On Oct. 30, 1838, more than 200 members of the Livingston County Militia rode into Haun’s Mill, a small Mormon settlement approximately 10 miles south of Breckenridge, MO. Many of the women and children were able to escape by fleeing into the nearby woods, however, the local men were not so lucky.

They sought cover in the blacksmith’s shop but the widely spaced logs offered little protection from the barrage of rifle and musket shots. By the end of the attack, 17 men and boys were dead and 12 were wounded. When the survivors returned the following morning, they placed the dead in an unfinished well located near the mill, covered them with dirt and straw, then headed for the Mormon settlement of Far West.

The mill stone was intended to mark the well where the victims were buried. In the early 1900s the stone was washed away by the local creek, though it was later found by the townspeople and placed in its current location at the Breckenridge City Park. Consequently, the exact location of the well is no longer known.

— from the Caldwell County News published Jan 2, 2013

This message painted on a millstone was positioned to mark the location of Haun’s Mill in Livingston County, MO. The place was made notorious during the conflict between Mormons and “Gentile” settlers in Missouri in 1838.

This map outlines positions of Mormon settlers when attacked by Missourians during 1838.