While promoting the legality of slavery, the church consistently taught against the abuse of slaves and advocated for laws that provided protection, though critics said the definition of abuse was vague and difficult to enforce. A few slave owners joined the church, and took their slaves with them to Nauvoo. In Nauvoo, Joseph Smith began expressing a more abolitionist sentiment. While he was running for the presidency of the United States, Smith wrote a political platform containing a plan to abolish slavery. After Smith's death, the church split. The largest contingent followed Brigham Young, who supported slavery but opposed abuse, and a smaller contingent followed Joseph Smith III, who opposed slavery. Brigham Young led his contingent to Utah, where he led the efforts to legalize slavery in Utah. Brigham Young taught that slavery was ordained of God and taught that the Republicans' efforts to abolish slavery went against the decrees of God and would eventually fail. While black slavery was never widespread among Mormons, there were several prominent slave owners in the leadership of the LDS Church, including Abraham O. Smoot and Apostle Charles C. Rich. The LDS Church also accepted slaves as tithing. The Mormon settlement of San Bernardino openly practiced slavery under the leadership of Apostles Charles C. Rich and Amasa M. Lyman, despite being in the free state of California. They were freed by a judge who determined that the slaves were kept ignorant of the laws and their rights. Brigham Young also encouraged members to participate in the Indian slave trade. While visiting the members in Parowan, he encouraged them to "buy up the Lamanite children as fast as they could". He argued that by doing so, they could educate them and teach them the gospel, and in a few generations the Lamanites would become white and delightsome. Mormons often referred to Indians as Lamanites, reflecting their belief that the Indians were descended from the Lamanites, who were a cursed race discussed in the Book of Mormon. Chief Walkara, one of the main slave traders in the region, was baptized into the church, and he received talking papers from Apostle George A. Smith that wished him success in trading Piede children. Mormons also enslaved Indian prisoners of war. As they began expanding into Indian territory, they often became embroiled in conflicts with the local residents. After expanding into Utah Valley, Young issued the extermination order against