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Tomáš Baťa

Tomáš Baťa (3 April 1876 – 12 July 1932) was a Czech entrepreneur and founder of the Bata shoe company. His career was cut short when he died in a plane accident due to bad weather.

Baťa's half-brother Jan Antonín Baťa took over his company, expanding it during the Great Depression. World War II resulted in much destruction of the business. After Communist governments were established in Czechoslovakia and other nations of Eastern Europe, they nationalized the Baťa enterprises, taking over the company group.

Tomáš's son Thomas J. Bata rebuilt and expanded shoe manufacturing in the company name after moving to Canada in 1939, at the time of the Nazi invasion and annexation of Czechoslovakia.

Career
Tomáš Baťa established the organization in Zlín on 24 August 1894 with 800 Austrian gulden (equivalent to $320 at the time), inherited from his mother. His brother Antonín Baťa and sister Anna were partners in the startup firm T. & A. Bata Shoe Company. Though this organization was newly established, the family had a long history of shoemaking, spanning eight generations and over three hundred years. This heritage helped boost the popularity of his new firm very quickly.

In 1904, Baťa travelled to Lynn, a city outside Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States that was then the center of world footwear production. He worked on an assembly line and learned about its machinery, such as Matzeliger's automated laster. He began mechanizing his production upon his return and introduced an assembly line at Zlín in 1927. With modern production and long-distance retailing, Baťa modernized the shoemaking industry. From its start, the company developed rapidly in production and its profits rose.

Tomáš Baťa obtained sole control over the company in 1908 after his brother Antonín Baťa died from tuberculosis. Tomáš brought two of his younger brothers, Jan and Bohuš, into the business. World War I created a booming demand for military shoes, which the company started to produce. During the interwar period, Baťa again visited the United States, to observe progress at the River Rouge Plant of Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Upon his return, he directed his company to look towards decentralizing operations.

Baťa recognized the needs of his customers, whose purchasing power had been significantly reduced in the aftermath of the war, and enlarged his offerings to produce low-cost shoes for the general public. He also established factories and companies in other countries, including Poland, Yugoslavia, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom and, away from Europe: the United States and India. These factories were allowed to be self-sufficient and autonomous in their design, production and distribution strategies, in order to be able to cater to their local population. By the early 1930s, Bata had led the Baťa enterprise and Czechoslovakia to be the world's leading footwear exporters.

Baťa was regarded as an advocate of Taylorism, functionalism and a proponent of many aspects of the Garden city movement.

Bata is credited with efforts to modernize his hometown, both through employment and construction of housing facilities, making him a very popular citizen. He was elected as mayor of Zlín. Baťa is widely regarded as a businessman with an acute sense of social consciousness. He is quoted by many as one of the first pioneers of employee welfare and social advancement programs. Tomáš Baťa stated:

"'Let's bear in mind that the chances to multiply wealth are unlimited. All people can become rich. There is an error in our understandings - that all people cannot become equally rich. Wealth can not exist where the people are busy with mutual cheating, have no time for creating values and wealth. It is remarkable that we can find the greatest number of wealthy tradesmen and a population on a high standard of living in countries with a high level of business morality. On the other hand, we can find poor tradesmen and entrepreneurs and an impoverished population in countries with a low standard of business morality. This is natural because these people concentrate on cheating one another instead of trying to create value. We are granting you the profit share not because we feel a need to give money to the people just out of the goodness of the heart. No, we are aiming at other goals by this step. By this measure we want to reach a further decrease of production costs. We want to reach the situation that the shoes are cheaper and workers earn even more. We think that our products are still too expensive and worker's salary too low.'"

Baťa's leadership for quality and innovation
In a scholarly study of Tomáš Baťa as a leader and business innovator, Dr. Myron Tribus states:

"'When I first began this paper, I intended to demonstrate that what Baťa did is a superb illustration of what is now called 'quality management'. The record shows that Tomáš Baťa did indeed precede modern 'quality management' practices by at least half a century. If we look only at that side of the man, we must conclude that he was the first to use quality as a way to lower cost at the same time as he created customer delight.'"

"'However, as I delved more deeply into Baťa's management methods, it became clear that looking at his work through such a lens gives much too narrow a focus. It is possible, of course, to analyze Baťa's work as an example of what W. Edwards Deming has called his 'System of Profound Knowledge'. However, the level of abstraction at which Dr. Deming describes this system makes it capable of encompassing many different activities and while it provides great generality, it does not provide a focus on what was unique about Baťa. I have chosen a less abstract approach, concentrating on the Baťa contributions I thought would be of greatest value in contemporary management. My objective is to find the most important lessons that the Baťa system of management can teach today's entrepreneurs. '"

Wages scheme

Tomáš Baťa used 4 basic types of wages:

 * Fixed rate - paid to a technical-operative and an administrative staff
 * Individual order based rate - paid to some manufacture specialists
 * Collective task rate - defined for manufacture labour
 * Profit contribution rate - paid to operational managers

Also typical is so called "Baťa price", establishing a price usually ending in the number nine. He found that psychologically, a price of 99 or 19.99 was apparently more appealing to customers than a rounded number, such as 100 or 20, even though the difference is just 1 currency unit.

Aviation

Baťa considered aviation another branch of commercial activity. His company was apparently the world's first to use air transportation for travel of not only high-echelon staff, but also to send skilled workers quickly to places where their skills were critically needed. The emphasis was on timely deployment of manpower, not on the creation of prestige travel for a few chosen.

Death and future of company
Baťa died in a plane crash (Junkers J13 D1608) in 1932 near the Zlín airport while trying to fly to Möhlin in Switzerland on a business trip under bad weather conditions of dense local fog. After his death, his half-brother Jan Antonín Baťa took over ownership of the Bata companies. He greatly expanded the business into new fields, even during the Great Depression. He founded the famous Zlin aircraft works two years after Baťa's death, starting with simple gliders. From the 1930s to the eve of the World War II, he developed for sale several sophisticated types (e.g. the Walter Mikron avgas-powered Zlín Z-XII, which was widely exported, and the Z-XIII, as well as some successful sailplanes) and aero engines. The Moravan-Zlin factory is the direct descendant of Jan Bata's Czech aviation legacy.

In addition, Jan Antonín Baťa started new manufacturing and set up markets in numerous new countries. In 1939 after the Nazi invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia, he tried to negotiate to keep the company, before emigrating to the United States. In 1941 he resettled in Brazil, where he continued to act as an entrepreneur, creating several company towns. World War II resulted in much destruction of Bata businesses in Europe and Asia. After Communist governments were established in Central and Eastern Europe, they took over and nationalized the companies.

Legacy
In 1934 his son Tomáš Baťa established an industrial manufacturing unit south of Kolkata, India. It was a complete industrial settlement and was named Batanagar. A Metro station in Delhi, Bata Chowk, is also named after him.

Anticipating the Second World War, Baťa's son Thomas J. Bata, along with over 100 families from Czechoslovakia, moved to Canada in 1939. There he developed the Bata Shoe Company of Canada, founding the factory town of Batawa, Ontario.

During the Second World War, many Baťa businesses in Europe and the Far East that had been developed by Jan Baťa were destroyed. After the War, the core business enterprise in Czechoslovakia and other major enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe were nationalized by the Communist governments.

Thomas J. Bata devoted himself to the rebuilding and development of the Bata Shoe Organization, together with his wife and partner Sonja Bata. He successfully expanded into new markets throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Under his leadership, the Bata Shoe Organization had unprecedented growth. It became the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of footwear selling over 300 million pairs of shoes each year and employing over 80,000 people.

In fiction

 * Musical revue, Ostrov Dynamit, 1930 (Dynamite Island) by Jiří Voskovec, Jan Werich, and the composer Jaroslav Ježek. This comedy satirized Tomáš Baťa as the villain Thomas Batha, who together with his Chinese servant Wu-Fang, exploit the natives of a tropical island in the South Pacific.  The plot revolves around the magical powers of the island's volcano, which every fifty years erupts, releasing a beneficial gas that lulls the people into calm and docility.  Batha is the only one unaffected, as he uses a gas mask hidden in a forest (the exact location of which, however, he is unable to find).
 * Novel, Obuv', 1932 (Shoes), a part of Our day chronicles by Ilya Ehrenburg
 * Novel, Botostroj, 1933 (The Shoe-Machine) by Svatopluk Turek. This communist writer portrayed Tomáš Baťa as a strong-willed dictator who sacrificed himself and all people around for success of the company. After its release, Jan Bata sued for defamation and tried to stop further publishing. In 1954, Turek's novel was adapted as a movie of the same name, made by director K.M. Walló.
 * Bata is featured as a character in Vikram Seth's novel A Suitable Boy, but his firm is called the "Praha" (Prague) Shoe Company.

title: Tomáš Baťa


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Saint Eustace

Saint Eustace (Latinized Eustachius or Eustathius, Greek Εὐστάθιος Πλακίδας Eustathios Plakidas) is revered as a Christian martyr. According to legend, he was martyred in AD 118, at the command of emperor Hadrian. Eustace was a pagan Roman general, who converted to Christianity after he had a vision of the cross while hunting. He lost all his wealth, was separated from his wife and sons, and went into exile in Egypt. Called back to lead the Roman army by emperor Trajan, Eustace was happily reunited with his family and restored to high social standing, but after the death of Trajan, he and his family were martyred under Hadrian for refusing to sacrifice to pagan Roman gods.

Eustace was venerated in the Byzantine Church from at least the 7th century. His veneration is attested for the Latin Church for the 8th century, but his rise to popularity in Western Europe happened in the high medieval period, during the 12th to 13th centuries. There are many versions and adaptations of his legend, in prose, in verse, and in the form of plays, in Latin, French and other languages. The saint, and scenes from his legend, were also frequently depicted in the figurative arts.

His feast day, both in Eastern and Western tradition, is on 20 September. The Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates St. Eustace on 1 October.

