Bathsheba Smith Preserved from the Haun's Mill Massacre by Providential Separation

Bathsheba Wilson Bigler Smith (Bathsheba Smith) and her family were traveling to Missouri in 1838 when their company was deliberately divided to cross the river at two different ferries. As she recounted, "In the morning it was thought best for the companies to separate and cross the river at two different ferries, as this arrangement would enable all to cross in less time." That practical decision proved providential: her company "arrived at Far West in safety. But not so with the other company; they were overtaken at Haun's Mill by an armed mob, seventeen were killed, many others were wounded, and some of them were maimed for life." Three nights after arriving at her brother’s farm four miles south of Far West, Captain David W. Patten was brought wounded into the house where Bathsheba was staying after the Crooked River battle; she witnessed his powerful testimony before his death. Bathsheba later reflected on seeing "thousands of mobbers arrayed against the Saints, and I heard their shouts and savage…" The separation into two companies — made for practical reasons on the morning of the crossing — is presented in her autobiographical accounts as a divine providence that preserved her and her family from the Haun's Mill massacre and allowed her to continue her later service in the Church.