As the Mormons largely outnumbered the Gentiles, they elected to all offices of honor and trust persons of their own faith. Smith was careful that the persons selected should be subservient to the will of himself and his apostles. The Gentiles complained that it was impossible for them to obtain a fair hearing before the Mormon magistrates and juries; that the trials were farces; that the leaders taught, and the members acted on, the principle that Gentiles had no rights which a Mormon was bound to respect; and that not the merits of the cause, but the creeds of the con contestants, determined which way the scales of justice should turn.

Whether these complaints were true or false, they were believed by many, and naturally excited deep indignation a against the Mormons. Tales of debauchery, theft and murder were told of them, and their expulsion from the country de demanded. These bitter feelings engendered brawls and riots. Crowds of excited fanatics pelted obnoxious Gentiles on the streets of Far West with clubs and stones. In retaliation, armed Gentiles rode into public meetings where their lawless conduct was being denounced, seized the speakers, and applied the lash until blood trickled. down their backs. Both sides ceased to resort to legal methods for the enforcement of their rights. Amidst so much excitement and in subordination the civil authorities were powerless to enforce the laws and punish offences.

Finally, in 1838, the discord became so great and outrages so frequent, that the State authorities felt it their duty to interfere. Governor Boggs issued a proclamation calling out the militia to aid in restoring order and enforcing the laws. The militia were placed under the command of Generals John B. Clark, David R. Atchison, and Alexander W. Donophan. General Doniphan's brigade advanced at once toward Far West. The main body of the Army of Zion, under the command of George W. Hinkle, whom Smith had designated as commander-in-chief of the Mormon forces, was held in reserve at Far West to be used as emergencies might require. Smaller bodies were thrown forward to guard the approaches from the south and east.

The First fight occurred on a branch of Crooked River, near Randolph McDonald's, in the south-western part of the County, between a company of Ray County militia, numbering about sixty-five men, under the command of Captain Bogard, and a body of Mormons numbering about one hundred and fifty, commanded by Chas. W. Patton, to whom the Mormons had given the name of 'Thunderbolt'. The militia had taken one Mormon a prisoner, and were encamped in a bend of the creek, when the Mormons made a night attack and succeeded, after an obstinate resistance, in driving the militia a cross the creek, which was quite deep at that point. The militia lost two or three in killed, and five or six wounded. The Mormon prisoner was killed by the shots of his friends. The Mormon loss is not known, but is supposed to have been greater than that of the militia. Bogard's company was the advance guard of Doniphan's command, which reached the battlefield a couple of days afterwards.

On the next day an engagement was fought at Haun's Mill on Shoal Creek, south of Breckenridge. At that point a Mormon outpost, entrenched in the mill, and a blacksmith's shop, was attacked by the Livingston County militia, under Capt. Comstock. After a brief struggle the Mormons threw down their arms in token of surrender, but one of the militia-men having been severely wounded, his comrades were so enraged that their officers were unable to check them until eighteen of the Mormons were killed and a number wounded. Haun, the proprietor of the mill, was killed, and with the rest of the dead was buried in a well that stood near by.