Editing David Rice Atchison (section)

==Missouri lawyer and politician==
In 1830, he moved to [[Liberty, Missouri|Liberty]] in [[Clay County, Missouri|Clay County]] in western Missouri,<ref name="bioguide.congress.gov"/> and set up practice there. He also acquired a farm or plantation, with labor provided by enslaved African Americans. Atchison's law practice flourished, and his best-known client was [[Joseph Smith]], founder of the [[Latter Day Saint Movement]].<ref name="house.mo.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.house.mo.gov/famous.aspx?fm=3 |title=Hall of Famous Missourians |publisher=House.mo.gov|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref> Atchison represented Smith in land disputes with non-Mormon settlers in [[Caldwell County, Missouri|Caldwell County]]<ref name="house.mo.gov"/> and [[Daviess County, Missouri|Daviess County]].<ref name="house.mo.gov"/>

[[Alexander William Doniphan]] joined Atchison's law practice in Liberty in May 1833.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kansasboguslegislature.org/mo/doniphan_a_w.html|title=Kansas Bogus Legislature – Alexander W. Doniphan|publisher=Kansasboguslegislature.org|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref>  The two became fast friends and spent many leisure time hours playing cards, going to horse races, hunting, fishing, and attending social functions and political events. Atchison, already a member of the Liberty Blues, a volunteer militia in Missouri, got Doniphan to join.<ref name=Muench-pp-7-8>Muench, James F., (2006). ''Five Stars: Missouri's Most Famous Generals''. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press.  pp. 7–8. {{ISBN|978-0-8262-1656-4}}.</ref>

Atchison was elected to the [[Missouri House of Representatives]] in 1834.<ref name=PoliticalGraveyard>{{cite web |title=Index to Politicians: Ashley-Cotleur to Ather | url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/ashlock-athelston.html | publisher=The Political Graveyard | year=2013 | access-date=June 18, 2013}}</ref><ref name=MOSOS>{{cite web | title=Missouri History: Missouri State Legislators, 1820–2000 | url=http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/historicallistings/molega.asp | publisher=Office of the Missouri Secretary of State | year=2013 | access-date=June 18, 2013}}</ref> He worked hard for the [[Platte Purchase]], which required Native American tribes to cede land to the United States and extended the northwestern boundary of Missouri to the [[Missouri River]] in 1837.

When early disputes broke out into the [[Mormon War (1838)|Mormon War of 1838]], Atchison was appointed a [[General officer|major general]] in the state [[militia]].<ref name="trivia-library.com">{{cite web | title=The Other 12th U.S. President: David Rice Atchison | url=http://www.trivia-library.com/b/the-other-12th-u-s-president-david-rice-atchison-part-1.htm | publisher=Trivia-Library | year=2013 | access-date=June 18, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822042050/https://www.trivia-library.com/b/the-other-12th-u-s-president-david-rice-atchison-part-1.htm | archive-date=August 22, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He took part in suppressing violence by both sides.

Active in the Democratic Party, Atchison was re-elected to the Missouri State House of Representatives in 1838. In 1841, he was appointed a [[Missouri Circuit Courts|circuit court]] judge for the six-county area of the Platte Purchase. In 1843, he was named a [[county commissioner]] in [[Platte County, Missouri|Platte County]], where he then lived.