Danite

And during this time, he seems to have refined his skills as a frontiersman, a marksman, and an expert horseman.

And he was also affiliated with the Danite vigilantes that formed during the so-called Mormon War of 1838.

Though we don't know very much about his direct involvement with the Danites.

That's kind of a blank spot in his history.

We talked about that a

little bit in our last episode.

So if you want more details, go check that one out about Porter Rockwell and the Danites.

Yeah.

There was the Gallatin election day fight with armed Mormons and non-Mormon groups.

The Danite expulsions raids Mormon forces burning and plundering settlements in Davis County.

On October 25th, armed Mormon forces attacked a Missouri militia company at the Battle of Crooked River after Mormon scouts had been captured.

Reports reached Governor Lilburn Boggs exaggerating what had happened and described the Mormons as being an open rebellion.

Yeah,

but that was not to be.

So I know somebody who was from the tribe of Dan, so I guess they were a Danite.

Wow.

They hate him.

Because he's a Danite? Because he's a fool.

Most men are, Delilah.

Nothing you can do about

And again, our information on Porter himself during this time is scarce, but he probably became a Danite, and so-

Ooh

... we need to pause and talk about what Danites are, uh, [laughs] for a second.

Yes.

Let's, let's talk about Danites.

Um, Danites are also called, intimidatingly, the Daughter of Zion.

[laughs] Less scary.

The, the-

These tales and rumors took substance and shape, and were corroborated and re-corroborated, until they resolved themselves into a definite name.

To this day, in the lonely ranches of the West, the name of the Danite band, or the Avenging Angels, is a sinister and an ill-omened one.

Fuller knowledge of the organization which produced such terrible results served to increase rather than to lessen the horror which it inspired in the minds of men.

None knew who belonged to this ruthless society.

Yeah, if you need it.

Oh, that's right.

He was a reputed member of a group called the Danites, a vigilante group mentioned in Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet.

which has, as I recall, nefarious dealings with Mormon people.

Oh,

There's a lot of excommunications and resentment.

Um, and Rigdon gives his famous salt sermon, which was in defense of Joseph, not in disloyalty, and this is when the Danites really start coming onto the scene, which is a group of sort of potential vigilantes who maybe condone violence.

Uh, you know, what, if any, role did Brigham Young have in all of these, you know, all this cur- all this, uh, sort of Missouri tumult that came about after the Kirtland- ... explosion.

Yeah.