Mormon History, Mar 26, 1847 (Morning)

[Brigham Young Sermon] I counseled those living in dug outs to get houses on the top of the ground to live in during the summer, or they would be sick. I advised the brethren to cover their houses with puncheon. I felt that it was wrong to indulge in feelings of hostility and bloodshed toward the Indian, the descendants of Israel, who might kill a cow, an ox or even a horse; to them the deer, the buffalo, the cherry and plum tree or strawberry bed were free. It was their mode of living to kill and eat. If the Omahas would persist in robbing and stealing, after being warned not to do so, whip them. I realized there were men among us who would steal, who knew better, whose traditions and earliest teachings were all against it. Yet such would find fellowship with those who would shoot an Indian for stealing. I suggested that should any persons be caught stealing who belonged here let them be dealt with according to law, should the thief belong to Missouri, let him be delivered to the officers of the law in Missouri. -- Winter Quarters, Nebraska [Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1847- 1850. William S. Harwell, ed. CollierÂ's Publishing, 1997.:44]

[source: The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009)]

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