Porter Rockwell's Grave

Porter Rockwell once said, "I never killed anyone who didn't need killing." A towering figure in the early history of the Mormon church, Rockwell was the loyal bodyguard of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith and his successor, Brigham Young. Rockwell was the bloody hand of the early church, famously implicated in the assassination attempt on Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs.

Early church members despised Boggs for signing what became known as the Extermination Order, which called for evicting Mormons from Missouri by violent and deadly means. When investigators questioned Joseph Smith about the accusations and Rockwell's involvement, Smith denied it could have been him. When asked how he could be so confident, Smith replied: "Boggs is still alive, isn't he?"

A reputed member of the Danites, a vigilante group mentioned in Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, Rockwell was widely known as the church's enforcer — the Destroying Angel. His stated policy was "always shoot first, that way they know you're armed," and he killed more outlaws than Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Tom Horn and Bat Masterson combined.

He was charged with murder or attempted murder three times but never convicted. Told by Smith that if "he never cut his hair no bullet or blade can harm thee," Rockwell obeyed, like Samson of the Bible. The most famous picture of him is from a wanted poster: he's bald on top, but his hair falls over his shoulders, and his cruel eyes seem to follow you. In the end, Rockwell died of natural causes, awaiting trial for murder. He is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Rockwell's tombstone epitaph reads: "He was brave and loyal to his faith. True to the Prophet Jos. Smith. A promise made him by the prophet. Through obedience it was fulfilled."

"They say he was a murderer; if he was, he was the friend of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and he was faithful to them, and to his covenants. He has his little faults, but Porter's life on earth, taken altogether, was one worthy of example, and reflected honor upon the church." — F. Joseph Smith, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, speaking after Rockwell's death.