In October 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs signed an executive order declaring that the Mormons "must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary."
That order still anchors Mormon claims of persecution, including in a recent interview where a Mormon reached for Missouri when asked whether Mormons were more oppressed than Black Americans.
Jess set out to confirm one number: how many people died because of the extermination order?
The search led to what "extermination" meant in 1838, whether the men who attacked Haun's Mill had even heard of the order, a winter death toll no one has ever totaled, and a second forced removal happening that same autumn a few hundred miles away.
Sources referenced in this episode
"Extermination Order," Church History Topics
Alexander L. Baugh, "The Haun's Mill Massacre and the Extermination Order," BYU
William G. Hartley, "The Saints' Forced Exodus from Missouri, 1839,"
BYU Religious Studies Center"What Happened on the Trail of Tears?,"
National Park Service"Trail of Tears," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society