In December 1835, church member Jacob Haun acquired this tract of land and had a gristmill built. By 1838 an 18-foot square blacksmith shop had also been built, and 10 to 15 families lived in the community. Cultural differences between members and non-members soon led to conflict as Missourians harassed church wagon trains traveling to Caldwell County and confiscated weapons, and church members at Far West responded by sacking several northwestern Missouri communities. Local residents spread rumors that further aggression was planned, and for protection the community adopted a defensive strategy in which the men and boys would use the blacksmith shop as a fortress while the women and children would escape into the woods south of the settlement. On the afternoon of October 30, 1838, Missouri Regulators and extralegal militia units from Livingston, Carroll, and Daviess Counties, numbering 200-250 men, approached from the north, divided into three columns, and prepared to attack from the north, east, and west. Community leader David Evans waved a white flag, but his surrender was ignored, and at approximately 4:00 p.m. the attack began. Nearly all 50 women and children escaped safely across Shoal Creek into the woods, leaving 32 men and four boys to defend the settlement from the blacksmith shop, whose wide cracks between the logs made it a deathtrap as the attackers concentrated their fire. One survivor estimated an exchange of 1,600 rounds, and after the 30-60 minute massacre ended, raiders pillaged the settlement for the next hour. That night those who had fled returned, nursed the wounded, and prepared the dead for burial. Fearing the militia's return, the next morning 14 of the dead were buried in an unfinished well near the mill, whose exact location is now unknown. In all, 17 church members died, 14 were wounded, one was held captive for three days, and only four defenders were unharmed; three attackers were wounded, one seriously. During the following weeks, church members were forced from Missouri by the October 27 Extermination Order of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs.