In 1831, in a revelation recorded by Joseph Smith, the Lord designated Independence, Missouri, as the "center place of Zion," and as a place of settlement of the Latter-day Saints. Previously, the missionaries to the Lamanites had taught the gospel in Jackson County, with success. By 1833, approximatively 1200 Latter-day Saints had settled within Jackson, comprising a third of the population of the county.  However, the Mormons were different than their Gentile neighbors, and the result was the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from all of Jackson County. After leaving Jackson County, the Saints spent time in Clay, Ray and Carroll counties before settling in Adams County and Caldwell County, the site of Far West. 

Here is a brief Missouri chronology:

• 1831: Joseph Smith's revelation about Independence, Missouri
• 1833: the saints are forced out of Jackson County
• 1838: the election battle at Gallatin, Gentile aggressions and Mormon reprisals, the battle of Crooked River, Governor Bogg's "Extermination Order," and Mormon expulsion from Missouri
• 1838-1839: Mormon Church leaders, including Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, imprisoned at Liberty Jail; after their release, they go east back to Illinois

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