Greek Vita
The original tradition of the saint's passion is Greek, the oldest surviving version (BHG 641) was composed at some point during the 5th to 7th centuries. Already in the Greek version, the later saint is a pagan general (στρατηλάτης stratēlátēs) under Trajan, called Plakidas. The Greek text also has all of the main elements found in the medieval Western accounts. Plakidas converted after he had a vision of a cross while hunting a stag and heard a divine voice prophesying his misfortune. Plakidas was baptized and took the name Eustathios ("steadfast"), his wife Tatiana took the baptismal name Theopiste. Their two sons were named Agapios and Theopistos.

Eustathios lost his estates and his wealth, and he and his family emigrated to Egypt. They could not pay for the passage, hence the ship's captain demanded to keep Theopiste for himself. Eustathios escaped with his two sons by swimming. But later, when crossing a river, his sons were taken by wild animals. Eustathios believed them dead, but they were saved.

Years later, Trajan called Eustathios back to Rome to fight the barbarians, and Eustathios once again took the rank of general and raised an army. Among the soldiers were, unbeknownst to him, his two sons. After defeating the barbarians, the general and his staff stayed in the house of an old woman. Agapios and Theopistos recognized each other. The old woman turned out to be their mother, Theopiste, who managed to escape from the ship's captain before he could dishonour her. She recognized her husband, and the entire family was reunited.

When Trajan was succeeded by Hadrian, the new emperor asked his general to sacrifice to the gods, and when Eustathios refused, he threw him and his family to the lions, but the wild animals lay down at their feet. Therefore, Hadrian ordered them to be killed in a brazen bull. The bodies of the martyrs were recovered in secrecy by Christians and buried in a "well-known place".

French Vita
A Vita in French prose was composed around the middle of the 13th century. In this version, the narrative begins with Placidus (Eustace's name before he was baptized) out hunting. He follows a deer into some woods and becomes separated from the group of hunters; the deer turns towards him. Placidus is then awestruck by a vision where he sees the cross between the antlers of the deer, and in that moment, he is commanded by the voice of God to be baptized along with his family on that very night by the Bishop of Rome. He is baptized and has his name changed to Eustace, and then he receives another vision from a voice warning him of future trials for him and his family. They lose their goods, servants, livestock, and social status. They attempt to travel by boat, but cannot afford the voyage. Eustace and his two sons Agapius and Theopistus are then removed from the boat and separated from Eustace's wife Theopista. They arrive at a river where Eustace has to carry them across one at a time. After successfully taking one to the other side, Eustace attempts to collect the other. However, both of his sons are taken by animals while he is crossing the river: one by a lion and the other by a wolf. Unknown to Eustace, his sons are saved and raised independently.

In the French tradition, Eustace then worked for fifteen years as a guard protecting fields until he was approached by two envoys of Roman emperor Trajan who were sent to persuade him to return to Rome and repel an uprising; Eustace complied. There in Rome, he was reinstated his original rank of general, led an army, and coincidentally, achieved victory in the home country of the captain who abducted his wife Theopista. Trading life stories after the battle, two soldiers discover they were the brothers abducted by animals, and overhearing them, Theopista recognizes her husband Eustace. Eustace and his family then return to Rome to celebrate at a victory dinner under the new Roman emperor Hadrian who was less tolerant towards Christians. Following the dinner, Hadrian requested Eustace and his family to make an offering to pagan gods; They refused. Eustace and his family were then thrown in a den of lions, but the lions did not touch them. Eustace and his family were then put into a brazen bull. They died, but their bodies were untouched by the flames.

Variants and adaptations
Numerous adaptations of the saint's legend were composed, in verse and in prose, during the high medieval period, both in France and in Italy. There is "rhythmic Life" of 220 verses (BHL 2771) of the 9th or 10th century, and a 13th-century version of 2052 rhyming octosyllabic verses. The legend was also adapted into at least ten different medieval plays in varying forms.

The legend up to St. Eustace's martyrdom is a variant of the narrative type "the Man Tried By Fate", which is also popular in chivalric romance in general. Except for an exemplum in Gesta Romanorum, all such tales are highly developed romances, such as Sir Isumbras. One of the medieval adaptations of the Eustace material as chivalric romance is the Spanish Book of the Knight Zifar.

Historicity
The historicity of Eustace cannot be substantiated, and he is widely seen as a "fictitious saint", i.e. an adaptation in the form of hagiography of what was originally a didactic or entertaining fiction. Hippolyte Delehaye (1919) did not believe in the saint's historicity. The Bollandist commentator (Acta Sanctorum vol. 46, p. 209) considers two possibilities: that of the saint being entirely fictitious, or that of an unknown early oriental martyr whose original cult has vanished without a trace. The veneration of Eustace cannot be substantiated for times earlier than the 7th century, more than 500 years after his supposed martyrdom. The legend has little or no geographic detail, except for the "flight to Egypt", paralleling that of the Holy Family. The village of Badioson (Βαδιοσών) where Eustace retires after the loss of his family is unknown, the river Hydaspes where Eustace fights his victorious battle with the "barbarians" alludes to Alexander the Great and bears no relation to any historical conflict fought by emperor Trajan (Trajan's Parthian campaign resulted in an uneasy stalemate and was interrupted by Trajan's death in 117); nor is Hadrian known to have actively persecuted Christians. The origin of the Greek legend is most likely found in the orient, likely Anatolia, perhaps Cappadocia, where the stag has long been venerated in local cults.

The similarity of the stag hunting scene with certain tales of the Mabinogion have been explained by Vielle (1990) as reflecting an underlying "Celto-Galatian" model. A distant Indian origin for the element of the "separated family" has been proposed by Gaster (1893), specifically the Buddhist tale of Pacatara and Visvantara from  the Pali canon (Dhammapada).

Veneration
The veneration of Eustace originated in the Eastern Orthodox Church wherein he is venerated as Saint Eustathios the Great Martyr. N. Thierry postulated that the tradition may have originated in Cappadocia, pointing out that a large repertoire of images of the Vision of Eustace exist as frescoes in this region's early-Christian rock-cut churches. Thierry also notes a 7th-century Armeno-Georgian stele at the Davit Garedja monastery in present-day Georgia with a relief depicting the Vision of Eustace, and a relief on the chancel of Tsebelda in Abkhazia, dated variously from the 7th to the 9th century, that also depicts the Vision.

In the West, an early medieval church dedicated to him that existed in Rome is mentioned in a letter of Pope Gregory II (731–741). His iconography may have passed to the 12th-century West, before which time European examples are scarce, in psalters, where the vision of Eustace, kneeling before a stag, illustrated Psalm 96, ii-12: "Light is risen to the just..."

An early European depiction of Eustace, the earliest one noted in the Duchy of Burgundy, is carved on a Romanesque capital at Vézelay Abbey. Abbot Suger mentions the first relics of Eustace in Europe, at an altar in the royal Basilica of St Denis; Philip Augustus of France rededicated the church of Saint Agnès, Paris, which became Saint-Eustache (rebuilt in the 16th–17th centuries). The story of Eustace was popularized in Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend (c. 1260). Scenes from the story, especially of Eustace kneeling before the stag, then became popular subjects of medieval religious art: examples include a wall painting at Canterbury Cathedral and stained glass windows at the Cathedral of Chartres.

Eustace became known as a patron saint of hunters and firefighters, and also of anyone facing adversity; he was traditionally included among the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He is the patron of hunters especially in Bavaria and Austria, while in France, Belgium and Western Germany, it is more common to find Hubertus in this role. In the Anglican tradition, he has a (hunter's) horn as his attribute. He also is one of the patron saints of Madrid, Spain. Saint Eustace is honored in County Kildare, Ireland. There is a church dedicated to him on the campus of Newbridge College in Newbridge, County Kildare, and the schools' logo and motto is influenced by the vision of Saint Eustace; a nearby village is named Ballymore Eustace.

In Armenia, Erewmanavank ("Convent of the Holy Apparition") near Egin was said to be built on the actual location of the encounter of Placidus with the deer. The earliest surviving text detailing this is a manuscript from 1446, but the monastery is far older than that and probably a Byzantine foundation; J.-M. Thierry considers it to be a 10th-century foundation, perhaps by Greeks from Cappadocia. Although the monastery was destroyed during the Armenian genocide, Thierry, in the 1980s, noted that a transmitted form of the legend still existed among local Muslim Kurds who talked of a "deer of light" appearing at the site. In Georgian mythology, Saint Eustace became associated with the hunting deity Apsat, patron of game animals.

Saint Eustache's feast day in the Roman Catholic Church, as is also in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is September 20, as indicated in the Roman Martyrology. The celebration of Saint Eustache and his companions was included in the Roman Calendar from the twelfth century until 1969, when it was removed because of the completely fabulous character of the saint's Acta, resulting in a lack of sure knowledge about them. However, his feast is still observed by Roman Catholics who follow the pre-1970 Roman Calendar. Saint Eustace's commemoration was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1970, though he continued to be commemorated in the latest edition of the Roman Martyrology. Local observance is still practiced.

Sant'Eustachio is also honoured in Tocco da Casauria, a town in the Province of Pescara in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The town's church, built in the twelfth century, was dedicated to Saint Eustace. It was rebuilt after being partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1706.

The island of Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean Netherlands is named after him. Also St Eustachius church is situated in Pakiapuram village, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. Another church is situated in the name of St. Eustachius (St. Esthakiyar in Tamil) in Mittatharkulam, near valliyoor in Tirunelveli district.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Saint Eustace


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Veljekset Keskinen

Veljekset Keskinen (Keskinen Brothers) is a department store in Tuuri, Alavus, Finland.

It receives over 6 million customers per year, and is the largest department store in Finland. The store is a tourist attraction as well as a regular department store.

There is a large horse shoe at the parking area, as the name of the village ("Tuuri") means "luck" in Finnish; it stands at number three in Reuters' list of world's ugliest buildings and monuments.

title: Veljekset Keskinen


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User:Thesilverbail

.

=Thesilverbail=

My name is Deepak Ramachandran. I'm 21 years old and I'm from India. Right now I'm a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I do research in the area of Artificial Intelligence with a focus on developing logical theories that model human reasoning. AI is a discipline that in the past seemed to never deliver on it's grand promise of building thinking machines. But now with some exciting new techniques developed in the last decade a revival of sorts is taking place and we might one day be very close to our goal of human-level AI. When I'm not tinkering with computers, I'm usually reading a book (especially Science Fiction) or playing computer games. What else? oh yes, I speak Quenya, the language of the High-elven. As you can see, I'm your classic well-rounded geek.

TODO

 * Information retrieval
 * codicil
 * egmont overture
 * Petticoating
 * song (poem)

New articles

 * Iterative deepening depth-first search
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Articles significantly contributed to

 * Heuristic
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Articles with minor contributions

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Image Captions
Some of the best work I did as part of the WikiProject Writing Captions.

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Friends on Wikipedia

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title: User:Thesilverbail


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Danite

The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigilante group and took a central role in the events of the 1838 Mormon War. They remained an important part of Mormon and non-Mormon folklore, polemics, and propaganda for the remainder of the 19th century, waning in ideological prominence after Utah gained statehood. Notwithstanding public excommunications of Danite leaders by the Church and both public and private statements from Joseph Smith referring to the band as being both evil in nature and a "secret combination" (a term used in the Book of Mormon to signify corruption within a group of people such as gangs, organized crime, and politics, as well as used in general parlance to signify unlawful conspiracy), the nature and scope of the organization and the degree to which it was officially connected to the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) are not agreed between historians. Early in the group's existence, Joseph Smith appeared to endorse its actions, but later turned against it as violence increased and the actions of the Danites inspired a hysteria in Missouri that eventually led to the Extermination Order. According to an essay on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), "Historians generally concur that Joseph Smith approved of the Danites but that he probably was not briefed on all their plans and likely did not sanction the full range of their activities."

In 1834, during the march of Zion's Camp, a military expedition from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri, Joseph Smith organized the first Mormon militia known as the "Armies of Israel,", which pre-dated the Nauvoo Legion by eight years, to protect his community. Some historians have alleged this earlier militia to be the original formation of the Danite band. After the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, the term "Danite" was often connected with Latter Day Saint peacekeeping, including the Nauvoo, Illinois police, the bodyguards of Joseph Smith, and the "whistling and whittling brigades". Although some members of these later groups had been Danites in the Missouri period, leadership of the 1838 secret society, which came to be known as "Destroying Angels" in particular under group founder Sampson Avard, was not associated with leadership of the peace-keeping militias commonly referred to by the same name.

Background
The Danites organized in the milieu of mutual hostility and conflict between the Mormon settlers and the more established Missourians, with numerous acts of violence perpetrated on both sides. They were active as a formal organization in Missouri in 1838. They began as a group of zealots determined to drive out internal dissention among the Mormons—dissenters which included former high ranking Mormons including the Three Witnesses—but progressed to becoming involved in militia and paramilitary conflicts with U.S. forces and both civilians and law enforcement of Missouri.

The Latter Day Saint movement had experienced periods of conflict and violence with neighboring communities. Prior to this period, Joseph Smith had promoted a non-violent policy, but this era of pacifism was coming to an end. In August 1833, Smith recorded a revelation that stated:

And now verily I say unto you, concerning the laws of the land, it is my will that my people should observe all things whatsoever I command them. And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me. Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; And to the law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil.

This revelation encouraged church members "to bear it patiently and revile not" when "men will smite you, or your families" yet also justified self-defense: If, after being endangered three times, "he has sought thy life and thy life is endangered by him, thine enemy is in thy hands and thou art justified."

Prior to 1838, the Latter Day Saint movement had two centers—one in Kirtland, Ohio and the other in northwestern Missouri. The headquarters and First Presidency of the church were in Kirtland, while the Missouri church was led by a Stake Presidency made up of David Whitmer, W. W. Phelps, and John Whitmer. In 1836, John Whitmer and Phelps founded the town of Far West, Missouri, which became the headquarters of the church in Missouri. Throughout 1837, the church in Kirtland was experiencing internal conflicts over the failure of the church's bank. Ultimately, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon of the First Presidency lost control of the headquarters, including the Kirtland Temple, to dissenters led by Warren Parish. Smith and his followers relocated to Far West, Missouri during the early part of 1838, beginning a period where Smith and other church leaders began to take the view that the church was fighting for its life.

In spring 1838, events came to a boiling point as the number of Mormons swelled in Missouri and Ohio and rifts within the church itself developed. Sudden heavy Mormon immigration, combined with their tendency to vote in a bloc, and their anti-slavery political and northern cultural views aroused hostility from the native Missourians. These tensions were escalated by the fact that Joseph Smith had been issuing prophecies that Missouri was meant to be the chosen place for Zion and the gathering of the Saints. Joseph Smith encouraged the Saints to be unafraid and referred to a passage in the 18th chapter of Judges about the tribe of Dan, "If the enemy comes, the Danites will be after them, meaning the brethren in self-defense." One of those who heard Joseph speak of the Danites was Sampson Avard. Sampson Avard secretly organized some of the brethren into companies for mutual defense and protection. He said he had the sanction of the First Presidency. He also taught those who would follow him that they should lead their companies against the gentiles, to rob and plunder them, and waste them away. With the loot, the kingdom of God would be built. The majority of Avard's followers left him in disgust, and soon Avard was excommunicated.

On the fourth of July in 1838, Mormon leader Sidney Rigdon delivered an oration in Far West, the county seat of Caldwell County. While not wishing or intending to start any trouble with his non-Mormon neighbors, Rigdon wanted to make clear that the Mormons would meet any further attacks on them—-such as had occurred in Jackson County during the summer and fall of 1833—with force. This however encouraged the Danites to offer resistance to the mobs that had driven them out of their homes in Jackson County. Latter Day Saints claims to rights to Missouri were countered back and forth with hostile rhetoric from non-Mormon news sources and politicians. Eventually the situation became dire, with one government agent writing:

"The citizens of Daviess, Carroll, and some other normal counties have raised mob after mob for the last two months for the purpose of driving the Mormons from those counties and from the State. These things have at length goaded the Mormons into a state of desperation that has now made some members to become the aggressors instead of acting on the defensive."

Formation
In June 1838, a group of Mormons began meeting together in Far West under the leadership of Sampson Avard, Jared Carter, and George W. Robinson to discuss the problem of Mormon dissenters. The group organized under the name "The Daughters of Zion." A second group was formed in nearby Adam-ondi-Ahman where stake president and special counselor in the First Presidency John Smith recorded the name Danites in his diary and characterized the meetings as routine events. The name "Danites" probably refers to a Biblical prophecy found in the Book of Daniel. According to Albert P. Rockwood, a loyal Mormon writing in October 1838: "The Companies are called Danites because the Prophet Daniel has said that the Saints shall take the kingdom and possess it forever."

Thomas B. Marsh, former President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, left the church, citing improper handling of the church's finances by its leadership. He began writing and speaking critically of the church, which resulted in his formal excommunication. He left after hearing reports of the destruction of non-Mormon settlements, including Gallatin, by the Mormons. He was present at early Danite meetings and said that the Danites swore oaths "to support the heads of the church in all things that they say or do, whether right or wrong." The newly formed Danites disagreed initially on what steps to take against the dissenters, who had left the church but still lived nearby on land that had murky legal status. The properties had been purchased with a mixture of common and private funds, and in the name of both the LDS Church and private individuals. Reed Peck, another ex-Mormon, alleged that Carter and Dimick B. Huntington proposed that the group "kill these men that they would not be capable of injuring the church." Marsh (while still a practicing Mormon) and John Corrill successfully argued against the proposal.

"Salt Sermon"
John Corrill recalled that "the first presidency did not seem to have much to do with [the Danites] at first", and some of the Danites clearly saw this sermon as a sign of approval. The matter was tabled until the following Sunday (June 17, 1838) when Sidney Rigdon preached his Salt Sermon, in which he likened the dissenters to "salt that had lost its savor." He went on to state that the dissenters would be "trodden under the foot of men." Corrill stated that "although [Rigdon] did not give names in his sermon, yet it was plainly understood that he meant the dissenters or those who had denied the faith." Rigdon's strongly worded sermon may have played a significant role in encouraging the dissenters to leave the county.

Danite Manifesto
Ebenezer Robinson (who remained with the church after 1838), recalled that the next day a letter was "gotten up in the office of the First Presidency," which Danite leader Sampson Avard later charged was written by Sidney Rigdon. The letter was addressed specifically to the principal dissenters: Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, William Wines Phelps, and Lyman E. Johnson. The letter demanded the dissenters depart the county, writing: "for out of the county you shall go, and no power shall save you. And you shall have three days after you receive this communication to you, including twenty-four hours in each day, for you to depart with your families peaceably; which you may do undisturbed by any person; but in that time, if you do not depart, we will use the means in our power to cause you to depart; for go you shall."

It made several accusations concerning the actions and character of these dissenters and then stated:

"We have solemnly warned you, and that in the most determined manner, that if you do not cease that course of wanton abuse of the citizens of this county, that vengeance would overtake you sooner or later, and that when it did come it would be as furious as the mountain torrent, and as terrible as the beating tempest; but you have affected to despise our warnings, and pass them off with a sneer, or a grin, or a threat, and pursued your former course; and vengeance sleepeth not, neither does it slumber; and unless you heed us this time, and attend to our request, it will overtake you at an hour when you do not expect, and at a day when you do not look for it; and for you there shall be no escape; for there is but one decree for you, which is depart, depart, or a more fatal calamity shall befall you."

The letter — later known as the "Danite Manifesto" — displayed the signatures of eighty-three Mormons, including that of Joseph Smith's brother, and fellow member of the First Presidency, Hyrum. Robinson later said that all of the signers were Danites.

The letter had the desired effect and the few named dissenters quickly fled the county, relocating to Liberty and Richmond in neighboring Clay and Ray counties. Despite the harsh treatment of the few vocal dissidents, a dozen others were permitted to peacefully remain in the community. One of the expelled dissenters, John Whitmer, said that they had been "driven from their homes" and robbed "of all their goods save clothing & bedding &c." Reed Peck agreed, asserting that "the claims by which this property was taken from these men were unjust and perhaps without foundation cannot be doubted by any unprejudiced person acquainted with all parties and circumstances."

Expanding role
The Danites' role shifted from internal enforcement to external defense when the non-Mormon Missourian majority asked the Mormons to leave, at first making a request without threat of force. In coming months, hostilities between Mormons and Missourians would grow to the point that the Missouri State Militia drove most of the Mormons out of Missouri. Governor Lilburn Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44 on October 27, 1838, which expelled the Mormons from Missouri.

However, conflict developed between Smith and the Danites' leader, Sampson Avard. In Smith's account, Avard, while a new member to the Church, formed a "secret combination", an allusion to a nefarious society as discussed in the Book of Mormon. Smith further stated that Avard's pride and zeal prompted him to organize the group contrary to the will of Smith and the other leaders of the Church. According to this view, Avard illegitimately claimed to be the Lord's agent, and according to a quote Smith attributed to Avard, he wanted to profit from vigilantism by taking "spoils of the goods of ungodly Gentiles [non-Mormons]."

Joseph Smith soon took action against Avard in the name of the church, removing him from all military duties and establishing him as a surgeon to help with the wounded; Avard mentions this demotion himself. Avard was eventually excommunicated. Smith's History of the Church states: "When a knowledge of Avard's rascality came to the Presidency of the Church, he was cut off from the Church, and every means proper used to destroy his influence, at which he was highly incensed and went about whispering his evil insinuations, but finding every effort unavailing, he again turned conspirator, and sought to make friends with the mob."

With the opposition leaders ousted and the hostilities increasing, the Danite group took on three additional primary functions, (1) enforcement of the Law of Consecration, (2) political activities, and (3) militia activities.

Enforcers
The law of consecration was a commandment given to the church to establish a kind of communitarian program whereby the saints were to give or "consecrate all their money and property to the Church" and lease it back, so that the church could purchase lands for settlement by the destitute converts continually pouring into northwestern Missouri. Corrill recalled that "shortly after the Danites became organized, they set out to enforce the Law of Consecration, but this did not amount to much".

Political activities
In the realm of politics, the Danites were called upon to distribute tickets containing the names of candidates approved by the Presidency for the election which was held on August 6. Church leader John Corrill was the approved candidate and consequently won election to the Missouri House of Representatives, but he conceded, "Many saw that it was taking unfair advantage of the election and were extremely dissatisfied". Except for 15 or 20 votes, the election was nearly unanimous.

A second outpost of Danites had been organized in Daviess County under the leadership of Lyman Wight, who was also a colonel in the state militia. The Danites in Daviess County took part in the Gallatin Election Day Battle, when a group of non-Mormons attempted to prevent any Mormons from voting.

Militia
Danite activity eventually progressed from political action to military action. On July 4, 1838, the Latter Day Saints in Far West held a large Independence Day celebration. As part of the celebration, a military review was held in which both the Mormons of the legal Caldwell County militia (led by Colonel George M. Hinkle), and the Danites (led by Jared Carter, Sampson Avard and Cornelius P. Lott) paraded. The keynote address came from church spokesman, Sidney Rigdon, who gave an oration, sometimes referred to as the Mormons' "Declaration of Independence" from the "persecution of mobs." In it, Rigdon announced: "And that mob that comes on us to disturb us, it shall be between us and them a war of extermination; for we will follow them until the last drop of their blood is spilled; or else they will have to exterminate us, for we will carry the seat of war to their own houses and their own families, and one party or the other shall be utterly destroyed...'" Although the First Presidency was generally pleased with the speech and had copies printed and distributed, Brigham Young later recalled that it was "the prime cause of our troubles in Missouri.

Daviess Expedition
The new policy of an "aggressive defense against mobs" was put into practice in Daviess County when a group of non-Mormon vigilantes, primarily from Clinton and Platte counties, began to harass Mormons in outlying areas. The vigilantes hoped to drive the Mormons from the county through a policy of intimidation, the burning of isolated homes, and the plundering of property. Seeing the mob violence as a repeat of the nightmares they went through in Independence, Missouri a half-dozen years earlier, the Latter Day Saints requested assistance from state authorities, with little success. On October 18, Joseph Smith called for the assistance of all men who could participate; elements of the Caldwell militia, as well as some of the Danites and their secret oaths of vengeance, gathered at Adam-ondi-Ahman, the Saints' headquarters in Daviess County. From there, Apostle David W. Patten led raiding parties against the settlements of Gallatin, Millport, and Grindstone Forks. The cannon with which the mob had promised to attack Far West was found buried in the ground, and the towns were basically deserted; remaining non-Mormons were expelled, and some stores and homes were burned. Additionally, the property left by the fleeing mobs was "consecrated" by the raiding parties and brought back to the bishop's storehouse in Adam-ondi-Ahman. These actions caused Apostles Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde to dissent after this incident. They traveled to Richmond and swore out an affidavit concerning the existence of the Danites, and of a "destroying company" that had been set up with instructions to burn Richmond and Liberty.

Battle of Crooked River
1838 saw an escalation in tensions between the members of the Latter Day Saint church and their neighbors in northwestern Missouri. Ray County was located immediately south of the Mormon Caldwell County. The two counties were separated by a so called 'no man's land' measuring six miles by one mile, known as "Bunkham's Strip" or "Buncombe Strip." This unincorporated strip was attached to Ray County for administrative and military purposes. The citizens of Ray County and their neighbors to the west in Clay County, first began to have concerns about the Mormons to the north when a group of "dissenters" from the church were expelled from Caldwell County. These dissenters, including David Whitmer, W.W. Phelps, John Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery had been the leaders of the Latter Day Saint church in Missouri. They relocated their families to Richmond and Liberty, the county seats of Ray and Clay, respectively, and said that their lives had been threatened and their property had been stolen by the Mormons.

Conflicts between the Mormons and non-Mormons in Carroll County and Daviess County throughout the summer put settlers in the more settled counties of Ray and Clay increasingly on edge. This unease reached a bursting point when further dissenters, Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde of the Mormon Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, arrived in Richmond and reported that the Mormons had invaded Daviess County and sacked the county seat of Gallatin. They also charged that a Mormon group known as the Danites planned to burn Richmond and Liberty to the ground. This testimony sent the worried citizens into a near frenzy. Women, children and property were ferried across the Missouri River for protection against an imminent Mormon invasion, and the state militia was put on alert.

Lead-up to the battle
General David Rice Atchison, of Clay County, commander of the state militia in northwestern Missouri ordered a company led by Captain Samuel Bogart of Clay County to patrol Bunkham's strip to "prevent, if possible, any invasion of Ray county by persons in arms whatever". Bogart was not necessarily the best man for the job. According to Peter Burnett, a resident of Liberty, "Captain Bogart was not a very discreet man, and his men were of much the same character." Bogart had previously participated in a vigilante group that harried the Mormons in Carroll County.

Bogart quickly exceeded his orders. He and his men began visiting the homes of Latter Day Saints living in Bunkham's Strip, forcibly disarming them and ordering them to leave Ray County. Bogart then apparently penetrated into Caldwell County and began to similarly harass Mormons there, advising them to remove to Far West, the county seat. Returning to Ray County, his men captured three Mormons — Nathan Pinkham, Jr., William Seely, and Addison Green — who may have been acting as scouts against a potential invasion from Ray County.

Exaggerated reports quickly made it to Far West to the effect that a "mob" had captured and intended to execute a group of Mormon prisoners. The Mormons immediately assembled an armed rescue party. Although Colonel George M. Hinkle, head of the official Caldwell County militia was available, Joseph Smith placed Apostle David W. Patten in charge of the force. Patten, who had come to be known as "Captain Fear-not", for his part in the attacks in Daviess County, was apparently a leader in the Danite organization, and the choice of him over Hinkle may indicate the rescue was planned as an unofficial excursion. The Mormon force quickly moved south along the main road connecting Far West and Richmond.

The battle
On the night of October 24, 1838, Captain Bogart's unit had camped along the banks of Crooked River in Bunkham's Strip. Patten and the Mormon rescue company approached from the north along the main road. At daybreak on the 25th, the Mormons encountered the militia's sentries. A brief firefight ensued with each side testifying that the other had fired first. One of the sentries, John Lockhart, shot Patrick Obanion, the Mormons' scout. Obanion later died from this wound. Lockhart and the other guards then fled down the hill to the militia camp which took up a defensive position.

The Mormon company approached the camp of the Ray militia and formed a battle line in three columns, led by David W. Patten, Charles C. Rich, and Patrick Durfee. Rich later recalled that soon after the Mormons had formed their lines, the militia "fired upon us with all their guns." A general firefight commenced, but the militia were situated behind the riverbank and held the strategically superior position. Patten decided to charge the militia position, shouting the Mormon battle cry of "God and Liberty!" The Missourians were without swords and so broke their lines and fled across the river in all directions. During the retreat, the Mormons continued to fire and one of the militiamen, Moses Rowland, was killed.

During his charge, however, Patten was shot and mortally wounded. Ebenezer Robinson recalled that Patten had been "brave to a fault, so much so that he was styled and called 'Captain Fearnought'." Although it was not immediately realized, Gideon Carter had also been killed, making three Mormon fatalities and one militiaman fatality. The Mormons collected their wounded as well as the baggage Bogart's unit had left in the camp and made their way back to Far West.

