The Battle of Crooked River was a skirmish that occurred on October 25, 1838, and was a major escalator of the 1838 Mormon War. A Mormon rescue party, led by David W. Patten, formed to free three Mormon captives taken from Caldwell County the day prior, clashed with a Ray County militia company commanded by Samuel Bogart southeast of Elmira, Missouri. Exaggerated reports of the battle led Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs to issue Executive Order 44, resulting in the forced expulsion of the Mormons from the state.
Background
Ray County was located immediately south of the Mormon-dominated Caldwell County. The two counties were separated by a no-man's land 24 miles long and 6 miles wide, known as "Bunkham's Strip" or "Buncombe Strip". This unincorporated strip was attached to Ray County for administrative and military purposes.
In early 1838, a group of prominent leaders from the Latter Day Saint church, including David Whitmer, William W. Phelps, John Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery, were excommunicated on accounts of wrongdoing. They fled Caldwell County and relocated their families to Richmond and Liberty, the county seats of Ray and Clay, respectively. The expulsion of the dissenters alarmed and created mistrust among the Missourians.
Meanwhile, relations between the Missourians and the Mormons living in the recently colonized Carroll and Daviess counties deteriorated. In August, a brawl erupted in Gallatin when a group of Missourians attempted to block the Mormons from voting. In early October, a mob besieged the Mormon settlement of De Witt, Missouri, demanding that the Mormons leave Carroll County. The citizens of DeWitt appealed for assistance to other Mormon settlements. In response, the Danites, a Mormon vigilante group, marched to Daviess County, Missouri, where they believed the attackers where located, and sacked the county seat of Gallatin. The following day, apostles Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde left their association with the Church, and swore out affidavits reporting on the Daviess County expedition, the existence of the Danites, and rumors that the Danites were planning to attack Richmond and Liberty. Though no such attack was ever contemplated, dispatches of militia forces were authorized to prevent such an invasion.
Prelude to the battle
General David R. Atchison of Clay County, commander of the state militia in northwestern Missouri, ordered a company led by Captain Samuel Bogart of Ray County to patrol Bunkham's Strip to "prevent, if possible, any invasion of Ray county by persons in arms whatever". According to Peter Burnett, a resident of Liberty, "Captain Bogart was not a very discreet man, and his men were of much the same character". Bogart had previously been dispatched to help disperse the siege of De Witt; however his militia went rogue and joined the vigilantes that harried the Mormons in Carroll County.
Bogart and his party began visiting the homes of Latter Day Saints living in Bunkham's Strip, forcibly disarming them and ordering them to leave Ray County. Bogart penetrated into Caldwell County and began to similarly harass Mormons there, advising them to remove to Far West, Missouri, the county seat. Returning to Ray County, his men captured three Mormons — Nathan Pinkham, Jr., William Seely, and Addison Green.
Reports quickly made it to Far West to the effect that a "mob" had captured and intended to execute a group of Mormon prisoners. About midnight, an armed rescue party formed. David W. Patten led the contingent of Caldwell county militia. Patten had come to be known as "Captain Fear-not," for his bravery during the attacks in Daviess County. On the night of October 24, 1838 the Mormon force quickly moved south along the main road connecting Far West and Richmond, approaching Captain Bogart's unit, which was camped along the banks of Crooked River, from the north along the main road. They travelled five hours starting on midnight.
The battle
The Mormons encountered one of the militia's sentries, John Lockart, with whom the Mormons briefly exchanged words. After Lockhart reportedly heard a gun snap, he shot at the crowd, hitting Patrick O'Bannion, the Mormons' scout. O'Bannion later died from this wound. Lockhart fled down the hill to the militia camp, while the Mormon company formed a line in three columns, led by David W. Patten, Charles C. Rich, and Patrick Durfee.
Rich later recalled that soon after the Mormons had formed their lines, the militia "fired upon us with all their guns". A general firefight commenced, but the militia were situated behind the riverbank and held the tactically superior position. Patten decided to charge the militia position, shouting the Mormon battle cry of "God and Liberty!" The Missourians were without swords and so broke their lines and fled across the river in all directions.
During his charge, Patten was shot and mortally wounded. Ebenezer Robinson recalled that Patten had been "brave to a fault, so much so that he was styled and called 'Captain Fearnought'". Although it was not immediately realized, Gideon Carter had also been killed, making a total of three Mormon fatalities and one militiaman fatality. The Mormons collected their wounded as well as the baggage which Bogart's unit had left in the camp and made their way back to Far West.
During the conflict, one of the militia men named Samuel Tarwater was injured by Parley P. Pratt. After Tarwater fell unconscious from the injury, D. Michael Quinn states the company of Danites "mutilated the unconscious Tarwater 'with their swords' striking him lengthwise in the mouth, cutting off his under teeth, and breaking his lower jaw; cutting off his cheeks ... and leaving him [for] dead."
Aftermath
The battle served as a catalyst for a massive escalation of the Mormon War. Exaggerated reports of the Mormon incursion into Daviess County and of the battle (some claiming that half of Bogart's men had been lost) made their way to Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs. He responded by issuing an executive order calling out 2,500 state militiamen to put down what he perceived to be open rebellion by the Mormons. Two days later, Governor Boggs issued an order that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state" and directed the militia to carry this into effect.
On October 30, a mob of approximately 200 men killed 17 men and boys at Haun's Mill. Two days later, Joseph Smith and approximately 50 other church leaders were arrested. Most of these leaders were released within three weeks. In November, the rest were marched first to Independence, then to Richmond, and then to Liberty, where they were incarcerated in Liberty Jail. Joseph and Hyrum Smith were indicted by a grand jury on the charge of treason. They escaped while being transferred to Boone County.