Editing Danite (section)

{{short description|Mormon fraternal organization}}
{{about|the Mormon group|a member of the tribe of Israel|Tribe of Dan}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                = Danites
| native_name_lang    = 
| named_after         = [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Prophet Daniel]] or [[Tribe of Dan|Biblical Tribe of Dan]]
| image               = Danites Charge.jpg
| image_size          = 400px
| alt                 = 
| caption             = "Charge of the Danites" in the [[1838 Mormon War|Missouri Mormon War]]
| logo                =
| logo_size           = 
| logo_alt            = 
| logo_caption        = 
| map                 = 
| map_size            = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| map2                = 
| map2_size           = 
| map2_alt            = 
| map2_caption        = 
| abbreviation        = 
| motto               = 
| predecessor         = 
| merged              = 
| successor           = 
| formation           = 1834? or 1838?
| founder             = [[Sampson Avard]]

[[Jared Carter (Latter Day Saints)|Jared Carter]]

[[George W. Robinson]]
| founding_location   = [[Far West, Missouri|Far West]], [[Caldwell County, Missouri]]
| dissolved           = 1870s?
| merger              = 
| type                = 
| tax_id              = <!-- or | vat_id = (for European organizations) -->
| registration_id     = <!-- for non-profit org -->
| status              = 
| purpose             = To protect the Mormons from attacks, and to carry out reprisals against non-Mormon enemies and internal dissenters 
| headquarters        = [[Nauvoo, Illinois]]
| location            = 
| coords              = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LON|display=inline, title}} -->
| region              = 
| services            = '''Military'''

[[1838 Mormon War|Missouri Mormon War]] (1838)

*[[Daviess Expedition]] (1838)

[[Utah War|Utah Mormon War]] (1857-1858)

*[[Mountain Meadows Massacre]] (1857)
| products            = 
| methods             = bodyguarding, policing, paramilitary and militia duties, covert operations (guerilla warfare), assassination, vigilantism
| fields              = 
| membership          = 300? (83 signatories on Danite Manifesto)
| membership_year     = 
| language            = 
| owner               = <!-- or | owners = -->
| sec_gen             = 
| leader_title        = 
| leader_name         = Sampson Avard
| leader_title2       =  
| leader_name2        = Jared Carter
| leader_title3       = 
| leader_name3        = George W. Robinson
| leader_title4       = 
| leader_name4        = 
| board_of_directors  = 
| key_people          = [[Sampson Avard]]

[[Jared Carter (Latter Day Saints)|Jared Carter]]

[[George W. Robinson]]

[[Hosea Stout]]

[[Dimick B. Huntington]]

[[Anson Call]]

[[Porter Rockwell]]

[[Wild Bill Hickman|Bill Hickman]]

[[Jackson Redden]]

| main_organ          = 
| parent_organization = [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]]
| subsidiaries        = 
| secessions          = 
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| staff               = 
| staff_year          = 
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| slogan              = 
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| website             = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| remarks             = 
| formerly            = 
| footnotes           = 
}}
{{Mormon Militias}}
The '''Danites''' were a [[fraternal organization]] founded by [[Latter Day Saint]] members in June 1838, in the town of [[Far West, Missouri|Far West]], [[Caldwell County, Missouri]]. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigilante group and took a central role in the events of the [[1838 Mormon War]]. They remained an important part of Mormon and non-Mormon folklore, polemics, and propaganda for the remainder of the 19th century, waning in ideological prominence after Utah gained statehood. Notwithstanding public excommunications of Danite leaders by the Church and both public and private statements from [[Joseph Smith]] referring to the band as being both evil in nature and a "[[Secret combination (Latter day Saints)|secret combination]]" (a term used in the [[Book of Mormon]] to signify corruption within a group of people such as gangs, organized crime, and politics, as well as used in general parlance to signify unlawful conspiracy), the nature and scope of the organization and the degree to which it was officially connected to the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)]] are not agreed between historians. Early in the group's existence, Joseph Smith appeared to endorse its actions, but later turned against it as violence increased and the actions of the Danites inspired a hysteria in Missouri that eventually led to the [[Missouri Executive Order 44|Extermination Order]]. According to an essay on the website of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), "Historians generally concur that Joseph Smith approved of the Danites but that he probably was not briefed on all their plans and likely did not sanction the full range of their activities."<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/peace-and-violence-among-19th-century-latter-day-saints?lang=eng|title=Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints|website=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints}}</ref>

In 1834, during the march of [[Zion's Camp]], a military expedition from [[Kirtland, Ohio]], to [[Clay County, Missouri]], Joseph Smith organized the first Mormon militia known as the "'''Armies of Israel,'''", which pre-dated the [[Nauvoo Legion]] by eight years, to protect his community. Some historians have alleged this earlier militia to be the original formation of the Danite band. After the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, the term "Danite" was often connected with Latter Day Saint peacekeeping, including the [[Nauvoo, Illinois]] police, the bodyguards of Joseph Smith, and the "whistling and whittling brigades". Although some members of these later groups had been Danites in the Missouri period, leadership of the 1838 secret society, which came to be known as "'''Destroying Angels'''" in particular under group founder [[Sampson Avard]], was not associated with leadership of the peace-keeping militias commonly referred to by the same name.