Aftermath
Although the battle resulted in only four fatalities, the effect was a massive escalation of the Missouri Mormon War. Exaggerated reports (some saying that half of Bogart's men had been lost) made their way to Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs who responded by issuing Missouri Executive Order 44, known as the "Extermination Order," which stated that "[t]he Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state." Boggs called out 2,500 state militiamen to put down what he perceived to be open rebellion by the Mormons. In the end, the leaders of the church were captured and the bulk of the membership were forced to leave the state.

Thousands of Latter Day Saints had flowed into Missouri in just a few years; they were against slavery and voted as a bloc. This led to the unease and the mob action against the Saints; Sidney Rigdon fueled the fire with his July 4 speech. The Missouri state officials considered the Mormons to be the aggressors in the war, and after the destitute saints were forced to flee to Illinois, their homes in Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman were occupied by the mob. A large number of church leaders, including Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, and George W. Robinson were charged with many crimes including treason. It was during a preliminary hearing that Smith and the other defendants learned that Danite leader Sampson Avard had testified against them. As a result of the testimony, Judge Austin A. King of the Fifth Circuit of Missouri ruled that there was sufficient evidence to hold Smith, Rigdon and other leaders for trial; nevertheless, they waited for over six months in Liberty Jail for their trial. Despairing of ever being allowed to come to trial, Smith and the others escaped from the prison, and soon made their way to join the Latter Day Saints in Quincy, Illinois.

Number of Danites
The two primary and opposing views concerning the extent of the Danite organization are represented by authors D. Michael Quinn and Alexander L. Baugh.

The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University has highly criticized the first position posited by researcher Quinn for its reliance on arguably unreliable sources. Quinn follows the affidavit of self-professed Danite John N. Sapp, who stated on September 4, 1838, that the number of Danites was "betwixt eight and ten hundred men, well armed and equipped...." He also credits the testimony of another Danite, Anson Call, who said that "the whole of the Military Force" at Far West belonged to the Danite organization. Based on these and other statements, Quinn concludes that nearly the entire fighting force of some 900 Mormon men in Caldwell and Daviess counties had become Danites, and that by end of summer 1838, to be a member in full standing a Mormon must also have been a Danite. In a second position, Baugh disagrees and argues with Quinn that the Danites were always "a select group." He finds the testimony of John Corrill, who gave the total number of Danites at 300, more reliable than that of Sapp or Call.

Joseph Smith's involvement
According to an essay on the website of the LDS Church, "Historians generally concur that Joseph Smith approved of the Danites but that he probably was not briefed on all their plans and likely did not sanction the full range of their activities." Establishing the true leadership of an organization that self-identifies as secret and unofficial is problematic and has made establishing an accurate history surrounding the Danites difficult. While there are some primary accounts of the Danites and their activities, scholars of LDS church history largely hold that these sources are partisan (and quite often contradictory), with nearly all reports coming from disaffected Mormons such as Sampson Avard (ex-Mormon and former Danite with a well-documented vendetta against Smith and the church), John D. Lee (ex-Mormon who publicly said he had been scapegoated by the church), Fanny Stenhouse (an ex-Mormon who co-authored with her husband a series of exposés on Mormonism), and Ann Eliza Young (the ex-wife of Brigham Young and vocal opponent of the church). Certainly, the existence of the Danite band during the conflict known as the 1838 Mormon War is well established.

Joseph Smith never identified himself as a Danite. However, in 1834, Smith was elected as commander-in-chief of the Armies of Israel by the Kirtland high council. Though the Danite band self-identified as unofficial, there is confusion and controversy surrounding the independence of the Danite organization since its constitution states, "All officers shall be subject to the commands of the Captain General, given through the Secretary of War". Smith had the title of Secretary of War during the three years prior to the year in which it is widely believed the Danites were first organized. However, Smith did not attest to any affiliation with the Danite band, and none of the close contemporaries of Smith alleged otherwise.

In fact, despite likely originally approving of the Danites, Smith wrote of the actions of the Danites largely with disapproval and on more than one occasion. However, in speaking on dissenting Mormons, Smith wrote in his Scriptory Book that after Sidney Rigdon spoke on the subject of "dissenters," they (according to Smith) "took warning, and Soon they were Seen bounding over the prairie like the Scape Goat to carry of[f] their own Sins we have not Seen them Since, their influence is gone, and they are in a miserable condition. So also it with all who turn from the truth to Lying Cheating defrauding & Swindeling." It has been alleged by some historians that these comments evidenced Smith's approval of the Danites' actions.

Further, LDS Church leader Sidney Rigdon expressed disapproval of Danites, although he asserted his belief that the Mormons were within their rights to forcibly expel dissenters from their midst, saying that: "When a country, or body of people have individuals among them with whom they do not wish to associate and a public expression is taken against their remaining among them and such individuals do not remove it is the principle of republicanism itself that gives that community a right to expel them forcibly and no law will prevent it." Again, like the statements made by Smith, that such statements made by Rigdon could be said to be made in reference to the Danites is only suggestive.

There is one statement made by Joseph Smith which endorsed the Danite band, apparently near its inception. In his journal, Smith wrote: "Thus far, according to the order of the Danites. We have a company of Danites in these times, to put to right physically that which is not right, and to cleanse the Church of every great evil which has hitherto existed among us inasmuch as they cannot be put to right by teachings and persuasyons [sic]. This company or a part of them exhibited on the fourth day of July [—] They come up to consecrate, by companies of tens, commanded by their captains over ten."

Nonetheless, over time, as the prominence and violence of the group grew, Smith condemned the group, referring to them as "evil" in nature and a "secret combination" (a negative term in LDS Church usage). Since these condemnations largely appeared after Smith and the Church had been charged with treason in fall of 1838, and after Smith and the Church leaders became concerned with the actions of alleged rogue groups and their potential negative effect on the Mormon community at large, it is unclear whether they reflected philosophical or political positions of the moment.

Smith and the Church leaders eventually were forced to publicly excommunicate the Danite leader, Sampson Avard.

Hyrum Smith
Hyrum Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, was a member of the First Presidency of the church at the time that his signature appeared on the document known as the "Danite Manifesto." There has been dispute about if he in fact signed the document, or if instead others used his name because of his prominent position in the church.

Sampson Avard
Sampson Avard became the lead witness for the prosecution in a trial of Joseph Smith and other church leaders. As Avard was well known as the leader of the Danites, his role as a witness was a surprise to both the church and Missourians. Avard testified that he considered "Joseph Smith, as the prime mover and organizer of the Danite band."

Avard went on to implicate Smith as the overall commander of the Daviess Expedition and other Danite vigilante activities. He included a recitation of a Danite Constitution with eight articles, specifying that the "executive power" of the Danite society would be "vested in the president of the whole church." However, Moses Clawson, John Corrill, Reed Peck, and others (all well-known Danites) all named Avard as the head of the organization and not Smith. George M. Hinkle testified under oath that Joseph and Hyrum Smith never commanded any Danites in the field. Statements from known associates of Avard, including Ebenezer Robinson, Morris Phelps, and John D. Lee, place Smith in a more commanding role. Several scholars have pointed to evidence which suggests that, to avoid prosecution, Avard may have promised prosecutors that he and his associates (i.e., Robinson, Phelps, and Lee) would implicate Smith in the Danite organization.

It is clear that Smith was aware of the existence of the Danites and, at least initially, approved of certain Danite activities, Smith's role in the creation of the Danites and especially his involvement in its later activities (particularly actions of escalating violence) remain unclear. After Avard's excommunication and disaffection from the Latter Day Saint community, Smith continued to publicly condemn both Avard individually and the Danite organization as a whole. No known documents show that the Danite band operated at any time during its history under official Latter Day Saint sanction, nor that the Danite band existed after Avard's excommunication and after 1838.

Allegations in Utah
Historian Leland Gentry asserts that after Sampson Avard was captured in November 1838, the Danite movement "died a quick death." Gentry cites numerous evidences supporting this position in his book, "The Danite Band of 1838." Nevertheless, after the Mormons settled in Nauvoo, Illinois and later in Utah, they were dogged by rumors the Danites continued to exercise influence within the Mormon community.

These beliefs were fueled by the fact that many former Danites occupied prominent paramilitary or law enforcement roles in the new settlements. For example, alleged former Danite Hosea Stout became the chief of police in Nauvoo. Then, after Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, Brigham Young made Stout head of the "Whistling and Whittling Brigade" – a group of young boys who intimidated strangers by following them around Nauvoo "whistling" until they left. Another reported former Danite, Orrin Porter Rockwell, became a body guard to Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, and later to Brigham Young. Disaffected and dissenting ex-Mormon, Ann Eliza Young, stated that Rockwell gained fame as one of Young's "Destroying Angels".

Despite the presence of purported former Danites within the LDS Church, there is no evidence they continued to exist as an organized body after 1838, or that they participated in any actions against dissenting and former Mormons in Utah. For instance, while former Danite John D. Lee's lengthy confessional describes the operations of the Danites in Missouri, he makes no indication to the continued existence of the organization after the Mormons left the state.

When the expedition of Lt. John W. Gunnison was killed by Indians in 1853, some said that the Danites had a hand in the affair. However, these claims were refuted by an official investigation led by Gunnison's second in command. Similar reports circulated when Indians killed territorial official Almon W. Babbitt on the plains in 1856, though there is no evidence supporting this allegation.

In the 1870s, Ann Eliza Young and Fanny Stenhouse (both former Mormons) authored exposés of Mormonism. Young and Stenhouse stated that the Danites were active, and primarily occupied with the task of discreetly murdering and disposing of Mormon dissenters and outsiders perceived to be a threat to Brigham Young's power.

