“Caldwell County in 1836 was a wilderness. By the spring of 1838 the population was more than 5000 of which more than 4900 were Latter-day Saints, with the greater concentration at Far West which by this time had one hundred and fifty houses. Four dry goods stores, three family groceries, half dozen blacksmith shops, a printing establishment and two hotels. A large and comfortable school house had been built in 1836 and served also as a church and courthouse. Far West was the county seat of Caldwell County.” (Taken from the text on a bronze plaque at the millennial temple site in Far West Mo. belonging to the LDS Church).
Across the street from this site is one owned by the RLDS now known as the Community of Christ Church. Their sign reads:
“In 1838, less that two years after the towns founding, followers of Joseph Smith had transformed the prairie into a thriving community. Plans were made to build a temple on the public square. Far West became home to some 5000 church members, with thousands more living in surrounding Caldwell County. Cultural differences (polygamy and slave ownership) led to tension between members and non-members in the area, which escalated into the “Mormon War.”
According to Lucy Mack Smith, mother of Joseph, members “were all driven in [to Far West] from the country and there was more than an acre of land in front of our house that was covered with beds laying in the open sun where men, women, and children were compelled to sleep in all weather for these were the last who had got into the city and all the houses were so full that there was no room for them. By the spring of 1839, following the siege at Far West and the arrest of Church Leaders, the town was abandoned and quickly reverted to farmland. Many moved to Ill., stopping first at Quincy and then continuing on to Nauvoo.”
[ Back to Articles ]
Footnotes
*How did Adam’s altar survive the worldwide flood when nothing else did?
