There are men in our midst who have threatened the lives of some of us, but I fear them not. I am clearly and decidedly in favor of entering <into> the project in contemplation, and of having men selected by the to go on this errand. Let the plan be accomplished forthwith. The object of this council when it was organized was to seek out a place where we could exalt the standard of liberty. There is a time for all things, and if this is the time to go into this thing I rejoice in it. There We can go amongst the red men in the forest and be safe. There is no treachery amongst them, and the reason why there is treachery amongst us is because the blood is not pure. I have no fears that the mob will drive us from here. I dont feel to relax our exertions in building & planting. Let these men be sent and let them be selected by the and it will be right and let it be done as soon as it is expedient. I [p. [21]]
This may refer to the belief among many Latter-day Saints that both they and American Indians were literal descendants of Jacob (Israel). In his statement Miller may have meant that while there might have been some Latter-day Saints who were not actual descendants of Israel, all of the American Indians were. (See Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 Mar. 1844; and Pratt, “Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles,” 2–3.)
[Pratt, Parley P.] Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-Day Saints. New York: Samuel Brannan and Parley P. Pratt, 1845.