Brigham Young
Brigham Young denied that the Danites continued to exist. However, on July 5, 1857, just before the start of the Utah War, Young used language similar to the fiery sermons that preceded the 1838 Mormon War. In the address Young demanded military action against former Mormon persecutors, mobocrats, and the "priests, editors, and politicians" who were then denouncing the Mormons. Young declared that if these provocateurs came to the Utah Territory, the Mormons would "deal" with them. He stated that anyone who entered the territory and didn't "behave themselves," including any Mormon who "unlawfully disturbs anyone," would "find a 'Vigilance Committee.'" This was most likely a reference to the famous San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856, an organization that one writer called "the largest and most influential vigilante group in American history." Young also declared that any such men would find "not only the Danites, whom they talk so much about, biting the horses (sic) heels, but the scoundrels will find something biting 'their' heels."

Otherwise, Young persistently denied the existence of Danitism in Utah. For instance, in June 1857, he said in a public address: "[people claim that the Danites] are in every town and city throughout the whole of the United States, and that their object is not known by the people. That they are all over the world; that there are thousands of them, and that the life of every officer that comes here is in the hands of the Danites.  That even the President of the United States is not safe, for at one wink from Brigham the Danites will be upon him and kill him...It is all a pack of nonsense, the whole of it."

Later, in September 1857, Young said in a private meeting of the church leadership,: "the world accuse !(sic) me of controlling the affairs of Calafornia (sic) & kansas (sic) &c. The people do believe that we have a Band Called the Danites but how Could they exist so long without shedding Blood? For we Cannot find that they have killed any body. But I do not know of any such men."

A decade later, Brigham Young again denied the existence of violence by Danites. On April 7, 1867, he stated:

Is there war in our religion? No; neither war nor bloodshed. Yet our enemies cry out "bloodshed", and "oh, what dreadful men these Mormons are, and those Danites! how they slay and kill!" Such is all nonsense and folly in the extreme. The wicked slay the wicked, and they will lay it on the Saints.

Historian Leonard Arrington attributes the stories of Danites in Utah to overzealous descriptions of the "Minute Men," a law enforcement organization created by Brigham Young to pursue marauding Indians and white criminals. Arthur Conan Doyle and other authors had also popularized the idea of blood-thirsty Danites riding rough-shod through Utah in various fictional works. At the same time, there is evidence that, purportedly in order to deter and punish crime in Utah Territory, Brigham Young occasionally authorized local church leaders to engage in vigilante actions on an ad hoc basis. For instance, in early 1857, Young ordered local authorities to monitor two recently released convicts who were on the trail to California. If they were caught stealing livestock along the way, he authorized their summary execution. Historian Ardis Parshall believes that this led to an attack on an unrelated party which wounded several individuals in a case of mistaken identity. Indeed, in the same sermon where he spoke of the Danites and Vigilance Committees in 1857, Young also stated: "There have been men here who have had their plans to arrange for robbing; and I will take the liberty to say that, when we find them, 'judgement will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet.'  Those are my feelings, and I express them plainly, that the good and honest may be able to pass from the Eastern States to California, and back and forth, in  peace...I want the people in the States to know that there are a few poor curses here, and to know that we do not want gangs of highwaymen here.  And I say to such characters...we will send you home quick, whenever we can catch and convict you."

These vigilante actions may have also been a source for the continued Danite myth.

Depictions in popular culture
Beginning in the 19th century, a number of authors, including the notable British fiction writers Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson, make references to "Danites" as a shadowy, secret group who terrorized the early LDS Church settlements in Utah. These references usually appear in popular fiction or works critical of the LDS Church, and rumors of Danites practicing some form of blood atonement often play a significant role in these accounts.

Washington Bailey, in his memoir, "A Trip To California In 1853", reported local rumor that Brigham Young's "Destroying Angels" were conducting raids on wagon trains near Salt Lake City and blaming it on Indians. However he was not an eyewitness to these events.

Lavinia Honeyman Porter, in her memoir "By Ox Team to California: A Narrative of Crossing the Plains in 1860" also reported rumors of raiding Mormons near Salt Lake City, but did not mention the raiding group by name, and herself passed safely through Salt Lake City and conducted trade and social visits with Mormons.

Danites feature prominently in Story of the Destroying Angel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Stevenson, part of the collection The Dynamiter. Danites are represented as a world-wide secret organization of spies and assassins, dedicated to enforcing the edicts of Brigham Young. They are described as the force that makes Utah a "strong prison [...] who can escape the watch of that unsleeping eye of Utah?" They are described as bloodthirsty murderers, planning the "massacre of sixty German immigrants" and with the ability of making dissenters disappear without a trace.

A particularly well-known example is Arthur Conan Doyle's fictionalization of the Danites in A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes novel, published in 1887. In the story, the Danites constitute a brutal group of enforcing vigilantes operating under the direction of Brigham Young—and more particularly the fictional Sacred Council of Four, silencing criticism and questioning, and preventing dissenters from leaving the Salt Lake Valley. Doyle's embellishment of the folklore surrounding the original Missouri band transplanted to a romantic wild west setting, the established criminal notoriety of Rockwell, and rumors of Young's Avenging Angels made acceptance of the "authoritative" Sherlock story a simple matter for English readers. However, after a visit to Utah in 1923, Doyle is reported to have said "...he had been misled by writings of the time about the church." In 1991, Doyle's daughter stated that "Father would be the first to admit that his first Sherlock Holmes novel was full of errors about the Mormons."

Sally Denton, in her 2003 history of the 1857 Mountain Meadows massacre, American Massacre, claims that the Danites and blood atonement had a prominent role in 19th century Utah society. Denton attributes the creation of the Danites to Joseph Smith as his "secret group of loyalists" and suggests that they became "one of the most legendarily feared bands in frontier America." According to Denton, this "consecrated, clandestine unit of divinely inspired assassins" introduced "the ritualized form of murder called blood atonement--providing the victim with eternal salvation by slitting his throat." Denton said that "blood atonement" was one of the doctrines which Mormons held "most sacred" and that "[t]hose who dared to flee Zion were hunted down and killed." Denton implies that large numbers of such "atonements" occurred during the Mormon reformation of 1856, although "none of the crimes were ever reported in the Deseret News", and that the "bloody regime…ended with [Jedediah] Grant's sudden death, on December 1, 1856."

A major plot sequence of L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s 2009 science fiction novel Haze imagines a far future conspiracy of so-called "Danites" in the Utah city of St. George.

Thriller writer Steve Berry incorporates Danite and blood atonement lore in a contemporary setting in his 2014 novel The Lincoln Myth.

title: Danite


text:
Ähtäri

Ähtäri (Etseri) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 0 and covers an area of undefined km2 of which undefined km2 is water. The population density is undefined PD/km2. Ähtäri is located 83 km southeast of Seinäjoki.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Ähtäri is known for its zoo and hotel Mesikämmen designed by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen which is partly built within bedrock. The biggest lake in the area is Ähtärinjärvi. There is also a relatively old and small board mill called Vääräkosken Pahvi in Ähtäri.

The largest private sector employers are Inhan Tehtaat, Silver-Veneet, Tankki, and Muovilami.

Notable people

 * Anton Collin, cross country skier and road cyclist
 * Eero Hiironen, sculptor and painter
 * Kari Hirvonen, singer and Tango King
 * Aki Hintsa, sports physician and orthopedic surgeon
 * Toivo Korpela, preacher and speaker; fervent Laestadian and founder of the Korpela movement
 * Niko Korsumäki, Snowcrossing World Championship bronze medalist
 * Esa Latva-Äijö, actor
 * Veikko Mattila, Member of Parliament
 * Matti Pekkanen, engineer and politician
 * Emanuel Pohjaväre, Member of Parliament
 * Mikko Savola, Member of Parliament
 * Topi Sorsakoski, musician
 * Antti Tammilehto, musician
 * Seppo Tammilehto, musician
 * Edvard Valpas-Hänninen, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland

Notable groups

 * Noumena, melodic death metal band

title: Ähtäri


text:
Seismic tomography

Seismic tomography or seismotomography is a technique for imaging the subsurface of the Earth with seismic waves produced by earthquakes or explosions. P-, S-, and surface waves can be used for tomographic models of different resolutions based on seismic wavelength, wave source distance, and the seismograph array coverage. The data received at seismometers are used to solve an inverse problem, wherein the locations of reflection and refraction of the wave paths are determined. This solution can be used to create 3D images of velocity anomalies which may be interpreted as structural, thermal, or compositional variations. Geoscientists use these images to better understand core, mantle, and plate tectonic processes.

Theory
Tomography is solved as an inverse problem. Seismic travel time data are compared to an initial Earth model and the model is modified until the best possible fit between the model predictions and observed data is found. Seismic waves would travel in straight lines if Earth was of uniform composition, but the compositional layering, tectonic structure, and thermal variations reflect and refract seismic waves. The location and magnitude of these variations can be calculated by the inversion process, although solutions to tomographic inversions are non-unique.

Seismic tomography is similar to medical x-ray computed tomography (CT scan) in that a computer processes receiver data to produce a 3D image, although CT scans use attenuation instead of traveltime difference. Seismic tomography has to deal with the analysis of curved ray paths which are reflected and refracted within the Earth, and potential uncertainty in the location of the earthquake hypocenter. CT scans use linear x-rays and a known source.

History
Seismic tomography requires large datasets of seismograms and well-located earthquake or explosion sources. These became more widely available in the 1960s with the expansion of global seismic networks, and in the 1970s when digital seismograph data archives were established. These developments occurred concurrently with advancements in computing power that were required to solve inverse problems and generate theoretical seismograms for model testing.

In 1977, P-wave delay times were used to create the first seismic array-scale 2D map of seismic velocity. In the same year, P-wave data were used to determine 150 spherical harmonic coefficients for velocity anomalies in the mantle. The first model using iterative techniques, required when there are a large numbers of unknowns, was done in 1984. This built upon the first radially anisotropic model of the Earth, which provided the required initial reference frame to compare tomographic models to for iteration. Initial models had resolution of ~3000 to 5000 km, as compared to the few hundred kilometer resolution of current models.

