 "Charge of the Danites" in the Missouri Mormon War | |
| Named after | Prophet Daniel or Biblical Tribe of Dan |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1834? or 1838? |
| Founder | Sampson Avard George W. Robinson |
| Founded at | Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri |
| Dissolved | 1870s? |
| Purpose | To protect the Mormons from attacks, and to carry out reprisals against non-Mormon enemies and internal dissenters |
| Headquarters | Nauvoo, Illinois Salt Lake City, Utah? |
| Services | Military
Missouri Mormon War (1838)
Utah Mormon War (1857-1858)
|
| Methods | bodyguarding, policing, paramilitary and militia duties, covert operations (guerilla warfare), assassination, vigilantism |
Membership | 300? (83 signatories on Danite Manifesto) |
| Leader | Sampson Avard |
Key people | Sampson Avard Jackson Redden |
Parent organization | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints |
| Part of a series on |
| Mormon Militias |
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The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigilante group and took a central role in the events of the 1838 Mormon War. They remained an important part of Mormon and non-Mormon folklore, polemics, and propaganda for the remainder of the 19th century, waning in ideological prominence after Utah gained statehood. Notwithstanding public excommunications of Danite leaders by the Church and both public and private statements from Joseph Smith referring to the band as being both evil in nature and a "secret combination" (a term used in the Book of Mormon to signify corruption within a group of people such as gangs, organized crime, and politics, as well as used in general parlance to signify unlawful conspiracy), the nature and scope of the organization and the degree to which it was officially connected to the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) are not agreed between historians. Early in the group's existence, Joseph Smith appeared to endorse its actions, but later turned against it as violence increased and the actions of the Danites inspired a hysteria in Missouri that eventually led to the Extermination Order. According to an essay on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), "Historians generally concur that Joseph Smith approved of the Danites but that he probably was not briefed on all their plans and likely did not sanction the full range of their activities."[1]
In 1834, during the march of Zion's Camp, a military expedition from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri, Joseph Smith organized the first Mormon militia known as the "Armies of Israel,", which pre-dated the Nauvoo Legion by eight years, to protect his community. Some historians have alleged this earlier militia to be the original formation of the Danite band. After the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, the term "Danite" was often connected with Latter Day Saint peacekeeping, including the Nauvoo, Illinois police, the bodyguards of Joseph Smith, and the "whistling and whittling brigades". Although some members of these later groups had been Danites in the Missouri period, leadership of the 1838 secret society, which came to be known as "Destroying Angels" in particular under group founder Sampson Avard, was not associated with leadership of the peace-keeping militias commonly referred to by the same name.
- ^ "Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.