LDS Historic Sites of Northwest Missouri Jacob Haun's Mill

In one of the most horrific incidents of the Missouri persecution of the Latter-day Saints, Jacob Haun, leader of a small group of Saints working a mill on Shoal Creek several miles from Far West, ignored the warning of a living prophet, and did not live to tell about it. As tensions grew in Northwest Missouri following the Battle of Crooked River in October 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith asked Haun to remove his people from the remote site to the relative safety in numbers at Far West. Jacob Haun returned to his mill and his small community, feeling safe in spite of the Prophet's warning.

Late in the afternoon of October 30, 1838, a band of approximately 240 armed Missourians under the command of Colonel Thomas Jennings rode into town, slashing and destroying all in their path. The sisters took the children and ran for the woods, many of the men and boys sought shelter from the hail of gunfire in an unfinished blacksmith shop. It was butchery as the renegade militiamen fired through the unchinked logs into the shop, killing or wounding all present, including ten-year-old Sardius Smith, who was murdered by a point-blank musket shot. The mobber who committed the deed later justified himself saying, "Nits make lice, and if he had lived he would have become a Mormon."

Eighteen of Jacob Haun's people were killed, and another fifteen were wounded that afternoon. The survivors hid in the woods through the night, fearing further action by the marauding militia. The bodies of  those who died that day were gathered and buried in mass grave that had started out as a well that was unfinished when the mob came into town. The survivors fled to Far West, telling the Saints there of what became known as the Haun's Mill Massacre.

Today, the road to the site of Jacob Haun's Mill is a very difficult trip, even in the best of weather. Just north of Kingston, on Missouri Highway 13, the road crosses Shoal Creek, not far north of that is County Road U. Going east on U one continues until the intersection with Road K, continuing east, the road becomes gravel at this point, and deteriorates the further back you go. The way is decently marked, however, if you go while the signs are still up. (many are crude, and appeared to be made of cardboard)  There are many mud holes in the road that exist even after weeks of dry weather. Very close to the creek, the road "T's." Take the right turn, if you take the left you will cross the creek. At the end of the road on the right, is a small parking area, and a path that leads through a small field (see above) to the sign marking the site (below).

The site is now owned and maintained by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There is little, if any, evidence of the community that once thrived here. The sign in the picture above is the only clue one might have to the tragic events that occurred in this place. Walking back through the trees along the path, one arrives at Shoal Creek, and the site of the mill.

These pictures were taken in early August, after many weeks without rain. Notice the low water level in the creek bed. The picture above is looking east from the mill site.