Seismic tomographic models improve with advancements in computing and expansion of seismic networks. Recent models of global body waves used over 107 traveltimes to model 105 to 106 unknowns.

Process
Seismic tomography uses seismic records to create 2D and 3D images of subsurface anomalies by solving large inverse problems such that generate models consistent with observed data. Various methods are used to resolve anomalies in the crust and lithosphere, shallow mantle, whole mantle, and core based on the availability of data and types of seismic waves that penetrate the region at a suitable wavelength for feature resolution. The accuracy of the model is limited by availability and accuracy of seismic data, wave type utilized, and assumptions made in the model.

P-wave data are used in most local models and global models in areas with sufficient earthquake and seismograph density. S- and surface wave data are used in global models when this coverage is not sufficient, such as in ocean basins and away from subduction zones. First-arrival times are the most widely used, but models utilizing reflected and refracted phases are used in more complex models, such as those imaging the core. Differential traveltimes between wave phases or types are also used.

Local tomography
Local tomographic models are often based on a temporary seismic array targeting specific areas, unless in a seismically active region with extensive permanent network coverage. These allow for the imaging of the crust and upper mantle.
 * Diffraction and wave equation tomography use the full waveform, rather than just the first arrival times. The inversion of amplitude and phases of all arrivals provide more detailed density information than transmission traveltime alone. Despite the theoretical appeal, these methods are not widely employed because of the computing expense and difficult inversions.
 * Reflection tomography originated with exploration geophysics. It uses an artificial source to resolve small-scale features at crustal depths. Wide-angle tomography is similar, but with a wide source to receiver offset. This allows for the detection of seismic waves refracted from sub-crustal depths and can determine continental architecture and details of plate margins. These two methods are often used together.
 * Local earthquake tomography is used in seismically active regions with sufficient seismometer coverage. Given the proximity between source and receivers, a precise earthquake focus location must be known. This requires the simultaneous iteration of both structure and focus locations in model calculations.
 * Teleseismic tomography uses waves from distant earthquakes that deflect upwards to a local seismic array. The models can reach depths similar to the array aperture, typically to depths for imaging the crust and lithosphere (a few hundred kilometers). The waves travel near 30° from vertical, creating a vertical distortion to compact features.

Regional or global tomography
Regional to global scale tomographic models are generally based on long wavelengths. Various models have better agreement with each other than local models due to the large feature size they image, such as subducted slabs and superplumes. The trade off from whole mantle to whole Earth coverage is the coarse resolution (hundreds of kilometers) and difficulty imaging small features (e.g. narrow plumes). Although often used to image different parts of the subsurface, P- and S-wave derived models broadly agree where there is image overlap. These models use data from both permanent seismic stations and supplementary temporary arrays.
 * First arrival traveltime P-wave data are used to generate the highest resolution tomographic images of the mantle. These models are limited to regions with sufficient seismograph coverage and earthquake density, therefore cannot be used for areas such as inactive plate interiors and ocean basins without seismic networks. Other phases of P-waves are used to image the deeper mantle and core.
 * In areas with limited seismograph or earthquake coverage, multiple phases of S-waves can be used for tomographic models. These are of lower resolution than P-wave models, due to the distances involved and fewer bounce-phase data available. S-waves can also be used in conjunction with P-waves for differential arrival time models.
 * Surface waves can be used for tomography of the crust and upper mantle where no body wave (P and S) data are available. Both Rayleigh and Love waves can be used. The low frequency waves lead to low resolution models, therefore these models have difficulty with crustal structure. Free oscillations, or normal mode seismology, are the long wavelength, low frequency movements of the surface of the Earth which can be thought of as a type of surface wave. The frequencies of these oscillations can be obtained through Fourier transformation of seismic data. The models based on this method are of broad scale, but have the advantage of relatively uniform data coverage as compared to data sourced directly from earthquakes.
 * Attenuation tomography attempts to extract the anelastic signal from the elastic-dominated waveform of seismic waves. The advantage of this method is its sensitivity to temperature, thus ability to image thermal features such as mantle plumes and subduction zones. Both surface and body waves have been used in this approach.
 * Ambient noise tomography cross-correlates waveforms from random wavefields generated by oceanic and atmospheric disturbances. A major advantage of this method is that unlike other methods, it does not require an earthquake or other event to occur in order to produce results. A disadvantage of the method is that it requires a significant amount of time, usually a minimum of one year but several years of data collection are also common. This method has produced high-resolution images and is an area of active research.
 * Waveforms are modeled as rays in seismic analysis, but all waves are affected by the material near the ray path. The finite frequency effect is the result the surrounding medium has on a seismic record. Finite frequency tomography accounts for this in determining both travel time and amplitude anomalies, increasing image resolution. This has the ability to resolve much larger variations (i.e. 10–30%) in material properties.

Applications
Seismic tomography can resolve anisotropy, anelasticity, density, and bulk sound velocity. Variations in these parameters may be a result of thermal or chemical differences, which are attributed to processes such as mantle plumes, subducting slabs, and mineral phase changes. Larger scale features that can be imaged with tomography include the high velocities beneath continental shields and low velocities under ocean spreading centers.

Hotspots
The mantle plume hypothesis proposes that areas of volcanism not readily explained by plate tectonics, called hotspots, are a result of thermal upwelling from as deep as the core-mantle boundary that become diapirs in the crust. This is an actively contested theory, although tomographic images suggest there are anomalies beneath some hotspots. The best imaged of these are large low-shear-velocity provinces, or superplumes, visible on S-wave models of the lower mantle and believed to reflect both thermal and compositional differences.

The Yellowstone hotspot is responsible for volcanism at the Yellowstone Caldera and a series of extinct calderas along the Snake River Plain. The Yellowstone Geodynamic Project sought to image the plume beneath the hotspot. They found a strong low-velocity body from ~30 to 250 km depth beneath Yellowstone, and a weaker anomaly from 250 to 650 km depth which dipped 60° west-northwest. The authors attribute these features to the mantle plume beneath the hotspot being deflected eastward by flow in the upper mantle seen in S-wave models.

The Hawaii hotspot produced the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain. Tomographic images show it to be 500 to 600 km wide and up to 2,000 km deep.

Subduction zones
Subducting plates are colder than the mantle into which they are moving. This creates a fast anomaly that is visible in tomographic images. Both the Farallon plate that subducted beneath the west coast of North America and the northern portion of the Indian plate that has subducted beneath Asia have been imaged with tomography.

Limitations
Global seismic networks have expanded steadily since the 1960s, but are still concentrated on continents and in seismically active regions. Oceans, particularly in the southern hemisphere, are under-covered. Tomographic models in these areas will improve when more data becomes available. The uneven distribution of earthquakes naturally biases models to better resolution in seismically active regions.

The type of wave used in a model limits the resolution it can achieve. Longer wavelengths are able to penetrate deeper into the Earth, but can only be used to resolve large features. Finer resolution can be achieved with surface waves, with the trade off that they cannot be used in models of the deep mantle. The disparity between wavelength and feature scale causes anomalies to appear of reduced magnitude and size in images. P- and S-wave models respond differently to the types of anomalies depending on the driving material property. First arrival time based models naturally prefer faster pathways, causing models based on these data to have lower resolution of slow (often hot) features. Shallow models must also consider the significant lateral velocity variations in continental crust.

Seismic tomography provides only the current velocity anomalies. Any prior structures are unknown and the slow rates of movement in the subsurface (mm to cm per year) prohibit resolution of changes over modern timescales.

Tomographic solutions are non-unique. Although statistical methods can be used to analyze the validity of a model, unresolvable uncertainty remains. This contributes to difficulty comparing the validity of different model results.

Computing power limits the amount of seismic data, number of unknowns, mesh size, and iterations in tomographic models. This is of particular importance in ocean basins, which due to limited network coverage and earthquake density require more complex processing of distant data. Shallow oceanic models also require smaller model mesh size due to the thinner crust.

Tomographic images are typically presented with a color ramp representing the strength of the anomalies. This has the consequence of making equal changes appear of differing magnitude based on visual perceptions of color, such as the change from orange to red being more subtle than blue to yellow. The degree of color saturation can also visually skew interpretations. These factors should be considered when analyzing images.

title: Seismic tomography


text:
The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a rock band from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Their music largely consists of often tongue-in-cheek homages to the works of H. P. Lovecraft, specifically the Cthulhu Mythos.

Band formation (1992)
The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets formed in January 1992 after meeting at Fraser Valley College in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Lead singer Toren Atkinson and lead guitarist Warren Banks formed the band so they could open for local group Mystery Machine. Even though they "had no musical training or experience" they were able to create a three song set list and play the opening act for their first show.

The band's name is drawn from a phrase in Lovecraft's story The Tomb: "I will tell only of the lone tomb in the darkest of the hillside thickets". Atkinson and Banks decided to create a band around the Cthulhu mythos because it was a topic they were interested in, and it was a unique "niche that [needed] to be filled".

In their early years the band produced three demo tapes: Gurgle Gurgle Gurgle', Hurts Like Hell!, and Cthulhuriffomania. Most of the songs were later re-released on other albums.

Cthulhu Strikes Back (1995)
The band's first CD release was Cthulhu Strikes Back. Cthulhu Strikes Back was re-released as a Special Edition in 2003, containing two new songs.

Great Old Ones (1996)
In 1996 the band released Great Old Ones.

Spaceship Zero (2000)
In 2000 the Thickets released Spaceship Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The singer Toren said the album was "heavily inspired by the science fiction movies and reruns we’d all grown up with like Lost in Space and Angry Red Planet". Spaceship Zero was released under a new record label, Divine Industries.

