Welcome to Part 23 of our Joseph Smith the Podcast series with Dr. John G. Turner. Today we are continuing our discussion of Chapter 19 of his new book “Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet” that covers the years 1838-1839 in Missouri.

Today we will dive deeper into one of the most volatile and consequential moments in early Latter-day Saint history: the escalating conflict between the Mormon settlers and the Missourians in the late 1830s. In this episode, we examine how political tensions, misinformation, vigilante actions, and religious absolutism collided to create a crisis that would lead to the infamous extermination order and some of the darkest events of the Mormon-Missouri War.

We explore the political landscape of Missouri, Joseph Smith’s rising militancy, the Danites, the allegations made by Thomas Marsh and Orson Hyde, the tragedy at Haun’s Mill, and the forces that brought both sides to the brink. From mob violence to theological justifications, from desperate settlers to governors refusing to intervene, this chapter shows how a religious movement and a frontier state found themselves locked in a spiral neither could escape.

If you’ve been following the series, this episode continues directly from Part 22 and sets the stage for the next chapter: Liberty Jail.