Gallatin Marker

This marker, located on the east grounds of the courthouse, commemorates the history of Gallatin, Missouri, the seat of Daviess County. Gallatin was founded in 1837, and 1,821 people lived there as of the 2020 census. Despite its small population, the town has quite a history. The Gallatin Election Day Battle, a part of the 1838 Mormon War, took place here, as did the first confirmed bank robbery by the infamous James-Younger Gang in 1869. The LDS Church also believes that a nearby site, which they call Adam-ondi-Ahman, was where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from Eden and that it will be a gathering spot during the Second Coming of Christ.

The area now known as Daviess County was home to Native Americans, including the Sacs, Foxes, Pottawatomies, and Musquakies. The Treaty of 1837 forced these peoples out into the Kansas Territory, and settlers moved in. Gallatin, named for former Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, was founded in the same year. By 1860 around 450 people lived there out of a total of 9,600 people in the whole county.

Gallatin, Missouri, The Joseph Smith Papers. Accessed October 21st, 2022. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/place/gallatin-missouri.

Home, Daviess County Historical Society. Accessed October 21st, 2022. https://daviesscountyhistoricalsociety.com/.

LeSuer, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. University of Missouri, 1987.

Durham Jr., Reed C. The Election Day Battle at Gallatin, BYU Studies. Accessed October 21st, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220721132617/https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/the-election-day-battle-at-gallatin/.