Smith became highly respected among the Navajo Indians. The establishment of settlements at the Sunset Crossing of the Little Colorado River was important in facilitating the subsequent Mormon colonization of eastern and central and southern Arizona, eastern New Mexico and even northern Mexico and southern Colorado. All branches of the Honeymoon Trail fanned out from this point. Lot Smith established a United Order at Sunset and became the first LDS Stake President in Arizona. Flash floods, droughts, crop failures, internal dissension, anti-Mormon sentiment and prosecution of polygamous leaders, and the Aztec Land & Cattle Company or Hashknife Outfit all took their toll on the small settlements. Tensions rose. Although Smith's inspiring oratory was appreciated, some ran afoul of his temper and others found him heavy-handed and resented his domineering. Residents gravitated toward the timbered land closer to the Mogollon Rim. Lot Smith built a home at Smith Spring near Mormon Lake and directed the establishment of a dairy, sawmill and ranching operations in the area. Gunplay Seeking to displace the Circle S ranching operations, a sheepman named Daggs hired a Hashknife cowboy/gunman named Thistle to eliminate Lot Smith. The strategy was to pick a fight with the targeted person, get him to draw, then shoot him and claim self-defense. Daggs and Thistle encountered Smith working livestock in his corral with two young sons. Thistle proceeded to goad Smith to anger. Smith turned and began walking to his house to get a firearm. Daggs urged Thistle to "Shoot him now." Thistle declined to shoot an unarmed man in the back. Smith returned with a rifle and saw Thistle's pistol and hand starting to come out from where Thistle had taken cover. Shooting from the hip, Smith hit Thistle's pistol and amputated one of Thistle's fingers. That was the end of the gunfight but not the end of the trouble. Knowing Lot Smith was already subject to a federal warrant for polygamy, Daggs instigated another warrant for the arrest of Smith for the "assault" on Thistle. Smith, respected by local lawmen, was able to appear in court for an acquittal and avoid federal arrest. Daggs moved his sheep away and into the Tonto Basin, fueling the smoldering Tewksberry - Graham feud into the conflagration of the Pleasant Valley War. Death After 1886, with the collapse of the Sunset community and Smith's release from presiding church office, along with crippling injuries from farm