of the truth, nor do any thing, and he feels as said let the damned scoundrels be killed, let them be swept off from the earth, and then we can go and be baptized for them, easier than we can convert them. The gentiles have rejected the gospel; they have killed the prophets, and those who have not taken an active part in the murder all rejoice in it and say amen to it, and that is saying that they are willing the blood of the prophets should be shed. The gentiles have rejected the gospel, and where shall we go to preach. We cannot go any where but to the house of Israel We cant get salvation without it. We cant get salvation any where else, and the only reason why he wants letters sent to all the governors is to have them let out their feelings, but he knows they will do nothing for us. This [p. [82]]
After the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith, Latter-day Saints used the scriptural phrase “blood of the prophets,” or similar phrases, to refer to their deaths. (See, for example, 2 Kings 9:7; Luke 11:50; Revelation 16:6; 18:24; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 472–473 [3 Nephi 9:5–11]; and Woodruff, Journal, 13 and 18 July 1844; 27 Aug. 1844.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Compare JS’s comments a year earlier referring to the council’s petitions to the federal government: “He did not care whether Congress would grant it or not, it would serve to goad them with.” (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 21 Mar. 1844.)