“Having sought protection of the authorities of the State, and obtained none, the saints at last had recourse to arms.” — Sidney Rigdon¹

In March 1839, while imprisoned in Liberty, Missouri, Joseph Smith instructed the Saints to document their experiences and sufferings in Missouri. Rigdon’s work, titled “To the Publick,” was endorsed by Joseph Smith and read at a conference in Quincy, Illinois, in November 1839. Despite some chronological inaccuracies, Rigdon's account included important documents and affidavits about the attacks and persecution that the Saints had faced in Missouri. Among these accounts were the Saint’s visit to county judge Adam Black, the attacks in Jackson County, and the Hawn’s Mill massacre.^1,2

1. Sidney Rigdon, JS, et al., Petition Draft (“To the Publick”), circa 1838–1839, josephsmithpapers.org

2. Historical introduction, Sidney Rigdon, JS, et al., Petition Draft (“To the Publick”), circa 1838–1839, josephsmithpapers.org