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Parley P. Pratt and the Independence Day Jailbreak
On Independence Day, 1839, Parley P. Pratt was a prisoner of the State of Missouri.
Along with other early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he had been arrested for his actions during the Missouri-Mormon War of 1838 (in Parley's case, the charge was murder). Convinced he would not get a fair trial, he and his fellow prisoners decided to risk everything on a high-risk jailbreak . . . in the middle of the town's 4th of July Celebration.
This episode explores what it was like to be a locked up in Missouri in the 1830s, the way the guards mistreated both their prisoners and Black women of the town, and how Parley and the others carefully concealed their preparations (and then, in their excitement, almost gave it all away). Finally, how Parley's fellow prisoner -- Morris Phelps -- tried to evade capture by a posse by pretending to be a "true breed" or "Old Kentucky." Finally, it ends with the bravest member of the jailbreak team-- Mrs. Laura Phelps.
To learn more about the story, you can check out The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt (first published in 1873).
To see court records, affidavits and other original sources for the Mormon War of 1838, you can visit the Missouri State Archives Mormon War Digital Collection, available at https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/mormon.asp.
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By Nate Olsen
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On Independence Day, 1839, Parley P. Pratt was a prisoner of the State of Missouri.
Along with other early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he had been arrested for his actions during the Missouri-Mormon War of 1838 (in Parley's case, the charge was murder). Convinced he would not get a fair trial, he and his fellow prisoners decided to risk everything on a high-risk jailbreak . . . in the middle of the town's 4th of July Celebration.
This episode explores what it was like to be a locked up in Missouri in the 1830s, the way the guards mistreated both their prisoners and Black women of the town, and how Parley and the others carefully concealed their preparations (and then, in their excitement, almost gave it all away). Finally, how Parley's fellow prisoner -- Morris Phelps -- tried to evade capture by a posse by pretending to be a "true breed" or "Old Kentucky." Finally, it ends with the bravest member of the jailbreak team-- Mrs. Laura Phelps.
To learn more about the story, you can check out The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt (first published in 1873).
To see court records, affidavits and other original sources for the Mormon War of 1838, you can visit the Missouri State Archives Mormon War Digital Collection, available at https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/mormon.asp.