Editing Caldwell County, Missouri (section)

==History==

===Mormon settlement===
[[File:FarWestMonument.jpg|thumb|right|[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Missouri|Monument]] at the [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Missouri|temple site]] in [[Far West, Missouri]].]]
Caldwell County was originally part of [[Ray County, Missouri|Ray County]]. The first white settler was Jesse Mann Sr., who settled one-half mile northeast of the public square of Kingston on Shoal Creek in 1831. The early settlers moved back south in 1832 for better protection during the [[Black Hawk War]] uprising.

A few Mormon settlers, who had been evicted from [[Jackson County, Missouri]], moved into the county in 1832, and included Jacob Hawn, whose mill on Shoal Creek would become the scene of the bloodiest incident in the [[Mormon War (1838)|Mormon War]], known as the [[Hawn's Mill Massacre]].

The settlers established Salem, the first town in the county, two miles southeast of Kingston. A larger number of Mormons moved to the county in the fall of 1836. The Missouri General Assembly created Caldwell County in December 1836, with the understanding that it would be dedicated to Mormon settlers. Its county seat was [[Far West, Missouri]]. By 1838 Far West reported a population of 4,000.<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/mo/caldwell/misc/booth3.txt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908080714/http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/mo/caldwell/misc/booth3.txt|date=September 8, 2008}}</ref>

The major figures of early Mormon history, including [[Joseph Smith]], [[Hyrum Smith]], [[Brigham Young]], [[John Taylor (Mormon)|John Taylor]], [[Edward Partridge]], [[Sidney Rigdon]], [[Parley P. Pratt]] and [[John D. Lee]], were included in the migration.

===Mormon War===
Mormon settlers moved further north into [[Daviess County, Missouri|Daviess County]], particularly at [[Adam-ondi-Ahman]], after Smith proclaimed that it was the Biblical place where [[Adam and Eve]] were banished after leaving the [[Garden of Eden]]. He said it would be a gathering place on the [[Last Judgment|Judgement Day]]. The Mormon War erupted following a skirmish between original Missouri settlers and Mormon settlers in the [[Mormon War (1838)#The Election Day Battle at Gallatin|Gallatin Election Day Battle]].

After the Missouri militia was routed in the [[Battle of Crooked Creek]], [[Governor of Missouri|Governor]] [[Lilburn Boggs]] issued [[Missouri Executive Order 44]] (Mormon Extermination Order) to evict the Mormons from the state. Three days later, a group from [[Livingston County, Missouri|Livingston County]] killed 18 Mormons in the [[Hawn's Mill massacre]]. Troops laid siege to Far West, where Smith surrendered in October 1838. The settlers agreed to leave; they abandoned Far West and initially regrouped in [[Quincy, Illinois]], for the winter of 1838–39. The following spring, they founded [[Nauvoo, Illinois]].

Following the dissolution of Far West, the county seat was moved to present-day Kingston.