Captain Nehemiah Comstock's contingent of Livingston militia occupied the mill for nearly three weeks harassing and plundering the Mormons.
As this and other confrontations unfolded between Mormons and the people in the state of Missouri, Mormons appealed for redress from the federal government, accusing the state of Missouri with complicity in violence against Mormons for the state's failure to investigate or prosecute those involved [REF].