The Danites: Joseph Smith's Mormon Paramilitary Group - John Turner Pt. 22 | Ep. 2084
Mormon Stories Podcast
Dr. John Dehlin
4.6 ā¢ 5.2K Ratings
šļø 14 November 2025
ā±ļø 101 minutes
šļø Recording | iTunes | RSS
š§¾ļø Download transcript
Summary
Welcome back for Part 22 of our Joseph Smith the Podcast series with Dr. John G. Turner as we continue to cover his new book āJoseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet.ā
In this episode, we explore one of the most controversial and lesser-known chapters in early Latter-day Saint history āthe rise of the Danites, a secretive paramilitary organization formed during the turbulent Missouri period of 1838.
We trace tensions between Mormons and non-Mormons escalated into organized violence, how Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and other church leaders responded, and what this meant for the future of the Latter-day Saint movement. Along the way, we discuss excommunications, failed settlements, political conflicts, and the enduring question: Did Joseph Smith authorize the Danitesā violent actions?
This is the first half of Chapter 19 of the book, covering the years 1838-1839 in Missouri āwhere āZionā collided with the American frontier.
Please purchase the book ā hereā .
To support this series please donate ā hereā . One half of all donations will go to Dr. Turner for as long as he is participating in the series.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, everyone and welcome to another edition of Mormon stories podcast. |
| 0:03.3 | I'm your host John DeLynn. |
| 0:04.4 | It's November 10th, 2025. |
| 0:06.7 | You are here for part 22 in the Joseph Smith podcast. |
| 0:12.5 | Today we have John Turner with us, Dr. John Turner. |
| 0:16.8 | Hopefully y'all are used to this by now, and we're here to cover his amazing book, |
| 0:22.7 | Joseph Smith, The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet. |
| 0:25.2 | Please buy it. |
| 0:26.2 | It's a great Christmas gift for yourself and others. |
| 0:28.3 | We are covering chapter 19, or at least as much of chapter 19 as we can in our limited time today, east of Eden. |
| 0:38.4 | As we last left, Joseph and Emma fled, Curtland, Ohio, after both the Fanny Alger, |
| 0:47.8 | what some would say, adulterous affair, but also mostly after the Curtland banking |
| 0:52.7 | slash safety slash anti-banking slash not-so-safe society |
| 0:57.7 | scandal that basically caused Joseph Smith to leave Curtland for good. |
| 1:03.1 | I don't think he ever returned. |
| 1:04.4 | And so now Joseph and Emma are arriving in Missouri. |
| 1:09.2 | I think it's far west, but we'll find out in just a second. We're in 1838. |
| 1:14.7 | And before we jump in, I'll just thank everyone who donates to Mormon Stories in the Open |
| 1:20.5 | Stories Foundation. We couldn't do this without you. We also want to thank our donors to this |
| 1:25.8 | particular series. We're able to do this because people stepped up to support it. |
| 1:29.8 | If you want to continue supporting this series, and if you want to see even future collaborations with me and John, one way you can support that is to go to donorbox.org slash Joseph Smith and become a monthly or a weekly donor to this series. |
| 1:44.4 | Please like and subscribe wherever you consume this podcast. |
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