the Missouri House of Representatives that reports from Mormon dissenters led to the attack of Hawn's Mill. Those Hawn's Mill settlement dissenters were Robert White, George Miller, and Sardis Smith. Shortly before the massacre, anti-Mormon raiders confiscated gun and weapons from Mormon settlers and immigrants. Some of those living in the surrounding area gathered at Hawn's Mill for safety. Truce The threat posed by the growing strength and animosity of the Missouri militia caused considerable concern among the Mormon settlers at Hawn's Mill. They held a council on Sunday, October 28 and decided to organize a defensive force. Thirty-six men were armed and held in readiness against an attack. During the council meeting, a delayed group of about ten Mormon emigrant families from Kirtland Camp arrived at the settlement and camped near the blacksmith shop. That evening, one of the militia groups sent a representative who negotiated a truce with the settlers. Monday the 29th and most of Tuesday the 30th passed without incident. Massacre On October 30 at approximately 4 p.m., the militia rode into the community. David Evans, a leader in the community, ran towards the militia, waving his hat and calling for peace. Alerted to the militia's approach, most of the Latter-day Saint women and children fled into the woods to the south, while most of the men headed to the blacksmith shop. The building was a particularly vulnerable structure as the widely-spaced logs enabled the attackers to fire inside. The shop became a deathtrap, since the militia gave no quarter, discharging about 100 rifles into the building. Grand River Township Justice of the Peace Thomas McBride, wounded while escaping the blacksmith shop, surrendered his gun to Jacob S Rogers Jr. who shot him, then hacked his body with a corn knife (scythe blade). According to their own account, they fired seven rounds making upwards of 1,600 shots during the attack of Hawn's Mill. The attack lasted 30 to 60 minutes. After the initial attack, several of those who had been wounded or had surrendered were shot dead. Members of the militia entered the shop and found 10-year-old Sardius Smith, 7-year-old Alma Smith (sons of Amanda Barnes Smith), and 9-year-old Charles Merrick hiding under the blacksmith's bellows. Alma and Charles were shot (Charles later died), and a militia man known as "Glaze, of Carroll county", killed Sardius when he "put his musket against Sardius's skull and blew