Who is Porter Rockwell?
Orrin Porter Rockwell
Given the constant presence of bullies and tyrants, it is easy to spot the divine nature of 1) the close friendship between the Prophet Joseph Smith and Orrin Porter Rockwell and 2) the sixteen-year-old Porter being the youngest member of the first group to be baptized into the Church, after it was organized in 1830. Porter was there from the beginning.
It was Divine in nature because Prophets and likely all faith leaders are not adept, nor should they be, at taking on the Tyrants and bullies. Someone, however, must take them on. The lifelong service of Porter Rockwell especially reveals this truth. He was a friend and bodyguard to Joseph Smith as well as Brigham Young. He served as a protector of the Faith and to the Saints. The Lord blessed him and prepared him to serve in a way that the Shepherd of the flock could not. The Church was attacked on many fronts. The Shepherd, the Prophets of the Church, guided and watched over the flock. The sheep dog, Porter Rockwell, not only kept the wolves at bay, he hunted them.
The Extermination Order of Mormons
On October 27, 1838, Missouri Governor Boggs issued Executive Order 44, known as the “Extermination Order”, which evicted Mormons from his state by any means possible, including violence. The church members were not welcome. Tensions had been rising due to the economic and electoral growth of the church community, along with Joseph Smith’s opposition to slavery.
This surreal and extraordinary moment in American history was sanctioned with the full political and legal weight of a sitting Governor. It could have resulted in the complete annihilation of the early Saints and their Church which was only 8 years old at the time. Plymouth Rock was clearly far from the minds of the self interested and powerful in Missouri.
Church leaders met in Porter’s home as they discussed how to keep the Members safe from the violent mobs hunting them. They ultimately left Jackson County Missouri for Illinois. Porter stayed in Missouri until every Member of his Faith arrived in Illinois safely.
Avenging Angel or Karma?
Less than 4 years after issuing the extermination order the now retired former Governor Boggs was shot and wounded by an unknown gunman. Porter Rockwell, now well known as the Mormon Avenging Angel, was assumed to be responsible and was arrested for the crime. A jury NOT made up of his peers, meaning they were selected because they were anti-Mormon, found him not guilty for lack of any evidence but not before Porter spent 8 months in a dark, dank dungeon of a prison cell.
Upon his release he walked from the jail all the way to Nauvoo Illinois to the Prophet Joseph Smith’s home. He was ready to resume his duties of protecting the Prophet, the Members and the Church.
It was said that only tyrants, outlaws and criminals hated Porter Rockwell
The stories of his unique and loyal service to his fellow beings are legendary. Many better known characters from America’s wild west frontier admired and tried to emulate Porter Rockwell. It is said that Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok grew their hair long to be like Ol’ Port.
He was the avenging angel, a lawman, a U.S. Mail Courier on The Pony Express (Indians believed he couldn’t be killed and left him alone) and owned a hotel and watering hole. He was loyal to his friends, Church leaders and his Faith. He protected all of them and served in a way that most wouldn’t or couldn’t. Fearlessly and aggressively.
Porter Rockwell served faithfully
Porter was no stranger to violence but he did not die in a gunfight or any fight for that matter. He passed away from a heart attack at the age of 65. The promise made to him by Joseph Smith was if Porter would stay close to the Lord and continue to fight for what’s right (and also not cut his hair) his enemies would never strike him down.
At his funeral, Joseph F. Smith then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “He had his little faults, but Porter’s life on earth, taken altogether, was one worthy of example, and reflected honor upon the Church. Through all his trials he had never once forgotten his obligations to his brethren and his God.” He then closed with a chippy observation worthy of the man they were there to eulogize. “They say he was a murderer; if he was he was the friend of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and he was faithful to them, and to his covenants, and he has gone to Heaven and apostates can go to Hell…”
Who is our Porter Rockwell today?
Only the Lord’s Kingdom will stand forever. Our city on a hill, our American Experiment, can fall in less than one generation if we let pride seep in, lose focus, stop protecting and promoting liberty and freedom and forget that bullies and tyrants continue to walk among us as they do throughout the world. Some are easier to spot than others but understand that they are legion.
We have Ecclesiastical leaders from all Faiths to shepherd us through dark times and a dark world. As we are spiritually fed we unite as a people and collectively engage in the service of our fellow being and engage in causes bigger than ourselves. It has been said, “America is great because America is good.” That said, something is wrong. The wolves are among the flock and more are coming.
I don’t know when the moment came when the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Saints in Jackson County Missouri felt the tide turn against them but I feel that tide turning today. Our American Experiment is being attacked from within and from around the world in ways I couldn’t even imagine just a short time ago.