In January 1843, Joseph Smith was, in many ways, the high point of his experience in Illinois. He had just been discharged by Nathaniel Pope, and he was free--he thought, at least--from these attempts by the Missouri government to have him extradited. But little did he know, John C. Bennett was already laying plans to have a third attempt by the Missouri government to have him extradited. So it was June of 1843 that this grand jury met and indicted Joseph. The governor of Missouri at the time, Thomas Reynolds, sent this document to the governor of Illinois, Thomas Ford. And Ford honored the requisition by issuing a warrant for Joseph Smith. Now, Joseph Smith was unaware that any of this was happening. He and his wife Emma had gone up to visit relatives in Dixon, Illinois. Suddenly, Joseph's clerk, William Clayton, appeared and warned him that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Before they knew it, two men appeared at the house that Joseph was staying in. One of them was Joseph H. Reynolds. He was the sheriff of Jackson County, Missouri. So these men seized Joseph. He had tried to run out the back door, but they caught up to him. According to Joseph's accounts, they hit him with their pistols. They told him that there was no escaping this time, that he was going to Missouri. They got Joseph into a wagon, and they were taking him to the nearby town of Dixon. While in Dixon, Joseph was able to call out and say that he was being falsely imprisoned. And there were some local attorneys who heard this and intervened on Joseph's behalf. They were able to get what is known as a writ of habeas corpus from the circuit court in Dixon. This writ of habeas corpus is designed to protect prisoners from arbitrary or false imprisonment. He was also able to file civil charges against his two captors, Joseph Reynolds and Harmon T. Wilson. And these civil charges led to those two men being arrested by the sheriff of Lee County, where Dixon was. Joseph spoke with his attorneys and explained to them that the Nauvoo municipal court also had power to issue writs of habeas corpus and that that court could review Joseph's detention. And so while they were going down in the same direction of Quincy, there were men from the Nauvoo Legion who began intercepting the party. And there were dozens who, around 27 June, began to surround Joseph. And Joseph was quoted as saying, "I am not going to Missouri this time. These are my boys!" And so Joseph, over the protests of the officers who held him in custody, was able to get to Nauvoo, where he petitioned and received a writ of habeas corpus on June 30. Well, the municipal court sided with Joseph and discharged him from arrest. This caused a tremendous outcry in Illinois. Joseph Reynolds, the sheriff who was supposed to take him back to Missouri, went around to the surrounding communities and said that Joseph Smith was defying the law. The sheriff asked Governor Ford to dispatch the Illinois state militia to retake Joseph. Ultimately, Governor Ford looked at the situation, decided that the Illinois officers had done their duty in the matter, and if Joseph Reynolds lost his prisoner en route to Missouri, then that was the problem of the state of Missouri. So he declined to send the militia to retake Joseph Smith. This set off a chain of events that ultimately led to great conflict in Illinois and indirectly led to the Prophet's death in June of 1844 a year later.