train headed thru Utah on their way to California. The Mormons slaughtered 120 innocents, kidnapped 17 minors for a few years, and stole everything. An archeological excavation of the original monument site revealed that 10 women were shot in the face at close ranged by pistols; two youths were gunned down by rifles; one was slashed to death by a knife; another 15 died when their skulls were bashed in by the butt of a Mormon rifle. Conclusion: The Mormons waged war on 160 white people in 1857 who died at their hands; plus Mormons also killed Timpanogos Tribal members in the 1853-54 Walker (Walkara) conflicts.

1840s: In the latter 1840s, the Mormons became isolated in Utah and weren't bothered by anybody. In the early 1840s, Joseph Smith as mayor of Nauvoo built up a Mormon city that was bigger than Chicago by 1844. Sorry, but NOBODY was persecuting or oppressing the Mormons 1840 thru early June 1844 as Smith ran the largest militia around! Smith did make a major blunder: A disaffected Mormon published an "expose'" on Smith; Smith then used the City Council to wage war on the publishing house -- and Smith had it destroyed. When neighboring communities heard of this, Smith was rightfully arrested.

What maltreatment, then, did the Mormons endure in IL? In scouring the history books, I can find a small group of hoodlums did take it upon themselves to kill 4 Mormons between June 1844 and November 1845.

In the June 1844 case, they shot it out with a prisoner in Carthage, IL who had -- and fired -- from one of two loaded pistols in the course of just minutes on June 27, 1844. The armed prisoner? (Joseph Smith...and you let me know how many other prisoners with loaded weapons have survived thru the yrs) We're not talking about any huge great conspiracy there; there were some vigilantes on the loose, which was all too common in the 19th & early 20th centuries.

I didn't see FORMAL "anti-Mormon" activity aimed toward Nauvoo residents until October 1844, when a movement arose in Warsaw, IL and Carthage, IL to disencharter the city of Nauvoo. That was accomplished politically via the state legislature Jan. 1845. Given that the Nauvoo City Council had destroyed the First Amendment rights of one of its citizens and had operated as a 100% theocratic govt, there were consequences of that.

Obviously Nauvoo Mormons felt threatened in 1845 into early 1846 and Brigham Young negotiated an exit for early 1846. So what took place latter 1845 into early 1846?

(1) Lt. Everett & troops were sent to Camp Creek, IL in Oct 1845 to protect a threatened Mormon, Nathan Bigelow. [Some Mormons outside of Nauvoo had become "easy targets" for threatened hostilities] Bigelow accidentally shot Lt. Everett as Everett showed up with other troops to offer protection for Bigelow! (see Camp Creek, IL, 1845 )

(2) This and other things further triggered state troops marching on Nauvoo that month to arrest a dozen Lds leaders.
(3) November, 1845: Mobs burned two Mormon households; murdered two others (one allegedly by poison).
(4) December 1845: State troops entered Nauvoo to look for stolen items. Also a mob tried to citizen-arrest Brigham Young (nabbed somebody mistaken for him).
(5) January 1846: Confrontation of Nauvoo police vs. IL state troops.
(6) February 1846: Brigham Young negotiates non-violent exit from Nauvoo.

Conclusion to 1840s: Mormons suffered from formal "repression" for two consecutive Winters (Winter of 1844-45; Winter 1845-46) -- about 6% of all months of the 1840s. The Mormon murdered victims in IL I found listed were Edmund Durfee, Joshua Smith, Hyrum Smith, and Joseph Smith -- and Joseph Smith died as a prisoner having fired 6 shots from a loaded weapon and had another loaded weapon on him that had been smuggled into his jail. Mormons William Rice and Samuel Hicks' homes were burned; and up to 12,000 Mormons followed Brigham Young vs. facing potential conflicts -- what many describe as a forced eviction.

1830s: See next post -- as this one already long