Orrin Porter Rockwell (June 28, 1813, or June 25, 1815 – June 9, 1878) was a figure of the Wild West period of American history
Orrin Porter Rockwell (June 28, 1813, or June 25, 1815 – June 9, 1878) was a figure of the Wild West period of American history . A lawman in the Utah Territory, he was nicknamed Old Port and The Destroying Angel of Mormondom. Rockwell served as a bodyguard and was a personal friend, of Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith. After Smith died in 1844, Rockwell became a bodyguard of his successor, Brigham Young, and travelled with him and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to the Salt Lake Valley in the present-day U.S. state of Utah. ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ Rockwell was born in Belchertown, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, to Orin and Sarah Rockwell, who were neighbours of the Smith family. He was a descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony. Rockwell was eight years younger than Smith. While Smith was publishing the Book of Mormon, Rockwell picked berries at night and hauled wood into town to help pay for t...