LeRoy Anderson in 1981 first published, under the title For Christ Will Come Tomorrow, his definitive study of a charismatic, millenarian prophet and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Most High. He told there of a Mormon posse’s 1862 attack on the Morrisite compound, killing Joseph Morris, and of the continuing Morrisite movement, which survived into the mid-twentieth century. In this newly revised edition, Anderson revisits his subject by referring to more recently discovered documents, considering other scholars’ continuing work on Morris’s sect and related subjects, and examining a 1980s messianic sect that claimed a direct connection to the Morrisites. New documentary sources include a holograph “History of George Morris,” written by Joseph Morris’s brother, which Anderson quotes at length. What was once a little-studied subject has since received attention from a number of scholars. Anderson references such current work on Mormon schismatic movements and broader subjects, much of which drew on his work. Perhaps the book’s most interesting and unintended influence was on that obscure 1980s messianic sect, in Montana, which learned of Morris through Joseph Morris and the Saga of the Morrisites. Joseph Morris and the Saga of the Morrisites (revisited) By C. LeRoy Anderson Utah State University Press Copyright © 2010 Utah State University Press All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-87421-787-2 Contents Preface.........................................................................ixIntroduction In Prospect.......................................................11. Letters from Obscurity.......................................................112. Prophets of Pentecost........................................................163. The Seventh Angel Speaks.....................................................274. Threats in Desperation.......................................................435. The Millennial Hope..........................................................546. The Gathering Storm..........................................................797. The Storm Descends...........................................................968. The Last Revelation..........................................................1279. Aftermath....................................................................14210. Exodus......................................................................15511. The Soda Springs Settlement.................................................15912. The Prophet Cainan..........................................................16513. The Left Wing of the Great Eagle: Nevada and California.....................17714. The Walla Walla Jesus.......................................................18715. Deer Lodge: The Heavenly City...............................................19316. The Deer Lodge Jesus........................................................214Conclusion In Retrospect.......................................................219Bibliography....................................................................237Index...........................................................................242About the Author................................................................250 Chapter One Letters from Obscurity In 1857, the tenth anniversary of the arrival of the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in the Rocky Mountains, a series of events was about to unfold that would ultimately change the destiny of the church, the territory, and the Mormon people. The great Mormon "reformation" begun the year before had continued into the summer. And every Saint was expected to repent of his sins, be rebaptized, and renew his covenants to uphold and sustain the church and its leaders—to consecrate himself to the work and glory of the Kingdom of God. The Saints in the territory now numbered upwards of 40,000, and, despite the specter of polygamy, the possibility of statehood was being actively explored. Yet strong and bitter feelings existed toward non-Mormons and certain federal officials. Open conflict had occurred from time to time, the most serious of which was a shocking tragedy in September that left over 120 members of a wagon train dead at Mountain Meadows in west-central Utah. Much of the tension and hostility that produced the Mountain Meadows affair was fostered by the presence on the Wyoming plains of a large military force authorized by the United States government to enforce "obedience" from the Mormon people. In order to resist this military force, the Mormons called home their foreign missionaries, abandoned many of their outlying colonies, and greatly restricted immigration to "Zion." During the late summer and autumn of 1857, the Mormons prepared their defenses. To further complicate matters, Alfred Cumming, recently of St. Louis and a former mayor of Augusta, Georgia, had been appointed governor on July 30 to succeed Brigham Young. However, Young, president of the M