 Smith declared the area around Independence, Missouri to be the site of Zion, inspiring a massive influx of Mormon converts.Locals, alarmed by rumors of the strange, new religion (including rumors of polygamy), attempted to drive the Mormons out.This resulted in the 1838 Mormon War, the Haun's Mill massacre, and the issue of the Missouri Executive Order 44 by Governor Lilburn Boggs, which ordered "" ... Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state ... "".