Let Sleeping Gods Lie (2002)
In 2002 the Thickets collaborated with Wizards of the Coast to release Let Sleeping Gods Lie - an all-Cthulhu Mythos themed CD. The album was used to promote Wizards' new d20 edition of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. The album contained twelve previously-released Thickets tracks, and had a special tie-in with the Call of Cthulhu game rules. If the CD is played during a roleplaying session, the game contains rules for die roll modifiers that take effect depending on what song is currently playing.

The Shadow Out of Tim (2007)
The Shadow Out of Tim is the Thickets' second theme album, after Spaceship Zero. The title is a play on words from the H.P Lovecraft short story The Shadow Out of Time. The album is an adaptation and a rock opera based on Lovecraft's story. The album recounts the tale of a marine biologist who found his body had "been possessed by an alien intelligence" and works to find out what happened. The album was released at the Summer Solstice (June 21) 2007.

Among the songs recorded during The Shadow Out of Tim sessions were "Shhh...." and "(We're Gonna) Kill the Chupacabra (Tonight)." They were not included on the album as they "didn’t fit in with the [album] narrative". Both were later released on The Dukes of Alhazred in 2017.

In 2009 the Shadow Out Of Tim song "Blackout" was nominated for the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for Hard Rock/Metal Song of the year.

PAX, Child's Play, and Rock Band (2008)
In 2008 the Thickets were invited to play at the Penny Arcade Expo. Their performance at the event led to their previously unreleased song "Shhh...." being included as a downloadable track in the PAX 2008 Collection for the video game Rock Band. A Thickets song was also included on the "Child's Play CD 2008" compilation.

In December that year the Thickets organized a fundraiser dubbed "Cthulhupalooza". The event included a show by the band, as well as screening of The Call of Cthulhu and a Rock Band contest. The winner of the Rock Band contest won the opportunity to perform a Rock Band song with the Thickets. Proceeds from the event were donated to Child's Play charity. A second Cthulhupalooza festival was run in 2011.

The Dukes of Alhazred (2017)
In March 2016 the Thickets launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund creation of a new album. The album successfully funded later that year. The album was released in 2017 with the title The Dukes of Alhazred. A Stranger Aeons review said "If you like some catchy rock with your cosmic horror, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets are your guys!" In 2018 the Thickets won the "Rock" category for the Fraser Valley Music Awards.

Upcoming sixth album (since 2022)
In September 2022, the band announced on Facebook that they had started working on their sixth album.

Musical style
Lead singer Toren Atkinson classified the Thickets' music as "rock and roll" and "power pop". Toren notes that they try to be creative and original with their music and ideas. "One thing I’m proud of ... is that while we don’t necessarily take a Lovecraft poem or story and directly put it to music ... [our songs are] steeped in Lovecraftian lore. We make ... the Cthulhu Mythos our own by putting it in a more punk-rock milieu and a distinctly new, and often tongue-in-cheek, place".

In "The Strange Sound of Cthulhu: Music Inspired by the Writings of H.P. Lovecraft", Gary Hill described "One Gilled Girl" from Great Old Ones as "The Ramones take on H. P. Lovecraft". Hill describes several Thickets songs as having "thrash and punk influences merge".

Several reviewers have specifically called out praise for the Thickets' song lyrics. A review in The Unspeakable Oath said "the lyrics really are what sets this band apart". For his part, lyric author Toren Atkinson said "I like to challenge myself when writing music. I love playing with language".

Toren notes that he tries to use the Thickets' music to spread knowledge of Lovecraft and other related topics. "I try to use our music to promote literacy and that includes scientific literacy, but I don’t let that goal get in the way of our number one mandate: goofiness". "Trying new things and being fun is our core ethos".

Creative process
While the singer Toren admits to writing "95% of the band's lyrics", he attests that the rest of the Thickets' creation process is a group effort. "Usually when we practice, one or more of us will come with some melodies and riffs we’ve cooked up over the past couple weeks, and we 'jam it out' until we either get a song or we get sick of it". He also notes that the band uses deadlines as external motivation to create: "As a collection of lazy procrastinators, we will usually 'throw our hat over the fence' by booking time at a recording studio. Then we have x months/weeks to come up with an album".

Toren notes that they also reach out to the Thickets fan base for help when they need special subject expertise. "For example, for "The Math Song" and "Dies Ist Unverschamtheit" I had a brain friend help me with the algebraic equation and the German lyrics, respectively. On The Shadow Out of Tim, I put the call out ... for help with writing the Middle Egyptian lyrics".

Costuming
A large part of The Thickets live shows involves the band members wearing "imaginative and bizarre" stage costumes. The outfits are usually Cthulhu Mythos-themed. The band has gone through various iterations over the years, from plush gug and fungi from Yuggoth outfits to the red jumpsuit/astronaut motif for their Spaceship Zero concerts, to their Satyr costumes, and most recently, their early twentieth century nautical styles featuring mustaches.

Shows
The Thickets have toured across North America a few times, performing with such bands as GWAR, Dayglo Abortions, MC Frontalot, Freezepop, BlöödHag, Bad Brains and Nomeansno. They played at Dragon Con in 1997. The Thickets opened for They Might Be Giants at GenCon in 1998. They were invited to play at the first annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in 1996, and returned to play at the festival for three years afterward. They returned again to play at the festival in 2008 and Anime Evolution in 2010.

Members
The original three members of the band, at the January 1992 formation, were Toren Atkinson, Warren Banks and Quentin Rogers. Quentin, though, never appeared on any of their releases, nor played at any of their public performances. The first bass player to appear with the band at a show was Devon Presseau. The band has gone through several bassists and drummers since its inception. Thomas R. Falk has toured and played with the band as a second guitarist.

The current line-up of the band consists of vocalist and lyricist Toren Atkinson, guitarist Warren Banks, guitarist/bassist Mario Nieva, drummer Jordan Pratt (former drummer for the band Mystery Machine), and bassist/backup vocalist Merrick Atkinson.

Side projects
Several members have other artistic side projects outside of the band. Lead singer Toren Atkinson co-hosted a science/comedy podcast named Caustic Soda. Drummer Jordan Pratt, former bassist/video director Bob Fugger, and former guitarist Chris Woods formed and co-hosted comedy podcast Speedway Squad. Upon Fugger's departure, Pratt and Woods were joined by Thickets guitarist Warren Banks to create a new podcast, Horsetrack Hooligans.

Toren Atkinson is also an artist, having illustrated books for several role-playing games including Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu (and Delta Green), as well as the Lovecraft-inspired collectible card game Mythos. Warren Banks and Toren Atkinson also co-wrote the roleplaying game Spaceship Zero, published by Green Ronin Publishing, along with contributions by John Scott Tynes and Monte Cook.

Discography

 * Gurgle! Gurgle! Gurgle! (1992, cassette)
 * Hurts Like Hell! (1993, cassette)
 * Cthulhuriffomania! (1994, cassette)
 * Cthulhu Strikes Back (1995, CD album) – Reissued 2003 as a Special Edition with two extra tracks
 * Great Old Ones (1996, CD album) – Re-release of material from Hurts Like Hell and Cthulhuriffomania, with a few additional tracks
 * Spaceship Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2000, CD album)
 * Let Sleeping Gods Lie (2002, Special issue CD compilation)
 * The Shadow Out of Tim (2007, CD)
 * The Dukes of Alhazred (2017, digital download & CD)

Compilations

 * Fraser Valley Champions (1994, CD compilation) – 1. "A Thousand Fists", 11. "Big Robot Dinosaur"
 * iMpact Music Volume 3 (CD compilation)
 * Collections and Conceptions for the Critically Confused (1994, CD compilation), Closet Rock Entertainment
 * Raw M.E.A.T. Vol 4 (CD compilation)
 * Fight Prime Time (1996, CD compilation), Kathode Ray Music
 * Tombstone Park (1998, CD compilation), Reanimator Records
 * For Lucio Fulci: A Symphony of Fear (1999, CD compilation) – 11. "House Of Clocks"
 * Weird Fiction Horror Comp (date unknown, CD compilation), Valiant Death Records
 * Child's Play CD 2008 (2008, CD compilation), Penny Arcade Merchandise – 2. "Kill the Chupacabra"
 * Hymns From the House of Horror, Vol. II (2011), Rue Morgue – 1. "Shhh..."

Soundtrack appearances

 * Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 2 – "Some Things Man Was Not Meant To Know" (plays during ending credits)
 * Fort Zombie – "Ride the Flying Polyp" (instrumental) –Toren Atkinson also supplied voice acting
 * Dead Rising: Watchtower - "Cultists On Board"

Videography

 * "Diggin' Up the World" (Director: Bob Fugger)
 * "Worship Me Like A God" (1993) – Directed by Bob Fugger. Played at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in 1997.
 * "Colour Me Green" (1995) – Directed by Bob Fugger.
 * "Walking on the Moon" (Director: Bob Fugger)
 * "Sounds of Tindalos" (Director: Scott Winlaw)
 * "20 Minutes of Oxygen" (2011) – Directed by Mike Jackson.
 * "Arachnotopia" (2019) - Directed by Mike Jackson

Filmography

 * Bloodsuckers (2005) – "Slave Ship"

Further details and credits

 * "The Sounds of Tindalos" and "Slave Ship" appear in the trailers for the video game Sword of the Stars, for which Toren Atkinson also supplied voices.
 * Chapter ten of Gary Hill's "The Strange Sound of Cthulhu: Music Inspired by the Writings of H.P. Lovecraft" is titled "The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets: Lovecraftian Humor Set To Music".
 * According to the introduction of My Tank Is Fight!, author Zack Parsons says he took the title from a song by The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets (a verse of the song "My Tank").
 * The lyrics to "The Math Song" appear in calculations on a chalk board in an episode of the cartoon series Rocket Monkeys.
 * The Laundry RPG contains a scenario called "Going Down To Dunwich", quoting the two first verses of the song of the same name in its introduction.

title: The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets