SOUTH WEBER - For people in many places around the world, it’s not uncommon for wars or massive battles to have been fought in their own backyards. Europe still bears the scars of two world wars, and countless conflicts, even the east coast of the United States has monuments and battlefields from the Civil War, the American Revolution, and more, but the West has been traditionally calmer in that respect. Traditionally, but not always.

Students of history will know about things like the somewhat erroneously named ‘Utah War’, or atrocities like the Bear River Massacre, but a little-known skirmish dubbed the Morrisite War actually occurred here in Davis County, and while a small Daughters of the Utah Pioneers monument exists on the site thereof, it’s a story that still needs to be told.

During the early settlement of Utah, many forts began popping up to protect settlers from Native American attack. More often than not, these forts proved to be useless, and the fears of the settlers ungrounded. Such was the case with the Kingston Fort in South Weber, which, at the time of the Morrisite War, had been abandoned for some time.

The instigator of the conflict, Joseph Morris, had formed a splinter group after being excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Morris was convinced that the Second Coming would be occurring so soon, that he told his followers they had no need to plant crops, and in 1861, he gathered a few hundred followers at Kingston Fort.

By the spring of 1862, many followers had become disillusioned and began leaving, gathering their few belongings, and heading out. Three such disaffiliates, William Jones, John Jensen, and Lars C. Geertsen, intercepted some of Kingston Fort’s wheat and were captured shortly thereafter by Morrisite (followers of Morris) loyalists, and imprisoned in the Fort.

This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. After the US government became involved, and having sent several writs to the Morrisites, a posse was formed and headed to the fort to release the men. After several attempts at a peaceful negotiation, warning shots were fired at the fort, which ended up killing several of the inhabitants. 

The following skirmish was brief and resulted in the death of 8 Morrisites, including John Morris, at least four female followers of his sect, and one militia member from the opposing side. In the aftermath, the surviving members of the Morrisites were scattered around the western united states, with the church being officially disbanded in 1969.