Between March 8-18th, 1999, Mormon Historic Sites Foundation funded a scientific archaelogical study of the Haun’s Mill Massacre Site in Caldwell County, Missouri. by Dr. Richard Hauck of the Archaelogical Research Institute (ARI) of Bountiful, Utah, and two staff archaelogists, Brian Mueller and Alan Hutchinson.

The main objective was to locate the well where the bodies of fouteen of the seventeen Mormon men and boys killed on October 30, 1838, were interred. However, at the same time, it was hoped that the ground penetrating radar might also reveal the position of some community structures, such as the blacksmith shop where a number of Mormon defenders were killed while defending the community, the mill and dam.

Haun's mill stone discovered by George Edward Anderson in 1906 now on display in the city park at Breckenridge, Missouri.
Photo courtesy Alexander L. Baugh

Archaeological team that conducted the Haun's Mill excavation in October 2000. From left to right: Alan Hutchinson, Kim R. Wilson, Jonathan Bullen, Dr. Mark A. Scherer, and Dr. Richard Hauck.
Photo courtesy Kim R. Wilson

Between October 9-11, 2000, another archeological dig was conducted, also funded in part by the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation. Dr. Hauck was joined by Dr. Mark A. Scherer, World Church Historian for the Community of Christ, Alan Hutchinson, a research assistant, as well as Kim R. Wilson and Johnathan W. Bullen, both of whom serve on the board of the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation.

In cooperation with the Community of Christ, the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation is currently moving forward with plans to make improvements at Haun's Mill in Caldwell County, Missouri. Plans include road access and improvement, parking, landscaped walkways, and an interpretive marker and memorial.