Book of Mormon Evidence

Where did the idea that the BOM occurred in Central America originate?

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June 13, 2026

Where did the idea that the BOM occurred in Central America originate?

“Where did the idea that the Book of Mormon occurred in central America originate? What historical evidence from Joseph Smith exists to support the many Mesoamerica theories speculating about its geography? Where did the Book of Mormon history really take place and what did the Prophet, Joseph Smith, know about it, if anything? BYU law school graduate, former JAG attorney and author Jonathan Neville has conducted one of the most important, monumental and history clarifying research on these subjects. His research has culminated in one of the most important books on the Book of Mormon that has been written, a book that will finally lay to rest speculation about where to complete our search for the evidence of the reality of the Book of Mormon, a book that reveals new research that is destined to become… THE SMOKING GUN OF BOOK OF MORMON GEOGRAPHY…”
Rod Meldrum

Saturday, June 11, 1842, was unusually cold in Boston, Massachusetts. It snowed in the city that day, the latest snow in Boston history. Also on that day, the Dollar Weekly Bostonian published the first in a series of articles written under a false name–a pseudonym–that were part of a scheme to change LDS thinking about the Book of Mormon. The scheme would misdirect Book of Mormon research for 173 years.

By 1842 standards, it was a simple plan, but there were complications. The now virtually unknown perpetrator–who will become known as the “Smoking Gun” of Book of Mormon geography –was well known at the time. He had to work anonymously. He had to work from a great distance. And he needed an accomplice, someone very close to the Prophet Joseph Smith whom no one would suspect until it was too late.

To pull off this scheme, it had to be an inside job.

It was brilliantly executed. The seeds sown by the conspirators in 1842 took root and prospered. Even today, the fruit is visible inside thousands of LDS chapels around the world, in the pages of Church manuals and magazines, and in illustrations published inside the Book of Mormon itself. Millions of people–members, investigators, and critics–have formed opinions and mental images of the Book of Mormon based on the work of the Smoking Gun.

Try this experiment. With your mind’s eye, picture Samuel the Lamanite on the city walls, preaching to the Nephites.

Did you see a man standing on top of a massive stone wall, his red cape blowing in the wind? The sun setting behind him? A muscular archer aiming directly for his heart? (Picture left)

If that is what you pictured, you are experiencing the influence of this man… the Smoking Gun of Book of Mormon geography.

Arnold Friberg, who painted that image of Samuel the Lamanite and eleven other paintings in the famous series on Book of Mormon events, specifically set his paintings in Central America. His painting titled “Lehi and His People Arrive in the Promised Land” includes white birds flying around the ship. Friberg explained, “The birds are not seagulls, but rather swallow-tailed roseate terns, which are found in the tropical waters around Central America. Such details helped define the geographic location for this painting.” Smoking Gun of Book of Mormon Geography.

Why did Friberg choose a Central American setting? Why do so many people–perhaps most members of the Church today–think Book of Mormon events took place in Mesoamerica?

It was the work of a small group of men, led by the Smoking Gun.

Early church members speculated that the Book of Mormon events took place across the Americas. The “narrow neck of land” had to be Panama, they guessed, while the Nephites lived in North America and the Lamanites in South America. Such a hemispheric model might have made sense in a day when people did not have accurate maps–let alone satellites–to reveal the distances and geography involved. But Joseph Smith made statements that, had they been more widely known, likely would have focused the Saints’ attention on a smaller geographic area.

Joseph Smith’s view

The Book of Mormon text mentions only one site–Cumorah–that relates to a modern location. Cumorah is where the last great battles were fought, and is also the place where Joseph Smith obtained the plates. Some people believe there is one Cumorah; others believe there are two, one in New York and another–the scene of the last battles–in Mesoamerica. This raises the question, how did Joseph Smith’s Cumorah end up in Mesoamerica?

After crossing Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois as part of Zion’s Camp in 1834, Joseph wrote a letter to his wife Emma. He described “wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as proof of its divine authenticity.“

Where are the plains of the Nephites? The Book of Mormon describes several plains where events took place, including plains near the city of Mulek (Alma 52:20), the plains of Agosh (Ether 14:15), the plains of Heshlon (Ether 13:28), and the plains of Nephihah (Alma 62:18). Joseph could have been referring to any or all of these.

As recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord sent missionaries to the Indians living in New York, Ohio, and Missouri, specifically identifying them as Lamanites and telling them that He (the Lord) “would go with them and be in their midst.” (D&C 32:2) During this mission, Joseph Smith told tribes from Michigan that the Book of Mormon was the history of their ancestors. He wrote that the Book of Mormon is a record of “the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians.” ²

Joseph identified an old Nephite altar in what is known as Adam-ondi-Ahman. He had a vision on Zelph’s Mound of a fallen Lamanite who was killed during the last great struggle with the Lamanites and Nephites, and who served under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the Hill Cumorah or east sea to the Rocky Mountains. Cumorah and “east sea” are both locations named in the Book of Mormon text. The Book of Mormon explains that the last battles occurred between Zarahemla and Cumorah. Zelph’s Mound is located about 70 miles southeast of Nauvoo–between Zarahemla and Cumorah.

Mormon claims that when he was eleven years old, he “was carried by my father into the land southward, even to the land of Zarahemla. The whole face of the land had become covered with buildings, and the people were as numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea.” Mormon 1:6-7. One non-Mormon observer in the 1800s claimed that anciently, there were 5,000 cities at once full of people in eastern North America. Another reported over 3,000 tumuli, or mounds, along the Ohio River alone. Today there are 170,000 known “Indian” archaeological sites in Illinois alone. Artifact collectors in Iowa, directly across the Mississippi from Nauvoo, have found tens of thousands of arrowheads in the vicinity. More wash up whenever the rivers flood.

To help you understand how many mounds really did exist in North America, listen to what Dr. Gregory L. Little has said. “The most common question that is asked about mounds is, “How many exist?” In the 1800’s the Smithsonian sponsored many expeditions to identify mound sites across America. A map (shown below) was produced by Cyrus Thomas in 1894 in a Bureau of Ethnology book. They found approximately 100,000 mound sites, many with complexes containing 2 to 100 mounds. The figure of 100,000 mounds once existing— based on Cyrus Thomas map revealing 100,000 sites—is often cited by others, but that estimate is far, far too low. After visiting several thousand mounds and reviewing the literature, I am fairly certain that over 1,000,000 mounds once existed and that
perhaps 100,000 still exist. Oddly, some new mound sites are discovered each year by archaeological surveys in remote areas. But in truth, a large majority of America’s
mounds have been completely destroyed by farming, construction, looting, and deliberate total excavations” – Gregory L. Little, Ed.D., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks, Eagle Wing Books, Inc., Memphis, TN [2009].

We have taken the above map and laid on top of it the current Heartland Geography as we believe it to be. You will see an incredibly nice fit within all the red dots which constitute thousands of mound complexes.

D&C 125:3 named the area in Iowa across from Nauvoo as “Zarahemla” and that location fits the proposed ancient Zarahemla when an abstract internal map based on the Book of Mormon text is overlaid on North America.

Despite all these links to North America, Arnold Friberg, who “established for Latter-day Saints what Book of Mormon people, landscapes, and events might have looked like,” ³ picked Central America–as have most artists who depict Book of Mormon events.

Why Central America?

As listed above, prior to 1842, there was a consistent record of Joseph Smith locating Book of Mormon peoples in North America. What caused the shift to Central America?

The Times and Seasons–the equivalent of today’s Ensign–reprinted the Bostonian articles mentioned in the opening paragraph. These articles prepared readers for three additional articles published in the September 15th and October 1st issues of the Times and Seasons that specifically linked Book of Mormon cities to Mesoamerica.

The first Mesoamerica article claims “these wonderful ruins of Palenque [Mexico] are among the mighty works of the Nephites,” and “the Nephites… lived about the narrow neck of land, which now embraces Central America.” A second article reads new material into the Book of Mormon text: “When we read in the Book of Mormon that… Lehi… crossed over to this land and landed a little south of the Isthmus of Darien…” The third outright states that “The city of Zarahemla… stood upon this land [referring to Central America or Guatemala]… It is certainly a good thing for the excellency and veracity, of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, that the ruins of Zarahemla have been found where the Nephites left them.”

Joseph Smith was listed as the publisher and editor of the Times and Seasons when these articles were published. For that reason, even though the articles themselves are unsigned, many historians and scholars assumed that Joseph wrote, or edited–or at least approved of–these articles. No one knew for sure, but this assumption has become the prevailing view and is the underlying basis for the Mesoamerican theory.

Now, thanks to new Church history research, we know Joseph did NOT write these articles. The Smoking Gun of Book of Mormon geography is now revealed.

Smoking Gun(s)

The earliest case in the career of Sherlock Holmes (1880) was titled “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott.” In the story, a fake chaplain shot the captain of the ship–proven because “the chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand“–the first “smoking gun.” Now the term “smoking gun” refers to a fact that provides conclusive evidence of a crime.

Writing the three “Mesoamerica” articles for the Times and Seasons was not a crime in the technical sense of the word. But the mystery about their authorship has endured for 173 years because the stakes involved are so high. What reader of the Book of Mormon has not wondered where the events took place? Millions of people–members, investigators, and critics, as well as the curious and studious–have read the Book of Mormon. Having an idea of the actual setting is important in order to understand the Book of Mormon people and their society–as well as to establish the historicity of the book. If Joseph Smith wrote the Mesoamerican articles, then those who sustain him as a Prophet generally feel compelled to accept the Mesoamerican setting. In fact, it was the presumption that Joseph wrote, or at least approved of, these articles that led Church members to formulate the limited geography of Mesoamerica as the setting for the Book of Mormon in the first place. LDS scholars have worked diligently to vindicate what they thought were Joseph’s teachings about Mesoamerica.

But if Joseph did not write these articles, then shouldn’t the other things he wrote about the North American setting take precedence?

This brings us back to the central question: is there solid evidence of authorship? Is there in fact, a smoking gun?

Modern proponents of the Mesoamerican theory have used stylometry–the statistical study of linguistic style, word usage, etc.–to demonstrate that Joseph Smith was the author. Stylometry can find a “smoking gun,” but only if the actual author is among the candidates tested.

Two stylometry studies by LDS scholars have purported to prove Joseph was the author (or co-author) of the Times and Seasons articles. However, both studies limited their examination to only three possible authors: Joseph Smith, Wilford Woodruff, and John Taylor. Of the three, Joseph’s writing style was closest to the actual author’s, but not by much. The Mesoamerican articles were linguistic outliers. The results of the study showed it was unlikely that any of the three candidates they tested were the actual author. In fact, these studies essentially proved Joseph could not have been the author. (That analysis is too detailed for this article, but it is included in the book, “The Lost City of Zarahemla,” which discusses the historical facts in depth.)

So what went wrong? How and why did these scholars reach what seemed to be an incorrect result?

The scholars who wrote these stylometry studies are also proponents of the Mesoamerican theory. Perhaps there was an element of confirmation bias; i.e., because they believe the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica, they believed Joseph was the author of these articles and when the results seemed to verify this, the analysis ended. But in fact, it was the articles in the Times and Seasons that led to the Mesoamerican theory in the first place! The stylometry studies did not solve the real mystery of who wrote the articles.

There are two key facts that have been overlooked regarding the authorship of the Mesoamerican articles. First, much of the material in the Times and Seasons consisted of reprints from other sources that were mailed to the newspaper. Some articles were even written under pseudonyms. Second, someone other than Joseph Smith was actually editing and publishing the Times and Seasons in August and September of 1842.

What no one noticed before now was a number of similarities between the Mesoamerican articles and the known writings of one Benjamin Winchester. Words, phrases, and concepts were common to both sets of documents–and unique to Winchester.

Winchester, in fact, was the Smoking Gun of Mesoamerican theory.

This realization led to further inquiry. Who exactly was Benjamin Winchester? Why did he write these articles? How did he get them published in the Times and Seasons? What did Joseph Smith think of them?

Benjamin Winchester

Although he is mostly forgotten now, Benjamin Winchester was well known in the early days of the Church. He had been the youngest adult (age 16) on Zion’s Camp in 1834. He had been ordained an Elder and a Seventy by the age of 20. He had been present when the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve were chosen and ordained. Along with them, he had received a blessing and a promise that he “shall push many people to Zion.” In fulfillment of that blessing, he became a zealous missionary–successful enough that the Times and Seasons published an account of his missionary work in its very first issue in 1839.

Winchester settled down in Philadelphia, where he became the Branch President Presiding Elder (equivalent to today’s Bishop). Frustrated with the anti-Mormon opposition and the inadequate success of the missionary work, he started his own newspaper, called The Gospel Reflector, to promulgate his ideas about Church doctrine and the Book of Mormon, he developed a “new course of argument” that he believed would persuade the world to read the Book of Mormon and join the Church. A thrilling book by John L. Stephens, titled Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, was riveting readers with descriptions of an expedition that uncovered mysterious, long-lost civilizations. Accompanied by detailed illustrations of exotic ruins, the book became a national best seller. Winchester had previously sought to popularize the Book of Mormon by linking it to other books about archaeology, but the Stephens book was more sensational.

John E. Page, an Apostle who visited Philadelphia and conducted missionary meetings with Winchester along with another Apostle, William Smith (the Prophet’s younger brother), liked Winchester’s ideas. He wrote a letter to Joseph Smith, explaining this “new course of argument” with great enthusiasm. He gave the letter to William to hand-deliver to his brother Joseph. Winchester traveled through New York on his way to Massachusetts. Shortly thereafter, a member of the Church in New York, Dr. John Bernhisel, bought a copy of the Stephens book and sent it to Joseph Smith in Nauvoo. Winchester abandoned his mission and hastily relocated to Nauvoo, where he secured a job at the Times and Seasons following the death of Don Carlos Smith, another of Joseph’s brothers. He managed to reprint many of his Gospel Reflector articles in the Times and Seasons but the Quorum of the Twelve suspended him before he could reprint his Mesoamerica promoting articles, which were first published in the Gospel Reflector back in March 1841.

“…Here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed. By turning to the 529th and 530th pages of the Book of Mormon, you will read Mormon’s account of the last great struggle of his people, as they were encamped round this hill Cumorah. In this valley fell the remaining strength and pride of a once powerful people, the Nephites—once so highly favored of the Lord, but at that time in darkness, doomed to suffer extermination by the hand of their barbarous and uncivilized brethren. From the top of this hill, Mormon, with a few others, after the battle, gazed with horror upon the mangled remains of those who, the day before, were filled with anxiety, hope, or doubt.” Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VII Joseph Smith Papers “Letter VII,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:155–159 .

Later in May of 1842, Brigham Young formally silenced Winchester, printing a notice in the Times and Seasons so Mormons everywhere would see it. But Winchester remained convinced that his new course of argument would dramatically improve missionary work. His overriding motivation was missionary zeal. He was well intentioned, but he disregarded the counsel of his leaders, a problem Joseph Smith himself explained several times to Winchester personally. Joseph once told John Taylor, “You can never make anything out of Benjamin Winchester if you take him out of the channel he wants to be in… he can write for thousands to read while he can preach to but few.” And Winchester did not want to be out of the channel of proving the Book of Mormon with archaeological evidence from Mesoamerica.

But how could Winchester accomplish his goal when he was living in Philadelphia, especially after the Quorum of the Twelve had suspended him from the Times and Seasons and publicly silenced him? Was someone in Nauvoo working with him? Did he have an accomplice?

The first paragraph of this article mentioned a pseudonymous article published in a Boston newspaper. There were actually four such articles written, two by an author using the fake name “Q” and two by another named “A Lover of Truth.” The articles purported to be written by non-Mormons who were inordinately impressed with the Mormon preachers in Boston–including the link between the Book of Mormon and archaeological discoveries. The Times and Seasons reprinted these articles in July, August and September 1842.

There was no explanation in Church history regarding the authorship of these articles, but there was something suspicious about them. Winchester had been present at the Boston meetings, but he was not mentioned in the articles. A closer look at the linguistic style of the articles revealed another smoking gun: clearly, Winchester was “Q.” Why would he write under a pseudonym?

The answer was easy. He had to.

Winchester was posing as a non-Mormon. Plus, he needed to avoid attention from Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, who had previously reprimanded him so many times.

But who was “A Lover of Truth?” The writing style excluded Winchester. A series of investigatory breakthroughs uncovered yet another smoking gun. A Lover of Truth was a friend of Winchester’s.

Still, it seemed improbable that Joseph Smith, John Taylor, or Wilford Woodruff would have published articles from pseudonymous authors. Such an author could have been an enemy of the church, writing falsehoods to fool the saints and then discredit the Times and Seasons. Someone had to know the true identity of “Q” and “A Lover of Truth,” but who?

There was only one person in Nauvoo who knew their identity: William Smith, the brother of Joseph. William was the editor and publisher of The Wasp, another Nauvoo newspaper, but what did he have to do with the Times and Seasons? No account of Church history mentions William Smith in connection with the Times and Seasons. In fact, as the stylometry articles mentioned above showed, William was never even considered as having had anything to do with the Times and Seasons.

What everyone seemed to have forgotten is that William was publishing and editing The Wasp from the same printing shop using the same printing press as the Times as Seasons. In fact, there is abundant evidence that William was the acting editor of the Times and Seasons during August and September 1842. This is an astonishing discovery–yet another smoking gun–but it makes sense in the context of the other facts of this case. It was William who had hand-carried the letter from John E. Page to Joseph Smith that described the “new course of argument” Winchester developed. William had reprinted Winchester’s pseudonymous articles from the Bostonian. Therefore, it was William who published Winchester’s unsigned articles about Mesoamerica in the Times and Seasons.

But why would William participate in a scheme to link the Book of Mormon to Mesoamerica, especially if it contradicted Joseph’s own teachings? For one thing, William had a long history of confrontations with his brother Joseph. Shortly after Joseph’s assassination, William apostatized and became President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles under James Strang. In that position, he continued to promote the Mesoamerican theory of Book of Mormon geography.

So William Smith was Winchester’s Nauvoo insider and accomplice.

Joseph not only didn’t write the Mesoamerican articles, he didn’t edit, publish or even approve them. For several reasons (which are discussed in detail in the book), he couldn’t simply retract the articles. But he took action to mitigate their impact and prevent their recurrence. Within days of the unauthorized release of the three Mesoamerican articles in the fall of 1842, Joseph fired William from The Wasp, had Winchester removed as Branch President in Philadelphia, and resigned as Editor of the Times and Seasons himself.

The Legacy

The conspiracy fomented by Benjamin Winchester and William Smith is not merely an interesting and previously unknown aspect of Church history. George J. Adams, a close associate of Joseph’s, wrote that shortly before their martyrdom, “Joseph and Hyrum said that Winchester was rotten at heart, would apostatize, and injure the church as much as he could.” But as noted at the outset, Winchester has been largely forgotten. Few people other than serious students of Church history have ever heard of him. Has Joseph’s prophecy been fulfilled? Has Winchester injured the church?

The answer comes back to Winchester’s three Mesoamerican articles in the Times and Seasons. Certainly they have had a major influence on the Church through Mesoamerican Book of Mormon theories ever since.

For 173 years, faithful Mormons have been searching in Mesoamerica for evidences of the Book of Mormon. Scientific expeditions have been conducted. Books have been published, films produced, tours undertaken, and artwork and photos created and displayed, not only in chapels and temples but in the pages of the Book of Mormon itself. And yet, after all this time, energy and expense, not a single piece of evidence of the Book of Mormon civilizations has been discovered in Mesoamerica. At best, scholars find parallels and similarities. They’ve made an honest and sincere–but terribly costly–mistake.

All because of one Benjamin Winchester.

The Problem with Mesoamerica

The underlying premise of the Mesoamerican geography is that there are problems with the text as translated by Joseph Smith.

As an example, Mesoamerica has an east/west orientation. To the north is the Gulf of Mexico. To the south is the Pacific. However, the Book of Mormon speaks of the land northward and the land southward, not the land east and west. For Mesoamerica to qualify as the setting for the Book of Mormon, proponents must redefine the term “north” as used in the Book of Mormon (“Nephite north”), claiming it cannot be the same as the direction we call “north” today.

This has led one faithful LDS scholar to make the following statement:

“The Book of Mormon is the translation of a document from a culture with which Joseph Smith was not familiar. We have evidence that Joseph dictated ‘north.’ What we do not have evidence of is what the text on the plates said.” ⁴

This scholar doesn’t think Joseph’s translation is evidence of what was on the plates. It is difficult to conceive of an argument that undermines the Book of Mormon more than this. If Joseph couldn’t correctly or accurately translate a concept as basic as a cardinal direction, what basis is there for believing he could translate anything correctly or accurately? Joseph reviewed the Book of Mormon several times to make sure the translation was correct. If, as this quotation demonstrates, Mesoamerican proponents must cast doubt on the validity of Joseph’s translation to place the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica, the Mesoamerican theory sows confusion and misdirection.

Another prominent and faithful LDS scholar has defended his Mesoamerican geography in a series of books on the topic. Here are some of his conclusions.

“There remain Latter-day Saints who insist that the final destruction of the Nephites took place in New York, but any such idea is manifestly absurd. Hundreds of thousands of Nephites traipsing across the Mississippi Valley to New York, pursued (why?) by hundreds of thousands of Lamanites, is a scenario worthy only of a witless sci-fi movie, not of history.” ⁵

“Joseph Smith became convinced in the last years of his life that the lands of the Nephites were in Mesoamerica.” ⁶

“The prospect that any other part of America than Mesoamerica was the scene of Book of Mormon events is so slight that only this obvious candidate area will be considered here.” ⁷

This “sci-fi” take on Joseph’s comments during Zion’s camp may be understandable if one believes that Joseph wrote the Times and Seasons articles, but now that we know he did not, what justification can there be for ridiculing a North American setting? The second quotation expresses a common belief among Mesoamerican advocates that Joseph’s views changed over the years, but what evidence is there of that, apart from Winchester’s articles? Once we recognize that Winchester, the Smoking Gun of Book of Mormon geography research, wrote these articles and that William Smith published them, everything that Joseph wrote or taught is consistent with a North American setting for the Book of Mormon.

The third quotation from this scholar shows that he didn’t even consider a site outside of Mesoamerica, presumably because of the Winchester articles. Hopefully he, and those who have collaborated with him, will now recognize that the foundations for the Mesoamerican theories have collapsed, leaving behind nothing but swirling dust and the smoke curling out of the smoking gun that is Benjamin Winchester’s.

Why Zarahemla?

It has long been somewhat curious that the final Mesoamerican Times and Seasons article focused on Zarahemla. Why Zarahemla? Why didn’t Winchester write about the city of Bountiful, or the city of Nephi or some other Book of Mormon location?

The site across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo had been named Zarahemla by the Lord in D&C 125:3. Some authors have stated, incorrectly, that the site was referred to as Zarahemla prior to this revelation, but the historical record shows this is not the case. The saints’ use of the term Zarahemla for the land across the river from Nauvoo followed the revelation.

The Times and Seasons published only one description of the development activity in Zarahemla, Iowa. The author stood by the temple and looked across the river, writing “The Temple also commands a fine view of Zarahemla, and the beautiful prairie that stretches along, at its wonted distance from the river for several miles. Several buildings are in progress in Zarahemla.“

As you may already have guessed, the author of that article was Benjamin Winchester.

Winchester first formulated his Mesoamerican theory in March 1841–the same month that, 850 miles away in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith had received the revelation now known as D&C 125. Was the Lord preparing Joseph for what Winchester would eventually propose? Was it Winchester’s missionary zeal that led him to link the Book of Mormon to a best-selling book about Mesoamerica? Did this theory of Winchester’s ultimately injure the Church as Joseph predicted?

Everyone can assess the evidence and decide, but in the end, best-selling books and public fascination do not have enduring value. Only the truth does.

Notes:

Vern G. Swanson, “The Book of Mormon Art of Arnold Friberg, ‘Painter of Scripture’” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 2001): 26-35, 33. ↩
Joseph Smith, “Mormonism,” The American Revivalist and Rochester Observer 7/6 (February 2, 1833). Only the last two paragraphs of Joseph’s letter to the newspaper were printed. The entire letter appeared eleven years later in the November 15, 18. issue of the Times and Seasons. ↩
Vern G. Swanson, “The Book of Mormon Art of Arnold Friberg, ‘Painter of Scripture, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 2001): 26-35, 33. ↩
Brant A. Gardner, ‘An Exploration in Critical Methodology: Critiquing a Critique,” FARMS Review 16/2 (Neal A Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 2004): 173-223, p. 218 ↩
John L.Sorenson, Mormon’s Codex (The Neal A Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013), p. 688. ↩
Ibid, p. 694. ↩
John L. Sorenson, The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Provo, Utah 1992): 407. ↩

Sidon Flows South

Blog Posts

Rian Nelson

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June 12, 2026

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Head of Sidon

You can’t show in the Book of Mormon which way the River Sidon flowed by the text. The consistency is that Zarahemla was on the west side and the Head of Sidon was south of Manti. Jonathan Neville said, “Basically, “head of Sidon” does not mean “headwaters or source of Sidon.” The Mesoamerican activists simply change the text to suit their preferred geography. They need the Sidon river to flow northward because the only two rivers in Mesoamerica that they can possibly identify as Sidon flow northward. The tail of their theory wags the dog of the text.

“Promoters of the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory like to replace the phrase “head of Sidon” that actually appears in the Book of Mormon with the phrase “headwaters of Sidon.”

Why?

First, because they think Joseph didn’t translate the Book of Mormon correctly. He was supposed to translate a “Mayan codex” but goofed, so they fix the translation with substitute terms such as this, along with volcanoes, massive stone Mayan temples, tapirs, etc.

Why this particular substitute term?

Because they think that if the “headwaters” of Sidon are south of Zarahemla, the Sidon river must flow north; i.e., it originates in the south and flows north past Zarahemla.

Of course, the text doesn’t say that, but promoters of the theory insist on it because their substitute term “headwaters,” they think, excludes North America as the setting for the Book of Mormon.

And by excluding North America, they can justify their rejection of what Joseph and Oliver taught about the Hill Cumorah in New York.” Jonathan Neville https://www.moronisamerica.com/headwaters-of-sidon/

Confluence

“The least likely meaning of the term “head of Sidon” is the source of the river. In my view, the term refers to a confluence of rivers, such as where the Upper Mississippi meets the Illinois and Missouri, or where it meets the Ohio River, which is also where the river Sidon flows into the sea west (discussed in the next chapter).Consequently, when you read the text, think of the geography from Alma 22; i.e., the Sidon is the upper Mississippi River, and it flows south. To go from the land of Zarahemla to the land of Nephi, you travel east up the Ohio River and then south up the Tennessee River.” Jonathan Neville Moroni’s America pg. 45

CONFLUENCE noun [Latin , to flow. See Flow.]

“A flowing together; the meeting or junction of two or more streams of water, or other fluid; also, the place of meeting; as the confluence of the Tigris and the Frat, or of the Ohio and Mississippi.” Websters 1828 Dictionary

North/South Orientation

“The text of the Book of Mormon describes the River Sidon as having a north/south orientation, but it does not specify the direction of flow. One must infer direction of flow from other information about proximate locations, but these show the river flowing south, not north—just like the Mississippi River. Passages in the text that refer to going “up” to the land of Nephi and “down” to the land of Zarahemla are explained by the Tennessee River, which did flow down—northward—through the Land of Nephi to the land of Zarahemla.

So the notion that there is a north-flowing river is correct, but it’s not the Sidon River. Translated into the modern world, the Sidon is the Mississippi, and the river flowing up and south to the land of Nephi is the Tennessee River.” Jonathan Neville

Who changed it and why?
I know personally that Rod Meldrum and Jonathan Neville brought this discrepancy before the Scripture Committee and they are the ones who influenced the Committee to correct the LDS index about Sidon. The scriptures now simply say: Sidon, “most prominent river in Nephite territory.” Rian Nelson

I asked Claude:

“LDS glossary used to say when defining the River Sidon, that it flowed north. About 15 years ago they changed that to simply say the Sidon River is simply a river in the Nephite land, but didn’t say it flowed north as the current LDS guide now says”.

Claude AI answered:

“This is a well-documented change. Here’s what happened:

What changed and when:

The post-1981, pre-2013 editions of the LDS scripture Index entry for “Sidon, River” read: “most prominent river in Nephite territory, runs north to sea.” However, the 2013 edition of the Index changed the entry to read simply: “most prominent river in Nephite territory. Mobom Jonathan Neville

Who changed it:

The LDS Church’s Scriptures Committee made the change as part of a broader revision to the Book of Mormon Index that was published in 2013, which included hundreds of changes to roughly 15 index references. Mobom Jonathan Neville

Why “runs north to sea” was added in the first place:

Around 1981, certain LDS scholars promoted the theory that the Sidon River corresponded to one of two rivers in Mesoamerica that ran from south to north. This geographic theory made its way into the Index.
Mobom Jonathan Neville

Why it was removed:

The change reflects a more careful reading of the text, which actually never explicitly says or implies that the Sidon River runs north. The “runs north” language was an interpretive addition that reflected a particular geographic theory (the Mesoamerican model), not something the Book of Mormon text itself states directly. Mobom Johnathan Neville

The Underlying Debate:

Many scholars infer a northward flow from the text — the head of the river Sidon adjoined the narrow strip of wilderness near the land of Manti, which was south of Zarahemla, and from the head of Sidon one went down in elevation to Zarahemla, suggesting a northward flow — but this is inference, not explicit statement. By removing the directional claim, the Scriptures Committee avoided having the official index endorse a specific geography theory that remains debated among scholars.
Blogger

In short: the Church quietly cleaned up an editorial overreach where one school of thought about Book of Mormon geography had slipped into what looked like an official definition.” Claud AI https://claude.ai/chat/fde0e207-a6d9-41f9-965b-72ac38cca428

You of course are welcome to decide what direction the Sidon flowed in your opinion. I believe the intellectuals are more likely wrong, and those who use common sense are correct. Moroni said we may know the truth of all things. That is not evidence, but just one mans opinion.

Prophetic Witnesses “One Cumorah”

Book of Mormon Evidence

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June 11, 2026

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“I want to share with you some brief quotes from prophets and apostles that clearly speak about the Hill Cumorah in New York being the only Hill Cumorah. The Church Education System (CES) for years has taught about the two Cumorah theory which I believe is just not accurate. I know many in the Church, like me have been looking to make sense of why Mexico has occupied the minds of Saints in the Church for so many years. I feel I have found answers that “just make sense.” I know wonderful Lamanites are found in many places of North and South America, but I feel the main events spoken of in the Book of Mormon began in the Heartland of North America.

I have researched and studied and found secondary evidences about the Book of Mormon in North America. My testimony is based on solid spiritual confirmation of this Church and the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I am not trying to prove my point or to prove anyone wrong. It is fine with me for others to believe Book of Mormon geography happened in Central America, and there are those who really don’t care either way. I have been trying for over 40 years to find the other Cumorah somewhere in Central America and I had become complacent as I had never found any answers.

Many in the Church I believe, have also shrugged their shoulders and lazily said, “If the Lord wants us to know where the Book of Mormon events happened He will let us know.” Is that what we should say every time we have a question? Should we say if the Lord wants us to know whether cave men existed before Adam, He will let us know? Didn’t Moroni say “we may know the truth of all things?” Didn’t the Lord say, “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection?” D&C 130:18

How can we become a God if we shrug our shoulders each time and say , “Oh the Lord will tell me if He wants to?” You see how silly that sounds? I know the Book of Mormon is true and I also know the final battles of the Nephites, and the gold plates were found on that same Hill Cumorah, not in Mesoamerica, Chile, or Russia. It just makes sense especially after all the quotes you will read below. Joseph Smith never said anything about Mesoamerica, not even in the Times and Seasons that many quote him as saying. They have no proof those were even his words.

Jonathan Neville said, “Two stylometry studies by LDS scholars have purported to prove Joseph was the author (or co-author) of the Times and Seasons articles. However, both studies limited their examination to only three possible authors: Joseph Smith, Wilford Woodruff, and John Taylor. Of the three, Joseph’s writing style was closest to the actual author’s, but not by much. The Mesoamerican articles were linguistic outliers. The results of the study showed it was unlikely that any of the three candidates they tested were the actual author. In fact, these studies essentially proved Joseph could not have been the author.” (That analysis is too detailed for this article, but it is included in the book, “The Lost City of Zarahemla,” which discusses the historical facts in depth.) Blog here

I know if you read these few quotes below, you will be able to feel the power of these brethren and as you study and pray about it, I feel you will learn some new truths about the Hill Cumorah. I haven’t found one quote of Joseph Smith speaking about a Hill Cumorah in Mexico, yet I have found hundreds of Apostles, Prophets, and Saints discuss just One Cumorah in New York, as you will see below.” Rian Nelson

Evidence of an Ancient Civilization in Upper State New York
Hidden in the Heartland

Mesoamerican Opinion of Hill Cumorah

Let me share with you briefly what the Historians who believe in a Mesoamerican setting say. They believe the final battles of the Nephites and Lamanites happened somewhere in Mexico, and Moroni carried the final Book of Mormon from Mexico to New York and buried it there where Joseph found it.

“There remain Latter-day Saints who insist that the final destruction of the Nephites took place in New York, but any such idea is manifestly absurd. Hundreds of thousands of Nephites traipsing across the Mississippi Valley to New York, pursued (why?) by hundreds of thousands of Lamanites, is a scenario worthy only of a witless sci-fi movie, not of history.” John L. Sorenson, Mormon’s Codex (Deseret Book, 2013), p. 688.

“But when we analyze Book of Mormon statements about geography and events, the “land of first inheritance” can only lie west (Pacific) coast of Central America (1 Nephi 18:23; Alma 22:28)… [T]he southernmost portion of Guatemala’s Pacific coast or adjacent El Salvador is most likely where Lehi’s party landed and first settled.” Sorenson, John L., An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City, Utah; Deseret Book Company and Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1985, pp. 138-139. http://www.bmaf.org/node/415

Witnesses of Hill Cumorah in North America

“The Hill Cumorah is situated in western New York. . . . It is distinguished as the great battlefield on which, and near which, two powerful nations were concentrated with all their forces, men, women and children, and fought till hundreds of thousands on both sides were hewn down, and left to molder upon the ground. . . . The Hill Cumorah is remarkable also as being the hill on which and around which, a still more ancient nation perished, called Jaredites. . . . Millions fought millions, until the Hill Ramah, and the land round about, was soaked with blood.” Orson Pratt Millennial Star 28 (16 June 1866)

“On the top of the mound were stones which presented the appearance of three altars having been erected one above the other, according to the ancient order; and the remains of bones were strewn over the surface of the ground. The brethren procured a shovel and a hoe, and removing the earth to the depth of about one foot, discovered the skeleton of a man, almost entire, and between his ribs the stone point of a Lamanitish arrow, which evidently produced his death. Elder Burr Riggs retained the arrow. The contemplation of the scenery around us produced peculiar sensations in our bosoms; and subsequently the visions of the past being opened to my understanding by the Spirit of the Almighty, I discovered that the person whose skeleton was before us was a white Lamanite, a large, thick-set man, and a man of God. His name was Zelph. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky mountains. The curse was taken from Zelph, or, at least, in part-one of his thigh bones was broken by a stone flung from a sling, while in battle, years before his death. He was killed in battle by the arrow found among his ribs, during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites.” Joseph Smith Papers History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834], Page 483

“The final struggles between Nephites and Lamanites were waged in the vicinity of the Hill Cumorah, in what is now the State of New York, resulting in the destruction of the Nephites as a nation, about 400 A.D. The last Nephite representative was Moroni, who, wandering for safety from place to place, daily expecting death from the victorious Lamanites, wrote the concluding parts of the Book of Mormon, and hid the record in Cumorah. It was this same Moroni who, as a resurrected being, gave the records into the hands of Joseph Smith in the present dispensation.” James Talmage Articles of Faith

“For many decades the Nephites retreated before their aggressive foes, making their way north-eastward through what is now the United States. About 400 A.D. the last great battle was fought near the hill Cumorah; and the Nephite nation became extinct. The degenerate remnant of Lehi’s posterity, the Lamanites or American Indians, have continued until this day. Moroni, the last of the Nephite prophets, hid away the record of his people in the hill Cumorah, whence it has been brought forth by divine direction in the current dispensation. That record is now before the world translated through the gift and power of God, and published to the edification of all nations, as the BOOK OF MORMON.” Jesus the Christ, p. 743

“Joseph then went to the locality specified by the angel, on the side of a hill called in the record Cumorah, and immediately identified the spot that had been shown him in vision. By the aid of a lever he removed a large stone, which proved to be the cover of a stone box wherein lay the plates and other articles described by Moroni. The angel appeared at the place, and forbade Joseph to remove the contents of the box at that time. The young man replaced the massive stone lid and left the spot. Four years later, the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate were delivered into Joseph’s keeping by the angel Moroni. This Moroni, who now came as a resurrected being, was the last survivor of the Nephite nation; he had completed the record, and then shortly before his death had hidden away the same in the hill Cumorah, whence it was brought forth through his instrumentality and delivered to the modern prophet and seer, Joseph Smith, September 22, 1827. That record, or, strictly speaking a part thereof, is now accessible to all; it has been translated through divine instrumentality and is now published in many languages as the Book of Mormon.” Jesus the Christ, p. 767

*Zelph a Man of God by Ken Corbett. With Zelph’s Prophet named Onondagus*

“In the face of this evidence coming from the Prophet Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, we cannot say that the Nephites and Lamanites did not possess the territory of the United States and that the Hill Cumorah is in Central America. Neither can we say that the great struggle which resulted in the destruction of the Nephites took place in Central America. If Zelph, a righteous man, was fighting under a great prophet-general in the last battles between the Nephites and Lamanites; if that great prophet-general was known from the Rocky Mountains to “the Hill Cumorah or eastern sea,” then some of those battles, and evidently the final battles did take place within the borders of what is now the United States. There were no righteous prophets, save the Three Nephites, after the death of Moroni, and we learn that Zelph was slain during one of these battles during the great last struggle between the Nephites and Lamanites and was buried near the Illinois River. In the Book of Mormon story the Lamanites were constantly crowding the Nephites back towards the north and east. If the battles in which Zelph took part were fought in the country traversed by the Zion’s Camp, then we have every reason to believe from what is written in the Book of Mormon, that the Nephites were forced farther and farther to the north and east until they found themselves in the land of Ripliancum, which both Ether and Mormon declare to us was the land of Ramah or Cumorah, a land of “many waters,” which “by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all.” This being true, what would be more natural then that Moroni, like his father Mormon, would deposit the plates in the land where the battles came to an end and the Nephites were destroyed? This Moroni says he did, and from all the evidence in the Book of Mormon, augmented by the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, these final battles took place in the territory known as the United States and in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes and hills of Western New York. And here Moroni found the resting place for the sacred instruments which had been committed to his care.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation Vol. 3 Ch. 12

“At one time a fierce battle was fought near where Buffalo, N.Y., now stands, wherein two million were lying strewn upon the earth, slain in battle and no one to bury them, till the stench drove them southward to the Hill Ramah, which was called Cumorah by the Nephite race.” Reminiscences of Joseph the Prophet, by Edward Stevenson 1893

*Wandering Over the Plains of the Nephites by Ken Corbett*

“Just before the Camp passed from Illinois across the Mississippi river into Missouri, Joseph with Brigham Young and others went up on one of the mounds in the neighborhood to obtain a view of the great river, called the Father of Waters. Here they found an altar built according to the ancient style, and from its foot they dug up the skeleton of a man. They were surprised to find an arrow-head between the ribs. It was revealed to the Prophet that this was the remains of Zelph, a white Lamanite and a mighty man of God, who had fought as a chieftain under the Prophet Omandagus [sp]. He was killed in battle during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites. Of course, we know it was not in the last battle of the struggle because that was fought around the hill Cumorah. What a glorious gift is the inspiration of God!” The Latter-day Prophet, History of Joseph Smith, Written for Young People page 100-101 by George Q. Cannon Illustrated and Published at Juvenile Instructor Office Salt Lake City, Utah 1900

“The passages which I have quoted from the Book of Mormon… definitely establish the following facts: That the Hill Cumorah, and the Hill Ramah are identical; that it was around this hill that the armies of both the Jaredites and Nephites, fought their great last battles; that it was in this hill that Mormon deposited all of the sacred records which had been entrusted to his care by Ammaron, except the abridgment which he had made from the plates of Nephi, which were delivered into the hands of his son, Moroni. We know positively that it was in this hill that Moroni deposited the abridgment made by his father, and his own abridgment of the record of the Jaredites, and that it was from this hill that Joseph Smith obtained possession of them.” President Anthony W. Ivins of the First Presidency, April 1929 General Conference:

“The Book of Mormon tells us that America is a land of promise, a land choice above all other lands. Nephi said that whosoever should possess it must serve the God of the land or they would be swept off. And we have read in the Book of Mormon of the nations that have been swept off because they ceased to worship the God who had led them and their forefathers here to this land. We have a great responsibility as citizens in this land, for the Lord said that he would fight its battles and be its king, if we will just serve him. So it’s appropriate at this time that we express our appreciation for this great land. I like the words Moses used when he gave a blessing to the twelve tribes of Israel. When he blessed Joseph he promised him a new land in the utmost bowels of the everlasting hills (see Deut. 33:15). Now that isn’t in Jerusalem because they don’t have everlasting hills over there, and the prophets have never predicted a regathering of all nations to the land of Israel. But they have predicted the gathering of Israel to this land of America, which is the land of Joseph. And we are the only people in the world who know what that land is that Moses promised to Joseph. It was so great in his eyes as he received the revelations of the Holy Spirit that in describing the land he used the word “precious” five times in just four verses…We have so much to be grateful for. We are not here by chance. We are here because of the sacrifices of our pioneer fathers who came to this choice land that the Lord, according to the Book of Mormon, had hidden away from the eyes of the world that it should not be overrun. He preserved it for us, for the day and time in which we now live here in these valleys of the mountains.” Thanksgiving LEGRAND RICHARDS of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Nov. 18, 1980 • Devotional

“…Here, between these hills, (Yellow space above) the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed. By turning to the 529th and 530th pages of the Book of Mormon, you will read Mormon’s account of the last great struggle of his people, as they were encamped round this hill Cumorah. In this valley fell the remaining strength and pride of a once powerful people, the Nephites—once so highly favored of the Lord, but at that time in darkness, doomed to suffer extermination by the hand of their barbarous and uncivilized brethren. From the top of this hill, Mormon, with a few others, after the battle, gazed with horror upon the mangled remains of those who, the day before, were filled with anxiety, hope, or doubt.” Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VII Joseph Smith Papers “Letter VII,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:155–159 .

“On the top of the mound were stones which presented the appearance of three altars having been erected one above the other, according to the ancient order; and the remains of bones were strewn over the surface of the ground. The brethren procured a shovel and a hoe, and removing the earth to the depth of about one foot, discovered the skeleton of a man, almost entire, and between his ribs the stone point of a Lamanitish arrow, which evidently produced his death. Elder Burr Riggs retained the arrow. The contemplation of the scenery around us produced peculiar sensations in our bosoms; and subsequently the visions of the past being opened to my understanding by the Spirit of the Almighty, I discovered that the person whose skeleton was before us was a white Lamanite, a large, thick-set man, and a man of God. His name was Zelph. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky mountains. The curse was taken from Zelph, or, at least, in part-one of his thigh bones was broken by a stone flung from a sling, while in battle, years before his death. He was killed in battle by the arrow found among his ribs, during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites.” Joseph Smith Papers History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834], Page 483

. “We visited the Hill Cumorah and were accorded the courtesy of going thereon by the wife of Mr. George Sampson, a brother of Admiral Wm. Sampson, who before his death owned the property. When we went up there and looked around, we felt that we were standing on holy ground. The brethren located, as near as they thought was possible, the place from which the plates of the Book of Mormon were taken by the Prophet. We were delighted to be there. Looking over the surrounding country we remembered that two great races of people had wound up their existence in the vicinity, had fought their last fight, and that hundreds of thousands had been slain within sight of that hill. Evidence of the great battles that have been fought there in days gone by are manifest in the numerous spear and arrow-heads that have been found by farmers while plowing in that neighborhood. We were fortunate enough to obtain a few of the arrowheads.” (George Albert Smith, Conference Report, April 1906, Third Day—Morning Session p. 56)

“Aug. 11, Wed: President McCune and I went early to the Grove. Later we were conveyed by auto to the Hill Cumorah by Brother Bean. We climbed the hill and traversed it back and fore and examined it with interest and care. It is the largest of the many glacial drumlins of the locality, and is the most prominent of all the elevations in the neighborhood. Aside from the fact that the plates of the Book of Mormon were taken from this hill, I was greatly interested in looking from its summit over the surrounding region and in contemplating the tremendous battle-scenes of the past, whereby first the Jaredites and later the Nephites were exterminated as nations. I believe the Book of Mormon account without reservation or modification. I believe, also, and express it as my personal conviction, that many ancient records, possibly those from which Mormon made his abridgment, are still concealed in that hill. I believe also that they will be brought forth in the Lord’s due time, and that until that time no man will succeed in finding them.” (James E. Talmage Journal Entries, 1920, pg 132-133; Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU: MSS 229, Box 6, Folder 1, Journal 23.)

“The far west, as the section of country from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains may justly be styled, is not only distant from the Atlantic States, but different. Its principle river, running rapidly from the 48th to the 39th degree of north latitude, is always rily, always wearing away its banks and always making new channels: It is rightly named Missouri; for in plain English, it looks like the waters of misery, -or troubled water:-even as the sea which the prophet said, Casts up mire and dirt. With the exception of the skirts of timber upon the streams of water, this region of country is one continued field, or prairie, (as the French have it, meaning meadows,) and there is something ancient as well as grand about it, too; for while the eye takes in a large scope of clear field, or extensive plains, decorated with here and there a patch of timber, like the orchards which beautify the farms in the east, the mind goes back to the day, when the Jaredites were in their glory upon this choice land above all others, and comes on till they, and even the Nephites, were destroyed for their wickedness:

Here pause and look to the east, and read the words of the prophet: Wo to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which is on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.-The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: and the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate…

To return: this beautiful region of country is now mostly, excepting Arkansas and Missouri, the land of Joseph or the Indians, as they are called, and embraces three fine climates: First, like that of New-York; second, like Missouri, neither northern nor southern; and third, like the Carolinas. This place may be called the centre [center] of America; it being about an equal distance from Maine, to Nootka sound; and from the gulf of St. Lawrence to the gulf of California; yea, and about the middle of the continent from cape Horn, south, to the head land at Baffin’s Bay, north. The world will never value the land of Desolation, as it is called in the Book of Mormon, for anything more than hunting ground, for want of timber and mill-seats: The Lord to the contrary notwithstanding, declares it to be the land of Zion which is the land of Joseph, blessed by him, for the precious things of heaven…” Editor WW Phelps Evening and Morning Star Vol. 1 No. 5 October 1832 Page 71

“In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement . . . to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. . . . The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country.” 1842 Joseph Smith, Jr The Times and Seasons 3 (1 March 1842), pp. 707-8 History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 4:537-8

The Hill Cumorah is situated in western New York. . . . It is distinguished as the great battlefield on which, and near which, two powerful nations were concentrated with all their forces, men, women and children, and fought till hundreds of thousands on both sides were hewn down, and left to molder upon the ground. . . . The Hill Cumorah is remarkable also as being the hill on which and around which, a still more ancient nation perished, called Jaredites. . . . Millions fought millions, until the Hill Ramah, and the land round about, was soaked with blood.” 1866 Orson Pratt Millennial Star 28 (16 June 1866)

In 1873, apostles Brigham Young Jr. and George Q. Cannon visited the New York Hill Cumorah and wrote up an account of the same which was published. “Undoubtedly great changes had occurred in the appearance of the surrounding country[side] since the days when Mormon and [his son] Moroni had trod the spot where we stood. Still we could readily understand, even now, how admirable a position this would be [from the hilltop] for a general to occupy in watching and directing the movements of armies and in scrutinizing the position of an enemy.

Around Cumorah is yet a land of many waters, rivers and fountains [just] as Mormon said it was in his day. Our emotions on treading on this sacred hill were of the most peculiar character. They were indescribable. This was the hill Ramah of the Jaredites. In this vicinity, Coriantumr and Shiz, with the people whom they led, fought their last battle. For this great battle they were four years preparing, gathering the people together from all parts of the land, and arming men and women, and even children. The battle lasted eight days, and the result was the complete extermination of the Jaredite nation, none being left but the Prophet Ether and Coriantumr, who succeeded in slaying his mortal enemy Shiz. [Ether] and Coriantumr alone, of all that mighty race which had flourished upwards of fifteen hundred, were left. Who can imagine the feelings which he must have had on such an occasion?

From the summit of this hill, Mormon and his great son Moroni had also witnessed the gathering of hosts of the Nephites, and the dusky and myriad legions of their deadly enemies, the Lamanites. Around this hill they had marshaled their forces–their twenty-three divisions of ten thousand men each, commanded by the most skillful of their generals, all to be swept away except Moroni.

Joseph Smith and the Angel Moroni by Tom Holdman (Stained glass) Hill Cumorah Visitors Center, Palmyra, New York (Photo courtesy of J. Stephen Conn, June 28, 2009. On the late evening of September 22, 1827 (1 Tishrei, 5588), Joseph Smith Jr. obtained the golden plates as Moroni gives him a charge to protect them.

It was here that [Mormon] hid the abridgement which he made of the records [of his people], and which is know known by his name [Book of Mormon]. And it was here, thirty-six years after this tremendous battle, that his son Moroni also hid his abridgment of the book of Ether, and the record which he had made from which we learn the fate of his father, Mormon, and his other companions.

It was to this spot that about fourteen hundred years after these events, Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was led by Moroni in person, and here the records, engraved on plates, were committed to him for translation. Who could tread this ground and reflect upon these mighty events, and not be filled with indescribable emotion?” Brigham Young, Jr. and George Q. Cannon The Latter-Day Saints’ Millennial Star,(35 (33): 513-16), Tuesday, August 19th, 1873

In 1900, George Reynolds finally published his Complete Concordance to the Book of Mormon, much of which (25,000 entries) had been completed while in prison in 1880. Until the age of computers, this monumental work would become the standard for students of the Book of Mormon. “CUMORAH- A hill and the district immediately surrounding it in Ontario County, State of New York. It was known as Ramah to the Jaredites. In its vicinity both the Jaredite and the Nephite races were destroyed in battle. Within its bosom the sacred records of the latter race were concealed.” George Reynolds Complete Concordance of the Book of Mormon, SLC: Deseret Book, 1900

McGavin and Bean explain their point of view concerning the identity of the Hill Cumorah as an ancient battlefield. The authors conclude that the scholars “need not search for [Cumorah] in Mexico or Yucatan” E. Cecil McGavin and Willard W. Bean “Cumorah-Land, An Ancient Battlefield,” The Improvement Era 44, September 1941, 526, 571-72.

The book, Book of Mormon Geography, SLC: Bookcraft, argues that the Hill Cumorah and the Hill Ramah as geographical locations in the Book of Mormon were located in upstate New York. It therefore challenges the theory that the Hill Cumorah was located somewhere in Latin America. In the preface we find the following: “In recent years there has been a tendency among certain students of the Book of Mormon to orientate Book of Mormon cultures far to the south. Many students of the subject are convinced that the three colonies that came to America had their existence in Central America and Mexico. They are thought to have lived within a radius of a few hundred miles of Zarahemla, never pushing northward many miles, certainly not thrusting out their branches as far north as the Great Lakes along our Canadian border. . . .

Most students who accept this theory do not consider the Hill Cumorah in western New York as the hill where the gold plates were originally deposited, nor the area immediately south of the Great Lakes as the site of the Jaredite and Nephite battlefields. This theory leads to the assumption that Moroni buried the gold pates in a hill in Middle America known as Cumorah. After Joseph Smith’s family moved to Palmyra, New York, it is thought that the Angel Moroni took the plates from the Hill Cumorah in Central America and deposited them in the largest hill near the Smith homestead in western New York. .

The following pages are a plea in defense of the old theory–the interpretation of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Orson Pratt, and a countless number of the Authorities of the Church. It is our humble opinion that there is no occasion to fling aside the old interpretation and accept the new, thus restricting the Book of Mormon races to the restricted confines of Central America.

We are indebted to Elder Mark E. Petersen, of the Quorum of the Twelve, for reading the manuscript and encouraging us to hasten its publication. He wrote these lines after reading it:” “I greatly enjoyed my perusal of your manuscript, and was very much impressed with the array of information you have gathered together from archaeological and other sources to prove your points. I recall that many of our people who have made studies in the region of the Hill Cumorah in western New York are convinced that the Nephites and Lamanites fought their last battles there because of the discovery of so many evidences of an ancient battle in that region. I am glad for anything that strengthens the faith of our people, and I believe that this new book will do that, particularly with respect to their attitude toward the Book of Mormon. I hope many people will read it and enjoy it as I did.” 1948 E. Cecil McGavin and Willard W. Bean Book of Mormon Geography, SLC: Bookcraft

“Cumorah in the Book of Mormon refers to a hill and surrounding area where the final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites took place, resulting in the annihilation of the Nephite people. Sensing the impending destruction of his people, Mormon records that he concealed the plates of Nephi and all the other records entrusted to him in a hill called Cumorah to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Lamanites. He delivered his own abridgment of these records, called the plates of Mormon, and the small plates of Nephi, which he placed with them, to his son Moroni (W of M 1:5; Morm. 6:6), who continued writing on them before burying them in an unmentioned site more than thirty-six years later (Moro. 10:1-2).

Cumorah had also been the site of the destruction of the Jaredites roughly 900 years earlier. Moroni states in the book of Ether that the Jaredites gathered for battle near “the hill Ramah,” the same hill where his father, Mormon, hid up “the records unto the Lord, which were sacred” (Ether 15:11). It was near the first landing site of the people of Mulek (Alma 22:30), just north of the land Bountiful and a narrow neck of land (Alma 22:32).

The more common reference to Cumorah among Latter-day Saints is to the hill near present-day Palmyra and Manchester, New York, where the plates from which the Prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon were found. During the night of September 21, 1823, Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith as an angel sent from God to show him where these plates were deposited (JS–H 1:29-47).

In 1928 the Church purchased the western New York hill and in 1935 erected a monument recognizing the visit of the angel Moroni. A visitors center was later built at the base of the hill. Each summer since 1937, the Church has staged the Cumorah Pageant at this site. Entitled America’s Witness for Christ, it depicts important events from Book of Mormon history. This annual pageant has reinforced the common assumption that Moroni buried the plates of Mormon in the same hill where his father had buried the other plates, thus equating this New York hill with the Book of Mormon Cumorah. Because the New York site does not readily fit the Book of Mormon description of Book of Mormon geography, some Latter-day Saints have looked for other possible explanations and locations, including Mesoamerica. Although some have identified possible sites that may seem to fit better (Palmer), there are no conclusive connections between the Book of Mormon text and any specific site that has been suggested.” 1992 David A. Palmer “Cumorah” in Daniel H. Ludlow ed. Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992, pp. 346-347.

“From the time Father Bosley located near Avon, he found and plowed up axes and irons, and had sufficient to make his mill irons, and had always abundance of iron on hand without purchasing. In the towns of Bloomfield, Victor, Manchester, and in the regions round about, there were hills upon the tops of which were entrenchments and fortifications, and in them were human bones, axes, tomahawks, points of arrows, beads and pipes, which were frequently found; and it was a common occurrence in the country to plow up axes, which I have done many times myself.

I have visited the fortifications on the tops of those hills frequently, and the one near Bloomfield I have crossed hundreds of times, which is on the bluff of Honeyoye River, at the outlet of Honeyoye Lake. In that region there are many small deep lakes, and in some of them the bottom has never been found. Fish abound in them. The hill Cumorah is a high hill for that country, and had the appearance of a fortification or entrenchment around it. In the State of New York, probably there are hundreds of these fortifications which are now visible, and I have seen them in many other parts of the United States. Readers of the Book of Mormon will remember that in this very region, according to that sacred record, the final battles were fought between the Nephites and Lamanites. At the hill Cumorah, the Nephites made their last stand prior to their utter extermination, A. D., 385. Thus was Heber preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, above the graves of the ancients of Israel, whose records with the fullness of that Gospel, and the relics of their prowess and civilization, were now whispering from the dust.” Life of Heber C. Kimball by Orson F. Whitney Mounds at Cumorah

The importance of this statement lies in the fact that it is made by the second elder of the Church, when it was organized; he was Joseph Smith’s amanuensis in the translation of Mormon’s record. It is written and published in the life time of the Prophet Joseph Smith, with his knowledge and approval; It is published in the Saints Messenger and Advocate, the organ of the Church at that time, 1834; and it is inconceivable that the Prophet Joseph would permit the publication of such an article identifying this hill where he found the record called the Book of Mormon with the hill called Ramah by the Jaredites, and Cumorah by the Nephites, and the scene of the successive battles which destroyed both of these nations in the region; and also identifying it with the hill in which Mormon deposited “all of the Nephite records” which had been given into his custody–if it did not state the truth.

A testimony also comes from David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the truth of the Book of Mormon. When Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery found it necessary to move from Harmony, Pennsylvania, to Fayette, New York, David Whitmer drove them from Harmony to the home of his father in Fayette. Before starting on this journey Moroni came to the Prophet and took possession of the plates in order to insure their safety in transit to the Whitmer home. On the way the three brethren, Joseph, Oliver and David overtook Moroni carrying the plates. (see note#1) Joseph suggested to David that he ask the “stranger” to ride. David stopped his team and invited him to ride, if by chance he would be going in their direction. “No,” said the one addressed, very pleasantly, “I am going to Cumorah.” “This name was somewhat new to me,” says David, “and I did not know what ‘Cumorah’ meant.” They all gazed at him and at each other. When David looked around again, after turning to Joseph for instruction or information, the man had disappeared. “It was the Messenger (Moroni) who had the plates, who had taken them from Joseph just prior to our starting form Harmony.” says David Whitmer in closing the story of the incident. (See Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith’s report of an interview with David Whitmer. Millennial Star, Vol,. 40, pp. 769-774. The report bears date of September 17, 1878.

Another circumstance which verifies all that is here said about this hill in western New york from which Joseph Smith obtained the Book of Mormon, being identical with Ramah-Cumorah of the Book of Mormon, is the fact of agreement between the description in the Book of Mormon of the Hill Ramah-Cumorah and the region round about, and the topography of western New York. It is a region of “many waters”–“Ripliancum” by interpretation “large, or to exceed all”; and here in western New York, immediately to the north of Cumorah, is Lake Ontario; to the west and northwest are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior–the greatest group of fresh water lakes in the world, while immediately to the south of Cumorah are the noted “finger lakes” of New York, beginning on the east side of the region is the lake bearing the modern name of Otisco; and moving westward the following named lakes: Skaneateles Lake, Owasco Lake, Cayuga Lake, Seneca Lake–with its elongation, Keuka Lake; Canadaigua Lake and a number of others westward in the same line. All these, and beside them numerous streams and rivers throughout the whole region.

The identification both in the recorded facts of the Book of Mormon about the Hill Ramah-Cumorah and the physical characteristics of this region of western New York–extending westward to include the whole great five lake basin–“Rippliancum[sic]”–“to exceed all”–is sufficient to eliminate all doubt about the hill recently purchased by the Church, being the very site of the destruction of both the Jaredite and the Nephite people, also the place where Mormon deposited the great collection of sacred records which had been entrusted to him and where later his son Moroni kept concealed the gold plates of the Book of Mormon.

And now, behold, how fortunate it is that the Church has possessed herself of so many of the sacred places connected with the coming forth of the new dispensation of the gospel in these last days. . . . The Smith farm near Palmyra, New York . . . Scant three miles away is the Hill Cumorah, surrounded by several hundred acres of farm lands including the whole of the hill Ramah-Cumorah, the sacred depository of Jaredite and Nephite records, including the Book of Mormon gold plates given to Joseph Smith to translate for the enlightenment of the world and also the site of the destruction of the two great peoples of ancient America–the Jaredites and Nephites.

Eastward less than a score of miles is the old “Peter Whitmer Farm,” in Fayette township near the present prosperous town of Waterloo, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on the sixth of April, 1830, with its six charter members, an event soon to be a century old. The Carthage prison . . . How complete is the circle of sacred places, now in possession of the Church, connected with the life and mission of the prophet of the new dispensation! The Saints should be thankful for possession of these sacred places.” Note#1 See the notation on 1829 and 1878. B. H. Roberts The Deseret News, 3 March 1928

Let’s see, two great battles of extermination took place near the Hill Cumorah. The first occurred sometime before 600 BC in which some two million warriors were, along with their wives and children. The second occurred in 385 AD, in which 150,000 warriors were killed. And you did your search I would imagine somewhere near the year 2000 AD. The area that you searched has been gone over by others for the last 200 years or more, and do think 1) that those arrow heads would still be on the surface after that period of time, and 2) that by searching around the area you could pick up a bunch of arrow heads that all the others who have poured over the area for the last 200 years have missed?

You should have been there when the place was first settled when the American frontier was expanding. At that time there were arrow heads all over the place.

Here’s a statement by President George Albert Smith who reported in 1906 of visiting the Hill Cumorah and of hearing the reports of farmers finding arrow heads while plowing in the region. He reports that he obtained a few himself. “We visited the Hill Cumorah and were accorded the courtesy of going thereon by the wife of Mr. George Sampson, a brother of Admiral Wm. Sampson, who before his death owned the property. When we went up there and looked around, we felt that we were standing on holy ground. The brethren located, as near as they thought was possible, the place from which the plates of the Book of Mormon were taken by the Prophet. We were delighted to be there. Looking over the surrounding country we remembered that two great races of people had wound up their existence in the vicinity, had fought their last fight, and that hundreds of thousands had been slain within sight of that hill. Evidence of the great battles that have been fought there in days gone by are manifest in the numerous spear and arrow-heads that have been found by farmers while plowing in that neighborhood. We were fortunate enough to obtain a few of the arrowheads” (Conference Report, April 1906, p.56).

Further, Elder Claude Taylor and others visited the area in 1901, and Susan Young Gates recorded the following:

“Outside the farmhouse Elder Taylor and myself noted several bushel baskets filled with arrow heads and I asked Mrs. Samson (local resident) what they were. She said they had just begun to plow up the hill Cumorah and around the hill, to plant some crops, and they turned up these arrow heads by the basket full” (J. M. Sjodahl, An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon , p.7)

Had Joseph done nothing more than translate the Book of Mormon, his contribution would have been greater than all other efforts to help the Native Americans; yet an examination of his life indicates his concern for and involvement with them went much further. But his time and energy were limited. He was faced with continual personal persecution, legal battles, and imprisonment. He conducted the defense, movements, and growth of the Church and the founding of cities. The Lord gave him many assignments including the new translation of the Bible, the translation of the Egyptian papyri, the organization of the Priesthood, the revelation of temple ordinances and their dissemination, etc. All of these required concentrated effort and substantial time. Spencer W. Kimball summarized:

The very first thing before the Church was organized, Joseph Smith caught the vision of this work. He sent Oliver Cowdery, Ziba Peterson, and Parley P. Pratt and Peter Whitmer to the Indians immediately. They didn’t do very much. The brethren had their hands full: there were persecutions and the expulsions and the exodus and the settlement of this country. So missionary work with the Indians was limited in the Church to whom the great responsibility came. (Kimball, “The Children” 6)

Brigham Young indicated that “there was a watch placed upon [Joseph] continually to see that he had no communication with the Indians” (Journal of Discourses 4:41; hereafter JD). Perhaps the Lord inspired Joseph to proceed cautiously in the face of false accusations which so negatively impacted the Saints. One wonders if the Lord also revealed to him that as important as this work was, only the seeds thereof were then being planted, that the fulfillment of the promises awaited a future day. Whereas this effort had originally been a primary objective of Joseph’s ministry, as the flood of revelation broadened his assignments, it became one of the principal objectives in the midst of many others. In the Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles issued 6 April 1845, many of the 115 paragraphs discuss the Lamanites, giving a more balanced perspective of their place in the overall picture than perhaps would have been the case had such a mission statement been issued in 1829 (see Clark 252–66).

In Nauvoo, Joseph was heavily occupied in the restoration of the blessings given to Abraham as part of the gathering of the house of Israel, the initial stages of which were just then beginning. Who, in Joseph’s mind, would have fit more prominently into the family of Abraham (for whom the blessings were being restored) than the Lamanites? It seems Joseph knew they were of Israel before he knew he was. Was it not the spirit of the Book of Mormon and the continual leadership of the Prophet in this regard that led individual members of the Church to have special personal encounters with the Lamanites? (see Johnson 76). Contrary to general assumption, there were a few Lamanites baptized in his day. Panina S. Cotton, a Cherokee, and Lewis Dana, an Oneida, received their temple blessings in Nauvoo (Black 11:760, 13:194).”

Ultimately, what did Joseph accomplish? By the gift and power of God, he translated the Book of Mormon which revealed who the Native Americans are, their heritage of prophets and priests, of repentance and righteousness, and of pride and destruction. It discloses promises to this remnant of Israel, so diligently sought by their ancestors and vouchsafed by the covenants of the Lord. It proclaims their glorious future in the face of their state of poverty. In a personal way, Joseph seemed to feel a kinship to this people whose culture was so very distant from his own. He knew he and they were both descendants of Joseph of old, the son of Israel. He knew that Joseph of old, their prophet ancestor, had foretold that a mighty seer would be raised up from his posterity to bring to pass much restoration to the remnant of his seed (2 Nephi 3:6–12). From his early tutoring by Moroni to his personal visits with numerous Native American chiefs, Joseph Smith sought to bring to this chosen people the glad tidings of the restoration.

But what did he see in the way of fulfillment for his efforts? In mortality he saw very little, but in vision he must have seen the Lamanites “blossom as a rose” (D&C 49:24). Byron R. Merrill, “Joseph Smith and the Lamanites,” in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 187–202

Zarahemla & Cumorah North Country Truths- Right in Front of Our Eyes

Rian Nelson

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June 10, 2026

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Zarahemla & Cumorah North Country Truths- Right in Front of Our Eyes

I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God based on personal revelation. I have felt the truth of this book by the Spirit of God many times. With that firm witness I also realize that many secondary things associated with the Book of Mormon are also true.

For example, where was the record buried and what other two items were buried with the plates? What type of material are the plates made of, who buried them, is there evidence of of the land they were written in, was Mormon’s cave nearby, who saw the plates in addition to Joseph, how were the plates translated, how would the (Interpreters), Urim and Thummim be described, where is the “North Country” and of course where is Zarahemla, along with many other secondary questions.

These many answers are not necessary or important for salvation, but any question we have and seek in righteousness is worthy of pursuing. This is how we grow line upon line. As Moroni said, “he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. Moroni 10:4-5. I seek after as many truths as I can. when it comes to understanding the Gospel of Christ.

Two Main Topics-
North Eastern Heartland (North Country)
Western Heartland (Zarahemla)

This blog will first address the location about the “North Country” spoken of several times in the Book of Mormon, and how that north country is very much associated with the Jaredites and Nephites both, as the final battles for both civilizations occurred in this “North Country”. The beginnings of the Nephites likely began near Florida and the beginning of the Jaredites near Washington State, with them both joining at different times in the north country of New York at Ramah/Cumorah.

In addition to the north country as a north eastern area of the Heartland of north America, I will show you the significance of Zarahemla in the far west area of the Heartland at the Mississippi River. These locations are great bookends to describe the entirety of that east-west, 900 or so miles of space we call the Heartland of North America.

The record of Ether describes and connects very well the West and the East heartland area in scripture. In Ether (Jaredites), along with the Words of Omni (Nephites) in several significant places they describe each other, as Mormon abridged the plates for us to know the significance of the entire map.

You will learn below, how connected the Nephites and Jaredites are to this east-west area of the Heartlands. I also believe is it most likely the Jaredites landed near Seattle, Washington, as the Jaredites then spread all over North and South America, with the posterity of the Brother of Jared (Shemites) moving to the eastern Heartland using the Columbia, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers. Other descendants of the Jaredites Hamites and Japethites most likely traveled into Canada, eastern United States and Central and South America. See details here:

Truly there were remnants of the Jaredites all over North and South America when the Nephites landed in Florida. The posterity of the Brother of Jared’s people were destroyed at hill Ramah. “And it came to pass that the army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred.” The remainder of ancient Jaredites (2200 – 600 BC), remained in the Americas, many years before the coming of the Nephites, Olmecs, Mayans, Vikings, Columbus, and the Pilgrims in 1620 AD.

By Small Means

I believe that in the Book of Mormon text itself (a small means), that Moroni told us what land the plates were buried in (The North Country), and his son Mormon told us where the People of Zarahemla located, North of the Land of First Inheritance which was in Florida. This information seems to have been hiding in plain sight all the time. See also my friend Sam’s additional information below titled, Cumorah truth, right in front of our eyes.

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 1:27

“And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.” 1 Nephi 16:29

North Country = Cumorah Area

“And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country. And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.” Ether 1:1-2

Cumorah truth, right in front of our eyes.

As Joseph and Oliver said, “This history was written and deposited, not far from Joseph’s home” near Palmyra, New York. Letter IV

I have a great friend named Sam Dunaway who keeps in touch with me often. He loves the Lord, the Book of Mormon and fully embraces the many truths of the Heartland research. He sent me this quote from Mormon 8.

3 And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, I know not.

4 Therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not.

5 Behold, my father hath made this record, and he hath written the intent thereof. And behold, I would write it also if I had room upon the plates, but I have not; and ore I have none, for I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not.” Mormon 8:3-5

Sam really opened my eyes to what he said about it. After quoting the scripture above Sam explained. “Moroni was specifically speaking of the plates which his father had given him. He did not migrate north to bury the plates or he would have said that he had a place to go He was already there. “I have not friends nor wither to go.”

This also indicates that the many records from which Mormon abridged the plates were left hidden in the Hill Cumorah, where he had moved them because Moroni had no one to help him relocate them…

Ether 1:1-2 says, “And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country. And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.” Ether: 1:1-2

“Primary proof of the location of the Nephites had been right in front of us in the Book of Mormon all along.

“And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life.” Moroni 1:3

Webster Dictionary says, Wander- “to move about without a fixed course, aim or goal. Moroni did not migrate northward to bury the plates. He was already living in the north area.” Sam Dunaway

Clarifying Sam’s Point

Sam wrote me again in order to clarify his point as I quote him below:

“From Moroni 1:1 to Moroni 10:2, Moroni makes it clear that he completed his abridgement and is finishing his writings, then sealing or hiding up the records which were in his possession.

Mormon 5:12 and Mormon 8:4 tell of the direction to, and hiding up of the records. Moroni knew exactly where the Lord had directed him to bury the plates. Yet he makes no mention of a need to travel to that area or place.

His father spoke of being directed to go to the hill Shim (See map below), where all the records were hidden, and in Mormon 6:6 notes the relocation of those records to Cumorah for safe keeping, except the plates which he gave to Moroni.

Surely, Moroni would have noted any travel to a distant location in conjunction with burying the plates as directed. However, in Moroni 1:3, he states he is wandering for the safety of his own life, not for the purpose of traveling to bury the records in his possession. This indicates he was in the area and being cautious until his writing was completed.

Furthermore, Moroni writes that after burying the plates, it doesn’t matter where he goes. Mormon 8:4

He was prepared. He was already living in the area of the hill, Cumorah, where he was directed to bury the plates. This is the only plausible explanation of those things which he wrote.”

In Moroni 8:2, Sam also mentioned, “Moroni was in a north Country land area.”

Is says, “And now it came to pass that after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed.” Mormon 8:2

Sam Dunaway (Parenthesis, bold and color added)

I believe Sam makes a lot of sense to me. I appreciate his added witness to my own.

Where is the North Country?

See the map below to help determine where the North County is. In my opinion the Land of Bountiful is Northern Indiana and Ohio up to almost the Hill Cumorah.

“And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of Bountiful; And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.“

Editor note: If Moroni had no ore and was alone, why would he go searching for more ore clear across the over 3,500 miles to or from Mesoamerica? He has already told us that he has stopped writing, so he was not going to find ore and why would he travel thousands of miles (Apx 3,500 Miles NY to Mexico) carrying heavy plates and trying to keep hidden amongst his enemies, that he would have met along that long distance journey. If Moroni stays near where he buried the record, and he was alone, why would he make life more dangerous by trying to hide amongst his enemy as he traveled that great distance? People far from Cumorah probably knew that the battle was ended and all were killed. Wouldn’t it be easier for Moroni to hide right there where the final battle was finished, where no one would have believed he remained alive? That land near the hill Cumorah was called Land Desolation, as no one wanted to be there as it represented death and destruction, not necessarily desolate in reference to there being no trees or animals in that land.

Written and Deposited not Far from That Place
by Jonathan Neville

“He [Moroni] then proceeded and gave a general account of the promises made to the fathers, and also gave a history of the aborigenes of this country, and said they were literal descendants of Abraham. He represented them as once being an enlightened and intelligent people, possessing a correct knowledge of the gospel, and the plan of restoration and redemption. He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place, and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.” Excerpt from Letter IV

“There was a time when Church members still believed what Moroni first told Joseph Smith when he “gave a history of the aborigenes of this country” and said “this history was written and deposited” not far from Joseph’s home near Palmyra, New York.

See https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/68

For example, Lucy Mack Smith told people it was a record of the Indians.

From Lucy Mack Smith’s History, 1844-5. [p. [8], bk. 12]

“I will now return to the time when the Elders set out for Missouri the reader will recollect that Hyrum Smith my oldest son was directed to go by the way of Detroit. I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to visit the family of my My Brother Stephen Mack Who had been dead some 4 or 5 years this being 1831 and my brother died in 1826— Hyrum was very anxious to have me accompany him And as my niece was about returning home I this was another inducement for me to undertake the journey I accordingly set off in the month of June our company consisted Hyram Smith Brother Moredock [John Murdock] Lyman Wight Brother Corril [John Corrill] Almira Mack my Niece and myself—

When we went on board the boat we held a consultation to Determine whether it was best to say much concerning the gospel at first it was concluded that we should be entirely still as to religion but finally Hyrum said that Mother might say what she was disposed to and if a difficulty arose the Elders should assist her out of it

We had not been long on board when as I was setting one day at the door of the cabin very much engaged reading the Book of Mormon a lady accosted me thus. What book have you madam you seem very much engaged. The Book of Mormon I replied— The Book of Mormon said she what work is that? I then gave her a brief history of the coming forth of the work. She seemed highly delighted. I said that it was a record of the Indians. Is it possible she exclaimed why My Husband is a Missionary out now among the Indians and I am going to, how I do wish that I could get a book to carry him”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/148 Posted by jonathan3d

Omer Traveled Out of the Land Ohio?

“And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family.” Ether 9:3

It is very likely that Omer traveled to the Atlantic Ocean or maybe just to the east side of Lake Ontario, which lake is large enough to be called a sea and have a seashore.

Notice below the Land Bountiful runs from Buffalo, NY and Irving, NY then south to Kill Buck and Salamanca, NY. In the green below that is the Land Southward which is at the Allegheny River and south in the Land of Lehi-Nephi, as seen in the map above.

The yellow and off-yellow areas below, are the Land Northward or the “Land North” or the “North Country.” notice the amazing possible location of the 1-day for a Nephite and 1-day and a half for a Nephite to cross from the Land Bountiful to the Land Southward or the Land of the original inheritance, which would be south of the Allegheny River.

I ask you to read, ponder and pray about this information. Obviously it is only my opinion, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Much of this information I read about in Jonathan Neville’s best selling book, “Moroni’s America”. Purchase his full 366 page book here, his 108 page pocket edition book here and a map book package of over 210 maps here.

Coriantumr Bones in the Land Northward

Where is the “land northward” as spoken in Omni 1:22? Here is more fantastic information even though you may be overloaded by now. I give you as much as I can to aid you in your personal research.

“It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. And his first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.” Omni 1:22

So again the writings of a Nephite Prophet (Omni) combine with Mormon’s abridgement to bring together the Jaredite record and a “land northward” near Ramah/Cumorah.

Route of Coriantumr?

My great friend and “professor of the heartland” in my opinion, Wayne May feels it is likely that the Mulekites would have picked up Coriantumr who was injured near Cumorah, on their journey west at the St Lawrence Seaway and through the Great Lakes.

It is possible that Coriantumr could have walked injured or after healing a bit, from Cumorah to Lake Ontario 30 miles north (See Map Below) to meet the Mulekites. The Mulekites could have found Coriantumr on that huge Lake Ontario somewhere I guess. But, this is not that likely in my opinion. The Book of Mormon says nothing about Coriantumr riding in a ship with the Mulekites as he goes with them to Zarahemla. It says, “And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.” Omni 1:21

As you see in the map below, you can read Option One in a Yellow Box and Option 2 in the Green Box and decide on your own. Either way Coriantumr could have healed and traveled either direction for the Mulekites to pick him up. Also don’t forget the record of the Jaredites was originally written by the Prophet Ether and even though we don’t hear in the Book of Mormon about his whereabouts, I believe Ether helped Coriantumr heal and get into a canoe to travel directly down the Genesee River to the Allegheny River which continues as the Ohio River, right to the Land of Zarahemla in Illinois or Indiana, which is the heart of the Heartland.

(I believe Coriantumr once able to physically move after his wounds, would naturally head toward a close river like the Genesee or the Ganargua and get in a canoe to finish healing up, as he traveled toward where the Mulekites were, not to a body of water where the Mulekites could have picked him up.) Ganargua River was later used to assist in the Erie Canal construction. These rivers are near Palmyra and Rochester. From the Genesee River, Coriantumr could have connected to the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers and was picked up somewhere in the Land Zarahemla Ohio or Mississippi River, which would be bordering Indiana and Illinois, where the Mulekites would have lived since the day they landed. As it says the Mulekites, “were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.” Omni 1:16.

It would be easy to spot a man in a boat from a river and not amongst the huge Lake Ontario. As my friend Wayne says, We report, you decide. I would love your feedback either way.

Did Ether Remain with Coriantumr?

I don’t think Ether stayed to help or see if Coriantumr lived or died, based on the scriptures below. In that case for Coriantumr to travel to Lake Ontario (Option One above) and be found or to the Genesee River (Option Two above) to travel to be found, Ether was probably not with him.

Remember the Lord said, “And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.” Omni 1:21 That means Ether was not with Coriantumr and either died or was translated, because we hear in the scriptures that Coriantumr would be the last of the Jaredites. (Just the Brother of Jared descendants were utterly destroyed, as they were the ones who made the covenant with the Lord). I believe many other descendants of the Jaredites still remained in all of North and South America who had not made a covenant with the Lord).

“And the Lord spake unto Ether, and said unto him: Go forth. And he went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he finished his record; (and the hundredth part I have not written) and he hid them in a manner that the people of Limhi did find them.

Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen.” Ether 15:33-34

“And after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla, and joined Mosiah’s people, and became his subjects.

And it came to pass that Mosiah received them with joy; and he also received their records, and also the records which had been found by the people of Limhi.” Mosiah 22:13-14

“These Stones, Fastened to a Breastplate” by Anne Marie Oborn Purchase here.

In conclusion, (finally), you can now see the amazing connection of the Jaredite record and the Large Plates of Nephi. They truly witness of each other as we know that Mormon was so inspired to hide away both records to be translated by Joseph Smith. Remember the other extraordinary connection between the Jaredites, Nephites and Joseph Smith was, that the Lord touched 16 stones for the Brother of Jared, and another two He touched to be sealed with the Gold Plates that Moroni sealed up at hill Cumorah so Joseph could use these two stones and the breastplate to translate. Joseph did not use a stone in a hat to translate. See Ether 3:23-24 and Ether 4:5. Amazing isn’t it? Scriptures that witness to the proper translation here: JSH 1:35,52,62,75*, Mosiah 28:13, 20; Ether 3:22-23; 4:5; Alma 37:21, 24-25. Over 100 pages of detail in the book above.

Receive Personal Revelation

“Joseph Smith, Jr. said, every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness.” – Prophet Brigham Young, “History of Brigham Young,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, v. 26, February 20, 1864

“The power of seership is one of the greatest gifts ever given to man; and the time is not far distant when every man who bears the Priesthood will be a seer. But it can only be when men have proved themselves able to withstand all of the false deceptions of the devil. (Brigham Young, Des. News, June 18, 1871, p. 308) (See Revelation 2:17 and D&C 130:11)

I don’t expect a seer stone in this life, but one day perhaps. As the Lord wants us all to find truth with His guidance. I have found many truths about the geography of the Book of Mormon and the proper translation, which the church has not spoken about or may never speak about. That doesn’t mean I can’t know, or I shouldn’t try to find, “all the truth I can.”

“It’s My Truth”

We each believe based on our own bias, study and research. We also learn from personal revelation or until we understand more from God or the Spirit. I will understand certain things as my definition of truth different from you, and it isn’t a matter of who is correct, but who’s personal feelings are correct for them, at the time of their ability to receive and understand. I don’t believe in todays fad saying of, “It’s my own truth.” My own truth could mean its true to me, but not revealed truth from God. Revealed truth from the Lord is true, no matter what anyone thinks is “their truth.”

You can’t push your feelings about truth on others, as it is personal to you. We each must learn revealed truth by the Spirit. I agree truth is only one way, meaning truth is truth and only God and Christ know all truth. We cant change truth, just understand it more and more. We have different ways of receiving and understanding it completely, or in bits and pieces. That’s why we are taught line upon line until more knowledge or possibly perfect knowledge is achieved in a certain thing.

How are Tunisians and Phoenician’s related?

Blog Posts

Rian Nelson

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June 9, 2026

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How are Tunisians and Phoenician’s related?

The Phoenicia Ship Expedition from 2009 and 20020, has now demonstrated unequivocally that Lehi’s voyage could have left the Arabian Peninsula and sailed around Africa to the Americas rather than attempting to cross the Pacific Ocean which is the earth’s largest ocean at its widest point, as proposed by Mesoamerican theorists.The History Channel released a documentary called Who Really Discovered America, which explores a number of possible incursions into the Americas by the ancients. In the film they discuss the Book of Mormon account of the voyage of Lehi and his family. Unfortunately, they consulted with Mesoamerican theorists in concluding that Lehi’s voyage would have taken them from the Saudi Arabian peninsula to the western shores of Mesoamerica. This resulted in oceanographic research which showed, using ‘drifters’ (floating buoys that transmit their positions to satellites orbiting earth) that the route would have taken at least 580 days! That is only four months short of two years. They then rightfully conclude that a ship could make such a long voyage, but the occupants could not store enough food and water for such a lengthy trip, and thus the Book of Mormon and Church upon which it is based, is summarily dismissed as being impossible. Watch the clip from the History Channel. Thus, because of using Mesoamerican theories, the Church and the Book of Mormon are discredited by the History Channel.Little did they know that leaving from Oman and landing in Florida across the Atlantic would only take 4-5 months and those believers of the Heartland model of geography, believe that is the correct route the Lehite’s took to sail to N. America.

Phoenicians/Tunisians

“Who were these brave seamen and shipbuilders in the year of approximately 600 BC. The Phoenicians were among the greatest seafarers of the ancient world, and their connection to the territory of modern Tunisia (ancient Carthage) is central to that story…

In 600 BC, the Phoenicians and their Carthaginian cousins in Tunisia were arguably the premier seafaring civilization in the world — more commercially dominant at sea than even the Greeks at that time. Their influence shaped Mediterranean trade, culture, and navigation for centuries.” Claude AI June 9, 2026

Erij Ben Sassi

Erij is the Founder and President of Association Didon de Carthage (Tunisia). This is a cultural and historical organization based in Tunisia dedicated to promoting the heritage of Carthage and the Phoenicians. The president and founder is Ery’j B. Sassi Trimech, who works to highlight the greatness of the Carthaginian Empire and the Phoenicians, and has connections with government officials in Tunisia.

The association works in cooperation with international research groups, including the Heartland Research Group, and Erij has been involved in organizing diplomatic events such as a reception at the Tunisian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The Phoenician

Dido, also known as Elissa, is the legendary Phoenician princess and founder of Carthage.

Around 814–813 BC is the most cited date for when Dido fled Tyre and founded Carthage. This comes from the Greek historian Timaeus of Taormina (c. 350–260 BC), whose accounts were referenced by later writers.

She belongs to the early Iron Age Phoenician world, roughly:

9th century BC (800s BC)
Contemporary with the height of Phoenician expansion across the Mediterranean

Dido was the daughter of the king of Tyre, in present-day Lebanon, and sister of Pygmalion. After the murder of her husband Sychaeus by her brother, she fled Tyre with a group of loyal followers to escape the conflicts and the threat of her brother, embarking on a long journey that took her first to Cyprus, then to the coasts of North Africa, in present-day Tunisia.

Carthage Foundation

Upon arriving in Africa, Dido negotiated with the local chief Iarbas to obtain a piece of land “as big as an ox hide”.Encyclopedia Britannica. She then cut the skin into thin strips, which allowed her to demarcate a much larger area on which to found the city. The citadel took the name Byrsa, and the city quickly became a prosperous center, preserving the Phoenician heritage and influencing Mediterranean trade.Wikipedia

A Legendary and Tragic Life

In Greek and Roman mythology, Dido is famous for her encounter with Aeneas, the Trojan hero. According to Virgil in the Aeneid, she falls in love with Aeneas, but he, obeying the gods, leaves Carthage, which leads Dido to commit suicide on a funeral pyre to escape a forced marriage to Iarbas and out of loyalty to her deceased husband.Encyclopedia Britannica His curse on the Trojans is considered the mythical origin of the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage.Encyclopedia Britannica.

Dido has become a symbol of courage and female heroism, inspiring numerous artistic, literary, and musical works throughout the centuries. Her story illustrates both the founding of a great Mediterranean city and the universal themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and tragic love.Wikipedia Thus Dido remains an emblematic figure in Carthaginian history and legend, blending historical facts and founding myths.

Erij said, “Millions are certainly aware of Captain Philip Beale’s PHOENICIA ship and the international crew that crossed the Atlantic on a square-rigged sailing ship from Carthage, Tunisia, to Miami, America.

This ship (Phoenicia) is the clearest artifact that connects the Old and New Worlds at a time of Hanno the Navigator in the 6th century before Christ. It testifies to the fact that the Carthaginians sailed to America 2,000 years before Columbus. This knowledge is very important to the ancient history of America.” Erij Ben Sassi

The Phoenicia Ship: A Memory from Carthage by Erij Ben Sassi

“Some stories from sleep for centuries. Others sail across the world to wake them up.

My relationship with Phoenicia began less than two months before her arrival at the port of Gammarth, in Carthage.We received an email from Captain Philip Beale. He announced his new adventure and his desire to start it from the ancient port of Carthage – the Punic Port.The board and members of my organization were thrilled. We were eager to be part of this extraordinary adventure, which reminded us of our ancestors and their remarkable skills.For us, the project “Phoenicians before Columbus” was not just a random cultural event.

We knew she would go far – not only geographically, but also historically. We knew she would sail back across seas and oceans.

Captain Beale’s mission was to prove that the ancient Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the greatest navigators of antiquity, were capable of reaching the Americas.

For us Tunisians, oral memory has always passed down the belief that our ancient people, especially our sailors, may have discovered the Americas.

Himilcon reached Cornwall. Hanno went to Cameroon, and perhaps further. If you ask me: do you have proof?

I will answer: no, we don’t have any historical document that proves this. But if we did, you would not be sitting here today, listening to the story of the Phoenicia journey.

Carthage Before the Ship

Carthage has more than three thousand years of history. Utica was the first city founded by the Phoenicians on the North African coast, around 1100 BC. Historians have never agreed on the exact date. Utica was older than Carthage.

Around 600 BC, Carthage was not only a city as it is known today, it was an empire that defied Rome. A big part of the ancient history of Carthage was destroyed by the Romans during the Punic Wars.

It began in 264 BC and was a series of three conflicts between Rome and Carthage for dominance over the western Mediterranean. The wars lasted 118 years and saw Hannibal’s famous crossing of the Alps and ended with the complete destruction of Carthage in 146 BC the destruction had engulfed everything. Not only walls and temples – but documents, scrolls, books.

The great Library of Carthage was burned, most likely in 146 BC, when the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus razed the city.

But one thing is certain: we lost more than a library. We lost part of our civilization – but not the memory. Memory does not burn. It sleeps in stones. It hides in stories told from mother to daughter. It sails across oceans on ships like the Phoenicia.

The Phoenicia ship has a very powerful meaning for us. She is a part of our identity. She is a 600 BC replica, the date is important for Carthage. By 600 BC, Carthage was approximately 214 years old (founded in 814 BC).

It had evolved from a small Phoenician trading post into a thriving, independent city-state and started becoming the dominant power in the western Mediterranean. Carthage gained its political independence from Tyre and started its own hegemony over other Phoenicians’ cities and trading posts. Around 600 BC, Carthage transitioned from a peace-loving mercantile community to a militaristic state. It adopts more expansionist policy. It was already projecting naval power.

Carthage was a sphere of influence focused on controlling trade, rather than vast territorial conquest. The city-state was the richest and most important trading hub in the western Mediterranean. Carthage had a key strategic position in north Africa that allowed controlling the 90 miles stretch of sea between Cap Bon-Tunisia and Sicily. This bottleneck was vital for east-west Mediterranean trade.
And Carthage’s legendary wealth was built on a sophisticated, multi-faceted economy. For example, Carthage engaged in barter (silent trade) with peoples in West Africa. Carthaginian merchants would leave goods on a beach, signal with smoke, and then retreat. The natives would deposit what they considered a fair amount of gold and withdraw. If the Carthaginians were satisfied, they took the gold; if not, they returned to their ships, and the natives would add more. This was a highly efficient and peaceful system for trading with inaccessible tribes. The period around 600 BC was a great age of maritime exploration for the Phoenicians and their Carthaginian descendants. They shared the same maritime traditions and shipbuilding skills. This expertise explains the Phoenicia ship journey was possible.

Summer 2019: The Preparation

Let me go back to the summer of 2019. Hot days. The sun beat down hard. Most Tunisians were enjoying swimming and sunbathing on the country’s many beaches. Meanwhile, my association and our partners were running from one administration to another, chasing authorizations for the Phoenicia ship. It was not easy to get all the authorizations in August, it was summertime and most of the decision makers were on vacation. But we didn’t give up. Fortunately, we have good connections, we had meetings with high level governmental directors, all to prepare a proper welcome. Ministers, ambassadors, and the media were all aware of the ship’s arrival and her international crew It was an important event – one that needed media coverage for both tourism and cultural benefits.

We prepared various tours for the crew to discover Tunisia’s ancient history. The crew came from different countries. Different languages. Different beliefs. But on the ship, they became Phoenicians. We also gathered supplies for six months.

Many companies and national organizations supported us and supported the Phoenicia voyage. We contacted the press, radio, and television to announce the welcoming ceremony. They understood the importance of the journey and were excited to witness her voyage across the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It was a real challenge for us. And we handled it.

The Day: Thursday, September 19, 2019

Then came the day. Thursday, September 19, 2019.

*Captain Philip Beale on the ‘Phoenicia’*

I cannot describe the emotions we felt that day: a mixture of excitement, blended with the pressure of the challenge, and our fatigue. But when we saw the Phoenicia appear on the horizon –when she entered the
port of Gammarth, the same waters where Carthaginian sailors once watched for distant shores, we knew: this was history, sailing back to us.

Around 20 media covered the event and more than 500 persons visited the Phoenicia ship during the period of her docking at the port of Gammarth. It was a beautiful celebration that we still remember.

My personal experience with Phoenicia doesn’t stop in Tunisia. In Morocco, I contacted the leaders of Association Essaouira Mogador to announce the arrival of the Phoenicia, they were already aware about the voyage but they didn’t have any confirmation. They were excited to hear the news. So they organized a celebration and discovery tour program of the ancient village of Essaouira. They also invited us to assist at their famous Atlantic music festival.

In 2024, thanks to some good connections I have in Tunisia, we contacted the Tunisian embassy in Washington DC and made them aware about the journey of the Phoenicia, her actual location and owners. Her excellency Hanene Tajouri Bessassi was so excited about what is going on here in the US. And invited us to a diplomatic celebration of the remarkable journey of Phoenicia. She knew the importance of the project.

000000000 Tunisia Flyer edit 7

The Phoenicia Ship is more than a replica!

Phoenicia is a bridge between two shores, Between Africa and America, between a story forgotten and a memory reborn. Columbus came with swords and crosses and kings who wanted gold, silver, copper and all kinds of metals. If the Phoenicians reached America before him, they came differently. They came as merchants. As explorers. As people who wanted to trade, not to conquer. They brought peace. That is a different kind of discovery.

The 600 BC replica Ship, The Phoenicia is more than a sailing vessel, it’s a philosophy, a history, an identity of two people, the people of the old world coming from north Africa and the south shore of the Mediterranean and the people of America.

Captain Philip Beale is this genius man who woke up the legend of The Phoenicia from the bottom of the Mediterranean sea and now she will be at the top of the mountain here in America. Actually, her journey is proof of the ancient relation between our two peoples and honestly, we cannot hide it anymore. Her journey needs to be told everywhere, and she is a real academic research engine, a tool of discovery to
study this ancient connection.

Our Promise

The Phoenicia ship is now here in Utah, one of the best places in America, in her last home, sleeping in pieces inside a container or two and this is really sad. She is waiting to be rebuilt, not to sail again but to tell her story, the story of a promise made by ancient sailors who may have reached this land long before
Columbus.

Our gathering here today (May 30, 2026 at Rod Meldrum’s home in Fairview, Ut. video above) is to put all our efforts and support to build a home for her and to make her wish come true. So let us build. Not just a museum. But a home for a memory that refused to drown. Some of you have money. Some of you have time. Some of you have a door that can open for this project. Whatever you have, it’s enough. We need you to bring it. The Phoenicia Ship needs your support. Believe in her because now, she belongs to you!

Erij Ben Sassi
Supporter of The Phoenicia Ship.
President and Founder of The Association Didon of Carthage- Tunisia-North

Greetings From John Lefgren President of Heartland Research,

“Ms. Eryj Ben Sassi, Founder and President of Didon de Carthage, was in Morocco at the annual event that is organized by the Association Essaouira Mogador. While there Ms. Eryi Ben Sassi had the opportunity to talk with many important people including the Senior Advisor to His Majesty Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco.

Millions are certainly aware of Captain Philip Beale’s PHOENICIA ship and the international crew that crossed the Atlantic on a square-rigged sailing ship from Carthage, Tunisia, to Miami, America.

Five years ago Heartland Research bought from Captain Beale 1,000 cut pieces of his ship in the mud of a canal in Fort Lauderdale. The ship was affected by the confusion of COVID and ended up at the bottom of a canal.

These efforts have involved over 200 volunteers donating 6,000 hours to clean and place 1,000’s of Phoenician joints in their proper places. We now have in Utah the oldest ship replica that sailed 30,000 miles and crossed two oceans.

This work is the work of freely donated hours and money. We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. We have managed to bring our efforts to the attention of hundreds of thousands of Americans. We were fortunate to work with the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia in Washington, D.C. Ms. Ben Sassi was critical in organizing a reception at the Tunisia House when more than one hundred leading people came together to consider and celebrate the audacious expeditions of the PHOENICIA.

This ship is the clearest artifact that connects the Old and New Worlds at a time of Hanno the Navigator in the 6th century before Christ. It testifies to the fact that the Carthaginians sailed to America 2,000 years before Columbus. This knowledge is very important to the ancient history of America.

Ms. Eryj Ben Sassi is traveling from Carthage, Tunisia, to Salt Lake City, Utah, to promote Phoenicia in the Intermountain West. Her involvement with the ship dates back more than seven years to when Captain Beale and his international crew were in Tunisia and Morocco. We are sure that many people will benefit from meeting her in Utah as they become better acquainted with how the Old and New Worlds connected thousands of years before Columbus.

There are many reasons to meet Eryj Ben Sassi including the history of the world and the restoration of Carthage’s proper place as the world’s most important place of wealth and trade before the Punic Wars. So much of this important history was lost in the Roman fires that destroyed the libraries and documents of ancient Carthage.

We ask that you give Ms. Ben Sassi your kind and careful attention when she is in Utah. We are sure that there is much more to learn and that with the resources of the world you will greatly benefit from Eryj’s knowledge of the ancient world and PHOENICIA.

Ms. Ben Sassi is ready to answer any questions in an open meeting that is being organized in Utah. Come and see for yourself what is being done in Utah to bring the Old World to the West.

Download all attachments as a zip file

For information about the Phoenicia Ship or to volunteer or donate visit
Phoenicia.rocks

I asked Claude AI May 31, 2026:

Q: How are Tunisians and Phoenician’s related?

The connection between Tunisians and Phoenicians is one of the most fascinating threads in Mediterranean history.

The Phoenicians founded Carthage in Tunisia

Around 814 BCE, Phoenician settlers from the city of Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon) founded Carthage near present-day Tunis. According to legend, it was established by Queen Dido (also called Elissa). Carthage grew into one of the ancient world’s most powerful cities, dominating trade across the western Mediterranean.

The Punic people — a Phoenician offshoot

The Carthaginians and their descendants are often called Punics (from the Latin Punicus, derived from “Phoenician”). Over centuries, this Phoenician colonial population blended with the indigenous Berber (Amazigh) peoples of North Africa, creating a distinct Punic-African civilization. They shared the Phoenician language (Punic), religion, and culture, while developing their own regional identity.

Genetic and cultural legacy

Modern Tunisians carry traces of this heritage in several ways:

Genetic studies have found Phoenician/Levantine DNA markers in populations across coastal North Africa, including Tunisia, consistent with ancient colonial mixing.
The Berber substrate — the indigenous population that intermarried with Phoenicians — forms the deeper ancestral layer of many Tunisians today.
Place names and language — some Tunisian place names have Punic roots, and some Punic words survived into later North African Latin and Berber dialects.

What happened after Carthage?

After Rome destroyed Carthage in 146 BCE, the region was Romanized, then later Arabized following the Islamic conquests of the 7th century CE. This means modern Tunisian identity is a layered blend of Phoenician/Punic, Berber, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and other influences — with the Phoenician layer being among the oldest and most foundational.

So in short: Tunisians are partly descended from the Phoenician colonists who built Carthage, mixed over millennia with Berber, Roman, Arab, and other peoples. The Phoenician connection is real but ancient and diluted through centuries of subsequent migrations and conquests.

Q: When were the first Tunisians and Phoenicians Christians? Who were some of the first converts?

Great question — North Africa was actually one of the earliest and most vibrant centers of Christianity in the entire world.

Phoenician Christians

The Phoenician homeland (modern Lebanon/coastal Syria) was evangelized very early. According to the Acts of the Apostles, followers scattered from Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen (c. 34–36 CE) and traveled to Phoenicia, planting some of the first Christian communities outside Judea. Paul and his companions also passed through Phoenicia multiple times on his missionary journeys.

Notable early Phoenician/Lebanese Christians:

The Christians of Tyre and Sidon are mentioned in the New Testament itself (Acts 21:3–4)
Origen later taught in Caesarea, influencing the broader region

North African (Proto-Tunisian) Christians

Christianity reached Roman North Africa (the region including modern Tunisia, then called Africa Proconsularis) likely by the late 1st or early 2nd century CE, probably through trade routes from Rome and the eastern Mediterranean. By the late 2nd century, it had a remarkably sophisticated Christian community.

Some of the earliest and most important converts and figures:

Tertullian (c. 155–220 CE)

Born in Carthage (modern Tunis area)
One of the first major Christian theologians to write in Latin
Essentially invented much of Western Christian theological vocabulary
Famous for asking “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”

Perpetua and Felicity (martyred 203 CE)

Among the most celebrated early Christian martyrs
Vibia Perpetua was a young Carthaginian noblewoman; Felicity was her enslaved companion
They were executed in the amphitheater in Carthage under Emperor Septimius Severus
Perpetua left one of the oldest surviving writings by a Christian woman

St. Cyprian (c. 210–258 CE)

Bishop of Carthage, a towering figure in early Church organization
Martyred under Emperor Valerian
Hugely influential on questions of Church unity and the role of bishops

St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE)

Born in Thagaste (modern Souk Ahras, Algeria, near the Tunisian border)
His mother, St. Monica, was almost certainly of Berber origin
Became the most influential theologian in Western Christianity
His works (Confessions, City of God) shaped Catholic and Protestant thought for centuries

Why Was North Africa So Central?

Carthage was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, a natural hub for new ideas
The region produced more early Christian writers and Church councils than almost anywhere else
It was the birthplace of Latin Christian theology — much of how Western Christianity thinks and speaks was forged in Tunisia and Algeria

The irony of history is that this region, once the heartland of Christianity, was later transformed by the Islamic conquests of the 7th century, and today Tunisia is a predominantly Muslim country — though that ancient Christian heritage runs deep in its soil.” Claude AI May 31, 2026

Eryj Ben Sassi Bio

Founder and President of Didon de Carthage, was in Morocco at the annual event that is organized by the Association Essaouira Mogador. While there Ms. Eryi Ben Sassi had the opportunity to talk with many important people including the Senior Advisor to His Majesty Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco.

Millions are certainly aware of Captain Philip Beale’s PHOENICIA ship and the international crew that crossed the Atlantic on a square-rigged sailing ship from Carthage, Tunisia, to Miami, America.

Five years ago Heartland Research bought from Captain Beale 1,000 cut pieces of his ship in the mud of a canal in Fort Lauderdale. The ship was affected by the confusion of COVID and ended up at the bottom of a canal.

These efforts have involved over 200 volunteers donating 6,000 hours to clean and place thousands of Phoenician joints in their proper places. We now have in Utah the oldest ship replica that sailed 30,000 miles and crossed two oceans.

This work is the work of freely donated hours and money. We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. We have managed to bring our efforts to the attention of hundreds of thousands of Americans. We were fortunate to work with the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia in Washington, D.C. Ms. Ben Sassi was critical in organizing a reception at the Tunisia House when more than one hundred leading people came together to consider and celebrate the audacious expeditions of the PHOENICIA.

This ship is the clearest artifact that connects the Old and New Worlds at a time of Hanno the Navigator in the 6th century before Christ. It testifies to the fact that the Carthaginians sailed to America 2,000 years before Columbus. This knowledge is very important to the ancient history of America.

Ms. Eryj Ben Sassi is traveling from Carthage, Tunisia, to Salt Lake City, Utah, to promote Phoenicia in the Intermountain West. Her involvement with the ship dates back more than seven years to when Captain Beale and his international crew were in Tunisia and Morocco. We are sure that many people will benefit from meeting her in Utah as they become better acquainted with how the Old and New Worlds connected thousands of years before Columbus.

There are many reasons to meet Eryj Ben Sassi including the history of the world and the restoration of Carthage’s proper place as the world’s most important place of wealth and trade before the Punic Wars. So much of this important history was lost in the Roman fires that destroyed the libraries and documents of ancient Carthage.

We ask that you give Ms. Ben Sassi your kind and careful attention when she is in Utah. We are sure that there is much more to learn and that with the resources of the world you will greatly benefit from Eryj’s knowledge of the ancient world and PHOENICIA.

Ms. Ben Sassi is ready to answer any questions in an open meeting that is being organized in Utah. Come and see for yourself what is being done in Utah to bring the Old World to the West.

Habib Osta Bio

Hundreds of thousands of people recognize the significance of Phoenicia to the history of the Old World. For every one person in America who loves Phoenicia, there are a hundred more in the Old World who love her even more. Phoenicia is now in Utah, and Habib Osta wants to learn more about the ship’s future legacy as she moves westward. Habib is a key leader within the Southern Federation of Syrian Lebanese American Clubs. He has served as the Chairman of the Board for the SFSLAC. He has been associated with the Cedar Club of Atlanta and has attended many annual SFSLAC Conferences. Habib Osta is active in visiting local clubs, supporting club events, and engaging with tens of thousands of members worldwide.

*Southern Federation of Syrian Lebanese American Clubs*

Habib Osta discusses Lebanese culture and how he and his family continue to preserve and apply it in their daily lives. He also offers a closer look at what their lives are like in the States. He explains what his organization/club does, what it teaches, and how it has helped people in Lebanon. His organization is among the best immigrant groups in America. He loves the story of how Phoenicia represents the history of his people and his belief in the goodness of God. Habib has received instructions from his Board of Directors to go to Utah and meet Mike and Betty Red Ant once again. Habib wants to promote Phoenicia as she moves into a new venue where she can become part of the lives of millions of people. He is coming to Salt Lake City for the first time, and he will return to his association convention in Orlando, Florida, during the first days of July. Thousands will want to hear his firsthand report from Utah. We expect many influential people in Salt Lake City will want to meet Habib as they seek to better understand how Phoenicia connects the ancient histories of the Old and New Worlds.

We welcome Habib Osta to Utah, and we are sure he will be well-received as we honor his rich Lebanese traditions. When the Lebanese come, times are always better.

For information about the Phoenicia Ship or to volunteer or donate visit
Phoenicia.rocks

Fallen Angels, Nephilim, Watchers, Giants?

Rian Nelson

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June 9, 2026

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Fallen Angels, Nephilim, Watchers, Giants?

The Nephilim (/ˈnɛfɪˌlɪm/; Hebrew: נְפִילִים Nəfīlīm) are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are large and strong; the word Nephilim is loosely translated as giants in some translations of the Hebrew Bible but left untranslated in others. Jewish explanations interpret them as fallen angels. (See Nephel or Abortion below) The main reference to them is in Genesis, but the passage is ambiguous and the identity of the Nephilim is disputed.” Wikipedia

“Nephilim was not a race of people, but an ideology and a set of practices that some people after the Flood returned to. I am not sure where Mason Wheeler quotes this from, but I have asked him for a response. 9.24.25. He responded the same day saying, the quote is in Jonah Barnes’ recent book, The Lost Gems of Genesis.

According to Bible Hub:

Lexical Summary
nephel: Miscarriage, stillborn
Original Word: נֶפֶל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: nephel
Pronunciation: NEH-fel
Phonetic Spelling: (neh’-fel)
KJV: untimely birth
NASB: miscarriage, miscarriages
Word Origin: [from H5307 (נָפַל – fall)]
1. something fallen, i.e. an abortion
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
untimely birth
Or nephel {nay’-fel}; from naphal; something fallen, i.e. An abortion — untimely birth.
see HEBREW naphal” Bible Hub https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5309.htm

According to the Book of Numbers 13:33, they later inhabited Canaan at the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan. A similar or identical biblical Hebrew term, read as “Nephilim” by some scholars, or as the word “fallen” by others, appears in the Book of Ezekiel 32:27.[3][4]

Annotated Book of Mormon page 459

Giants

Unusually large, tall persons, apparently having great physical strength. They are mentioned both before the Flood (Gen. 6:4; Moses 8:18) and after (Num. 13:33; Deut. 2:10–11, 20; 3:11–13; 9:2; Josh. 15:8; 18:16). Raphah of Gath was said to be the father of several giants of whom Goliath was one (1 Sam. 17:4–7; 2 Sam. 21:16–22; 1 Chr. 20:6). A 12-fingered, 12-toed giant is also mentioned as one of the sons. The giants in Palestine were also known as Anakims, Emims, and Zamzummims. Source

Let’s see what others say about the Sons of God, or Nephilim, or Fallen Angels, from the Old Testament. I think the quotes below from members of our Church are most likely to be correct. Many other Christians say the Nephilim are the Fallen Angels or Spirits who had relationships with women on the earth. I am confident that spirits, or those who have not come to this earth to receive a body, cannot have sexual relationships with those who have a physical body.

Also as you read from Bible Hub above, the Nephel in Hebrew means stillborn or abortion. Nephilim may have not been a race of people, but an ideology and a set of practices that some people after the Flood returned to which included abortion and other sexual depravities.

JOSEPH SMITH DIDN’T BELIEVE IN WATCHERS

“Hidden in our scripture reading for this week is a strange little passage which many modern Biblical scholars say was originally intended to explain the rise of the giant race of antiquity by the union of angelic beings with human wives. These verses in Genesis stirred a lively debate among early Christian theologians as they struggled to explain why God felt it necessary to cleanse the Earth with a worldwide Flood. It all starts with this odd passage inserted in the account before Noah built his vessel, the great ark.

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose…There were giants (Nephilim) in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:1-5)

This small passage has been the subject of much dispute in Christendom, and two main schools of exegesis have formed. The first and most popular explains this passage as descriptive of disobedient angels (sometimes called Watchers) who descended from celestial realms and cohabitated with human women, producing a race of giants. Pseudopigraphic literature such as the Book of Enoch are dedicated to expanding this particular incident and serve as proof-tests for this theory. It is also similar in many respects to various myths of Near Eastern peoples. This interpretation has spawned all kinds of new-age speculation on alien races, their interaction with antediluvian human beings, and modern-day abductions — but is actually the more conservative and accepted interpretation by the higher critics.

An alternate explanation results by understanding the term “sons of God” to be the pious race descended from Seth, who sinned by marrying descendants of Cain, who would have been pagans. This is favored by some Christian groups who object to the idea that angels are physical or sexual beings. Many Jewish Biblical authorities prefer this explanation as well, to maintain an emphasis on one God.

The first explanation is definitely the cool one. I would have thought that Joseph Smith would have been all over fallen angels, with his emphasis on the corporeality of divine beings. But it turns out that Joseph didn’t believe in Watchers. Hugh Nibley wrote an article explaining how Joseph’s theology in the Book of Moses provides a solution to the dilemma called, A Strange Thing in the Land: The Return of the Book of Enoch, Part 8 By Hugh Nibley Professor Emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University which continues below:

“Adam, having lost Abel, got another son, Seth, to carry on his work. (Moses 6:2.) From him comes that line of successors in the priesthood, duly registered in the Book of Life, from which the wicked were excluded. (Moses 2:5–8.) After Seth came Enos, who decided to make an important move. Since “in those days Satan had great dominion among men, and raged in their hearts,” causing “wars and bloodshed … in administering death, because of secret works, seeking for power” (Moses 2:15)—exactly as in the modern world—Enos gathered together “the residue of the people of God” and with them migrated out of the country “and dwelt in a land of promise,” named Cainan after his son (Moses 2:17). The line is Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. (Moses 6:16–21; Moses 8:2, 5–11.)

*[Remember the earth had no division between the old and new world. There was no Atlantic Ocean]

Cainites Lived Near Jerusalem
Sethites Lived Near Eden which was near the Garden of Eden.

Jerusalem was very far distant from Eden but originally there was now water between these places. They were one land as Pangea, or as Elder Holland calls it, the *Continent of Genesis*. See map above before the Atlantic Ocean arrived.

A Strange Thing in the Land: The Return of the Book of Enoch, Part 8 continues, “In The Combat of Adam with Satan, as Migne observes, “the author depicts the descendants of Adam as divided into two separate and distinct branches: the Cainites dedicated to following Satan, who lived in a fertile country but very far distant from Eden, and who devoted themselves to all the pleasures of the flesh and all manner of immorality,” and the Sethites who “dwelt in the mountains near the Garden, were faithful to the divine law and bore the name of the Sons of God.”

The occurrence of like names in the two genealogies should not surprise anyone who does much genealogy, where the same family names keep turning up in an endless round. The thing to notice is that there are two lines and that Enoch is seen as a stranger and a wild man only when he leaves his native colony in Cainan, [Western area near the Garden of Eden] “a land of righteousness unto this day” (Moses 6:41), to sojourn as a missionary among the wayward tribes. And so the stage is set for Enoch.

The Wicked World of Enoch

The wickedness of Enoch’s day had a special stamp and flavor; only the most determined and entrenched depravity merited the extermination of the race. In apocryphal Enoch stories we are told how humanity was led to the extremes of misconduct under the tutelage of uniquely competent masters. According to these traditions, these were none other than special heavenly messengers who were sent down to earth to restore respect for the name of God among the degenerate human race, but instead yielded to temptation, misbehaved with the daughters of men, and ended up instructing and abetting their human charges in all manner of iniquity. They are variously designated as the Watchers, Fallen Angels, Sons of God, Nephilim, or Rephaim, and are sometimes confused with their offspring, the Giants.307. Other candidates for this dubious honor have been suggested by various scholars, the trouble being that more than one category of beings qualify as Fallen Angels and spectacular sinners before the time of the Flood.308. The Bible uses the title sons of God—were they different from the Watchers of tradition?

“The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare … to them … mighty men, … men of renown.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.” (Gen. 6:2, 4–5.)
The idea of intercourse between heavenly and earthly beings was widespread in ancient times. Thus, in the newly discovered Genesis Apocryphon, when Lamech’s wife bears him a superchild (Noah), he assumes almost as a matter of course that the father is “one of the angels” and accuses her of faithlessness until his grandfather, Enoch, whose “lot is with the Holy Ones” and who lives far away, clears up the misunderstanding. Significantly, the name of the child’s mother is Bit-enosh, i.e., she is one of the “daughters of men.”309. The Cedrenus fragment avoids the problem of heavenly origin by identifying the sons of God and the daughters of men with the descendants of Seth and Cain respectively, and he specifically designates the sons of God as the Watchers.310. Recently M. Emanueli has suggested that the various terms are merely “a figure of speech in order to express the depth of the deterioration of that generation.”311

While the sons of God have been identified with both angels and the Watchers, the Greek Enoch does not identify the Watchers with Satan’s hosts who fell from heaven from the beginning—they are another crowd.312

“It is the Joseph Smith Enoch which gives the most convincing solution: the beings who fell were not angels but men who had become sons of God. From the beginning, it tells us, mortal men could qualify as “sons of God,” beginning with Adam. Moses 6:68 How? By believing and entering the covenant. Moses 7:1 Thus when “Noah and his sons hearkened unto the Lord, and gave heed … they were called the sons of God.” Moses 8:13 In short, the sons of God are those who accept and live by the law of God. When “the sons of men” (as Enoch calls them) broke their covenant, they still insisted on that exalted title: “Behold, we are the sons of God; have we not taken unto ourselves the daughters of men?” Moses 8:21 (Hugh Nibley, “A Strange Thing in the Land: The Return of the Book of Enoch, Part 8,” Ensign, Dec 1976, 73)

Answers to Gospel Questions

“Joseph Smith’s unique Mormon spin on the b’nei ha-Elohim was that they were priesthood holders, and the covenant people of the Lord, who were defiling themselves by marrying out of the covenant. Their resulting progeny were “Nephilim,” or “fallen ones.” Joseph Fielding Smith later clarified the LDS interpretation of Genesis 6 when he scolded:

“There is a prevailing doctrine in the Christian world that these sons of God were heavenly beings who came down and married the daughters of men and thus came a superior race on the earth, the result bringing the displeasure of the Lord. This foolish notion is the result of lack of proper information, and because the correct information is not found in the Book of Genesis, Christian peoples have been led astray. The correct information regarding these unions is revealed in the inspired interpretation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Book of Moses. Without doubt when this scripture was first written, it was perfectly clear, but scribes and translators in the course of time, not having divine inspiration, changed the meaning to conform to their incorrect understanding. These verses in the Prophet’s revision give us a correct meaning, and from them we learn why the Lord was angry with the people and decreed to shorten the span of life and to bring upon the world the flood of purification.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957-1966], 1: 136.)

The doctrine is repeated in sermons in the Journal of Discourses, such as this one by Charles W. Penrose:

“It is stated that the iniquity of man was great, and God brought a flood on the earth. Now, to understand that correctly we have to know what kind of position those persons were in, and why they were called the “Sons of God.” Those men were in the same position as the Latter-day Saints. They were heirs to the Priesthood. They were the sons of God. They had obeyed the holy covenants. They had received the word of the Lord. They were consecrated to the Almighty. But they went outside of their covenants and their engagement with the Lord, and took wives of the daughters of men that were not in the covenant, and thus transgressed the law of God. The law of God in relation to this has been the same in all ages, and has been given to this people—that the sons of Israel shall wed the daughters of Israel, and shall not go out to wed with the stranger. These men did that, and God was displeased, as He is today with Latter-day Saints, who are called out of the world to be His servants, to be holy unto the Lord, to be clean because they bear the vessels of the Lord, when they go outside and wed with the stranger. (Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886], 25: 228 – 229.)

Pearl of Great Price Student Manual – Religion

“Perhaps because of its controversial nature Genesis 6:1-4 is often ignored when discussing the causes of the flood, even though the strong link between them has been noted in the past. More fundamental religionists believe that this type of explanation of the Flood underscores the importance of maintaining racial and spiritual purity. God’s believing remnant must be preserved. When men failed to perceive the importance of this, God had to judge them severely. In a Pearl of Great Price Institute Manual, President John Taylor is quoted, describing the Flood as an act of love, done for the benefit of that generation. By taking away their earthly existence God prevented them from entailing their sins upon their posterity and degenerating them. An additional quotation from Joseph Fielding Smith applies this lesson to our day, saying:

“Because the daughters of Noah married the sons of men contrary to the teachings of the Lord, his anger was kindled, and this offense was one cause that brought to pass the universal flood. . . . The daughters who had been born, evidently under the covenant, and were the daughters of the sons of God, that is to say of those who held the priesthood, were transgressing the commandment of the Lord and were marrying out of the Church . Thus they were cutting themselves off from the blessings of the priesthood contrary to the teachings of Noah and the will of God. . . .Today there are foolish daughters of those who hold this same priesthood who are violating this commandment and marrying the sons of men; there are also some of the sons of those who hold the priesthood who are marrying the daughters of men. All of this is contrary to the will of God just as much as it was in the days of Noah” (Pearl of Great Price Student Manual – Religion 327)

Joseph Smith Didn’t Believe in Watchers

“Now, the Church still teaches that it is preferable not to marry outside of the covenant. But we’re usually not so un-PC as to suggest that marrying non-members is an abominable sin that may cause mankind to be swept off the earth. Some of you reading this post may not even agree that marrying outside the covenant is what brought a great judgment upon these people. Once again, we’re seeing a shift in doctrine, to the point that some Latter-day Saint thinkers are again putting credence in the “Watcher” theory of Genesis 6. Recent examples are posts by Yellow Dart at Faith Promoting Rumor, Seth P. at his blog, and David Larsen at Heavenly Ascents. In this, we’re not so different than the Christian world, where the debate continues.

Robert C. Newman points out some interesting facts concerning the current controversy:

The present form of the debate is rather paradoxical. On the one hand, liberal theologians, who deny the miraculous, claim the account pictures a supernatural liaison between divine beings and humans. Conservative theologians, though believing implicitly in angels and demons, tend to deny the passage any such import. The liberal position is more understandable with the realization that they deny the historicity of the incident and see it as a borrowing from pagan mythology. The rationale behind the conservative view is more complex: though partially a reaction to liberalism, the view is older than liberal theology.”

https://wheatandtares.org/2010/02/06/joseph-smith-didnt-believe-in-watchers/

GIANTS BONES

FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE WESTERN WEEKLY REVIEW, NOVEMBER 11, 1845
There have been recently dug up in Williamson county, Tennessee, seven miles from Franklin, the bones of a giant and no mistake. We have conversed with an intelligent and enterprising gentleman of our city, who has seen, examined, and purchased an interest in the skeleton. From him we derive the following facts: A Mr. Shumate was boring for water near his residence, upon a hill of considerable extent and eminence, situated in a rocky, mountainous section country, where the bones were discovered about 60 feet beneath the surface. They were immediately exhumed, and were found embedded in a strata of the hardest kind of clay which had apparently filled an extensive cavern or opening in the rock. The position of the skeleton was that of a recumbent, making an angle of the horizon. The bones are not at all petrified as in the case with most of the skeleton monsters of animals which have been discovered in our country, but are, nevertheless, in a most perfect state of preservation, and weigh in the aggregate about 1500 pounds!No doubt rests in the minds of any who have seen or examined them, that these bones belong to the genus homo. All the larger and characteristic bones are entire, and the skull, arms and thigh bones, knee pans, shoulder sockets and collar bones remove all skepticism as to their humanity. The whole skeleton, we are informed, is about 18 feet high , and must have stood full 19 feet ‘in his stockings’ (if he wore any.). The bones of the thigh and leg measure 6 feet 6 inches, so that our friend, ‘the General,’ could have marched erect, in full military costume, between the giant’s legs.The skull is described as being about 2-3 the size of a flour barrel, and capable of holding in its cavities near two bushels; a coffee cup of good size could be put into the eye sockets—and the jaw teeth, which are all perfect even to the enamel, would weight from 3½ to 6 pounds, some of the smaller ones which were loose have been weighed—the front teeth are missing.—These teeth bear the evidence of extreme age, from their cavities are apparent diminution from use in wearing away. An eminent physician and anatomist, properly assisted, is engaged in having the skeleton put together and the small deficiencies supplied by art.We are further informed by our fellow citizen, who has purchased an interest of one fourth in this interesting and wonderful curiosity, that it will be ready for exhibition in about one month’s time, when it will start on its tour thro’ the civilized world, and proceeding from New Orleans will shortly be among us here. Our fellow townsman keeps the price he paid for his interest a secret, but says that $50,000 has been offered and refused for the whole of this curiosity. https://www.jasoncolavito.com/newspaper-accounts-of-giants.html

THE GIANT SKELETON

NEW YORK HERALD, DECEMBER 12, 1845

The skeleton discovered in Williamson county in this State, and supposed to be that of a human being, has frequently been referred to, within a few days past, in the House of Representatives. Notwithstanding the description given of it, as Wouter Van Twiller would say, “we have our doubts about the matter.” This skeleton was found about sixty feet beneath the surface of the earth, embedded in a stratum of the hardest kind of clay. The bones are said to be in a perfect state of preservation, and weigh in the aggregate fifteen hundred pounds. All the large and characteristic bones are entire, and the skull, arms, and thigh bones, knee pans, shoulder sockets and collar bones remove all doubts, and the animal to whom they belonged has been decided “to belong to the genus homo.” This gentleman, when he walked the earth, was about eighteen feet high, and when clothed in flesh must have weighed not less than 3000 pounds. “The bones of the thigh and leg measure six feet six inches; his skull is said to be about two-thirds the size of a flour barrel, and capable of holding in its cavities near two bushels. (He must have had a goodly quantity of brains, and if intellect be in proportion to the size of the brain, he must have possessed extraordinary intellectual powers). The description further states, that “a coffee cup of good size could be put in the eye-sockets.” The jaw teeth weight from 8 ½ to 6 pounds. It is stated that an eminent physician and anatomist is engaged in putting the skeleton together, and that is will shortly be ready for public exhibition.—Nashville Orthopolitan.

Giant Human Skeletons Found Buried in Mounds Across North America

By Gaia Staff December 7, 2020

André the Giant is a known example of a man with superhuman proportions and strength, reaching 7 feet 4 inches tall. But André’s size was the result of gigantism and acromegaly, disorders caused by an overactive pituitary gland, which releases too much growth hormone. And with the average human height at 5 feet 6 inches for men and 5 feet 2 inches for women, it’s rare to find someone of André’s height, let alone his stature.

With the extreme rarity of gigantism, affecting roughly three in a million, it’s surprising how often giants are spoken of in the Bible and North American folklore. David and Goliath, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Paul Bunyon are familiar examples of tales involving giants. But while these are thought to be myths or legends, is there any possibility that a race of giants once existed or were there humanoid ancestors significantly larger than us?

The Mound Builders: Unusual Burial Sites

Across the United States, there are burial mounds, or at least their remnants, some as extensive in size as the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Cahokia and Monk’s mounds in Illinois and Missouri are two thought to have been built before the arrival of Columbus. The Cahokia mound is 100 feet tall with a 14-acre base, almost an entire acre larger than the pyramid at Giza. Monk’s Mound is just as tall with a 1,000-foot-wide base. But what makes these and other mounds of their kind even more intriguing is what has been found buried inside of them.

Monks mound

Jim Vieira has made it his mission to explore the mystery behind these mounds and others where there is documentation of unearthed skeletons, often of gigantic proportions. Vieira, a stonemason by trade, found himself intrigued after finding a plethora of mysterious stone mounds throughout New England.

https://www.gaia.com/article/giant-skeletons-have-been-found-buried-in-mounds-across-america

I sent part of this article to the FirmFoundationExpo post on Facebook.

In response to my post Mason Wheeler, then responded to me saying

“The roots of the Hebrew word “nephilim”, and of the Greek “gigantes”, both of which get translated in the Bible as “giants,” have nothing to do with large size, or angels. On the contrary, “gigantes” refers to people “of the Earth.” And “nephilim” is related to words meaning “mighty” and, strangely enough, “abortion.”

Extrabiblical sources tell us that Joseph Smith was right when he said the antediluvian “sons of God” were fallen Priesthood leaders, not fallen angels. They set up a society where they could indulge freely in their most excessive sexual desires, and used widespread practices of sterilization and abortion to keep from having to deal with the natural consequences, to the point where birth rates plummeted almost all the way to zero. When God looked down upon the world and said “the end of all flesh is before me,” he was not pronouncing judgment, but rather describing what he saw!

This understanding also explains how they could survive the Flood and have “giants” in the land of Canaan for Joshua’s scouting team to find: Nephilim was not a race of people, but an ideology and a set of practices that some people after the Flood returned to.” I am not sure where Mason Wheeler quotes this from, but I have asked him for a response. 9.24.25. He responded the same day saying, the quote is in Jonah Barnes’ recent book, The Lost Gems of Genesis.

Also, after searching at Bible Hub, I came up with the word Nephel in Hebrew meaning stillborn or abortion, which makes sense.

See Nephilim https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5309.htm

We Are Christian!

Blog Posts

Rian Nelson

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June 8, 2026

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We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue to be mocked and scorned. But, isn’t that a badge of honor so to speak? Lucifer loves to rail and hound on the truth of Christ, and we will endure as we know today we are in the largest fight we have ever had. Stay strong Brothers and Sisters. I believe we have to travel in the wilderness before we reach the Promised Land. Let us endure to the end.

Senator’s Lee and Curtis question new Pentagon designation for Latter-day Saints

“Utah’s two U.S. senators are questioning a new Pentagon policy that leaves “Christian” off the designation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Department of War recently announced the reduction in the number of religious affiliation categories for service members from over 200 down to 31. Categories that were removed from the list include “atheist” and “humanist,” and “Wicca.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is included as a religious category on the updated list. But the faith was not included in the list of faiths labeled “Christian.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, put up a screenshot of the list on X and asked “Can anyone tell me why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?…

On the Church of Jesus Christ’s website, under “frequently asked questions,” the church says it is Christian.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian church but is neither Catholic nor Protestant,” the website says. “Rather, it is a restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ as originally established by the Savior in the New Testament of the Bible.” Deseret News Story by Suzanne Bates

We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ARE CERTAINLY CHRISTIAN. The greatest book on earth, The Book of Mormon says, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” 2 Nephi 25:26

That indeed sounds Christian to millions of us in this world. They shall mock but we shall remain faithful.

Can anyone tell me why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?

Claude said, “This is a very recent story (June 8, 2026)— here’s a summary of where things stand:

What happened: The Defense Department slashed its religious designations list from over 200 choices to only 31, and in doing so reclassified The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, listing it outside the “Christian” category. ABC4

The Pentagon’s explanation: The military argues the reorganization was meant to streamline data-gathering for chaplains, rather than boost or deny the legitimacy of any specific religion. The list was reduced from more than 200 to just 31, consolidating some religions into general categories while lumping others into a general “other religions” category. MSN

LDS Church’s response: The LDS Church itself declined to comment. MSN

Utah lawmakers’ response — very loud: Sen. Mike Lee called it “repugnant to any sense of decency” and said “the government needs to not weigh in on doctrinal disputes between various religious denominations,” imploring the Pentagon to undo the change. Sen. John Curtis said it is “unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets,” and pointed out that Christ is literally in the church’s name. The Daily BeastFOX 13

Broader backlash: Even religious groups that were included on the Christian list condemned the move. Rev. Paul Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and head of the progressive Interfaith Alliance, said Hegseth is “elevating one narrow religious worldview from the top of the chain of command.” FOX 13

Update — it appears to be changing: Sen. Lee later said changes were forthcoming after speaking by phone with President Trump, writing “I won’t speak for him, but I’m thrilled about where this is heading.” The Hill

So in short: the Church itself stayed quiet, but LDS politicians — mostly Utah Republicans — were furious and pushed back hard, and the Pentagon appears to be reversing course. Claude AI June 8, 2026

Michael Knowles 6/8/26 on Mormon controversy:

“But I have to come out here in defense of the Mormons, because if trinitarian theology is the criterion [to be Christian], why are the Jehovah’s Witnesses listed as Christian? Why are the Christian Scientists who deny the Trinity? I’m not changing my views about the Trinity or the essential aspects of the Creed, but it does seem to me that the Mormons are being unfairly singled out here. Everybody beats up on the Mormons all the time. Mormons are very reliable Republican voters. They live very, very good family lives. They’re model citizens in many, many ways. And I do think this would be an example of them being unfairly singled out.” https://x.com/LukeFHan/status/2064019414127616162?s=20

“The Pentagon’s decision to list The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other Christian faiths is wrong and needs to be corrected,” Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-Utah), wrote on X on Sunday.

The Outcome

“The Pentagon has since reworked the list after Mormon lawmakers blew up over it. Under the revised list, service members can identify as various Christian religions including LDS. Sen. Lee said he had spoken by phone with President Trump about the “Christian list” and wrote: “I won’t speak for him, but I’m thrilled about where this is heading.” The Hill

So the bottom line: formal church leadership stayed quiet, but LDS members in Congress pushed back hard — and it worked.

Again I say, We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue to be mocked and scorned. But, isn’t that a badge of honor so to speak? Lucifer loves to rail and hound on the truth of Christ, and we will endure as we know today we are in the largest fight we have ever had. Stay strong Brothers and Sisters. I believe we have to travel in the wilderness before we reach the Promised Land. Let us endure to the end.

Joseph’s Indian Influence

Book of Mormon Evidence

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June 8, 2026

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I believe many LDS and Non-LDS academics love the idea that Joseph was an ignorant farm boy. It allows them to bring up ideas that seem more intellectual as they sometimes show our Prophets weaknesses in order to allow their theories to be more plausible. Joseph Smith was taught by angels many times, and I believe I will take his words over any of the intellects of today. See blog here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/moroni-tutor-of-joseph-smith/

I Have a Question!

Some scholars have implied that the Book of Mormon and LDS theology are products of Joseph Smith’s environment. To what extent did Joseph Smith’s environment influence the theological developments of the Church?

Larry C. Porter is professor emeritus of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he served as chair of the Department of Church History and Doctrine and director of the Church History area of the Religious Studies Center for seven years each BYU Speeches. He joined BYU’s faculty in 1970 after 11 years in the Church Educational System as a seminary and institute instructor, principal, and district coordinator

Larry C. Porter answered the question saying, “It is true that some critics of the Book of Mormon have claimed that Joseph Smith used historical, philosophical, literary, and religious ideas circulating during his lifetime to create the Book of Mormon—making it merely a reflection of western New York culture in the early nineteenth century.

By examining the various ideas that supposedly influenced the Book of Mormon, however, we can see that many of these ideas weren’t readily available to Joseph Smith and many others were only superficially similar to LDS theology and scripture. Still others simply involved topics of universal concern to all men and women, not only in Joseph Smith’s time but in our own as well. Since the Book of Mormon is directed to all of God’s children, we would expect to find these concerns addressed in that sacred volume.

The Indian Influence

Some critics argue that various publications dealing with the Indians and their Israelite-like origins were available to Joseph Smith and influenced his work on the Book of Mormon. A wide variety of books, periodicals, and newspaper articles describing aspects of Native American life did circulate during Joseph Smith’s era. Of particular interest were the prospective origins and customs of the mound-builders of northeastern America. Their style of burial sometimes included stone boxes; their fortifications might have been picketed; and they used metal implements. This information was available to the public.

Theoretically, Joseph Smith would have had access to such publications if they were available in the local libraries in Palmyra and Manchester or among the private libraries of individuals he knew. From 1825 to 1829, he frequented the environs of Susquehanna, Broome, Chenango, and Seneca counties, and conceivably could have been exposed to materials in those localities as well. He also would have been exposed to the local folklore concerning the Indian habitation in the region.

But although a multiplicity of sources on Indian lore existed in the eastern United States during Joseph Smith’s era, it does not necessarily mean that local repositories had any or all of these resources among their holdings. Nor does it mean that Joseph even read them. His education was restricted because of demands placed on his time by farm work. There is no reason to question Joseph’s declaration that his only resource for translating the Book of Mormon was “the gift and power of God.”

Philosophical and Historical Influences

Some writers have attempted to draw parallels between teachings of the Book of Mormon and philosophical and historical ideas extant in Joseph’s day. The idea that America was a destined and promised land was a popular one in the early nineteenth century. It is an idea taught many places in the Book of Mormon as well. Critics point to Nephi’s vision in 1 Nephi 11–14 [1 Ne. 11–14] and claim that Joseph Smith simply reiterated events that had already transpired to appeal to his fellow Americans’ sense of destiny. Historical sequences such as the coming of Columbus, the arrival of the early colonists, the Revolutionary War, and the introduction of the Bible among the Indians are all recognizable themes in the Book of Mormon.

To such an argument we have the convincing testimony of the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is what it declares itself to be—a revelation to an ancient prophet of future events in America. (Not Mesoamerica). The Lord obviously knew that such information would be of value to readers of the book in modern times. Moroni plainly said of contemporary civilizations, “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.” (Morm. 8:35.) President Ezra Taft Benson has reiterated that “the Book of Mormon was written for us today.”

Through the Book of Mormon, the Lord offers inspired direction on key subjects of import not only in Joseph Smith’s time, but in our time. It is relevant to current issues of many decades, and obviously touches on some of the concerns of the early nineteenth century, as well as on our concerns today.

Literary Influences

At one time, it was popular among critics to contend that a literary work of Joseph Smith’s day, a manuscript authored by the Reverend Solomon Spalding (also spelled Spaulding), influenced the plot of the Book of Mormon. Spalding died in 1816, but his manuscript survived and was used by Eber D. Howe to advance a “Spalding theory” in the first anti-Mormon work of note, Mormonism Unvailed, (Painesville: E. D. Howe, 1834; original spelling preserved.) Howe held that Sidney Rigdon had been responsible for taking Spalding’s manuscript from a printing establishment in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and later making it available for publication through Joseph Smith.

Examination of the only Spalding manuscript known to exist shows it to have little resemblance to the Book of Mormon. It proves to be a narrative history of a band of Romans living in the time of Constantine. They are blown off course while on a voyage to “Britain” and reach the eastern coast of North America. The manuscript bears such little resemblance to the Book of Mormon in themes, episodes, or characters that some have insisted that a second manuscript, which did correspond to the Book of Mormon, must have existed. Such a manuscript has never been found, and the whole theory is generally discounted.

Oliver Cowdery responded to accusations of outside authorship by bearing a solemn witness: “[The Book of Mormon] is true. Sidney Rigdon did not write it. Mr. Spaulding did not write it. I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the prophet.”

The Influence of Contemporary Religious Thought

Some have questioned why various religious doctrines debated during Joseph Smith’s era appear (though clarified) in the Book of Mormon. The answer is quite simple. The Book of Mormon itself declares that one of its purposes is to verify and clarify the teachings of the Bible. Doctrines like the Fall and the Atonement, repentance, infant baptism, the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the gifts of the Spirit were all biblical doctrines debated by various sectarian bodies in Joseph’s time. But that was nothing new. These and other issues had been problematical for Christians for generations. It is only natural that some of the same questions that had stirred religious controversy for centuries would be addressed in the Book of Mormon, which was a book prepared for our time.

Through the pages of the Book of Mormon, the Lord sought to rectify erroneous concepts and to restore certain standard truths from ancient Christianity that had been lost.

The Influence of the Holy Ghost

Ultimately, the only convincing answer to charges made by critics of the Book of Mormon is the witness of the Holy Ghost. Those who want to know the truth about the Book of Mormon can obtain it from no other source.

I first believe Personal Revelation and Canonized Scripture. Then I trust the words of the Prophets. “Saints” is a feel good book, I enjoy but don’t believe everything in it. Historians make mistakes and add their own narrations.

President Benson has said, “We are not required to prove that the Book of Mormon is true or is an authentic record through external evidences—though there are many. … God has built in his own proof system of the Book of Mormon as found in Moroni, chapter 10 [Moro. 10], and in the testimonies of the Three and the Eight Witnesses and in various sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. We each need to get our own testimony of the Book of Mormon through the Holy Ghost.”

God continues to administer to his children through the distinctive means of revelation to his authorized servants. This fundamental, identifying feature of Mormonism allowed Joseph Smith to restore new truths long withheld from men on earth. The Book of Mormon and other contemporary scriptures were an integral part of that revelatory process.” June 1992 I Have a Question. “To what extent did Joseph Smith’s environment influence the theological developments of the Church?”

Full Article: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1992/06/i-have-a-question/to-what-extent-did-joseph-smiths-environment-influence-the-theological-developments-of-the-church?lang=eng

John Sorensen Theory

Here is Brother John L. Sorenson’s explanation of his theory, where he claims it is a fact that Mesoamerica is the setting for Nephite history. https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-book/charting-the-book-of-mormon/chart-40-nephite-and-mesoamerican-history

Brother Sorensen says, “What may startle some about this situation is that most of what Joseph Smith said or implied about geography indicates that he did not understand or was ambiguous about the fact, as it turns out, that Mesoamerica was the particular setting for Nephite history.

Until he encountered the Stephens’s book, Joseph gave no hint that he was aware that such a limited area with a distinctive civilized culture even existed in the Americas. Even with Stephens’s material in mind, he made no more than a passing attempt to relate the Book of Mormon’s story to the newly-found ruins. And in the long run, the little blip on the Latter-day Saints’ mental screen caused by the explorer’s book faded as the mistaken folk view reasserted its dominance.” John Sorenson Mormon’s codex

I would like to point out that I believe the Book of Mormon, land of first inheritance was most likely Florida. From there, the Nephites likely migrated to Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and ended up in New York at the one and only Hill Cumorah. This follows the nearly exact historical pattern of the Hopewell Culture which existed from 550 BC to 400 AD, just as the Nephite culture. To me that is a definite HUGE clue! I also believe that the Jaredites likely landed near Seattle WA. Since the Jaredites were on the water for 344 days, there is no way they were on the Atlantic as ships from the Old World have crossed to America in 40 to 70 days upon the water. Natural drift of the Pacific ocean will take debris from China and Japan to North America about 1 year. More below: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/jaredites-2-sets-of-barges/

Hinterlands

The Hinterlands would be described as anywhere outside of the initial areas where Nephites did not initially live. This includes west of the Mississippi in the United States, up to Alaska and down to Central and South America. After 400 AD through migration, intermarriage and the slave trade many Nephites and Lamanites moved all over the Americas. Yes some Nephites existed after the final battles. Some may not have joined the last battle, some may have sailed to Europe and many went west and south into South America. More here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/the-hinterlands-how-can-lamanites-live-in-both-north-and-south-america/

“Here, Brother Sorenson characterizes the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah as a “mistaken folk view.” This degree of derision for the prophets definitely “may startle some” members of the Church who accept what the prophets teach.” Jonathan Neville

See more about Heartland vs Mesoamerica here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/hinterland-is-mesoamerica-western-united-states/

Below see all the available Newspapers in the Palmyra, Ontario County, Geneva, Lyons and other cities close to where the Prophet lived. He had access to may papers and he was known to go weekly to Palmyra to get books and papers for his father. The Book of Mormon was definitely influenced by the learning and reading of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

To find old records and newspaper articles in New York please see this link. http://sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/NY/wayn1830.htm

Book of Mormon translation and Early Modern English

Nephite Dissenters- Judah/Mulek?

Blog Posts

Rian Nelson

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June 7, 2026

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The Land of Joseph

First let us discuss the lands of inheritance of the Tribes of Israel. Of course Jacob/Israel was promised to have his Sons inherit a land of Promise. The 10 tribes of Israel received the land in Canaan or the Old World. Levi, and Joseph did not receive a land in the Old World. Levi didn’t get any land as his tribe was to perform in the temple for all tribes. Josephs two sons Ephraim and Manasseh received land in the Old World but Joseph’s land was in North America.

The phrase “Joseph did not receive a portion” in Joshua 14:4 is important: Joseph’s inheritance was already distributed to his sons. The verse pairs Joseph’s case with Levi’s, both being exceptions to the normal pattern—one for priestly service, one for princely leadership

“Certain lands were given to Israel for an inheritance in time and in eternity. America is the land of Joseph; it was the home of Nephite Israel, who were of Joseph, for a thousand years, and it is the headquarters of the Church in this final dispensation in which the church and kingdom of God are in the lands of Ephraim.” 1985 – Elder Bruce R. McConkie

The land of Joseph of Egypt was indeed the United States of America. The house of Israel and specifically Juday and Joseph were an important people in the Old World. Both Joseph (Lehi) and Judah (Mulek) would once again come together in the New World (USA) as brothers to begin again to restore the Children of Israel to this Promised Land.

At the Hill Cumorah in New York was the link reuniting of the full tribe of Joseph with Moroni who was of Lehi or Joseph/Manasseh, and Joseph Smith who was of Joseph/Ephraim. So, the full tribe of Joseph was seemingly restored in New York. Jesus Christ of course was of the Tribe of Judah. When Christ and God appeared to Joseph Smith we saw another restoration of Judah and Joseph.

“It was not by chance that the Puritans left their native land and sailed away to the shores of New England, and others later followed. They were the advance guard of the army of the Lord, predestined to establish the God-given system of government under which we live and to make America, which is the land of Joseph, the gathering place of Ephraim, an asylum for the oppressed of all nations, and prepare the way for the restoration of the gospel of Christ and the establishment of his church upon the earth” – Heber J. Grant, Conference Report, [April 1930].

The Book of Mormon reveals that the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. It was choice not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but choice because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. It was choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was choice because it is a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” President Russell M. Nelson President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles June 23, 2016. Seminar for New Mission Presidents

“Oliver Cowdery wrote that the Ephraimites and the Lamanites were the “original settlers of this continent,” and that “an ancient prophet caused the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated to be buried nearly two thousand years ago, in which is now called Ontario County, New York.

In this same issue, W. W. Phelps wrote that it was “by that book [the Book of Mormon] I learned that the poor Indians of America were of the remnants of Israel.” Many other times editor Phelps identified the land of America as being the place where at least some Book of Mormon history took place, including the last battles of both the Jaredites and the Nephites (see Messenger and Advocate, vol. 2, October 1835, and the letter of W. W. Phelps to Oliver Cowdery in that same issue.) Oliver Cowdery Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, pp. 158-159

And, as has been stated during this Conference, he brought forth the Book of Mormon-the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim-in fulfillment of the testimony of Isaiah, translating that record through the Urim and Thummim, thereby revealing to us the history of the early inhabitants of this Continent. (1889, October, 6th Session, President Wilford Woodruff)

Elder Nelson asked, “Are you Hebrew? Yes, as scriptures define the term. You are related to Abraham, who was the great “Eber” from which the term Hebrew was derived (see Genesis 10:21, 14:13; see also 2 Corinthians 11:22).

Are you Jewish? That precious lineage may be claimed if your ancestors are from the loins of Judah. But most of us are of the lineage of Joseph through Ephraim or Manasseh. That was the lineage selected to pioneer the gathering of Israel, the seed to lead throughout the world in blessing all the nations of the earth.” Thanks for the Covenant RUSSELL M. NELSON of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles November 22, 1988

Gadiantons/Dissenters

One of the principle dissenters were the Gadianton robbers. Their lineage is unspecified, but the robbers included many dissenters and were often more wicked than original Lamanites. See Helaman 6:18. You will see as you read this blog, that I show a lot of information that indicates dissenters are likely from the tribes of Judah or Levi and not from the tribe of Joseph, as Lehi and Nephi are.

“Now these dissenters, having the same instruction and the same information of the Nephites, yea, having been instructed in the same knowledge of the Lord, nevertheless, it is strange to relate, not long after their dissensions they became more hardened and impenitent, and more wild, wicked and ferocious than the Lamanites.” Alma 47:36

“And it came to pass that the Lamanites (Manassehite) did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton;(Possibly Judahites) and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites.” Helaman 6:37

Does utterly destroyed mean absolutely no Gadiantons were left, or did some of them remain? Some of them were likely left outside of the Lamanite bands and remained and continued to fight against the Church or the Nephites. Gadiantons are part of the Book of Mormon timeline from approximately from 51-23 BC to 245 AD or longer.

Difference between a Lehite (Joseph) and a Mulekite (Judah/Levi)

Lehi for sure and likely Sariah were descendants of Manasseh through Joseph. See, 1 Ne. 5:14 (2 Ne. 3:4; Alma 10:3). Nephi, Laman, and all the sons of Lehi were likely pure Manasseh through his father Joseph. Lehi’s sons along with Zoram (Likely Judah or Levi), each married daughters of Ishmael who are from the tribe of Ephraim. See quote below and in the following link learn about the questions, Was Zoram a Cohen? https://bookofmormonevidence.org/was-zoram-a-cohen/

“Elder Erastus Snow (1818–88) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discussed the importance of Ishmael’s lineage: “Whoever has read the Book of Mormon carefully will have learned that the remnants of the house of Joseph dwelt upon the American continent; and that Lehi learned by searching the records of his fathers that were written upon the plates of brass, that he was of the lineage of Manasseh. The Prophet Joseph informed us that the record of Lehi was contained on the 116 pages that were first translated and subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgment is given us in the first Book of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis, which says: ‘And let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the land.’ Thus these descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim grew together upon this American continent” (in Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon [1976], 199).

Remember also that Zoram married one of the daughters of Ismael as well. His children could have been a mixture of Judah and Ephraim.

“The Lamanite is a chosen child of God, but he is not the only chosen one. There are many other good people including the Anglos, the French, the German, and the English, who are also of Ephraim and Manasseh. They, with the Lamanites, are also chosen people, and they are a remnant of Jacob. The Lamanite is not wholly and exclusively the remnant of Jacob which the Book of Mormon talks about. We are all of Israel! We are of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph through Ephraim and Manasseh. We are all of us remnants of Jacob.” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, pp. 600–601.)

Who is Mulek?

Mulek was the son of the Last King (Zedekiah) of the Southern Kingdom. (Judah) Mulek’s mother was seeking to escape Zedekiah in Jerusalem to save her life. She traveled with her son in womb or took Mulek as a young person to escape. The last Christian Mulekite, was likely Ammon the first.

Lehi was seeking for a promised Land to serve Christ. He was a pure descendant of Manasseh. Lamanites (Manasseh) were seeking truth through Christ and eventually (200 AD) over-took the Nephites in righteousness.

Land of Mulek

Helaman 6:10. “Now the land south was called Lehi, and the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south.”

This quote from Helaman means to me that Lehi landed near Florida (south in America) and Mulek landed near Nauvoo, Illinois. (north in America). According to Omni 1:16, “And they (Mulekites) journeyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, (Atlantic) into the land where Mosiah discovered them; (Iowa) and they had dwelt there from that time forth.”

The map below shows my interpretation of this. I believe the Mulekites came to the Mississippi River and sailed up to Iowa/Illinois and settled there, as Joseph Smith received a revelation saying in D&C 125:3. “Let them (Mulekites) build up a city unto my name upon the land opposite the city of Nauvoo, and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it.”

Grok AI Question: What date did the people of Zarahemla meet the Nephites

In the Book of Mormon, the people of Zarahemla (also known as the Mulekites, descendants of Mulek who fled Jerusalem around 587 B.C.) met the Nephites (led by King Mosiah I) during the events described in Omni 1:12–14. This occurred when Mosiah I, warned by the Lord, fled the land of Nephi with a group of righteous Nephites and “discovered” (or came upon) the land and people of Zarahemla, “who had dwelt there from that time forth.”

The exact year is not stated in the text itself, as the small plates (including Omni) do not use a precise calendar system for this period. However, official Church resources and standard Book of Mormon chronologies place this meeting around 225 B.C. (or approximately 200–279 B.C. in some estimates).

Key details from the scriptures and timelines:

Omni 1:12–14 — Mosiah 1 flees the land of Nephi (Chattanooga, TN) northward, and discovers the people of Zarahemla, and there is great rejoicing. Mosiah 1 teaches them the Nephite language (they had lost much of their original language due to no records), and he becomes their king. The combined group continues to call themselves Nephites.
The Church’s official “Book of Mormon Time Line” (published in the Ensign, October 2011) dates this event to about 225 B.C., noting that Mosiah 1 led righteous Nephites to Zarahemla (Montrose, Iowa) and merged with the Mulekites.
Other scholarly and timeline sources (e.g., BYU studies, Scripture Central, and various chronologies) generally align with a range of roughly 279–130 B.C., but ~225 B.C. or ~200 B.C. is the most commonly cited approximate date.
This reunion happens after the Mulekites had already encountered the last Jaredite, Coriantumr (Omni 1:20–21), whose stone record Mosiah later translates using his gift from God.

This event marks a major unification: The Mulekites (larger in number but without scriptures or strong religious records) join with the Nephites (who brought the brass plates and other records), forming the core Nephite society that continues through much of the rest of the Book of Mormon.

Grok AI Question: Was king Zedekiah in the Bible for God or against him?

In the Bible, King Zedekiah (the last king of Judah before the Babylonian exile) was against God. He is consistently described as doing evil in the sight of the Lord, rebelling against God’s commands, and failing to repent or submit despite repeated warnings from the prophet Jeremiah.

Key biblical details:

2 Kings 24:18–20 — “Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign… And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence.”
2 Chronicles 36:11–13 — Zedekiah “did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD… but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.”
Jeremiah 52:2–3 (paralleling 2 Kings) — “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence.”
Zedekiah heard God’s messages through Jeremiah multiple times, including instructions to submit to Babylon as God’s instrument of judgment (Jeremiah 27, 34, 37–38). He occasionally showed partial respect (e.g., protecting Jeremiah from death), but he ultimately ignored the counsel, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (breaking an oath made in God’s name), and continued in idolatry and unfaithfulness.
His reign ended tragically: Jerusalem fell in 586 B.C., his sons were killed before him, his eyes were put out, and he was taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1–7; Jeremiah 39:1–7; 52:4–11). This fulfilled God’s judgment on Judah’s persistent wickedness.

Some interpretations note Zedekiah was weak and fearful rather than aggressively evil (e.g., he feared his princes more than God; Jeremiah 38:5), and one view suggests he may have had moments of hesitation or partial obedience. However, the biblical text is clear: he was not righteous or “for God” in his overall actions—he led the nation in rebellion and contributed to its downfall.

This portrayal contrasts somewhat with the Book of Mormon, where Zedekiah is referenced mainly in historical context (e.g., as the king during Lehi’s time in Jerusalem, with Mulek as a surviving son who escaped; Helaman 8:21), but the Bible focuses on his spiritual failure and the consequences for Judah.

Grok Question: Feb 17, 2026 Who are the Nephite dissenters and each of their lineages

Overview of Nephite Dissenters

Huge likely Conclusion. All Dissenters were from Judah/Mulek

Gadiantons like Khazar’s today. Never accepted Christ. Khazars are Asians who pretend to be from the tribe of Shem and Judah.

In the Book of Mormon, “Nephite dissenters” generally refer to individuals or groups who originated from Nephite society (which included descendants of Nephi, other Lehite families, and the Mulekites who merged with them) but rejected Nephite religious, political, or social authority. These dissenters often joined the Lamanites, formed rival factions, or adopted apostate beliefs, contributing to wars and internal strife. The term “dissenters” is used broadly in the text (e.g., Alma 43:13; Helaman 11:24), and over time, they were absorbed into Lamanite identity (4 Nephi 1:38).

Nephite society was diverse in lineage:

Lehites/Nephites proper: Descendants of Lehi (from the tribe of Manasseh; Alma 10:3) and his sons Nephi, Sam, Jacob, and Joseph.
Ishmaelites: Descendants of Ishmael (likely from Ephraim, based on traditional interpretations).
Zoramites: Descendants of Zoram (servant of Laban from Jerusalem; lineage unspecified but possibly non-Israelite or from another tribe such as Judah who didn’t believe in Christ).
Mulekites: Descendants of Mulek (son of King Zedekiah of Judah; thus from the tribe of Judah and potentially the Davidic line).

Most dissenters came from Mulekite or Zoramite backgrounds, often resenting what they saw as Nephite (Manasseh-dominant) rule over Zarahemla. The Book of Mormon does not always specify exact tribal lineages for individuals, focusing instead on their actions and spiritual state. Below is a list of major dissenters or dissenter groups, their key actions, and known or inferred lineages based on scriptural references and scholarly analysis.

Major Nephite Dissenters and Their Lineages

I asked Grok: May 19, 2026: What year in the Book of Mormon did they first have Nephite dissenters?

Grok Replied:
The earliest explicit Nephite dissenter in the Book of Mormon record is Sherem, who appears in Jacob 7 (roughly in the range of about 544–421 B.C., likely toward the earlier part of that window, such as around 530 B.C. or so in many charts).

Context and Timing

The separation into Nephites and Lamanites occurred earlier (around 588–570 B.C. after Nephi’s flight; see 2 Nephi 5). Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael initially dissented from Nephi’s leadership, but they are not typically classified as “Nephite dissenters” since they formed a separate group.
Sherem “came among the people of Nephi” some years after Nephi’s death and Jacob’s ministry had been underway (Jacob 7:1). This is presented as the first major internal challenge to Nephite doctrine and leadership within the Nephite group itself.

Who Was Sherem?

He was a learned, eloquent man with “a perfect knowledge of the language of the people” who used flattery and powerful speech (influenced by the devil) to preach against the doctrine of Christ.
He taught that there should be no Christ, accused Jacob of perverting the law of Moses by teaching of a future Redeemer (calling it blasphemy), and claimed no one could know of things to come. He believed in the scriptures and the law of Moses but rejected their testimony of Christ. (Like Tribes of Judah today)
Sherem sought out Jacob to contend with him, demanded a sign, was smitten by God’s power, confessed his error and the reality of Christ on his deathbed, and died. His influence temporarily led some away, but peace was restored after the event.

This marks the first clear case of a Nephite (or someone coming among the Nephites) dissenting from core gospel teachings like faith in the coming Messiah. Later dissenters (e.g., Nehor in Alma 1, Korihor in Alma 30, Amlici/Amlicites, Amalickiah and his followers, Zoramites, king-men, Gadianton robbers, etc.) appear during the reign of the judges (starting ~91 B.C.) and become much more common, often blending religious apostasy with political ambition and alliances with the Lamanites.

Dissenter/Group	Description and Key Actions	Known or Inferred Lineage
Sherem 544-530 BC	Sherem “came among the people of Nephi” some years after Nephi’s death and Jacob’s ministry had been underway (Jacob 7:1). This is presented as the first major internal challenge to Nephite doctrine and leadership within the Nephite group itself.	Sherem is an anti-Christ who opposed the teachings of the prophet Jacob among the Nephites. His rebellion against the Nephites came from his desire to dispute the coming of Christ and the belief in Christ’s role as the Messiah. Similar to many Jews today.
Nehor and the Order of Nehor 91 BC	Nehor was an influential teacher who promoted priestcraft (paid ministry) and denied the need for repentance (Alma 1). His followers spread apostate doctrines, leading to violence and influencing later groups like the Amlicites.	Nephite (general); some analyses suggest Mulekite ties due to emphasis on “noble” status and possible Davidic claims in related movements. No specific tribe mentioned.
Amlici and the Amlicites 90 BC	Amlici sought kingship over the Nephites and led a rebellion (Alma 2–3). His followers marked themselves and joined the Lamanites in war. Often linked to Nehor’s teachings.	Nephite; claimed “noble birth” (Alma 51:8, implied), possibly Mulekite (from Judah/Davidic line) due to royal ambitions and resentment of Nephite judgeship system. Some equate Amlicites with Amalekites (Alma 21–24, 27, 43), another dissenter group.
Zoram and the Zoramites 74 BC	Zoram3 (not the original Zoram1) led a wealthy, prideful group that built the Rameumptom for elitist worship and rejected the poor (Alma 31–35). They dissented around 74 B.C., allied with Lamanites, and were known for military prowess (Alma 43:4).	Descendants of Zoram (the servant from Jerusalem; 1 Nephi 4:35). Explicitly stated in Alma 54:23 by Ammoron, a Zoramite descendant. Lineage not tied to a specific Israelite tribe, but they resented being “pressed” out of Jerusalem by Nephite ancestors.
Amalickiah 71 BC	A cunning Nephite who fled after failing to overthrow the judgeship, murdered the Lamanite king, and became their ruler (Alma 46–52). He waged massive wars against the Nephites.	Nephite dissenter; brother to Ammoron (below), so likely Zoramite descent (Alma 54:16–24). No explicit tribe, but tied to Zoram’s line.
Ammoron 57 BC	Brother of Amalickiah; succeeded him as Lamanite king and continued wars (Alma 52–62). He corresponded with Moroni, defending his actions.	Explicitly a descendant of Zoram (Alma 54:23). Identified as a Zoramite and “bold Lamanite” after dissenting.
King-men (e.g., led by Amalickiah initially, later Pachus) 55 BC	A faction of Nephites who sought to establish a monarchy, opposing the freemen and chief judge Pahoran during wartime (Alma 51, 60–62). They briefly seized Zarahemla.	Nephites claiming “nobler blood” (Alma 51:8, 21), likely Mulekite (from Judah/Davidic line via Mulek/Zedekiah), resenting the end of kingship under Mosiah II.
Coriantum 51 BC	A dissenter who led a Lamanite army, captured Zarahemla, and killed chief judge Pacumeni (Helaman 1).	Descendant of Zarahemla (Helaman 1:15), making him Mulekite (from Judah via Mulek, son of Zedekiah). Zarahemla was the Mulekite capital.
Kishkumen and Gadianton Robbers 51-23 BC	Kishkumen assassinated chief judge Pahoran II; Gadianton organized a secret society for power and wealth (Helaman 1–2, 6). Their band grew into a major threat, infiltrating both Nephites and Lamanites.	Nephites; Kishkumen possibly Mulekite (in Zarahemla context). Gadianton’s lineage unspecified, but the robbers included many dissenters and were often more wicked than original Lamanites (Helaman 6:18). No explicit tribe known.
Other General Dissenters 36-60 AD Gadiantons 245 AD	Various unnamed groups left Nephite lands to join Lamanites due to political, religious, or economic disputes (e.g., Words of Mormon 1:16; Alma 63:14–15; Helaman 4:1–4). Some stirred up wars (Alma 47:35).	Mixed; often from Mulekite, or Zoramite lines. By the end, all dissenters were classified as Lamanites (4 Nephi 1:20, 38). The text notes they became “more hardened” than original Lamanites (Alma 47:36).

Additional Context

Patterns in Dissension: Dissent often stemmed from pride, desire for power, or resentment of Nephite leadership (e.g., Mulekites wanting Davidic kingship restored; Zoramites recalling ancestral grievances). Religious apostasy, like Nehor’s teachings, fueled many splits. By the time of Christ’s visit (3 Nephi), divisions blurred, but post-Christ dissensions revived old lines (4 Nephi 1:35–38).
Absorption into Lamanites: Dissenters typically lost their Nephite identity and became Lamanites (Alma 43:13; 47:35), contributing to Lamanite growth and military strength.
Survivors: Some dissenters survived the Nephite destruction (Mormon 6:15; 8:9), blending into broader populationsThis list focuses on prominent examples from the books of Alma and Helaman, where dissensions peak. For exact scriptural quotes, refer to the Book of Mormon text.

Grok Question: In the Bom Who was the father of Ammon the first, and who were all of his descendants and what years did they live.

In the Book of Mormon, there are two prominent individuals named Ammon, and the phrase “Ammon the first” (or Ammon₁ in scholarly notation) typically refers to the earlier one mentioned in the text: the strong and mighty man who led the expedition from Zarahemla to find the people of Zeniff (Mosiah 7). This is distinct from the more famous Ammon (Ammon₂), the missionary son of King Mosiah₂ who defended King Lamoni’s flocks and converted many Lamanites (Alma 17–26).

The question likely refers to Ammon the first (the explorer from Zarahemla), as it specifies “the first.” Here’s a breakdown based on the scriptural record:

Father of Ammon the First

Ammon the first was a descendant of Zarahemla (Mosiah 7:3, 10–13), the leader/ruler of the people of Zarahemla (Mulekites) when Mosiah₁ discovered them around 225 B.C. (Omni 1:12–19).
The Book of Mormon does not name his specific father. It only states he was “a descendant of Zarahemla” (Mosiah 7:3), implying Zarahemla was an ancestor (possibly grandfather or great-grandfather, given the timeline). Zarahemla himself was a descendant of Mulek, son of King Zedekiah of Judah (Helaman 6:10; 8:21), making Ammon the first part of the Mulekite lineage blended into Nephite society.
No direct father is identified in the text—his introduction focuses on his leadership role and heritage from Zarahemla.

Descendants of Ammon the First

The Book of Mormon provides no information about any descendants of this Ammon. He is not mentioned again after helping free King Limhi’s people and bringing them back to Zarahemla around 120 B.C. (Mosiah 7–8, 21–22).
He plays a key role in reuniting the lost colony of Zeniff (Whose people are Nephites through Joseph and wicked King Noah who was a Nephite also), with the main Nephite body and facilitating the discovery/translation of the 24 gold plates containing the Jaredite record (Mosiah 8:9; 28:11–19), but the narrative does not track his family line further.
Unlike the sons of Mosiah (Ammon2, Aaron, Omner, and Himni), who have no recorded children in the text, Ammon1 is a descendant of Mulek.

Years They Lived (Approximate Timeline)

Exact birth and death dates are not given in the Book of Mormon, as it uses a regnal/reign-based chronology rather than precise years for most individuals. Standard scholarly and official Church timelines (e.g., from the Church’s “Book of Mormon Time Line” and BYU/FARMS charting) provide these estimates:

Active period: Primarily around 121–120 B.C.
- ~121 B.C.: King Mosiah₂ sends Ammon1 and 15 strong men on the expedition to search for Zeniff’s people (Mosiah 7:1–6). The journey takes about 40 days.
- ~120 B.C.: Ammon1 discovers King Limhi’s people in bondage, helps orchestrate their escape from Lamanite captivity, and leads them back to Zarahemla (Mosiah 7–8, 21–22).
Likely lifespan: Born sometime before ~140 B.C. (to be a mature leader by 121 B.C.), and presumably lived at least into the early 100s B.C., though no death is recorded.
Context: This places him one generation before the famous missionary Ammon2 (son of Mosiah₂, active ~91–77 B.C. during the mission to the Lamanites).

Mosiah translates the large stone Coriantumr brought, using the spectacles at tached to a breastplate, not a stone in a hat. Art by Minerva Teichert.

Grok AI Question: In the BofM what is the lineage of Coriantumr before his reign

In the Book of Mormon, Coriantumr (the last Jaredite king) is part of the royal lineage descending from Jared, the founder of the Jaredite people who left the Tower of Babel. His specific ancestry before becoming king is detailed through the Jaredite king list and genealogy in the Book of Ether, though the text focuses more on the prophetic line of Ether (Coriantumr’s contemporary) than on tracing every step directly to Coriantumr.

The primary genealogy in Ether 1:6–32 traces Ether’s line backward from Ether to Jared in reverse order (son to father). Coriantumr is not in Ether’s direct father-to-son line—he branches off earlier in the royal succession—but he is a descendant of the same founding family through the kingship line.

Key points on Coriantumr’s lineage before his reign:

He was a descendant of Omer (a righteous king earlier in the Jaredite history; Ether 1:30, 9:14–15). Omer was the son of Shule, and the line continues upward through many generations to Jared.
From Ether 1 (the genealogy list) and the narrative in Ether 7–11 (which parallels the genealogy with kingly reigns), the broader Jaredite royal/prophetic descent includes:
- Jared (founder) → Kib → Shule → Omer → Emer → Coriantum → Com → Heth → Shez → Riplakish → Morianton → Kim → Lib → Hearthom → Heth → Aaron → Amnigaddah → Coriantum → Com → Shiblom → Seth → Ahah (or variations in branching) → and eventually to figures like Kish, then to the line leading toward Coriantumr in the final generations.
Coriantumr’s immediate predecessors in the kingship (before his own reign) are not named as his direct father in the text. Instead, the narrative in Ether 13–15 describes him rising to power amid widespread wickedness, wars, and usurpations in the late Jaredite period. He overthrew or succeeded prior rulers through conflict (Ether 13:1–2 notes the people were “without civilization” and kings rose and fell rapidly due to secret combinations and bloodshed).
Ether (the prophet) was a contemporary of Coriantumr (Ether 12:1–2: “the days of Ether were in the days of Coriantumr; and Coriantumr was king over all the land”). Ether was from a captive royal line (descendant of Coriantor, whose father Moron was deposed; Ether 11:14–23), while Coriantumr held the active throne during the final wars.

In summary:

Coriantumr’s lineage traces back through the Jaredite kings to Omer (a key righteous ancestor) and ultimately to Jared. (Jared’s likey ancestors Shemites which is where the lineage of Israel, Judah and David and Christ comne from) (Ether 1:30–32 mentions connections in the chain).
The Book of Ether does not provide a father-to-son list specifically for Coriantumr’s branch (unlike Ether’s prophetic line), as the focus is on the overall Jaredite decline, secret combinations, and the fulfillment of prophecies rather than a complete personal genealogy for the final king.
Omni 1:20–22 notes that a stone record found with Coriantumr (after the final battle) gave “a few words concerning his fathers,” confirming his ancestry went back to the Tower of Babel era, but no detailed names beyond the general Jaredite origin are added there. (The Brother of Jared likely brought some people from Ham, Shem and Japheth who were all sons of Noah)

This places Coriantumr as a late descendant in the long Jaredite royal line, reigning in the final chaotic period (estimated ~300–200 B.C. or earlier in some chronologies) when the civilization collapsed due to wickedness.

Ether descends from Jared (not from the brother of Jared), which establishes his place in the founding lineage of the Jaredites.

Grok AI Question: In the BofM what is the lineage of Ether before him

In the Book of Mormon, the lineage of Ether (the last Jaredite prophet and recorder of the 24 gold plates) is explicitly detailed in reverse order—from Ether back to Jared—in Ether 1:6–32. This genealogy is provided by Moroni as he abridges Ether’s record, and it traces Ether’s direct paternal ancestors through 29 generations (including Ether himself) to Jared, the brother of the “brother of Jared” and founder of the Jaredite people.

The text presents it as a father-to-son chain (with occasional use of “descendant” for brevity), emphasizing Ether’s royal/prophetic heritage in the Jaredite line. Ether’s immediate father is Coriantor (Ether 1:6; also Ether 11:23 states Coriantor “begat Ether,” confirming direct father-son relationship despite the “descendant” phrasing in the genealogy list).

Ether’s Direct Lineage (from Ether backward, as listed in Ether 1:6–32)

Here is the full chain as given in the scripture:

Ether (the prophet who wrote the record)
son of Coriantor
son of Moron
son of Ethem
son of Ahah
son of Seth
son of Shiblon (or Shiblom in some references)
son of Com
son of Coriantum
son of Amnigaddah
son of Aaron
descendant of Heth
son of Hearthom
son of Lib
son of Kish
son of Corom
son of Levi
son of Kim
son of Morianton
son of Riplakish
son of Shez
son of Heth
son of Com
son of Coriantumr (an earlier one)
son of Emer
son of Omer
son of Shule
son of Kib
son of Orihah
son of Jared

The genealogy ends with Jared (Ether 1:32–33), noting that Jared “came forth with his brother [the brother of Jared] and their families… from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people.” Ether descends from Jared (not from the brother of Jared), which establishes his place in the founding lineage of the Jaredites.

Additional Context

This list serves as a structural outline for much of the Book of Ether: The narrative in chapters 6–11 largely follows the kings and events in reverse order from this genealogy, detailing reigns, wars, righteousness, and wickedness among these ancestors.
Many in this line were kings (e.g., Moron was a king deposed; Ether 11:14–15), showing Ether came from a royal lineage, though he himself was a prophet during the final destruction rather than a reigning king.
The brother of Jared (Mahonri Moriancumer in later tradition) is not in Ether’s direct line—he was Jared’s brother—but he led the group spiritually and received great revelations (Ether 1:34–43; Ether 2–3).
No further details (e.g., mothers, siblings, or branches) are given for Ether’s immediate family beyond his father Coriantor.

This genealogy underscores themes of covenant-keeping, the consequences of apostasy, and the preservation of records among the Jaredites, much like biblical genealogies (e.g., in Genesis or Chronicles) establish authority and continuity. For the exact wording, see Ether 1 in any edition of the Book of Mormon.

Was Zoram a Cohen, or a holder of the Levitical Priesthood, which we call Aaronic Priesthood today?
https://bookofmormonevidence.org/was-zoram-a-cohen/

Founding Fathers, Eminent Women, 85 Chiefs and 5 LDS High Priests

Book of Mormon Evidence

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June 6, 2026

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Founding Fathers, Eminent Women, 85 Chiefs and 5 LDS High Priests

Wilford Woodruff and the St. George Temple

The St. George Utah Temple, originally named the St. George Temple, and the only temple completed during Brigham Young’s 30-year tenure as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the oldest operating temple of the Church and the first built in Utah. It was privately dedicated on 1 January 1877 in a series of three dedicatory prayers: the baptistry by Wilford Woodruff, the main floor by Erastus Snow, and the sealing room by Brigham Young, Jr. The St. George Utah Temple is also the first temple where endowments for the dead were performed, and it is also there that temple ordinances were put into a written form for the first time.

Elder Bruce C. Hafen, former president of the St. George Utah Temple and emeritus General Authority, during a presentation titled “Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, and the St. George Temple” at the Church History Museum in 2014 noted that “the temples in Kirtland, Nauvoo and St. George were all necessary for bringing about the restoration of important priesthood keys and ordinances.” Wilford Woodruff and the Temple Work of the Founding Fathers by Keith L. Brown | May 25, 2015 | Early History

Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective

While many books have been written about the life of Christopher Columbus and his New World discoveries, this one has a different thrust—that Columbus was not just a skilled, courageous sailor but was also a chosen instrument in the hands of God. This book profiles the man from Genoa who apparently yearned from childhood for the seafaring life and who early began to acquire the nautical knowledge and experience that would make him the most widely traveled seaman of his day and would help him rise to the top ranks in that career.

Arnold K. Garr With a foreword by DeLamar Jensen Published by the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah http://rsc.byu.edu

Epilogue

For Latter-day Saints, the story of Christopher Columbus does not begin with his birth in 1451; nor does it end with his death in 1506. Because they believe that everyone associated with this earth lived as spirit children of our Heavenly Father in a premortal state before they came to earth, they believe that Columbus lived before he came here. And because they believe that life continues after death, they believe he is now in the Spirit World awaiting the resurrection with millions of other spirits who have passed from this life.

But Latter-day Saints are more involved in Columbus’ life than just believing that he lived in a premortal state and waiting for him to be resurrected. They believe that he was an instrument in the Lord’s hand to discover the Americas to the Europeans. That in turn brought the Founding fathers here to establish the United States of America. Its freedoms made it possible to restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth. And there is still more.

They have a tradition that President Wilford Woodruff, while he was serving as the President of the St. George Temple, was visited by the spirits of several great men who requested him to perform vicarious baptism for them in the temple. Speaking of that experience, President Woodruff said:

“The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, “You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God.” These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights. I thought it very singular , that notwithstanding so much work had been done, and yet nothing had been done for them. The thought never entered my heart, from the fact, I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives. I straightway went into the baptismal font [in the temple] and called upon brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others.” (JD 19:229)

On the same day these ordinances were performed, President Woodruff records in his journal that he baptized brother McCallister “for 21, including Gen Washington & his forefathers and all the Presidents of the United States that were on my list except Buchanan Van Buren & Grant Sister

Lucy Bigelow Young went forth into the font and was Baptized for Martha Washington and her family and seventy (70) of the Eminent women of the world. . . . There were Baptized in all to day 682” (Woodruff, Journal 7:367–69). All these proxy ordinances are performed for the dead so they as spirits in the Spirit World may accept or reject them.

As President Ezra Taft Benson presided over the Church in 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ epic voyage, it seems appropriate to quote his appraisal of the man and the other “eminent men” whose temple ordinances were performed by President Woodruff:

The temple work for the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence and other founding fathers has been done. All these appeared to Wilford Woodruff when he was President of the St. George Temple. President George Washington was ordained a High Priest at that time. You will also be interested to know that according to Wilford Woodruff’s journal, John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, and Christopher Columbus were also ordained High Priests at the time. When one casts doubt upon the character of these noble sons of God, I believe he or she will have to answer to the God of heaven for it. (Benson 604) My Blog here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/founding-fathers-eminent-women-85-chiefs-and-5-lds-high-priests/

[I have a friend named Oak Norton who has a copy of the St. George temple records and Lord Nelson from Britain was also ordained a High Priest as you see below. It’s written out to the side as Elder Benson must have missed it.] You can clearly see below how High Priest is written for Lord Nelson.

See John Wesley and Christopher Columbus but here it says Elder only.

Arnold K. Garr continues, “Notwithstanding the mistakes he made in his life and the human faults he had, Christopher Columbus was a man of notable spiritual sensitivity. Given the powers of repentance and forgiveness, it should come as no surprise that President Wilford Woodruff vicariously had his endowments done and ordained him a High Priest three days after he was baptized for him.”
Arnold K. Garr

Question: According to Wilford Woodruff’s journal, President George Washington, John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, and Christopher Columbus were ordained high priests when they appeared within the sacred walls of the St. George Temple. Why did these ordinations take place in our sphere by a mortal man?

Answer: These ordinations took place in our sphere, by a mortal man because these ordinances must be performed in this life. After the resurrection comes the judgment, when the books will be opened and it will be eternally too late to enter ordinance work into the ledger. The ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood, along with sealings, endowments, baptisms, and confirmations, all must happen in this life, and must be recorded in this life. Thus, the dead will “be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6). askgramps.com

Eminent Men and Women Baptized in the St. George Temple

Temple work was performed on behalf of the following well-known and respected men and women in the St. George Utah Temple in August 1877 Compiled By Glen W. Chapman- January 2002)

Founding Fathers: William Hooper(NC), Joseph Hewes (NC), John Penn(NC), Button Gwinnett(GA), Lyman Hall(GA), George Walton(GA), Edward Rutledge(SC), Thomas Heyward Jr.(SC), Thomas Lynch(SC), Arthur Middleton(SC), Samuel Chase(MD), William Paca(MD), Thomas Stone(MD), Charles Carrol(MD), George Wythe(VA), Richard Henry Lee(VA), Thomas Jefferson(VA), Benjamin Harrison(VA), Thomas Nelson Jr.(VA), Francis Lightfoot Lee(VA), Carter Braxton(VA), Robert Morris (PA), Benjamin Rush(PA), Benjamin Franklin(PA), John Morton(PA), George Clymer(PA), James Smith(PA), George Taylor(PA), James Wilson(PA), George Ross(PA), Caeser Rodney(DE), George Read(DE), Thomas McKean(DE), Philip Livingston(NY), Francis Lewis(NY), Lewis Morris(NY), Richard Stockton (NJ), John Witherspoon(NJ), Francis Hopkinson(NJ), John Hart(NJ), Abraham Clark(NJ), Josiah Bartlett(NH), William Whipple(NH), Matthew Thornton(NH), Samuel Adams(MA), John Adams(MA), Robert Treat Paine(MA), Elbridge Gerty(MA), Stephen Hopkins(RI), William Ellery(RI), Roger Sherman(CN), Samuel Huntington(CN), William Williams(CN), and Oliver Wolcott(CN).

Note: Temple work was not done for John Hancock or William Floyd as it had already been completed previously.

Presidents of the United States: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Knox Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson.

Note: Temple work was not done for James Buchanan, Martin Van Buren, or Ulysses S. Grant.

Other eminent men baptized by Wilford Woodruff in the St. George Utah Temple in August 1877 include: Sir Edward Gibbon, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Oliver Goldsmith, Henry Grattan, Humboldt, Alexander von Irving, Washington Jackson, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Johnson, Samuel Ju~rez, Benito Pablo Kemble, John Philip Liebig, Baron Justus von Livingstone, David Macaulay, Thomas Babington Nelson, Lord Horatio O’Connell, Daniel Peabody, George Powers, Hiram Reynolds, Sir Joshua Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Scott, Sir Walter Seward, William Henry Stephenson, George Thackeray, William Makepeace, Vespucci, Amerigo Webster, Daniel Wesley, John Wordsworth, William Parepa, Count Dimitrius, Martha Washington and her family, John Washington(Great Grandfather of George Washington), Sir Henry Washington, Lawrence Washington (Brother of George Washington), Augustine Washington (Father of George Washington), Lawrence Washington (Father of Augustine), Lawrence Washington, Daniel Park Custis, John Park Custis (Son of Daniel and Martha Parke Custis), and Martin Luther.

Eminent Women baptized include: Jean Armour (1767—1834) of Scotland, Jean Armour Burns (Wife of Robert Burns) (1759—1796), Jane Austen (1775—1817) of England, novelist, Mary Ball (1708—1789) of America, Mary Ball Washington (Mother of George Washington) (1732—1799), Sarah Bernard (1800—1879) of England, Sarah Barnard Faraday (wife of Michael Faraday (1791—1867), Charlotte Bronte (1816—1855) of England, novelist, Felicia Dorothea Browne (1793—1835) of England, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806—1861) of England, poet, (wife of Robert Browning) (1812—18?), Martha Caldwell Calhoun (d. 1802) of America (mother of John Caldwell Calhoun) (1782—1850), Martha Parke Custis (1755—1773) of America (Daughter of Martha Washington) (1732—1802), Martha Dandridge Washington (1732—1802) of America (wife of George Washington) (1732—1799), Rachel Donelson Jackson (1767—1828) of America (wife of Andrew Jackson (1767—1845), and Abigail Eastman Webster (1737—1816) of America (mother of Daniel Webster (1782—1852), to name but a few. Temple work was performed for a total of 70 eminent women.

A Salute to Michael Bedard -Artist of the Eminent Men and Women

Michael Bedard has created countless pieces of fine art, built three art studios, and raised a family of seven kids. He is a man who is confident in his abilities and always looking to improve them. He worked several jobs and served in the national guard while obtaining his BFA at Brigham Young University and MFA at Washington State University, all while raising a growing family. Michael is now living in Nauvoo, Illinois, with his wife and youngest son, establishing another gallery there. He has come a long way, developing his art over the years and through life’s challenges. The simple desire to create something greater popped into existence when a little Michael saw a mural made of tiny tiles at the public pool one summer. The flippant thought came to him, “I can do that!” This little boy looked at a simple piece of art and grew to create masterpieces that shape and are shaped by the world around him. With support from his young single mother, encouragement from schoolteachers eager to get the rebel to do something productive, and later many more people, the young man began to doodle, grow, draw, and paint. From that point he began his mission to change himself and the world. “When you create great art that literally frees people, it lifts them up and gives them wings.”

85 Native American Chiefs Baptized

Many of us know that the Signers of the Declaration of Independence appeared to Wilford Woodruff asking to have their temple work done in the St. George Temple. On the 21st of Aug. 1877 President Wilford Woodruff was baptized for 100 men including the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, American Presidents, and other eminent men. There were also eminent women, including some wives whose vicarious work was also completed. Their ordinance work was performed on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of Aug. 1877. However, very few people have known that six days later on the 29th of Aug. 1877 temple work was done for eighty-five Indian Chiefs. People are amazed to learn about this astounding event that occurred in the St. George Temple. A few years ago I was attending one of Rodney Meldrum’s Book of Mormon Conferences in St. George, Utah and was astonished when he showed the St. George Temple registry of these Chiefs. Of the eighty-five Chiefs seventy-four of them are Iroquois/Six Nations – my people! My Grandmother, Maria Jane Jamieson, was a famous Iroquois and Indian Historian and she began to teach me all she knew when I was three years old. Therefore, I was able to recognize the Chiefs’ names when three pages of temple records appeared on the screen.

The 29th of Aug. 1877 happened to be the day that the Prophet Brigham Young died and all temple work ceased. These Indian Chiefs’ vicarious work was halted and overshadowed by the prophet’s death. On Mar. 25, 2015, while I was standing in my living room a voice told me that these Indian Chiefs’ work was not completed. Subsequently, I found out this was true and began seeing that their remaining ordinances were fulfilled. Their work commenced on April 6, 2015. April 6th happens to be the Lord’s birthday and the day the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized.

After diligently working, all that remained to be done near the end of 2016 were ten of the fifteen King Tah to Tahs because their dates went beyond the 1500s. After traveling to the Family History Center, on Nov. 2, 2016, in Salt Lake City, I received permission to complete the temple ordinances for the remaining King Tah to Tahs and this also included permission to complete the ordinances for their wives so they could be sealed to them.

Consequently, I am happy to report that the last King Tah to Tah’s endowment was actually completed on Dec. 23, 2016. The brother that did the endowment for the last King Tah to Tah did not know that it occurred on the Prophet Joseph Smith’s birthday; nor did I at the time. It is astounding to come to the realization that the first completion of the vicarious work for these Indian Chiefs literally began on April 6th, the Lord’s birthday, and the last King Tah to Tah was finished on Joseph Smith’s birthday. I believe both of these occurred due to heavenly intervention as neither of us was aware until after the fact. This continually confirms to me the Lord is the one in charge of this historic work and I am deeply humbled by being involved in this remarkable undertaking. See Blog here about the

However, the temple ordinances for these incredible Indian Chiefs would not be complete without their wives. Therefore, on Feb. 14, 2017, I began entering the names for the Chiefs’ wives so they could all be eventually sealed. It just happened to be Valentine’s Day. How appropriate! I set the goal of completing all of the necessary ordinances by the 29th of Aug. 2017 as it would be the 140th year since the work for the eighty-five Chiefs began.

Fortunately, the Heritage Park Branch/Lamanite Branch (Santa Clara Stake), Green Valley 7th Ward (Green Valley Stake), my own ward, Ridge View (Sunset Stake), and the St. George Temple Presidency, past and present, assisted. Also, youth were involved in the baptisms and confirmations and many friends all enthusiastically helped in this immense task. I am grateful for their willingness to devote their time and efforts to seeing that the work was completed. I could never have accomplished it without their wholehearted assistance. May they all receive rich blessings!

It is with great pleasure that I can report all of the eighty-five Chiefs’ ordinances, including sealings, were completed by the 25th of Aug. 2017, four days before the deadline that I had set. I cannot begin to tell all the incredible spiritual events that I experienced and the many others that were reported to me. It further testifies of the great importance that the Lord has placed on this noble work.

What a glorious feeling it was to know that these illustrious Indian Chiefs can now go and teach their people in the spirit world. It thrills me to think of how many Lamanites will be ready to have their temple work done when the millennium is ushered in. Additionally, these Indian Chiefs now have the ability to influence those here on earth as well. Oh, the joy one is continually immersed in when engaged in the Lord’s work is indeed reward enough. And those who have helped in the vicarious work of these honorable Chiefs will know that it is partly due to their efforts along with the labors of the above mentioned Lamanite Chieftains that so many will be brought into the Lord’s fold.

This is a very brief synopsis of the last few years. I am currently writing a book of the astonishing account, with information regarding the eleven elect brethren involved with the Indian Chiefs’ vicarious work, and historical data regarding the eighty-five Chiefs. You will be able to read about the many revelations, miracles, and events that have occurred regarding the St. George Temple Indian Chiefs. The forthcoming book is to be titled “Where the Heavens Greet the Earth.” Delores Kahkonen. The Work continues in June 2026 and beyond.

See all of Michael’s beautiful Art HERE! https://bedardfinearts.com/

Michael was painting the 85 Indian Chiefs. Many saw him paint live in Nauvoo, IL. Below is a preview from Sept 2021

Michael Bedard’s Founding Fathers & Ladies

Benjamin Franklin and other names from the St George Temple Records of 1877

Lord Nelson and other names from the St George Temple Records of 1877

Wilford Woodruff and the Temple Work of the Founding Fathers

tp://emp.byui.edu/davisr/121/70%20Eminent%20Women%20baptized.htm

See additional resources of information visit:
Joseph Smith Foundation Here!
Eminent Women of the St George Temple Here
LDS Living Article

85 Indian Chiefs baptized Aug 29, 1877 at the St. George Temple, one week after the Founding Fathers. Read the Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 554 Detailed story at my blog here: https://www.bofm.blog/85-native-american-chiefs-baptized-at-the-st-george-temple/

Michael Bedard and Rod Meldrum at the Phoenicia Ship Museum in Montrose, Iowa showing Rod’s tour guest the new painting.

Trinity- One Person or Three?

Blog Posts

Rian Nelson

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June 5, 2026

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The Trinity as Understood by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Latter-day Saints do not believe in the traditional Trinity; we believe in the Godhead, consisting of three distinct beings united in purpose.

The Godhead

LDS doctrine teaches that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct beings, not one singular entity as in traditional Christian Trinitarian doctrine, but they are perfectly united in purpose, will, and love.

This belief is expressed in the first Article of Faith: “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”

The term Godhead is used to describe this unity of purpose rather than a single substance.

Elder Holland

Elder Holland speaks to students at Harvard Law on “why do these Mormons stir up such emotions in people and why are they not considered Christian by some?”

Elder Hollands Transcript beginning at the 11:52 mark.

“…One may wonder why do these Mormons stir up such emotions in people and why are they not considered Christian by some.

Let me conclude with just a few thoughts about that.

We are not considered Christian by some I suppose because we are not fourth century Christians. We are not Athanasian Christians we are not credal Christians of the brand that arose hundreds of years after Christ. No when we speak of restored Christianity we speak of the church as it was, not as it became when great councils were called to debate and anguish over what it is they really believed. So, if one means Greek influenced Council convening philosophy flavored Christianity of post-apostolic times then we’re not that kind of Christian.

Peter we know and Paul we know, but Constantine and Athanasius Athens and Alexandria generally we do not know; actually we know them we don’t follow them. Thus we teach that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ are separate and distinct beings with glorified bodies of flesh and bone, as such we stand with the historical position that, I’m quoting the formal Doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great Church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries, is not to be found in the New Testament.

We take literally at His word, that Christ came down from heaven not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. Of His antagonists Jesus said they have hated both Me and My Father and along with scores of other references including His pleading prayers. Jesus repeatedly subordinated Himself to His Father saying regularly one way or another My Father is greater than I.

However, having made the point of Their separate and distinct physical nature, we declare unequivocally that They were indeed and Are one in every other conceivable way. In mind and deed in will and wish and hope and faith and purpose and intent and love. They are most assuredly much more alike than They are different in all the ways that I have just said. But They are separate and distinct beings as all fathers and sons are in this matter. We differ from traditional creedal Christianity, but we do feel we agree with the New Testament.

Next, we also differ from fourth and fifth century Christianity by declaring that the scriptural Cannon is not closed that the heavens are open with revelatory experience and that God meant what He said when He promised Moses, my works are without end and My words never cease.

We believe that God loves all His children and that He would never leave them for long without the instrumentality of prophets and apostles, authorized agents of His guidance and direction.

The Book of Mormon and other canonized scripture as well as the role of living oracles, witness to the fact that God continues to speak.

We agree enthusiastically with the insightful Protestant scholar who inquired on what Biblical or historical grounds has the inspiration of God been limited to, the written documents that the church now calls its Bible. If the spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does that mean that that same Spirit does not speak today about matters that are of significant concern?

Lastly for today we are unique in the modern Christian world regarding one matter which a prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called our most distinguishing feature. That is Divine priesthood authority to provide the saving sacraments the ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The holy priesthood which has been restored to the earth by those who held it anciently, signals the return of divine authorization. It is different from all other man-made powers and authorities on the face of the earth. Without it, there could be a church in name , and it would be a church lacking in authority to administer in the things of God. His restoration of priesthood Authority eases centuries of questions and anguish among those who knew certain ordinances and sacraments were essential, but lived with the doubt as to who had the right to administer them.” YouTube Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Speaks at the Harvard Law School 3/20/2012. (Transcript has been copied from YouTube and edited by Rian Nelson. Errors may have been made with punctuation, color, and bold.)

The Godhead vs. The Trinity – a respectful approach to analyzing the LDS vs. the Creedal approach to understanding who God and Christ are.

https://x.com/justin_hart/status/2065138871827063075?s=20

What was Christianity in the 4th Century?

“The 4th century (300–400 CE) was a transformative period in Christian history, marking the shift from a persecuted minority to a legally recognized and increasingly influential religion within the Roman Empire.

From Persecution to Legal Recognition
The century began under the Great Persecution of Emperor Diocletian (303–311), which destroyed churches, confiscated property, and imprisoned or executed Christians. This ended with Diocletian’s abdication in 305. In 313, Constantine the Great and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity, restoring confiscated property, and ending state-sponsored persecution History of Christianity.

Constantine’s Role
After his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, often linked to a vision of a cross, Constantine sought to unify the empire under a single faith. In 325 he convened the First Council of Nicaea, bringing bishops from across the empire to address theological disputes, especially the Arian Controversy over the divinity of Christ Early Christian Texts.

Theological Developments
The Council of Nicaea produced the Nicene Creed, affirming the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father. The controversy also involved the Melitian Schism and debates over the celebration of Easter Fourth Century Christianity. These councils laid the groundwork for the First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787) Wikipedia.

Church Structure and Influence
By the 4th century, bishops had become central figures, organizing local churches and acting as intermediaries between communities and the state. The church adopted Roman legal frameworks, gained property, and developed clearer hierarchies Early Christian Texts. Under Constantine, churches were built on an unprecedented scale, and bishops gained social and legal authority History of Christianity.

Imperial Patronage and Expansion
Constantine founded Constantinople in 330, shifting the empire’s center eastward and boosting the influence of the bishop of Constantinople History of Christianity. Christianity spread rapidly: Armenia (301), Georgia (324), Axum (c. 328), and the Roman Empire (380) adopted it as the state religion Wikipedia.

Later Developments
By 380, under Emperor Theodosius I, the Edict of Thessalonica made Nicene Christianity the sole state religion of the Roman Empire Wikipedia. The century’s transformation brought both prestige and new challenges, as the church navigated doctrinal disputes, imperial control, and the integration of Christian identity into Roman society.

In short, the 4th century reshaped Christianity’s theology, governance, and relationship with the state, setting the stage for its dominance in the medieval world.” AI CoPilot

What are Athanasian Christians?

“Athanasian Christians are those who affirm the Athanasian Creed, a historic Christian statement of faith that emphasizes the Trinity and the full divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.

What the Athanasian Creed Says

The Athanasian Creed, also called Quicunque Vult (“Whosoever wishes”), is traditionally attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria and dates to around the early 5th century Wikipedia. It is one of the “classic” creeds, alongside the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Chalcedonian Creed Christianity.

Creedal Christians

Creedal Christians are those who affirm and adhere to specific creeds that summarize essential Christian beliefs, fostering unity and clarity in faith.

Definition and Significance

Creedal Christians are defined by their commitment to the historical creeds of the Christian faith, such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. These creeds serve as concise statements of faith that encapsulate core Christian doctrines, including beliefs about the Trinity, the nature of Christ, and the church. The term “creedal” comes from the Latin word “credo,” meaning “I believe,” which reflects the affirmations made in these statements.” AI CoPilot

Again as Elder Holland said, “Thus we teach that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ are separate and distinct beings with glorified bodies of flesh and bone, as such we stand with the historical position that, I’m quoting the formal Doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great Church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries, is not to be found in the New Testament.”

Lehi and Polynesia

Blog Posts

Rian Nelson

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June 4, 2026

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Inspired Teachings about Polynesia

Here I share with you much evidence from quotes of prophets, apostles and others saying Polynesians are of the House of Israel and are Children of Lehi. They are a choice and wonderful people.

Howard W. Hunter — 1984 Statement on Polynesians

“It has been the position of the Church that Polynesians are related to the American Indians as descendants of Father Lehi, having migrated to the Pacific from America… Our belief in this regard is scriptural.”

Matthew Cowley — To the Hawaiian People

“Elder Matthew Cowley, speaking to the Hawaiian people at Laie, declared: “Brothers and sisters, you are God’s children — you are Israel.” This was directed specifically at Hawaiians, though Cowley later served broadly in the Pacific.” BYU Religious Studies Center

“A description of the broader framework at the time noted: “Here were two great strains of the house of Israel — the children of Ephraim from the isles of Britain, and the children of Lehi from the isles of the Pacific.” BYU Religious Studies Center

Joseph Smith Foundation
A great source for most of these quotes below comes from Hannah Stoddard of the Joseph Smith Foundation found here: https://josephsmithfoundation.org/nephite-and-lamanite-link-to-polynesia/#note-2445-5

Mark E. Petersen
“The Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. Why do they have this great faith? It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men.” [1] Mark E. Petersen

George Q. Cannon
The doctrine that the Hawaiian people and all other Polynesians are heirs to the blessings promised to the posterity of Abraham had its origin through George Q. Cannon. While he was at Lahaina, he received a knowledge directly from the Lord that the Hawaiians were of the house of Israel. From this time on Elder Cannon and his associates began to teach that the Hawaiian people were an offshoot branch of Israel through the posterity of Lehi, the Book of Mormon prophet” [2] George Q. Cannon

Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman
“Paul Cheesman notes in Early America and the Polynesians that Bruce G. Pitt, a graduate student, “viewed a portion of microfilm #34 in the BYU library” which contained the patriarchal blessings given to these people in regard to the lineage declared in the blessings. The following information was found: “Of 321 total Polynesian lineages viewed, 155 were declared to be of Manasseh, 2 of Manasseh and Ephraim, 68 of Joseph, 62 of Israel, 4 of Jacob, 28 of Ephraim, 1 of Lehi and 1 of Japeth. . .

Another [graduate] researcher, Max Hirschi, recorded that out of 35 patriarchal blessings given to Polynesians, thirteen were from the tribe of Ephraim, fourteen were told they were from Manasseh, and the other eight were of the tribe of Joseph”.

During Dr. Paul Cheesman’s visits to the islands, he questioned patriarchs in the various places and found “that nearly three-fourths [of the declared lineages] were from Manasseh and one-fourth were from Ephraim, with some being designated as descendants of the tribe of Joseph”. Since Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh (Alma 10:3) and Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim (Journal of Discourses 23:184), the common lineage of these two descendants of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and the Polynesian Saints gives support to the theory that the Polynesians came from the American Nephites.”[3] Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman

Heber J. Grant
According to Alma Taylor’s reminiscences of the event [Elder Heber J. Grant’s prayer dedicating the land of Japan for missionary work in 1901], Elder Grant “spoke of those who, because of iniquity, had been cut off from among the Nephites . . . and said we felt that through the lineage of those rebellious Nephites who joined with the Lamanites, that the blood of Lehi and Nephi [and of all Israel] had been transmitted unto the people of this land, many of whom have the features and manners of the American Indians, [and he] asked the Lord that if this were true that He would not forget the integrity of His servants Lehi and Nephi and would verify the promises made unto them concerning their descendants in the last days upon this [the Japanese] people for we felt that they were a worthy nation”.[4]

Matthew Cowley
“Brothers and sisters, you are God’s children—you are Israel. You have in your veins the blood of Nephi.” [5] Matthew Cowley “

David O. McKay
“We express gratitude that to these fertile islands thou didst guide descendants of Father Lehi and hast enabled them to prosper.” [6] David O. McKay

Spencer W. Kimball
“And so it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction. [President Spencer W. Kimball continued by quoting former President Joseph F. Smith as saying:] “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is No Perhaps about it!” He didn’t want any arguments about it. That was definite. So, you are of Israel. You have been scattered. Now you are being gathered.” [7] Spencer W. Kimball

Robert E. Parsons
“It might be of interest to you to know that when Elder Spencer W. Kimball set me apart for my mission to New Zealand in 1946, he said: “We bless you with power and the ‘gift of tongues’ to learn the language of the Maoris. . . We set you apart among the Children of Lehi to do good.” [8] Robert E. Parsons

Gordon B. Hinckley
“Again, there was something prophetic about it. Here were two great strains of the house of Israel the children of Ephraim from the isles of Britain, and the children of Lehi from the isles of the Pacific.” [9] Gordon B. Hinckley “We thank Thee, O God, for revealing to us the Book of Mormon, the story of the ancient inhabitants of America.”

Hugh B. Brown
“We thank Thee that from among those inhabitants, the ancestors of these whose heads are bowed before Thee here, came from the western shores of America into the South Seas pursuant to Thy plan and now their descendants humbly raise their voices in grateful acknowledgement of Thy kindness, Thy mercy, and Thy love for them and those who went before them.

We humbly thank Thee that this building is erected in this land, so that those faithful Maoris who came here in early days, descendants of Father Lehi, may be remembered by their descendants and saved through the ordinances that will, in this House, be performed in their behalf.” [10] Hugh B. Brown

Elder Matthew Cowley
“Elder Matthew Cowley tells of a great convention held in 1881 that represented all of the native tribes of New Zealand. They were gathered at a native village near Mastertown, near Wellington. Many who attended that conference were old enough to have seen the first Christian missionaries arrive in New Zealand, and all who attended belonged to a Christian church. They were Catholics, Methodists, or Presbyterians. One of the dominant topics considered was why the Maoris were no longer religiously unified as they had been before Christianity came to them. If Christianity was the higher light—the true religion—why were they divided into many churches? So, they began asking themselves which of these Christian churches was the right one for the Maori race and which one they should all belong to so that there would be only one church among them. Not knowing the answer and not being able to decide in their debate, they turned to their wisest sage, Paora Potangaroa, and asked him which church they should all join. He said he would have to think on it and then went to his own residence which was nearby. After three days of fasting and prayer, asking Jehovah which was the right church for the Maori people, he returned to his people and said: “My friends, the church for the Maori people has not yet come among us. You will recognize it when it comes. Its missionaries will travel in pairs. They will come from the rising sun. They will visit with us in our homes. They will learn our language and teach us the gospel in our own tongue. When they pray, they will raise their right hands.”

Paora Potangaroa then asked Ranginui Kingi to write down what he was going to say, and his words were proclaimed to his people at the “eight-years house” on the 16th day of March 1881. Several things were said of interest to us: First, the year 1881 is the “day of fulness”; that is the year that the missionaries first taught the fulness of the gospel to the Maori people. It is also the year *W. M. Bromley arrived to preside over the mission. He was told before leaving Utah “that the time had come to take the gospel to the Maori people.” Potangaroa said the next year, 1882, would be the year of the “sealing.” It was in 1882 when they were first taught about the sealing ordinances performed in the temple. He said the third year, 1883, would be the year of “the honoring,” when they would pay “tribute to whom tribute was due, custom to whom custom . . . honor to whom honor” (See Romans 13:7). Elder Cowley interpreted that as the year when Maoris joined the Church in great numbers and gave “tribute to whom tribute was due [and] custom to whom custom” was due as they began worshiping the Lord.

The prophecy went on to say that they were the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They would learn of the scepter of Judah, and of “Shiloh, the king of peace.” They would also learn of “the sacred church with a large wall surrounding it.” There would be an “increase of the[ir] race” and of their faith, love, and peace. That was at a time when the Maoris were beginning to be exterminated, much as the American Indian was in the United States. There was a great deal of apprehension among them, a fear they would disappear as a people.

This covenant was written down on a piece of paper, and at the top of the piece of paper they drew an “all-seeing eye.” This prophecy was then placed in a cement monument in the eight-years house where the convention was held. It remained there from 1881 until 1929, when a Maori sect known as the Ratana Church, in groping for substantiation that they were the true church of the Maoris as foretold by Potangaroa, broke open the cement monument to get at his prophecy, hoping to find something in it that would establish their claim to be the right church for the Maori. Unfortunately, the storage chamber which contained the prophecy had not been hermetically sealed and the paper had been so damaged by moisture that nothing was legible on it.

That was 1929. In 1944, Matthew Cowley was the New Zealand mission president. He was there during the war years, and the only American missionaries he had were himself, his wife, and their daughter. They held a convention for the Maoris in the same area where Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy in 1881. Present at the 1944 convention was Eriata Nopera, another great Maori chief. When he rose to speak, he told his people that he had been a little boy there when Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy and repeated what he remembered of the prophecy. At the end of that day’s convention, one of the women attending the convention had her husband go fetch parcel wrapped in brown paper from a trunk in their house. When he brought her the parcel, she called President Cowley and Eriata Nopera into an adjoining room and gave it to them. They opened the parcel and found a photograph of Potangaroa’s written prophecy wrapped up in it.

What had happened was that in 1881, when the prophecy was written down by Ranginui, a photographer in Wellington had heard that a Maori had made a prophecy. He traveled out to that village and asked for permission to photograph it. This was granted and he photographed the prophecy before it was sealed in the cement monument. This woman’s family got a copy of that photograph and had kept it since. She then gave it to Brother Nopera, who in turn gave it to President Matthew Cowley. That is the way we know what was in Paora Potangaroa’s prophecy.” [11] Matthew Cowley

*[Note From Rian Nelson]

“President William Michael Bromley was the first Mission President to the Māori’s in 1881. I have done a blog about the Polynesians and the people of Hagoth at my website https://bookofmormonevidence.org/hagoth/

In about 2020, my sister Lori Nelson Merritt was reading the article and she noticed something familiar in my article. She saw the name W.M. Bromley as a missionary among the Māori’s and she knew our grandfather’s name was Clyde Bromley Nelson. She put two and two together and found out that my sister and I are related to William Bromley as he is our 2nd Great Grandfather. I’m sure many of you have felt a leap of joy when you find something new about one of your ancestors and my heart also leaped a little.

I did another blog about the first Maori members and about William Michael Bromley as he served as the first Mission President in New Zealand and was sent by Pres Joseph F. Smith in 1881. I served a mission in Fiji and Kirabati and because of my great love for the Polynesians this story was even more interesting.” https://bookofmormonevidence.org/hagoth-and-polynesians-are-descendants-of-lehi-and-blood-relatives-of-judah-and-of-the-american-indians/“ Rian W Nelson

Spencer W. Kimball
“I thought to read to you a sacred scripture which pertains especially to you the islanders of the Pacific. It is in the sixty-third chapter of Alma [He then read the account of Hagoth.]

And so, it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so, we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction.” [12] Spencer W. Kimball

Robert E. Parsons
“I asked Elder John Groberg, who has spent years among the Tongans, if they had any traditions concerning their coming to the islands. He said they had nothing as detailed as the Maori, but that Church members among both Tongans and Samoans were adamant in their tradition that they came from the east, not the west as some modern scholars affirm.” [13] Robert E. Parsons

Joseph Smith Foundation Notes
Found here:
https://josephsmithfoundation.org/nephite-and-lamanite-link-to-polynesia/#note-2445-5

Notes and References Below

Petersen, Mark E. “New Evidence for the Book of Mormon,” Improvement Era (June 1962) 65:456–59; also in Conference Report (Apr 1962) 111–15
George Q. Cannon, as quoted in Britsch, R. Lanier. Unto the Islands of the Sea: A History of the Latterday Saints in the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986, pp. 97–98
Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman. Early America and the Polynesians. Provo, Utah: Promised Lands Publication, Inc., 1975, p. 15; as quoted in Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62
Reminiscences by Alma Taylor of Elder Heber J. Grant’s 1901 prayer dedicating the land of Japan to receive the restored gospel, Palmer, Spencer J., and Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1989, p. 91
Elder Matthew Cowley, in an address to the Hawaiian people at Laie, as recorded in Cole, William A., and Edwin W. Jensen. Israel in the Pacific: A Genealogical Text For Polynesia. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1961, p. 384
Prayer offered by President David O. McKay the the dedicatory prayer of the New Zealand Temple, “Dedicatory Prayer Delivered By Pres. McKay at New Zealand Temple,” Church News, 10 May 1958, 2, 6
President Spencer W. Kimball in a talk to the Samoan people, as recorded in the “Official Report of the Samoa Area Conference Held in Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa,” February 15, 16, 17, 18, 1976
Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62
President Gordon B. Hinckley’s comment at the dedication of the New Zealand temple upon observing Europeans assembling with the Maoris of the Pacific, “Temple in the Pacific.” Improvement Era (July 1958) 61:506–509, 538
Elder Hugh B. Brown’s closing prayer at the ceremony to lay the cornerstone for the New Zealand Temple, as told in Cummings, David W. Mighty Missionary of the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1961, p. 63; and Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman. Early America and the Polynesians. Provo, Utah: Promised Lands Publication, Inc., 1975, p. 14
Cowley, Matthew. Matthew Cowley—Speaks. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954, pp. 200-205, as quoted in Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 249–262 12.
President Spencer W. Kimball in a talk to the Samoan people, as recorded in the “Official Report of the Samoa Area Conference Held in Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa,” February 15, 16, 17, 18, 1976
Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62 Allen H. Richardson, David E. Richardson and Anthony E. Bentley

“1937 Stuart Meha and “The Personal Testimony of Stuart Meha,” Waipawa, H. B., New Zealand. Elwin W. Jensen A signed manuscript, recorded May 20, 1937, in the Missionary Journal, (abt. Joseph F. Smith) First Mission, Elder Elwin W. Jensen, Salt Lake City.

Although some scholars insist that the Polynesian ancestors came from the Orient and sailed east to settle Polynesia, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always taught that they sailed west from America. In 1818, Stuart Meha, a Maori Latter-day Saint from New Zealand, sent a telegram to the Church leaders thanking them for the privilege of allowing a group of Maori saints to travel to Salt Lake to go through the temple. In the telegram, Brother Meha added the words: “Who knows but that some of Hagoth’s people have returned–perhaps!”

Later, the First Presidency of the Church, and some of the General Authorities, gave a welcome, in Wandermere Park, in honor of this party of Maori Saints from New Zealand. In a speech delivered on that occasion, President [Joseph F.] Smith replied to the telegram: “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is NO PERHAPS about it!”

Continuing, President Smith told how it had been given to him by the spirit, while laboring in Hawaii, that the Polynesians were descendants of Lehi. Brother Meha testifies that these statements touched his heart, and he had no more uncertainties as to whether the Polynesians were truly of the House of Israel. (From “The Personal Testimony of Stuart Meha,” Waipawa, H. B., New Zealand. A signed manuscript, recorded May 20, 1937, in the Missionary Journal, First Mission, Elder Elwin W. Jensen, Salt Lake City.”

Source: Allen H. Richardson, David E. Richardson and Anthony E. Bentley. 1000 Evidences for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Part Two-A Voice from the Dust: 500 Evidences in Support of the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Envision Press, 2001, p. 33.

Who are the Lamanites?

Many dedicatory prayers by Prophets at Temples in South and Central America have mentioned that the people have, “the blood of Father Lehi”, or Prophets refer to “Lehi’s blood” or “Lehi’s descendants,” or even the “Lamanites,” how should we understand these terms? Who are the Lamanites?

“For several years, people have asked how the statements of prophets and apostles regarding Lamanites in Latin America and the Pacific fit with the North American setting. I’ve addressed the question several times, but not as thoroughly as I suppose I should, so here are my thoughts on the topic. A basic criticism of the North American setting (Moroni’s America or the Heartland model) is that in temple dedicatory prayers and other comments, modern prophets and apostles have said Lamanites live throughout the Americas, from at least Cardston, Alberta, to São Paulo, Brazil. Some people think I’ve ignored these statements. I haven’t ignored them; I just don’t think they tell us anything about Book of Mormon geography.

It’s difficult to understand the rationale of this criticism in the first place. It appears to rely on the premise that Lehi’s descendants were isolated and never interacted with other indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere.

For example, when President Hinckley’s 1983 temple dedicatory prayer said the Saints in Mexico “have in their veins the blood of Father Lehi,” the premise would mean that Mexico must be where the Book of Mormon took place. But such a premise contradicts the statements themselves, which, as I noted, identify Lamanites throughout the hemisphere. (Someone could argue that the narrative took place throughout the hemisphere such that Lehi’s descendants were restricted to one hemisphere, but I don’t think anyone makes that argument any longer, at least not from Alberta to southern Brazil).

Whether the Book of Mormon narrative took place in New York, Tennessee, Illinois, Baja, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama or Chile, people from all those areas interacted with one another over the thousands of years they shared the continent.

However, Lehi had to land somewhere! I believe he most likely landed near Florida based on artifacts, history, routes, and DNA. See Blog Here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/lehis-landing-apalachicola-florida/

In other words, generalized statements of the prophets and apostles about the Lamanites tell us nothing about Book of Mormon geography except that it took place in the Western Hemisphere (but one could dispute even that). They certainly don’t contradict the North American setting or establish a justification for a non-New York Hill Cumorah.

I think the entire New World narrative of the Book of Mormon took place in North America, meaning from Florida to Northern USA, and from the Atlantic to the Midwest (as far west as Missouri and Iowa). By the authors’ own admission, the narrative is merely a brief sketch; it covers less than 1% of the history of the Nephites and even less of the history of the Lamanites. Since before Lehi arrived, people throughout the Americas traded and intermarried. Lehi’s little colony grew to a large civilization in part by absorbing indigenous people (as well as the people of Zarahemla). After the Nephite civilization was lost around 385 A.D., the Lamanites (with some Nephites) continued to live on the land, but their history is lost to us. We must resort to anthropology and archaeology, which indicate ongoing interaction throughout the Americas before and after 385 A.D.

With this background, how could “the blood of Father Lehi” not be found throughout the Americas?

There is no problem harmonizing the New York Cumorah with the statements of prophets and apostles regarding Lamanites or descendants of Lehi throughout the Americas (and in the Pacific). Full blog here:
https://bookofmormonevidence.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=17894&action=edit&classic-editor

James S. Brown & Washakie, Shoshone Chief

Book of Mormon Evidence

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June 3, 2026

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James S. Brown & Washakie, Shoshone Chief

Minutes of a Conference at Augusta, Lee County, Iowa, April 1st, 1843

“James Brown was appointed the presiding Elder of the Augusta branch, which numbered eighty-four members in good standing, including two high priests, eleven elders, four priests, two teachers and one deacon. Twelve persons united with the branch. Seven elders, two priests and one deacon were ordained. One of the elders was a Lamanite of the Delaware tribe. A resolution was unanimously passed to uphold the first presidency and follow their counsels, and to use their utmost endeavors to build the Nauvoo House as well as the Temple. A number of discourses were preached during the conference, and several persons requested baptism at the close.” (History of the Church, Vol. 5, 318.)

James Stephens Brown

“James Stephens Brown (July 4, 1828 – March 25, 1902[1]) was a notable participant in the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in California. He was also a member of the Mormon Battalion, a missionary, notable writer and speaker, and a prolific husband and father.

James Stephens Brown was born July 4, 1828 in Davidson County, North Carolina to Daniel Brown and Elizabeth Stephens.

In 1844 he was converted to “Mormonism” along with the rest of his family, and joined the rest of his coreligionists when they were driven from Illinois.

Upon getting to Utah, he was a prominent speaker, and traveled speaking of his adventures with the Battalion and in California. He also served LDS missions in Tahiti (October 1849–November 1852), England (April 1860-October 1862), the US Territories (October 1869-unknown), the United States (April 1872–unknown), the Navajo Indians (October 1875-unknown), and again to Tahiti (April 1892–July 1893). In 1898 he was invited to be a guest of honor at the 50th anniversary of the discovery of gold in California celebrations.” Wikipedia

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LIFE OF A PIONEER
BEING THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES S. BROWN.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: GEO. Q. CANNON & SONS CO., Printers. 1900.

At a general conference held in Salt Lake City, April 6, 1855, I was again called to go east among the Indians, to labor with and for them. I was appointed by President Brigham Young to take the presidency of the mission among the Shoshones. At this call I hastened to provide as comfortably as possible for my family, and to fit myself for the mission assigned me.

I set out on May 8, 1855, in company with four other Elders, going east via Salt Lake City. I drove one of the two teams, to pay for the hauling of my baggage, as I had no team of my own. On the 10th we reached Salt Lake City, and left the same day. On the 11th we overtook another wagon and two of our fellow-missionaries. We arrived at Fort Supply on the 17th, having had a pleasant trip. We found seven Elders planting the crop.

On the 18th we joined them in the work of plowing and seeding, and repairing the stockade and fences. On the 29th, eight of us fitted up a four-horse team and wagon and six saddle horses and started for the Shoshone camps, which we had heard were on the headwaters of either the Green or the Snake River. On June 1st we came to a tributary of the Green River, called the Fontenelle. There we rested one day, then moved camp up to the mouth of the canyon.

On the 3rd of June, E. B. Ward, Joshua Terry and I crossed over the divide between the Green and Snake Rivers, leaving Elder George W. Boyd in charge of camp. The three of us went along the western slope, passing one lodge of friendly Indians. On the 5th we came to Siveadus’ camp of twenty lodges. He and his people were very cool towards us, so we proceeded to a stream called Piney, and up that to the top of the divide, from where we could see to the headwaters of the Wind River. Having been told that Washakie and his camp were somewhere on the headwaters of Horse Creek, we made (Near Laramie Wyo) for that point, traveling over snowdrifts that we supposed were fifty feet deep. The descent was very steep, and in some places rather dangerous. That night our coffee basins, that were left standing half or two-thirds full of water, had become frozen solid; and the weather seemed seasonable for Christmas.

We suffered much with cold until 10 o’clock a.m., on the 7th of June. We turned northeast, and came onto Horse Creek, camping just below its mouth, under a high, steep bluff, in a fine grove of cottonwoods. Everything seemed deathly still. We were in the borders of the Crow and Blackfeet Indians‘ country, with jaded horses, so that if we were discovered it would be impossible to escape. We began to feel a little concern for our scalps, for we were aware that both the Crows and the Blackfeet were hostile. We gathered our wood, taking care that no branch or anything connected with our fire would make much blaze or smoke, lest by it we should be discovered. Everything being placed in the best possible position for flight or fight, as might seem best if emergency should arise, we rested there that night; and something told us we should not go farther north, but that south should be our course in the morning.

Early the following morning, about 3 o’clock, I dreamed that I saw a large band of Indians come down and pitch camp on the creek above us. I was so forcibly impressed that I awoke the other two men, and told them I felt confident that the dream was true, and that we would prove it at daylight. They agreed with me, so I told them to make as dark a fire as was possible, and to get breakfast, while I would go on the high bluff that overlooked camp and the country adjacent, where I would watch everything that moved, and if there were friends or foes in the country we would see them or their lights before they should see ours. We all arose at once, the others preparing the meal and saddling the horses ready for a hasty move, while I went up on the bluff and there kept a sharp lookout until the dawn. At the first streaks of daylight I saw a blue smoke creeping up through the willows, perhaps a mile and a half above me, then another and another, until it was plain there was a camp of Indians just where I had dreamed they were. Soon the tops of lodges appeared, then a band of ponies was driven up. By this time it was fairly daylight.

I reported to the others what I had seen, and we took breakfast. By the time the sun cast his earliest rays over the landscape, we were in the saddle. Then came the question, what shall we do? To flee was folly, for it was not likely that we would escape the ever vigilant eye of the red man, in an open country like that was. We decided to ride out boldly on the open bench, and go straight to their camp. No sooner had we done so than we were discovered, and some twenty or more warriors started to encircle us, but we rode direct for the camp without showing any concern.

John Eliot or Mayhew Jr. praying with the Wampanoag Indians

Soon we were completely surrounded by a score of armed warriors in full costume of war paint; as these closed in their circle, they saluted us with a war-whoop. Some had “green” scalps hanging from their bridle bits, while others had them suspended from their surcingles. As the warriors drew nearer to us it became evident that they were of the Shoshone tribe, but we could not recognize any one of them, and they did not appear to recognize us. When we spoke to them and offered to shake hands, they shook their heads and pointed us to the camp, while they proudly escorted us there, some going before us and clearing the way up to the lodge of Washakie, their chief, who, with some of his leading men, stood waiting to receive us. As we rode up, Washakie and his associates stepped forward, and in a very friendly manner shook hands. By gestures they said, “We are moving camp, and you will go and camp with us tonight. Then we will hear what you have to say. We fell in with a war party of Crows and Blackfeet yesterday, and defeated them, and now we are fleeing to a safe place for our women and children, lest they get reinforcements and come upon us and our families;” then with a motion, the chief said, “Forward,” and soon the whole band was on the move.

Distribution of Uto-Aztecan languages in present-day Western United States at the time of first European contact/invasion showing various Numic languages.

We estimated that the Indians numbered about three thousand all told, and there was a pony for every soul; they were well supplied with rifles, Colt’s revolvers, bows, arrows, shields and some cutlasses, and large, heavy knives. They were excellently mounted, and their discipline could not well be improved for the country they were passing over and the force they were most likely to fall in with. Their flanking party was so arranged as to act as a front guard, and at the same time drive all the game into a circle and thence into a second circle, so that everything, down to the smallest chipmunk and squirrel, was bagged. This was over a strip of country about eight miles by thirty; and the pack of sagehens and squirrels that was brought into camp was astonishing. The old and middle-aged men formed the rear guard, while the whole female portion of the camp drove the pack animals. The chief and his most confidential advisers rode just in front of these, and we were called to be a part of the escort.

When all was on the move, the camp made quite a formidable appearance. It looked to us as if the shrubbery on our way had changed suddenly into a moving army, what with people and ponies all moving up hill and down, over the rolling country, to the south, between the high Snake and Wind River ranges of the great Rocky Mountains. We thought of ancient Israel, of the Ten Tribes coming from the north country, and of the promises that had been made to the Indians by the prophets of their forefathers.

To us this was a great day of thought and meditation, for at times it seemed to us that we could see the opening glories of a better day, and could almost declare, “Now is the dawn of the day of Israel,” for we had a letter from that modern Moses, President Brigham Young, to read and interpret to the red men, and also the Book of Mormon to introduce to them that very evening, for the first time; and the question uppermost in our minds was as to whether they would receive it or not, for there were many hard looking countenances in the throng, and we could see plainly from their frowns that they were not at all friendly to us.

When we had traveled till about 3 o’clock p.m., camp was made in a lovely valley. The chief’s lodge was first pitched, clean robes spread, and we were invited to take seats thereon. Our horses, packs and all, were taken charge of by the women of the camp, just where we dismounted, and we had no more to do with our animals until we had use for them next day.

A little fire having been built in the center of the lodge, the councilors began to file into their places, each very quietly shaking hands with us, some of them very coldly. When all was quiet, the chief said, by gesture, “Now tell us what you have to say. Tell it straight, and no crooked talk, for we do not want any lies, but the truth.” It seemed to us that they were ready for square work, so, with as few words as possible, we told Washakie we had a letter from the big Mormon captain to him and his people. Then he said, “Tell us what it says,” and between the three of us we could tell him every word.

I am sorry that I have not at hand the full text of the letter, but it was a very friendly document, and, so far as I can now remember, told them that President Young had sent us to Washakie and his people as their friends, that we were truthful and good men, who would tell them many good things about how to live in peace with all people; that President Young and the Mormon people were true friends to the Indian race, and wished them to be our friends, that we might live in peace with each other, for it would not be many years before all the game would be killed off or driven out of the country, and the white men would want to come and settle in the land; that if the Indians would settle down and build houses like the white man, and cultivate the land as the white man did, when the game was gone they and their families would have something to eat. President Young proposed to furnish seed and tools, and some good men to show and help the Indians to put in their crops. The letter further said that after a while, when we understood each other better, we would tell them about their forefathers, and about God; that we had a book that told a great many things regarding the Great Spirit’s dealings with their forefathers, and what He would do for them and their children. Then we presented the Book of Mormon to Washakie, while his lefthand man filled the pipe and drew a rude figure of the sun, in the ashes of the smouldering fire; he also muttered a few unintelligible words, smote his chest with his hand, took a whiff or two from the pipe, passed it to the next man on his left, and reached for the book; he opened it and said it was no good for them—that it was only good for the white man.

In that same order the pipe and book passed around the circle twenty-one times, and each time the Indian made a new figure in the ashes, each representing a different planet. During the whole time only one man spoke at once. One said, “This book is of no use to us. If the Mormon captain has nothing better to send than this, we had better send it, his letter, and these men, back to him, and tell him that they are no good to us, that we want powder, lead and caps, sugar, coffee, flour, paints, knives, and blankets, for those we can use. Send these men away to their own land.”

Another of the council, when it came to his turn, said, “We have no use for this book. If the paper were all cut out and thrown away, we could sew up the ends and put a strap on it, and it would do for the white man’s money bag; but we have no use for it, for we have no money to put in it.” He could not understand what good it was to the Shoshone, and said, “Let the white man take it and go home, and come back with something that we can eat, or use to hunt with.”

These were the sentiments expressed by the members of the council. But Washakie had not yet spoken, and we anxiously awaited his decision.

The book passed around the entire circle without a solitary friend, and came back to our hands. The chief reached for it, and when he got hold of the volume he looked at and opened it, turned leaf after leaf as readily as though he had been accustomed to books, then straightened to his full height as he sat there, and looked around the circle. “Are you all done talking?” he asked. Seeing every man with his hand on his mouth, he spoke: “You are all fools; you are blind, and cannot see; you have no ears, for you do not hear; you are fools, for you do not understand. These men are our friends. The great Mormon captain has talked with our Father above the clouds, and He told the Mormon captain to send these good men here to tell us the truth, and not a lie. They have not got forked tongues. They talk straight, with one tongue, and tell us that after a few more snows the buffalo will be gone, and if we do not learn some other way to get something to eat, we will starve to death. Now, we know that is the truth, for this country was once covered with buffalo, elk, deer and antelope, and we had plenty to eat, and also robes for bedding, and to make lodges. But now, since the white man has made a road across our land, and has killed off our game, we are hungry, and there is nothing for us eat. Our women and children cry for food, and we have no meat to give them. The time was when our Father who lives above the clouds loved our fathers who lived long ago, and His face was bright, and He talked with our fathers. His face shone upon them, and their skins were white like the white man’s. Then they were wise, and wrote books, and the Great Father talked good to them but after a while our people would not hear Him, and they quarreled and stole and fought, until the Great Father got mad, because His children would not hear Him talk. Then He turned His face away from them, and His back to them and that caused a shade to come over them, and that is why our skin is black and our minds dark.” Stripping up his shirt sleeve, he continued: “That darkness came because the Great Father’s back was towards us, and now we cannot see as the white man sees. We can make a bow and arrows, but the white man’s mind is strong and light.” Picking up a Colt’s revolver, he went on: “The white man can make this, and a little thing that he carries in his pocket, so that he can tell where the sun is on a dark day and when it is night he can tell when it will come daylight. This is because the face of the Father is towards him, and His back is towards us. But after a while the Great Father will quit being mad, and will turn His face towards us. Then our skin will be light.” Here the chief showed his bare arm again, and said: “Then our mind will be strong like the white man’s, and we can make and use things like he does.”

The chief next drew a strong contrast between the Indian’s way of living and the white man’s, telling his people that the mode of the white man was far preferable to that of the Indian. He also told them that the Great Father had directed “the big Mormon captain to send these men to us to talk good talk, and they have talked good, and made our hearts feel very glad, and we feel that it is good for them to come and shake hands. They are our friends, and we will be their friends. Their horses may drink our water, and eat our grass, and they may sleep in peace in our land. We will build houses by their houses, and they will teach us to till the soil as they do. Then, when the snow comes and the game is fat, we can leave our families by the Mormons, and go and hunt, and not be afraid of our families being disturbed by other Indians, or by anybody else, for the Mormons are a good people. Let these three good men go, and find a good place for us to live, close by where they live; and after a while we will come, and they will show us how to build houses, for they are our good and true friends, and we wish they would go home, and bring some blankets, powder and lead, knives, paints, beads, flour, sugar and coffee, to trade for our furs, pelts and robes.”

Washakie spoke thus with great power and wisdom, while his wise old councilors sat with their heads bowed, and their hands over their mouths, only grunting assent to the strong points of his powerful speech, of which this account is only a brief synopsis.

No vote was taken, but seemingly every man gave his assent to the chief’s decision, by a grunt of approval. Then each man quietly withdrew, and a kettle of boiled antelope meat was set before us. The chief had a separate dish put before him. Then we retired for the night.

The camp was almost destitute of food, notwithstanding the squirrels and sagehens that had been taken the day before. The whole camp was hungry, and the last morsel of our provisions was gone, so next morning, June 9th, we left camp, having a very scant breakfast of meat; but we had introduced the Book of Mormon, and had had the pleasure of having it received favorably by Washakie, the great Shoshone chief, and his council, as the history of their forefathers. The chief said the wolves had written that book when they were men, but had since been turned into wolves; that being an ancient tradition among the Shoshones.

We rode hard all day the day that we left the Shoshone camp, and at sundown camped by a mountain leek spring, without a bite to eat. Nor had we had anything to eat at dinner time; so we made our supper of mountain leeks. Next morning, the 10th, we had leeks for breakfast, and at sunrise we were in the saddle, and on our way back to where we had left the other brethren. I was on the lead, with a double-barreled shotgun before me. We had not gone very far before a blue mountain pheasant flew up from under my horse’s head, and lit in the trail a few yards in front. I shot it so quickly that I never thought of my horse being frightened. Another man jumped from his saddle, and had the bird skinned before the blood had stopped flowing, while the other built a fire. The pheasant was broiled and eaten before the animal heat could have gone out of it, if it had been left where it was shot. Then we traveled all that our horses could bear until 3 o’clock p.m., when we came to a flock of sagehens. As I was still on the lead, I shot three of them before the rest fled. We broiled one of them, and soon devoured it, as we had the other bird, then continued our journey till evening.

As we traveled along by a small stream of water, I saw a fish about eighteen inches long, and almost as quick as thought shot at and stunned it, so that it turned up at the top of the water long enough for an Indian boy who was traveling with us to shoot an arrow through it. With the arrow sticking through it, the fish shot up to where the creek widened out, and I, thinking the water only knee-deep, plunged in up to my hips. I caught the fish, we broiled it for supper, and ate it as we had done the birds and leeks—without salt or pepper.

On the 11th we had a bird for breakfast, and traveled till afternoon, counting that we had journeyed about one hundred and twenty-five miles, and reached our camp, where we found all well. The boys soon spread a white man’s meal before us, and each of us did our part without a grumble. Then we made a short drive, and on the 12th pushed forward on our way to Fort Supply, reaching that place on the 14th. We found all well, and in good spirits.

Fort Supply

“Fort Supply was a Mormon pioneer-era fort in Green River County, Utah Territory, United States. Established in 1853 and abandoned during the Utah War of 1857, the fort served to solidify Mormon influence and control in the area, as a base for local missionary efforts, and to supply food and other provisions for pioneers headed to Salt Lake City. The site of the former fort is located near the modern-day community of Robertson, Uinta County, Wyoming, and a monument commemorating the settlement is maintained as a satellite site of Wyoming’s Fort Bridger State Historic Site.” Wikipedia

June 15th we loaded two wagons with a large assortment of Indian goods, as we had agreed to meet the Indians with the merchandise, in twenty days, on the Labarg, a tributary of Green River. On the 20th we reached that stream and as there were no Indians there I sent Joshua Terry, E. Barney Ward, and my cousin James M. Brown, to inform the red men that we were on time as agreed. It seemed that after we left them they had quarreled and divided into three parties, and came very near righting among themselves. They were therefore very different in spirit to when we left them. At last they began to come and lodge in three distinct camps around our wagons.

On the 28th, all the Indians were very sullen and did not seem to be the same people they were a few days before. Knowing something of their nature, we turned out about seventy-five dollars’ worth of provisions and other goods as a present. Still that did not seem to satisfy them; they wanted all we had. Finally I told them that we had done as we had agreed to do, and if they wished to trade we were ready. They continued to manifest a very mean spirit, and we were not able to sell more than five hundred dollars’ worth of goods out of a stock of three thousand dollars.

On June 30th we left three of our party with the Indians, while the rest of us returned to Fort Supply with our stock of goods. The Indians felt very bad because we had not given them all we had. It was July 4th when we arrived at the fort, and found the brethren there celebrating the glorious Independence Day. I was quite ill, but the brethren insisted on my taking the lead of the ceremonies. That being my birthday, I accepted the offer, and we had a very enjoyable time.

From July 5th to the 18th we continued our farm labors. Then E. B. Ward and three or four other men, including myself, set out on a little exploring trip among the hills. We crossed over to Henry’s Fork, then returned to Smith’s Fork, where we selected a place for the Indians to settle when they saw fit. Having thus completed our obligations to them, we returned to the fort, and continued our labors until August 1st, when we had a recruit of twelve men sent to us, under command of John Phelps. About August 3rd or 4th I rebaptized all the Elders, and baptized three of the first Shoshone women that ever came into the Church. Their names were Mary, Sally Ward, and Corger. I also baptized a young Indian man named Corsetsy. From the 5th to the 7th, the Indians came and went, attended our meetings regularly, and felt very friendly and somewhat inquisitive. We gave them a few presents. They said they were well pleased to have us locate in their country, and were satisfied with the places we had selected for them to settle and live upon as we did. On the 7th of August, Joshua Terry and I started for Salt Lake City, each with an ox team and two wagons loaded with furs, pelts and robes. We arrived in the city on the 11th, and reported our success to Governor Young, who was pleased with our efforts. We also settled for the goods we had had of him.

On the 13th I started for Ogden City, and reached there the next day, meeting my wife and firstborn child, a daughter, who was born August 10th.

Celebrate with us the great stories of the Native American Indians of the Book of Mormon. Purchase your copy of The Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon, by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum here.

Baptism of Chief Washakie

Wind River Mission By Geneva Ensign Wright Ensign Aug 1982

Amos R. Wright has been dead sixty-seven years. Until 1978 his written record of how he baptized the Shoshone Chief Washakie along with over three hundred of his tribesmen had been lost for nearly one hundred years. Now that it has been discovered in the Archives of the Historical Department of the Church, it can be told again—in Amos’s own words.1

When Elder Charles C. Rich of the Quorum of the Twelve asked Brother Wright in 1880 to serve a mission to the Wind River reservation in western Wyoming, he told him that the Shoshone Indians had sent word that they wanted a Latter-day Saint to preach to them. Amos had learned Shoshone while playing with Indian boys in Brigham City when just a youngster, and had gone on a mission to Fort Lemhi in Idaho to the Shoshone tribe as an interpreter at the age of sixteen. Later he helped settle Indian troubles in Bear Lake valley. For over two years now he had been a missionary to them in Bennington, Idaho, whenever they camped there during the summers.2

Amos was forty years old when he received his mission call in 1880, one of many calls given him to preach the gospel to the Indians during the next twenty years. He had a wife and eight children living in Bennington at the time and made a scant living by farming in that cold, six-thousand-foot country. His wife, Cate, encouraged him, however, saying that she and their boys would take care of things while he was gone. None of them knew how long this would be.3

But Amos knew the Indians needed the gospel and that he had it to give them. Most of all, he believed Elder Rich was the Lord’s servant and that if he said no to Elder Rich he would be saying no to the Lord. Amos’s testimony was too strong for that. And so, in September 1880, he left for the Wind River reservation.

When Amos returned from his month-long mission, he was asked to send President John Taylor a detailed report. What follows is Amos’s account, dated 18 November 1880 from Bennington, Idaho. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation of the handwritten letter have been retained.

Bennington, Idaho, Nov. 18th 1880 Pres John Taylor Salt Lake City Utah

Dear Brother

Your Kind letter was Received. I have appropriated what time I could, (seeing it was Confrence times here) in copying my Baptismal Record which I forward herewith to You to make such disposal of as you may deem proper. …

Judging from my experience I should say that … were it not for the promises of the Lord Concerning them [the Indians in general] I should Despair, or abandon the idea of trying to enlighten them, but I believe the Promises. Accordingly I am thankful for this mission and have enjoyed it very much from the beginning and hope I shall never do any thing that will procure me a dishonorable discharge. One thing About them which is remarkable, when they fall into error and lose the spirit they act ashamed but never show any disposition to persecute.

My reason for making this last trip among the Indians was because I understood I was legally call[ed] so to do. I went alone because there are but few men that would be willing to adopt the plan I thought best and those who would were buisy haying and harvesting and I did not wish to call them from their work when I could get along alone

The former agt [agent] Mr Patten upon being introduced to one of my brothers, at Evanston one day, told him that if ever he could get hold of me he would put me in Irons I heard also from other sources that the present agt has made similar threats and considers our Missionary Work among the Indians as an Insurrection against the government, though I am not prepared to Vouch for the truth of this last report.

Nevertheless for this and other reasons I thought it best to go out there as quietly as I could.

Accordingly I left the Road about 35 miles above this place and tried to follow an Indian trail but owing to its dimness and the fact that I knew little or nothing of the country I could not follow it, but was obliged to strike across the country and find my way as best I could.

I undertook to cross the Wind River Range of Mountains about 40 or 50 Miles north of South pass City, but I encountered so much fallen timber Rocks and other obstacles of a Rugged character I thought best to try some other route, which I did, by Heading that Range leaving South Pass Miners Delight and Lander City in the Valley all to my Right, Keeping Close to the foot of the main Range of Mountains all the time so as not to be discovered by White Men.

However I unavoidably Came in contact with several during the time I moved up the Valley but was not Recognized by any of them though I was considerably acquainted with one of them and made some enquiries of him respecting the route, Etc.

After 12 Days travel I arrived at a place called Quakenasp Springs by the Indians. I suppose it is about 5 miles from Camp Brown, the government Post there though I did not know exactly where I was at the time. I found four lodges of Indians at this place and though strangers to me, they received me very kindly.

I enquired of them How far it was to the Main Village, Agency & Camp Brown. I soon found out exactly where I was. I made my business known to the principal man of the Camp, called Sam by the Whites there but (Tor namp pe Black Feet) by the Indians, who said he was a Mormon and appeard to be almost beside himself he was so glad I had come among them

I told him I wished to send a message to Washakie. He Replied that he was just getting ready to go to Town that day and would take any word I desired to Send

I told him that when he got to the village to take one of the chiefs with him and acquaint Washakie of my arrival, & buisness, but be sure he said nothing to anybody Else. he was soon Ready & off. in the mean time one of the young men of the Camp, accompanied me up on the side of the Mountain, where I had as good a view of the village & garrison of the Troops, as Could be had in that valley, at that distance the whole country being a succession or series of gulches Buttes and Bluffs, so one cannot see but a very short distance from any point, only high up on the Mountain except a narrow Strip of land on Either side of the River which the people Call the valley.

The messenger did not return till after Dark I thought I could see that he had been disappointed. He said that he had done as I told him. But Washakie said that Pres Young had told him of our faith years ago, but he did not Believe our Doctrine and as for himself he choosed to remain as he was.

Furthermore his advice to me would be too Keep out of camp for if I were Discovered by the Whites there I would be arrested & Chained up. The Old Man & the government Interpreter were both very sick [and] unable to go away from the lodge in which they were respectively Confined. The other chiefs who visited me, said that these two were the only ones of their people who were Indiferent to our preaching. You will perceive that if I obtained an Interview with Washakie I must of necessity go where he was, he being entirely unable to come where I was.

The Indian with whom I was staying was Quite uneasy for fear I had become alarmed & would Return without any further effort toward accomplishing the object for which I was sent. He was untiring in his efforts to please me all the time I was there, sent to or generally went himself to the settlements and brought vegetables and such things as he thought I would most Relish. … the Man erected a good comfortable Tent in the centre of the grove for my special benefit, furnished me a horse whenever I wanted to go anywhere. (My own horse having become so lame I had to leave him Entirely) and finally loaned me the best horse he had to come home upon. he said his family had never had the Privilege of being baptized and he hoped I would not forget him now that I was there. in fact he gave me no peace till I performed that ordinance for them & then he was Just as much Concerned as before, because one of his sons was or had gone to the Railroad after supplies, he was afraid I would go away before the boy Came Back, but the boy came all Right and was baptized, Contrary to this Indian’s fears. I was not at all alarmed or Discouraged at the Reception I had met with from Washakie for I had fasted and prayed and I felt that god was with me, and if so who could be against me. However I concealed my real intentions from this man, but told him to catch a couple of horses Early the next morning and with one make haste to the Village and I with the other would prospect the country a little. Moreover I directed him to visit the next chief to Washakie himself, & tell him I was near Camp and wanted to see him Immediately. This chief (who by the way Belongs to the church and has the name of being a very good man) soon Came to where I was stopping. I told him why I was there, and how I had thus far been received. he said if he were in my fix he should go and have a personal Interview with washakie myself. he thought I would look very Destitute to come away and not be able to say that I had even seen the chief. he Questioned me very Closely in Order to find out what I would do, but as before I said nothing about my Contemplated Mode of Procedure. The next day after Baptizing this mans Family with whom I was stopping and some others in that same Camp, I started for the village, which Contained about 1,000 Indians I suppose more or less. I left about 4 o clock in the evening so as to arrive about Dark. I rode up to the chiefs lodge about dusk [.] he had changed so much since I had seen him 16 years ago that I did not know him. I asked where washakie lodge was [.] he Replied that he was Washakie Pointing to Himself. I dismounted introduced myself, and told him my business asked him if he had any objections to his people joining our church if they wanted to. I thought he answered rather reluctantly, but before I left him he appeared to be anxious to give me all the Information concerning the people and premises there, that he could. I asked him what he thought of our Doctrine. He said he thought it was an Invented story, and not true. Still the Mormon People were and had always been his Friends and he wished to be Considered their friend. I gave him an account of the visit to Joseph Smith By the Angel Moroni Restoration of the gospel Etc[.] he said Pres Young had told Him the same year[s] ago.

After saying all to him that I thought I was prompted to say & obtaining his Consent to labor among his people, I returned to my stopping place. The next morning I dispatched a messenger telling him to circulate the word in the Camp that those who wished to be baptized could find me there at those Springs above mentioned, but [to] come in small squads one after the other so as not to excite suspicion. that day I performed the ordinance for 87 persons … as well as administering to many. … That evening I received a message from the Interpreter who is a Half Breed Indian, saying that he was so sick that he expected to die, but hoped I would come and see him Immediately. Accordingly I took my Indian Friend, (Tor namp pe) with me for a guide. we started about sunset. upon entering the village I procured a wrapper and went on in disguise. when only a few Rods from the sick mans lodge, which seemed to be only just across the Road from the forte, I told the guide to go in and prospect the premises and if the Post Doctors had retired Come back and let me know. he soon returned saying the coast was Clear Follow Him. The Interpreter I found lying upon his Back in a perfectly helpless condition. His Right arm was paralized so that he was unable to raise his Hand to shake hands with me, his left arm also was so to the Elbow. However he could raise his left Hand but not his arm. His legs too were so Completely paralized that they appeared to be of no use to him whatever[.] He said he wanted to hear of our Doctrine[.] much had been told him but he said he did not think he had got it as it was. I commenced at the beginning and talked fast until 1 or 2 o clock I suppose, arranging what I had to say so as to accommodate myself to the time as near as possible. he said he believed Every word I said, and if he got able before I got throug[h] with the people there he would be glad to be baptized, wanted to know also where I had stationed myself as he wanted to send his Family to me to be Baptized, which he did the next day. His Brother, (John Sinclare) also Came joined us. the lodge was full of Indians & Half Breeds. my guide said on the way home that night that the Indians present could feel that I gained upon that man until he was overcome, though we spoke in English on that occasion. I told him it was not me that gained upon him, but the spirit of God. he replied that he knew that. I had asked Washakie if he thought there was any Danger of some young wreckless Indian Informing on me. he said no. … when we left the lodge that night I found myself completely surrounded by Indians for several Hundred yards. It seemed as though I could not get away although it would soon be light. One would take hold of me and another and another, till I could not Begin to answer them all. The next day they commenced Coming Early[.] I was in the water almost constantly until after sundown, except when Confirming & Recording. [I] Baptized & Confirmed about 120 persons that Day[.] I have no Ideah how many I administered to. … I became so weak towards Evening that it seemed to me that I could not say another word. still I said if they should come all night I would not turn one person away, & they did come till after sundown; some of them appeared to be perfectly Out of Breath and their Horses all of a Foam. …

One Morning just before Daylight after I had Spent almost the Entire night in the village Preaching & Baptizing, I had only just Retired to Bed at my own Camp, when I was aroused again by the Indians who had followed me up in the night to have me do something for them that they might he Healed[.] Candidates were accompanied by their Friends so I was Enveloped almost Constantly by a Perfect Swarm[.] How such crowds could leave the agency & Post day after day and not Excite suspicion, I don’t know, without God was in it, but they told me that they had sent you Men on Horses to watch the movements of the Troops and settlers up and Down the Valley, and if suspicion should be aroused I should know it first or before any one could take me. furthermore if any one was to be Imprisoned, they would go in first. How true this would have proved to be I can’t say.

But they acted like they thought I was the Hero of the whole Country. they Brought me Various Kinds of Food from different parts of the village, and nothing seemed to Good for me. I had Canned Salmon, Nuts, Fresh Beef, Good Bread, Milk, Potatoes onions, Turnips, Groceries, if I wanted them. they paid 50 cts apiece for Water Melons & brought [them] to me, which By the way was Quite a treat as I had not seen any for 12 or 15 years nor was they unmindful of me when I left, but furnished me with a good supply to come home with, sent a young Indian to show me the trail across the Range of Mountains, so that what it took me 5 days to travel going out, I made in 2 Coming Back. After I had been employed for 9 or 10 Days in this manner, or at least the day before I intended Getting Ready for Home, Washakie sent me word by his Herder that he had come to the conclusion I had told him the Truth (for I had Declared to him with all my Might that I was telling him the right way and there was no other that would do, That it was not Merely my word or Pres Youngs word, but the word of God.) Hence he wanted to see me again right away[.] myself & guide went Down that night Upon our arrival[.] The Old Man wanted to know How he could be Baptized, as he was unable to come up to where the rest Came. I told him that he might select his own place and I would attend to it no Matter where, it might be. accordingly he sent his young Men & Boys to prepare a place in a Creek Close by, which took them about 2 Hours. they built a log Heap Fire on the Bank, and after the Moon was up so we could see better, I performed the Ordinance for Himself and all his Family 17 Persons. before I left I administered to him. I cam Back by the Interpreters lodge[.] He said if he Died he wanted some one to be Baptized for him[.] I told him it Could be Done when Our Temple was finished. He said if He got well he would attend to it himself. He asked me to pray for him[.] I administered to him[.] I never went to the village any more after that night having Baptized all but two of that Camp, (The Int [interpreter] and His Mother, who was waiting on Him) But very many Indians were off Hunting so I could not see near all, of them. The next Day was Issue Day. My friend Sam went to Town that Day to receive supplies while I went into the Mountains about 6 Miles to see if my Horse would be able to come Home.

When I got Back Home that night Sam told me that Washakie was on his Horse that Day attending to Busness as usual. I have seen One Indian from that Country lately[.] he says Washakie and the Int were Healed, & are both well and Hearty now. When I left for Home I thought proper to ordain My Friend Sam. I did so. The kindnesses done me by Himself and Family brought tears to my Eyes many Times, & what could I do for Him[.] I only had 50 cts. I gave him that, but I could Exercise the Power of the Priesthood in his Behalf. I did so.

The first night out Coming Back I camped alone in the Tops of the Mountains of that Range. after I had made preparation for the night, I heard the neighing of a Horse some distance from me through the Timber. I saddled up as soon as I [c]ould and made my way for the place from whence the sound proceeded. I soon Discovered a light which Proved to be the Camp Fire of 3 Indians. I stopped there that night. shortly after Retiring I was taken very sick. the Indians were very much alarmed[.] they said that if I died there the whites would say they killed me. not only that but they were very sorry for me because they Considered that I had been a Benefactor for the Indians. My Sufferings were so severe that I thought the sickness was a judgement upon me for something I had Done sometime in my life, though I did not know what it was. One of the Indians said or suggested that I pray to God to Heal me. They had Hunted through the Brush and timber for something for me but could find nothing, and now what Else Could be done. I did pray that I might be relieved or taken out of the world, for my suffering seemed to be beyond Endurance. Finally I asked the Indian who seemed to be so much Concerned for me, if he was a Mormon, (for they were all Strangers to me,) he replied that he was.

Red Cloud-Sitting Bull-Chief Joseph-American Horse

I then asked him if he would pray for me[.] he said he did not know how but would try. I ordained Him and told him to put his Hands on my head and Pray for me which he did[.] I felt very Much Relieved. I then asked him if those other two belonged to the church[.] he said they did. I ordained them[.] they all put their Hands on my head, and prayed for me. As the Gentiles would have it, the moment they took their Hands from my Head I happened to be Entirely well, but I would be afraid and ashamed to say that I was Healed in any Other way Only by the Power of God. And whether the sick were healed through my ministrations or not I think I was Healed through the ministrations of those 3 Indians.

On a Stream Called the Labarge about One Days travel this side of Green River the way I came Back, there is quite a large settlement of Mountaineers. I stayed there all night[.] their Women were very anxious to know where I had been. I told them. all that heard me talk wanted to be Baptized, (I mean Indians and Half Breeds) no whites. I sought and obtained permission from the principal Man among them, & Baptized 18 Persons almost against their Doors. Thus Closed my Missionary labor of that Trip. I left home with only a loaf of Bread tied behind my Saddle and 2 Dollars the People gave me. Before I was 5 Miles away I had $5 1/2 and before I was 2 days Away I had $11 Dollars, but I felt that I could get along without it. I did not ask any body for a cent Either. From the way I had been threatened I supposed it was all my life was worth to go. But Pres [Elder] Rich, (who by the way has always been a Father to me,) Blessed me and told me that I should have wisdom to know what to do when I got in that Country. It was so, & though I knew not the country or how I was going to live or how I should accomplish the Mission, I never lacked for 3 Good Meals a Day without I choosed to fast. Strangers treated me like I was an Old Friend. I was fed and Clothed and Men Gave me Money, though I never asked for any of these things. Enemies to the South seemed to be afraid of me and Perfectly Powerless, though I was alone. Of course I could write Volumes but I am afraid I have already said to much. Again I don’t like to talk so freely about myself but I never was so blessed before & never was so thankful[.] I never Enjoyed myself so long at one time. I don’t wish to weary you but you understand these things[.] in fact I thought of the time you were in France and of Bro Cannon on the Sandwich Islands, and of many of the experiences of the Elders of the Church, and how the Lord had proposed to Bless me too, though I was only a poor Private Man.

Of course you are at liberty to make such Dispositon of the Accompanying Record and these Papers as you may Deem Proper.

Thanking you for your kind letter, I remain your Brother in the Gospel of Christ -A.R. Wright

Thus concludes Amos Wright’s letter describing his 1880 mission. Four years later, President Taylor asked Elder Lorenzo Snow, then seventy-one years old, to take a party of hardy men, including Amos R. Wright as interpreter and guide, to the Wind River reservation again. They left in late October.4

Suffering great hardships in order to visit the Shoshones, they proposed that the Church buy land in that vicinity and send teachers among them to show the Indians how to plow and sow, water and harvest, thus helping them become independent like their white brothers. The Indians seemed to be willing, but the difficulties and problems proved to be too great. Former habits were too strong to be overcome at that time.5

In 1885 Amos was again called, along with Brother James Brown (who was part Indian), to Wind River to teach the gospel. They spent five months, from November through March, living under extreme hardships. Then in the winter of 1901–1902, Amos responded to still another call at the age of sixty-one. This time he stayed six months.6

Brother Wright’s November 1880 missionary report was discovered in 1978 in the archives of the Church, together with a small leather-bound notebook containing the names of all the Indians he had baptized during his numerous missions. These names were carefully recorded, together with sex, pronunciation, date and place of baptism, and confirmation. Included was the name of Chief Washakie, some of his other names, and their interpretation in English.

After the notebook was brought to the attention of the Church’s Genealogy Department, processing of the names it contained began for temple endowments. The names were sent by request to the Mesa Temple in Arizona, and the necessary ordinance work began for the Shoshone women. Temple workers and friends caught the spirit and volunteered to help. Brethren likewise offered with enthusiasm to do the men’s names. In a number of cases the brethren were themselves of Indian descent.

Certainly Amos R. Wright had the spirit of missionary work in his efforts to help bring to realization the Lord’s promises to his children among the Shoshone Indians.

Sunset Light, Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains, 1861, by Albert Bierstadt, courtesy of the Free Public Library, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Amos R. Wright

“I don’t like to talk so freely about myself, but I never was so blessed before and never was so thankful,” Amos R. Wright said of his mission to the Indians.

Washakie, Chief of the Shoshone

“I performed the ordinance for the Washakie and his family of seventeen persons. Before I left I administered to him.”

Notes

Except for Wright’s letter to President Taylor, the information in this article comes from Geneva Ensign Wright, Amos Wright: The Adventures of Amos Wright, Mormon Frontiersman (Provo, Utah: Council Press, 1981).
Ibid., pp. 124–26.
Ibid., p. 137.
Ibid., p. 157 (letter from Moses Thatcher, Quorum of the Twelve, to Amos R. Wright, received 9 Oct 1884).
Ibid., pp. 158–67.
Ibid., pp. 253, 261–66.

Geneva Ensign Wright, eighty-four-year-old great-grandmother and free-lance writer, has recently moved from Montana to Mesa, Arizona.

https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=389324

Record of Indians baptized, confirmed, and ordained to Priesthood offices in Bennington, Idaho and Wind River Valley, Wyoming. Includes the names of Washakie and Brazil. Also includes interpretations of Indian names

Washakie is a ghost town in far northern Box Elder County, Utah, United States.[1] Lying some 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Portage, it was established in 1880 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for the settlement of the Northwestern Shoshone. The Washakie Indian Farm was home to the main body of this Native American band through most of the 20th century. By the mid-1970s, Washakie’s residents were gone and the property sold to a private ranching operation. Today the tribal reservation consists of a small tract containing the Washakie cemetery, and the tribe is seeking to acquire more of the surrounding land. The old LDS chapel in Washakie is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

https://www.lds.org/new-era/1987/05/wind-river-legacy?lang=eng

Celebrate with us the great stories of the Native American Indians of the Book of Mormon. Purchase your copy of The Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon, by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum. At Deseret Book and here.

X2a mtDNA – Ojibwe Origins in North America

Book of Mormon Evidence

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June 2, 2026

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X2a mtDNA – Ojibwe Origins in North America

WINDOVER ARCHAEOLOGY SITE BREVARD COUNTY, FL THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST INTACT CEMETERIES OF 6,000 B.C. THAT HAD EVER BEEN DISCOVERED.

HAPLOGROUP X is found in approximately 7% of native Europeans, and 3% of all Native Americans from North America. Overall, haplogroup X is found in around 2% of the population of Europe, the Near East and North Africa. It is especially common among Egyptians inhabiting El-Hayez Oasis. (14.3%) References at Wikipedia

RADIOCARBON DATING over the three seasons of excavation indicated ages ranging from 6,990 years to 8,120 years, plus or minus 70 years.

What is the Controversy Surrounding DNA and the Book of Mormon?
By Rod Meldrum

“If The Book of Mormon is true (and I believe it is) then it is a literal historical record of real people in addition to its primary purpose of testifying of Jesus Christ. Lehi and his family, who came from the Holy Land area, where descendants of Joseph that was sold into Egypt. (1 Nephi 5:14). The three primary races of the earth, Asian (Oriental), African (Black) and European (Caucasian) are quite easily distinguished from each other through specific DNA markers or ‘signatures’ that delineate their ancestry. The Book of Mormon tells us that the descendants of Lehi, (including his wife Sariah, Ishmael and his wife, and Zoram) lived and multiplied to a great extent somewhere in the America’s. Since it is highly probable that Sariah, Ishmael, and Zoram were also of the same genetic stock (not Asian or African), their genetic signatures today would most certainly be classified by present day geneticists as ‘European’ rather than Asian or African. We do not know the exact makeup of Lehi’s DNA, but that does not preclude us from being able to make a direct connection to his ‘European/Caucasian’ heritage.

Preliminary DNA studies, performed on thousands of individual Native Americans from the Aleuts in Alaska, through North, Central, and South America, were completed. They were tested, studied and classified into one of 4 primary genetic groups called haplogroups.

These four founding groups, designated Haplogroups A, B, C and D are all Asian-based groups found in modern populations of Siberia and Asia today, which supports the dominant theory of the peopling of the New World (the America’s) by an overland migration across the Bering Strait during an ice age epoch. Initial studies indicated that there were no European type genetic DNA markers, which would lead to the conclusion that no migration or population expansion of an ‘Israelite’ group occurred anywhere in the America’s as is indicated by the Book of Mormon. This led to some LDS scientists viewing this as the ‘final straw’ for their belief and some were subsequently excommunicated from the church after writing books contrary to the teachings and doctrine of the gospel, but based on these initial scientific findings.

DNA vs The Book of Mormon is created

A small ‘Christian ministry’ capitalized on this small group of LDS scholars and scientists who left or were excommunicated from the church and documented their feelings and findings, producing a very powerful anti-Mormon video documentary. This DVD has sold tens of thousands of copies since its introduction in early 2003. The revenue produced by this documentary has funded other ‘anti-Mormon’ videos. While the producers of these videos have offered them on their websites for free, they continue to sell thousands of the ‘hard’ copies. Who are buying these, as they are available for free, and why? The answer is that other Christian denominations are buying these up by the pallet load for free distribution in the neighborhood after neighborhood. Entire cities have been ‘blanketed’ by different Christian groups in an effort to thwart the evangelical efforts of the LDS Church. Cities from Springville, Utah to Gilbert, Arizona, and hundreds of cities in the ‘Bible belt’ have come under this siege.

Why is this being done?

Because for the first time other Christian denominations have something for which we, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have provided no conclusive answers, although the subject has been addressed by numerous articles from LDS apologetic organizations. The simple fact is that few DNA findings support the dominant theory of the geography of the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica. Since there is little DNA evidence supporting the claims of the Book of Mormon in Central America, those who believe in this geography must explain why there is no evidence of European lineages there. While some have addressed the issue (including FAIRMormon, Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, and Book of Mormon Central) with well-reasoned research that is certainly plausible, their explanations fall short of providing a solid answer that both addresses the DNA issues and validates the claims of The Book of Mormon.

The explanations fall into one of three primary categories.

We don’t have DNA samples from any of Lehi’s party, so we don’t even know what types of DNA we are looking to find.
Lehi’s group was small and as they intermingled with the existing Asian populations, their DNA was diluted to the point that it is no longer traceable.
It is possible that a ‘genetic bottleneck’ occurred that extinguished the DNA markers found in the original Book of Mormon peoples.

These explanations are used to excuse the lack of DNA evidence in Central or Mesoamerica, in order to defend these geographical theories. This has lead LDS apologetic groups to claim that DNA research and findings cannot be used either to falsify the claims of the Book of Mormon, nor to provide evidence in it’s support. As a classic example of this argument read the Deseret News/Mormon Times article by Roger L. Hardy, and Daniel Petersen, a very vocal LDS apologist who is also a strong advocate of the Mesoamerican hypothesis. He mentions all three while promoting a new book on DNA which is actually mostly a collection of previously published articles, some of which are quite old in terms of the current DNA research field they are addressing. While each of these explanations have merit and are justifiably employed in defense of the Book of Mormon’s claims, there is another aspect that must be addressed. No less than seven times in the scriptures there are specific claims that in the latter days, there would remain on the Promised Land a “remnant” of the “House of Israel” or Lehi’s posterity which came through the lineage of Joseph of Egypt and his son Manasseh. Some LDS apologists have claimed that they ‘don’t expect to find” any DNA evidence in favor of the Book of Mormon. Why would any member of the church not expect to find evidence of the Book of Mormon’s claim that there will be a ‘remnant seed’ still in existence in the latter days? How can there be a ‘remnant’ if there is no actual genetic (DNA) connection to this lineage? This is the reason that I did not feel comfortable with the answers being provided by the LDS apologetic community, which created the desire for me to begin this research in 2003 and continue it today in 2021. Since the Book of Mormon is true (as previously admitted to as my bias) it stands to reason that it’s claims that Lehi’s seed would not be utterly destroyed must indicate that their genetics would still be found in order to fulfill the promises made by the Lord. If there is no genetic remnant, how can there be a differentiation between those who are actual descendants, and those who are Gentiles who are ‘grafted into’ the House of Israel? Why then would the Lord make that distinction?

What is the Problem with those who say there is no DNA Evidence?

The problem is twofold. The anti-Mormon documentary producers were premature in their conclusions regarding DNA studies in the America’s as the research was not yet complete at the time of the release of their video. The second problem is that in order for DNA to be found relating to Book of Mormon people, we must be sure that we are looking for it in the correct location. What chance is there of finding supportive DNA or any other physical evidence for the truth of The Book of Mormon if we are looking for it in the wrong place?

Here is something also very prophetic:

When the Winter Olympic games were held in Salt Lake City in 2002, President Gordon B. Hinckley was asked by a reporter if he had a comment about the lack of DNA evidence for the Book of Mormon. He simply responded that all the information wasn’t in yet. Eleven years later, in 2013, National Geographic Magazine published an article titled: “Great Surprise”—Native Americans Have West Eurasian Origins.” The article presents data on a genome found that is related to present-day western Eurasian populations and modern Native Americans, not from East Asia—historically a puzzling finding. (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/131120-science-native-american-people-migration-siberia-genetics) In the article, ancient DNA researcher Eske Willerslev, of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. stated: “This [DNA] study changes this idea because it shows that a significant minority of Native American ancestry actually derives not from East Asia but from a people related to present-day western Eurasians.” Willerslev also said: “It’s approximately one-third of the genome, and that is a lot,” he added. “So in that regard I think it’s changing quite a bit of the history” – Published November 22, 2013.

READ “Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA“

This short version article is here and the long version may be downloaded here, titled “Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA” by Rod Meldrum effectively and powerfully addresses, and provides supporting evidence that answers both of these fundamental questions above. In addition, it goes back to the very foundations of the geographical theories to bring to light the knowledge that Joseph Smith had on the subject as well as an in-depth study of the internal geographic indications from The Book of Mormon itself. All of this information has now, for the first time, been combined to produce a clear geographical picture that is exciting because of its solid foundation of evidence that supports the validity and truthfulness of this literal ancient record. You are invited to explore the information from this article for yourself and ask the source of all truth of its validity.” What is the Controversy Surrounding DNA and the Book of Mormon?
By Rod Meldrum

Pierce Mounds Apalachicola, Florida near where we believe Lehi landed.

Mounds at Turtle Harbor from Turtle Harbor Mounds

Face of a Nephite

https://bookofmormonevidence.org/bookstore/product/face-of-a-nephite-new-book-by-david-read-jd-19-95/ Here is another excellent article by our friend Dr. David Read: https://www.bofm.blog/face-of-a-nephite/ Also Purchase Dr. Read’s book titled “Face of a Nephite” below:

X2a mtDNA – Ojibwe Origins in North America

Researching the ancient origins of Haplogroup X2a, maternal DNA

X2 mtDNA Distribution : Canada and the Galilee

Maps showing the Distribution and concentrated areas of X2a mtDNA (Maternal DNA Haplogroup) in the Ojibwe of North American and the Galilean Druze in present day Israel : Centered in and around Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in Canada, and the area between Mt Carmel and the Sea of Galilee in Israel.

Ojibwe (X2a mtDNA) : are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the second-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree. In the United States, they had the fourth-largest population among Native American tribes, surpassed only by Navajo, Cherokee and the Lakota. Because many Ojibwe were historically formerly located mainly around the outlet of Lake Superior, which the French colonists called Sault Ste. Marie, they referred to the Ojibwe as Saulteurs. Ojibwe who subsequently moved to the prairie provinces of Canada have retained the name Saulteaux. Ojibwe who were originally located about the Mississagi River and made their way to southern Ontario are known as the Mississaugas.

The Ojibwe peoples are a major component group of the Anishinaabe-speaking peoples, a branch of the Algonquian language family which includes the Algonquin, Nipissing, Oji-Cree, Odawa and the Potawatomi. The Ojibwe peoples number over 56,440 in the U.S., living in an area stretching across the northern tier from Michigan west to Montana. Another 77,940 of main-line Ojibwe; 76,760 Saulteaux and 8,770 Mississaugas, in 125 bands, live in Canada, stretching from western Quebec to eastern British Columbia.[citation needed] They are historically known for their crafting of birch bark canoes, sacred birch bark scrolls, use of cowrie shells for trading, cultivation of wild rice, and use of copper arrow points. In 1745 they adopted guns from the British to use to defeat and push the Dakota nation of the Sioux to the south.

Galilean Druze (X2a mtDNA): are centered in the following areas of Northern Israel. (Population figures and percentage of overall population):

The Galilee Daliyat al-Karmel (15,000 – 96.9%) Yirka (14,750 – 98.9%) Maghar (11,600 – 57.8%) Beit Jann (10,600 – 99.8%) Isfiya (8,500 – 80%) Kisra-Sumei (7,000 – 94.5%) Julis (5,700 – 100%) Yanuh-Jat (5,300 – 100%) Hurfeish (5,250 – 95.8%) Shefa-‘Amr (5,150 – 14.1%) Peki’in (4,150 – 76.5%) Sajur (3,700 – 100%) Abu Sinan (3,450 – 27.6%) Rameh (2,200 – 30.4%)

In the Golan Heights: Majdal Shams (9,700 – 99.9%) Buq’ata (5,900 – 99.8%) Mas’ade (3,100 – 99.9%) Ein Qiniyye (1,735 – 98.9%)

The Druze revere the father-in-law of Moses, Jethro. According to the biblical narrative, Jethro joined and assisted the Israelites in the desert during the Exodus, accepted monotheism, but ultimately rejoined his own people. The tomb of Jethro near Tiberias is the most important religious site for the Druze community. The Druze conception of the deity is declared by them to be one of strict and uncompromising Unity. The main Druze doctrine states that God is both transcendent and immanent, in which he is above all attributes but at the same time he is present in all things. In God, there are no attributes distinct from his essence. He is wise, mighty, and just, not by wisdom, might and justice, but by his own essence. God is “the whole of existence”, rather than “above existence” or on his throne, which would make him “limited.” There is neither “how”, “when”, nor “where” about him; he is incomprehensible.

Druze citizens are prominent in the Israel Defense Forces and in politics. The bond between Jewish and Druze soldiers is commonly known by the term “a covenant of blood”

Galilean Druze X2 mtDNA

Lineage analysis within the mtDNA X-haplogroup of the Galilee Region is particularly enlightening. It should be noted that the estimated coalescence times for the major mtDNA X subhaplogroups X1 and X2 are 42,900±18,100 and 17,900±2,900 respectively. It is striking that those different lineages (from the same parental haplogroup) whose genetic divergence date back more than ten thousand years would remain so concentrated within such a small geographic region. Mutation rates for the mtDNA coding region, are not consistent with the possibility that this number of different coding region defined lineages within haplogroup X could have resulted from the recent expansion of a monophyletic clade within the past 1000 years.

Rather this combination among the Druze, of a large number of lineages, together with a high frequency of the haplogroup in which these lineages are found, suggests descent from an ancestral population, in which the X haplogroup was more abundant than it is in the contemporary Near East, and which reflects the prevailing Near East genetic landscape at that time, antedating the establishment of the Druze religion in 1017 A.C.E. This supports the notion that the Druze represent a refugium of the population genetic structure from the time period prior to the “Dawa”, and also confirms the hypothesis of high endogamy among the Druze. The refugium hypothesis based on mtDNA haplogroup X analysis was corroborated by the finding of high diversity for the Druze mtDNA haplogroups H and K, with the added finding of novel lineages not shared with nearby populations.

Furthermore, the formal rejection of the alternate hypothesis relating to immigration to the region of individuals sharing the same mtDNA haplogroup but with lineages that diverged in antiquity, further strengthens the Druze refugium model. Although, we cannot exclude the possibility that some ratio between non-random migration and colonization did occur during and following the “Dawa” period and generated the differences in haplogroup frequencies among the current Druze subregions, and between the Druze and other populations, this explanation is highly unlikely in face of the demographic modeling results.

The overall low migration rate between the Druze and all other nearby populations cannot explain the high diversity and high frequency of X haplogroup lineages in the Galilee region. Low migration rates were also evident between the Galilee Druze and Druze from other subregions. The finding of the enrichment of the NRY haplogroup K among the Galilee Druze with no detection in samples from other subregions, further supports the relative isolation of this region, even among the Druze. Taken together these findings support the hypothesis that the Galilee Druze are a further more isolated subpopulation of the Druze, who in turn represents a refugium of the population genetic architecture of the Near East in antiquity.

Demographic modeling can also provide estimates of divergence times for populations with shared ancestries. The demographic modeling in the current study indicates most recent divergence of the Druze from an ancestral population shared with Egyptians, Ashkenazi Jews, Adygeis and Greeks. The Egyptian shared ancestry is also consistent with Druze oral tradition. The migration rates of the Druze with these populations are exceedingly low, and this can be attributed to endogamy and geographic isolation following divergence.

It should be kept in mind however, that the computational algorithms used for the demographic modeling are designed for models involving an ancestral population which split and maintained constant migration rate among the two daughter populations. Such a simplified model does not take into account the effect of shared party migration, and therefore would tend to overestimate the migration rate, and underestimate the divergence time. Therefore the Druze would seem to have an even greater degree of genetic isolation, than indicated by these results of the demographic modeling.

The historical events and time frame for the loss or dilution of haplogroup X individuals is consistent with the population upheavals and patterns of migration that have characterized the Near East during the past two millennia at least. The preservation of this refugium of mtDNA lineage diversity among the Druze, mainly due to genetic isolation may be the result of their location in relatively more defensible mountainous regions, and the practice of conciliation with governing authorities and dissimulation called the “Taqiyya”, or due to other factors which facilitated preservation of societal integrity during periods of demographic and political change in the region.

Conclusions : The findings suggest that the Near East maternal genetic landscape differed substantially in the past from its current structure, and was enriched in diverse lineages of the mtDNA X haplogroup. These findings have been uncovered due to the unique demographic features of the Druze population, and the adjusted sampling method employed in the current study. The combination of a high frequency and diversity of the Druze mtDNA haplogroup X lineages, in a confined geographic region, and the low migration rate with nearby populations make it unlikely that this diversity was imported.

It is thus likely that the global diversity of this haplogroup evolved in the Near East and adjacent regions of western Eurasia, during a long incubation period coinciding with and following the most recent out of Africa expansion as dated by mtDNA coalescence simulations[44]. The Druze population of the Galilee represents a contemporary refugium of this past genetic landscape.

Cherokee, Ojibwe and the Phoenicians ? X2A mtDNA

The absence of Haplogroup X in Mongolia and Siberia and a recently proven center of diffusion in Israel (Brown et al. 1998, Malhi and Smith 2002; Smith et al. 1999; Reidla 2003; Shlush et al. 2009) pose problems for the standard account of the peopling of the Americas. DNA Consultants Cherokee-descended customers include seven instances of haplogroup X. David E. Lewis (whose Cherokee name is Wayauwetsi) traces his unmatched X haplotype back to Seyinus, a Cherokee woman of the Wolf Clan born on or near the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina in 1862. Two cases represent descendants (unknown to each other, incidentally) of the Cherokee woman called Polly who was the namesake for the Qualla reservation (the sound p lacking in the Cherokee language and being rendered with qu).

Phoenicians: On the Y chromosome side of Shlush et al.’s study, male haplogroup K was found to have a relatively high frequency of 11% in the Galilee region (2008:2). K (renamed T in the revised YCC nomenclature) has long been suspected to be the genetic signature of the Phoenicians. A TV show by National Geographic appeared about a year ago titled Who Were the Phoenicians?, in which Spencer Wells of the National Genographic Project, unveiled this theory. Without a doubt it was the Phoenicians, whose name among themselves was Cana’ni or KHNAI ‘Canaanites’, not Phoenikoi ‘red paint people’ (Aubet 2001:9-12; cf. Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. “Phoenicians” ), who are referenced by James Adair when he observes that “several old American towns are called Kan?ai,” and suggests that the Conoy Indians of Pennsylvania and Maryland were Canaanites and their tribal name a corruption of the word Canaan. The Conoy Indians are the same Indians William Penn around 1700 described as resembling Italians, Jews and Greeks. By about 1735 they had dwindled to a “remnant of a nation, or subdivided tribe, of Indians,” according to Adair (1930:56, 67, 68). One of the oldest Cherokee clans is called Red Paint Clan (Ani-wodi).

So do the two subclades of X and other haplogroups represent Old World and New World branches diverging from each other as long ago as 30,000 years, or do the Native American “anomalous” haplotypes come more recently from the same source in the East Mediterranean? DNA Consultants

Ojibwe and the X2a mtDNA Enigma

The North American sub-clade X2a usually has C-T transitions np 16278 and np 16223,with the presence of DdeI sites np 1715 and np 10394.X2b varies from all its sister lineages [X2b-h] in Eurasia and Africa. The Vantage specimen” is the oldest human in North America to test for X2a. It predates the Norse settlement in Newfoundland, Canada.

However it does not predate the “possible speculative” arrival of a Phoenician or Carthagian woman with Hg X on board a vessel that could have been accidently blown across the Atlantic Ocean in a storm.

Kemp [2010] identified 7 Jemes individuals from New Mexico,who shared X2a1a1 genes and who probably had an affinity with the Sioux/Cheyenne. With the exception of one Ojibwa sample all of the Hg X specimens analysed by U Perago [2009] have the coding motif 8913-12397-14302.The anomalous Ojibwa did not cluster with any known X2a branches in North America or sister sub-clades in Eurasia. It “could” be another very rare founder. It has been designated assubgroup X2g.Private control region mutations distinguish two internal X2a branches ,which are X2a1 [143-16093] and X2a2 [225-16254C].X2a1 tends to be concentrated in the Great Lakes and Great Plains region X2a2 is less common [X2a1,19; X2a2,3; X2/,1].Some western fringe X2a specimens [eg: Nuu-Chah-Nuth,Yakima] lack characteristic X2a1 and X2a2 mutations [Ibid].

The current North American distribution of X2a tends to be concentrated in the vicinity of the Great Lakes/Great Plains with frequencies as high as 25% among some Algonquian people [eg: Ojibwa] with diminishing clines to the west and south. Frequency estimates range from Sioux ca 15%, Nuu-Chah-Nuth ca 13.5%,Navajo ca 6.5%,and Yakuma ca 4.8% [M Brown,1998]. There are a few single or very frequency occurrences of X2a lineages distal to the “Ojibwa core”. One X2a individual was identified among the Shuswap in the Caribou country of British Columbia and 5 0f 63 [7.9%] Nuu-Chah-Nuth samples off the west coast of British Columbia are probably X2a [there is not sufficient definitive data to substantiate this premise]. The above tend to support the theory that X2a was introduced to North America from NE Siberia and that a number of intermediate Hg X lineages have been lost. A Nonosabasat sample from Newfoundland, eastern Canada, had X2a[10693C,16189C, 16213A,16223T,!6278T].A number of single occurrences have been reported from the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec Province, but the data has not been sighted. G Horvati [2011] stated that X2a was identified in 3 of 6 MicMac sequences.

The dearth of indigenous mtDNA samples from the Maritime Provines of Canada, Quebec and British Columbia severely detract from endeavours to reconstruct the migration paths of the initial X2a colonists to North America. Consequently there has been a significant degree of speculation about the entry point to North America and the coalescence dates of X2a.Its apparent, current concentration in the Great Lakes/Great Plains region is an anomaly, which can not be confidently reconciled with an Alaskan entry point. This genetic founding lineage was probably introduced to North America from NE Siberia after the glacial era, but the current dispersal pattern of X2a is not in total accord with this supposition. “If” the Ojibwa did move from Nova Scotia to the Great Lakes region ca 1400 ADE, the enigma gains in complexity.

M Kujanova [2009] identified three subgroup X2j specimens in North Africa. V Fernandes [2012] noted that X2j shared a mutation at position 12397 with the North American subgroup X2a.She cautioned that the mutation could be a recurrence and that X2j appears to have evolved recently. The rare North American X2g lineage is compatible with the spread of of Hg X from the Near East towards the New World as early as the emergence of the X2+225 clade [ibid].

X2 mtDNA from Near East. 20,000 years ago

The relative absence of haplogroup X2 in Asia is one of the major factors causing the current rethinking of the peopling of the Americas. However, the New World haplogroup X2a is as different from any of the Old World X2b, X2c, X2d, X2e, and X2f lineages as they are from each other, indicating an early origin “likely at the very beginning of their expansion and spread from the Near East”

The Solutrean Hypothesis postulates that haplogroup X reached North America with a wave of European migration about 20,000 BP by the Solutreans, a stone-age culture in south-western France and in Spain, by boat around the southern edge of the Arctic ice pack.

In 2008 a team of genetic scientists published the following: “Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes, that all Native American haplogroups, including haplogroup X, were part of a single founding population, thereby refuting multiple-migration models.” – Fagundes NJ, Kanitz R, Eckert R, et al. (March 2008). “Mitochondrial Population Genomics Supports a Single Pre-Clovis Origin with a Coastal Route for the Peopling of the Americas” Am. J. Hum. Genet. 82 (3): 583–92. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.11.013. PMC 2427228. PMID 18313026.

The Middle Eastern or Canadian origins of X2a mtDNA

Did the maternal Haplogroup X2a originate in the Middle East 20,000 years ago or much much earlier in Canada ?

Soon we will know that the Ojibwe are truly Ani-Shin-Abe. Original and 1st peoples who have existed since the very beginning, in Canada and migrated much much later to Asia and the Middle East.

Distribution maps are worth 1000 words. Looking at the above concentrations it is clear that the areas of Central and North East Canada and the Middle East are connected via the maternal X DNA distribution. In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup X is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. It has a widespread global distribution but no major regions of distinct localization.

Origin : mtDNA-based chart of possible large human migrations. The genetic sequences of haplogroup X diverged originally from haplogroup N, and subsequently further diverged about 30,000 years ago to give two sub-groups, X1 and X2.

Distribution : Overall haplogroup X accounts for about 2% of the population of Europe, the Near East, and North Africa. Sub-group X1 is much less numerous, and is largely restricted to North and East Africa, and also the Near East. Sub-group X2 appears to have undergone extensive population expansion and dispersal around or soon after the last glacial maximum, about 21,000 years ago. It is more strongly present in the Near East, the Caucasus, and Mediterranean Europe; and somewhat less strongly present in the rest of Europe. Particular concentrations appear in Georgia (8%), the Orkney Islands (in Scotland), (7%) and amongst the Israeli Druze community (27%). Subclades X2a and X2g are found in North America, but are not present in native South Americans

Druze: The greatest frequency of haplogroup X is observed in the Druze, a minority population in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, as much in X1 (16%) as in X2 (11%). The Druze also have much diversity of X lineages. This pattern of heterogeneous parental origins is consistent with Druze oral tradition. The Galilee Druze represent a population isolate, so their combination of a high frequency and diversity of X signifies a phylogenetic refugium, providing a sample snapshot of the genetic landscape of the Near East prior to the modern age.

North America : Haplogroup X is also one of the five haplogroups found in the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Although it occurs only at a frequency of about 3% for the total current indigenous population of the Americas, it is a bigger haplogroup in northern North America, where among the Algonquin peoples (Ojibwe) it comprises up to 25% of mtDNA types. It is also present in lesser percentages to the west and south of this area—among the Sioux (15%), the Nuu-Chah-Nulth (11%–13%), the Navajo (7%), and the Yakama (5%) – Wikipedia

X2 mtDNA of the Canadian Ojibwe(a) and Israeli Druze(b)

Haplogroup X descends from the N Haplogroup, which dates to approximately 65,000 years ago. The origin of haplogroup X dates to approximately 30,000 years. (The editor does not believe these dates as I believe Adam was placed on the earth in about 4,000 BC).

“Originally found in Europe and thought to be only distributed regionally, the finding of haplogroup X in the Americas startled the human population genetics community.” -FTDNA

Recently, it has been discovered that there are two major sub-lineages within haplogroup X, being X1 and X2.

This blog will discuss the origins of the X2 Haplogroup which appears predominantly in both North American Ojibwe and Israeli Druze.

Since these 2 distinct areas, the Great Lakes Region of Canada and the Sea of Galilee in Northern Israel are linked via maternal DNA,….

So then, did X mtDNA originate in the Near East (ie: Israel) or did it originate much earlier in the area of Lake Superior in Canada ?

It is likely that the Ojibwe people, the Anishinabe are actually the ancient ancestors to those living in Israel 21,000 years ago.

Galilean Druze and Miss Israel contestant Angelina Duah Fares (Pic Right)

Source: https://www.dnagenics.com/haplogroups/mtdna/X2a?srsltid=AfmBOooEvjuwGj34qH7YS2Ayu1hZt-1KlGOQ6pYQF5pqh6W8K7xmF5KU

Common Sense- Joseph Smith was among many Original Lamanites

Rian Nelson

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June 1, 2026

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Common Sense- Joseph Smith was among many Original Lamanites

Original Lamanites near Apalachicola, FL?

Original Lamanites had to begin somewhere. I believe it was in Florida where Lehi landed, and his sons, Laman and Lemuel rejected the Lord’s words near that area. Wayne May likes the 500 BC area of Crystal Springs, FL and Rod Meldrum likes Clearwater FL, where a dear Native Friend of his named Blue Dolphin, told Rod about many years ago. Personally I love the Apalachicola, FL area where is found pure “tupelo” honey, 600 BC artifacts and Mounds everywhere, including Turtle Mound, and Pierce Mounds. Apalachicola, FL is also where the ancient historical Hopewell Culture began in 600 BC.

Most of the Heartland theorists feel that Florida was a very likely place of Lehi’s first inheritance of this Promised Land. See the map left, to see the beginning stages of the Hopewell Sphere of influence, from about 600 BC to 400 AD.

A unique aspect of many secular historians research, is their belief that for some unknown reason, this network of people ended abruptly in about 400 AD in New York. We of course know that to be the final battle near Hill Cumorah, NY.

*Deptford culture, 500 BCE – 200 CE, with Atlantic region in red and Gulf region in gold*

If you research the the Deptford Culture (800 BCE—700 CE), it was an archaeological culture in southeastern North America characterized by the appearance of elaborate ceremonial complexes, increasing social and political complexity, mound burial, permanent settlements, population growth, and an increasing reliance on cultigens.” Wikipedia.

A cultigen is a plant whose origin or selection is primarily due to intentional human activity. (Original Lamanites?)

“The Hopewell tradition, also called the Hopewell culture and Hopewellian exchange, describes a network of precontact Native American cultures that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from 100 BCE to 500 CE, in the Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society but a widely dispersed set of populations connected by a common network of trade routes. At its greatest extent, the Hopewell exchange system ran from the northern shores of Lake Ontario south to the Crystal River Indian Mounds in modern-day Florida. Within this area, societies exchanged goods and ideas, with the highest amount of activity along waterways, which were the main transportation routes.” Wikipedia

Pierce Mounds Complex An Ancient Capital in Northwest Florida

“The importance and longstanding fame of the site notwithstanding, Pierce Mounds complex [Apalachicola, FL], has been poorly understood and neglected. It is often mentioned in passing during syntheses of Middle Woodland [200 BCE – 500 CE] burial mound ceremonialism, and many southeastern archaeologists have not even realized that it also has a sizeable Fort Walton component, not to mention some of the very earliest evidence (Early Woodland) for burial [1000–200 BCE)], for burial mound activity in this region. It is certainly comparable to centers such as the great Bottle Creek mound complex in the Mobile Delta area of Alabama (Brown 2003). The long history of Native American occupation and ritual activity at Pierce is not surprising given its strategic geographic location and the rich array of resources available here from so many and varied terrestrial and aquatic ecological zones (Map Below). Introducing his description of Pierce, Willey (1949:279) said, “The delta country of the Apalachicola was undoubtedly one of the most favorable and most densely populated areas for prehistoric peoples.” Pierce Mounds Complex An Ancient Capital in Northwest Florida by Nancy Marie White Department of Anthropology University of South Florida, Tampa [email protected]

Wakulla Springs, FL

It is very likely Lehi landed near Apalachicola where close by is also Wakulla Springs, an amazing natural spring and a location that today you can see actual giant Mastodons under the water on a glass bottom boat cruise. See my blog here:

Rod Meldrum takes his Heartland tour groups to this site. See Tour dates here:

“Wakulla cave is a branching flow-dominated cave that has developed in the Floridan Aquifer under the Woodville Karst Plain of north Florida. It is classified as a first magnitude spring and a major exposure point for the Floridan Aquifer. The spring forms the Wakulla River which flows 9 miles to the southeast where it joins the St. Mark’s River. After a short 5 miles the St. Mark’s empties into the Gulf of Mexico at Apalachee Bay.

Scientific interest in the spring began in 1850, when Sarah Smith reported seeing the bones of an ancient mastodon on the bottom. Since that time, scientists have identified the remains of at least nine other extinct mammals that date to the last glacial period, deposited as far as 1,200 feet (360 m) back into a cave. Today, at a depth of about 190 feet (58 m), the fossilized remains of mastodons are in full view along with other fossils.

Flow rate of the Wakulla Spring is 200–300 million US gallons (760,000–1,140,000 m3) of water a day. A record peak flow from the spring on April 11, 1973 was measured at 14,324 US gallons (54,220 L) per second – equal to 1.2 billion US gallons (4,500,000 m3) per day.

Wakulla, is as impressive as Big Spring, Missouri which Rod Meldrum initially thought may be the Waters of Mormon location. With Big Spring, MO being over 400 miles from Chattanooga, TN (Plausible location of City Nephi), Rod, and Jonathan Neville, along with myself, now believe the Waters of Mormon are more likely located in part of the over 700 natural springs in Northern Georgia, with Catoosa Springs and Crawfish Springs being two great possibilities of being that famous place of the Book of Mormon.

*Waters of Mormon may be near Crawfish Springs, GA or Catoosa Springs, GA only 12-18 miles from the City Nephi at Chattanooga, TN*

Lamanites likely settled south of the Ohio River where Nephi passed away, then Mosiah in about 300 BC took the Nephites north the Head of Sidon, [Confluence of the Ohio River and the Mississippi], and found the Mulekites near Iowa, and Illinois, which is where the principle history Mosiah begins. This is common sense to me, mixed with tons of research, scriptures, artifacts and other common sense ideas, that have led me to personal revelation on many unanswered questions in the politically correct society we live in. Of course my witness by the Spirit, is that the Book of Mormon is true.

My personal revelations are just that, “personal” and have nothing to do with the opinions of Firm Foundation, and nothing to do with doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I listen to and love Prophets and Apostles personal opinions, and consider them often, and I also hold sacred the Doctrine they give by revelatory means about all doctrinal issues to help us in these troubles times.

Joseph KNEW Original Lamanites and was Taught by Angels

“It is impossible to determine the number of “interviews” Joseph had with Moroni, but twenty-two visits are often identified.” Moroni—Joseph Smith’s Tutor By H. Donl Peterson

The importance of Moroni and Joseph Smith communicating with each other is of vital importance. How could a young unlearned farm boy become a great Prophet of the Lord? Being taught by angels and having a personal tutor in the form of Moroni and many others is the answer.

Joseph’s life seemed surrounded with Native Americans of North America. This is the first common sense question about whether the Book of Mormon began in Mesoamerica or in the Heartland. This is not a discussion about where the Lamanites live today. I believe their blood is all over the world and especially all over North America, Central America and South America. This seems obvious.

Common Sense is Key to Personal Revelation

The purpose of this blog is to show you how close Joseph Smith and his family were to Native Americans and their culture during their lifetime. Joseph learned from Native Americans such as this huge list below. It makes sense the beginning of the Lamanites was right here in North America, not some far away place that Joseph never visited, or an place he never interacted with people, like in Central America. Common sense is the key, to finding personal revelation in my opinion. Don’t be deceived by lack of common sense before you explore further. An important common sense question has been answered by prophets like Pres Monson below. And Elder Perry here, “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Elder L. Tom Perry Ensign Dec. 2012

President Monson said, “The Lord gave a divine promise to the ancient inhabitants of this favored country (the United States): ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12).
“Our Heavenly Father inspired the leaders of…the United States of America, that they might together, under His direction, having been raised up by God for the purpose, establish the Constitution of this country and…Bill of Rights, that by the year of our Lord 1805 [there would be] a climate where our Heavenly Father could send into this period of mortality a choice spirit who would be known as Joseph Smith, Jr.” Teachings of Thomas S. Monson by Thomas S. Monson 2011 (Ordained an Apostle, 1963; ordained President of the Church, 2008)

This is where common sense begins, with solid evidence that I am on the right track. Joseph Smith loved, lived close to, and learned from, North American Native Americans, and our Prophets say that the Book of Mormon is, and was, the history of “this land” of the United States of America, and not any other place in the world. It began in “this land” of North America.

Joseph Learned from Many Native Americans

*6 Chiefs lived during Joseph’ Smiths life*

A non Common-Sense Statement

I don’t agree with the Mesoamerican theory posed below. Michael Ash said, “To the critics (and some members) this suggests that Joseph knew everything about the Book of Mormon peoples, saw exactly what their lives were like, and would know where the events took place. Firstly, Lucy dictated her thoughts nearly two decades after Joseph’s vision. Her retelling may not have been as accurate as if she had recorded the event immediately after it transpired… Secondly, just because Joseph saw such things in vision does not mean that Joseph knew the location of the events.” Book of Mormon Geography Author(s): Michael R. Ash Source: Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony In the Face of Criticism and Doubt Published: Redding, CA; FairMormon, 2013 (2nd Edition)

How could an inspired Prophet of God, not know the very places of the Nephites as he lived among them and saw them? They lived in the same, “this land”, that Joseph lived in. Joseph had visions and angel visits, and common sense disputes the comment above that says, “Joseph saw such things in vision does not mean that Joseph knew the location of the events.” Wow, that has NO common sense as all. I am not disputing Brother Ash’s testimony, or his love of the gospel, just his words which make no sense to me. I honestly don’t mind what other Historians and Intellects believe about Book of Mormon Geography as it is their decision. I only know what I feel deeply, as I share it with my readers.

Lucy Mack Smith Journal

The quote by Brother Ash above said, “Lucy dictated her thoughts nearly two decades after Joseph’s vision”, which does not agree with the words of the Church today that say it was completed “by October 1845.

“In 1844, a few.” months after the deaths of Joseph, Hyrum, and Samuel Smith, Lucy Mack Smith began compiling her history, assisted by scribes Martha and Howard Coray. Though aging and in poor health, she felt “it a privilege as well as my duty … to give (as my last testimony to a world from whence I must soon take my departure) an account.” Lucy’s manuscript was completed by October 1845, and she publicly announced the project at general conference. When the majority of Church members migrated west toward the Great Basin after 1846, Lucy’s health was declining, and she chose to remain with her family in Illinois. She spent the remaining years of her life with her daughter Lucy Millikin, her daughter-in-law Emma, and her grandsons. Lucy Mack Smith passed away in 1856. Apostle Orson Pratt first published Lucy’s history in 1853…” Source

Lucy Mack Smith whose journal is known as one of the most accurate journals in the Church along with Wilford Woodruff’s journal said, “We were now confirmed in the opinion that God was about to bring to light something upon which we could stay our minds, or that would give us a more perfect knowledge of the plan of salvation and the redemption of the human family. This caused us greatly to rejoice, the sweetest union and happiness pervaded our house, and tranquility reigned in our midst. During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them.” Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, pp. 82-83.

Speaking about the quote from Lucy above, Eldred G. Smith our former long standing Patriarch of the Church said, “This was before he received the plates. He must have received this by revelation, for he knew the whole story of the content of the record that is now the Book of Mormon. He had had five long visits with Moroni, and his mother says he received many revelations.” Eldred G. Smith, Conference Report, October 1967, pp. 82-84 To me this is undisputable common sense.

Lucy Mack Smith’s Journal of 1845

The name Cumorah was well known early. Most Mesoamericanists claim it was not known or spoken of by Joseph until very late. We disagree. See the two quotes below:

1. According to Lucy, when Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823, he identified the hill as Cumorah:

“[Moroni, after telling Joseph about the record, said] but you cannot get it until you learn to keep the commandments of God For it is not to get gain. But it is to bring forth that light and intelligence which has been long lost in the Earth

Now Joseph beware or when you go to get the plates your mind will be filled with darkness and all manner of evil will rush into your mind. To prevent you from keeping the commandments of God that you may not succeed in doing his work and you must tell your father of this for he will believe every word you say.

The record is on a side hill on the Hill of Cumorah 3 miles from this place. Remove the grass and moss and you will find a large flat stone pry that up and you will find the record under it laying on 4 pillars of cement— then the angel left him.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/41

2. The fact is, I had learned to be a little cautious about matters with regard to Joseph; for I was accustomed to see him look as he did on that occasion, and could not easily mistake the cause thereof. Presently he smiled, and said in a very calm tone, “I have taken the severest chastisement, that I have ever had in my life”. My husband, supposing it was from some of the neighbors, was quite angry; and observed, “I would would like to know what business any body has to find fault with you.”

“Stop, father, Stop.” said Joseph, “it was the angel of the Lord— as I passed by the hill of Cumorah, where the plates are, the angel of the Lord met me and said, that I had not been engaged enough in the work of the Lord; that the time had come for the record to <be> brought forth; and, that I must be up and doing, and set myself about the things which God had commanded me to do: but, Father,’ continued he, ‘give yourself no uneasiness concerning the reprimand that I have received; for I now know the course that I am to pursue; so all will be well.”

It was also made known to him at this interview, that he should make another effort to obtain the plates on the 22d. of the following September; But this he did not mention to us at that time. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1845/111

Facts and Common Sense about Book of Mormon Geography:

A. Joseph Smith grew up near Native Americans
B. Joseph read about and heard from many Native Americans during his life
C. Joseph lived just 3 miles from the most important Hill in the history of the Lord’s kingdom which was located in Ontario County New York.
D. Joseph and his family are likely buried in a Hopewell Mound in Nauvoo which has been dated to Book of Mormon times. (See map and quote below)

“Nauvoo appears to have been a destination for the living and the dead for centuries. According to Community of Christ Historic Sites Coordinator Lachlan Mackay, workmen digging a power wiring trench between the Smith Cemetery and Red Brick Store during the 1970s uncovered bones and artifacts, including a cardinal platform pipe from the Hopewell era (ca. 200 BC to 500 AD). This means that the Smith Family Cemetery was most likely built over an ancient graveyard. Lachlan Mackay referred to Gustavus Hills 1840 map of Nauvoo which revealed ancient tumuli, or burial mounds, including some on Partridge Street below the temple hill. In 1844, Henry Brown quoted John C. Bennetts 1842 description of Nauvoo: “The surface of the ground upon which Nauvoo is built, is very uneven. . . A number of tumuli, or ancient mounds, are found within the limits of the city, proving it to have been a place of some importance with the extinct inhabitants of this Continent” (History of Illinois, 1844, p. 490). Settlers, however, leveled the land for houses and gardens.” Laid to Rest in Nauvoo By Rosemary G. Palmer · July 17, 2014 Meridian Magazine

E. Joseph shared his witness of a Prophet named Onandagus who was known from the Rocky Mountains to the Hill Cumorah. Onondaga Tribes live near Syracuse NY.
F. Joseph named in vision a man named Zelph, who was a White Lamanite fighting for the Nephites in one of the great last struggles of the Book of Mormon. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/489
G. It’s also a fact that young Mormon in 321 AD began the great last battle between the Lamanites and Nephites in the “Land of Zarahemla”.
H. In D&C 125:3, Joseph receives a revelation telling the brethren in Nauvoo, “Let them build up a city unto my name upon the land opposite the city of Nauvoo, and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it.”
I. Oliver Cowdery said, “At about one mile west rises another ridge of less height, running parallel with the former, leaving a beautiful vale between. The soil is of the first quality for the country, and under a state of cultivation, which gives a prospect at once imposing, when one reflects on the fact, that here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed.” Letter VII
J. Joseph in his letter during Zion’s Camp on the banks of the Mississippi River, said to his wife Emma, “The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity… During our travels we visited several of the mounds which had been thrown up by the ancient inhabitants of this country-Nephites, Lamanites, etc.” Joseph Smith Papers Letter to Emma Smith, 4 June 1834 Page 56
K. Joseph and Oliver entered a “Cave of Records” in the hill Cumorah and found wagon loads of Jaredite and Nephite records and the sword of Laban.
L. The Lord’s Law of Moses could not be practiced in Mesoamerica as they would not have had the proper wheat, barley, wine, doves, lambs, bullock, or goats required in the Lord’s law, as none of the previous grains and animals did not exist n the time frame or location of Mesoamerica.
M. No where in scripture does it ever say that Joseph used a stone in a hat to translate. In over 9 scriptures it says he used the Interpreters or Urim and Thummim attached to a breastplate. (JSH 1:35,52,62,75*; Mosiah 28:13, 20; Ether 3:22-23; 4:5; Alma 37:21, 24-25)
N. The Hopewell Culture in history began in 600 BC in Florida and ended in 400 AD New York just as the events of the Book of Mormon happened. This is the world’s largest coincidence of common sense in history.
O. In Ether when Mormon abridges the Jaredite record the says “this land”, not “that land”, not “the land over there”, not “this land all over the place”, but “this land” referring to the very land where the Jaredites and Mormon together stood, even the land of the United States of America where the New Jerusalem will be built in Independence Missouri, which constitutes “this land.” Ether 13:2-4
P. Thus ended our first Indian mission, in which we had preached the Gospel in its fullness and distributed the record of their forefathers among three viz.: the Cattaraugus Indians, near Buffalo, N.Y., the Wyandots, of Ohio and the Delawares, west of Missouri.” Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pp. 56-6; Documentary History of the Church Vol 1: Footnotes 183:2-18

If that preceding list is not enough of “common sense” belief, that the Heartland is more than likely the land of the first Nephites, that is hard to believe for me. But if that is how you feel that is fine with me.

East Lawn of Red Brick Store. Fence is the Joseph Smith Family Cemetery and Nephite Cemetery

Joseph hears Red Jacket speak in Palmyra

“On the one hand, there are parallels between Handsome Lake’s teachings and Book of Mormon, economic and social interactions between Iroquois and white settlers at the time were still extensive during the early decades of the 19th century, and Lucy Mack Smith wrote that Joseph talked about Indians “as if he had spent his whole life among them.” Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations (Liverpool: S.W. Richards, 1853. “Joseph Smith was interested in the people who lived around him. Young Joseph was a member of the juvenile debating club in Palmyra during 1822 when Red Jacket, arguably the most widely-known Seneca of this period, delivered a speech in town. Joseph also liked to hang out on Ganargua Creek in the area where Iroquois travelers camped. He had interest and access.” Joseph Smith and the Code of Handsome Lake Lori Taylor, Ph.D.

“The Onondagas: These have special interest… this warrior, Zelph, was an Onondaga, as well as a “white” Lamanite, and that the Onondagas (of New York), consequently must be of Lamanite lineage.” J.M. Sjodahl, An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon

Oliver Cowdery Knows the Lamanites of America

“Now, to my story again. Besides the Delawares, Shawnees, Kickapoos, Wyandots, Pottowattomies, Senecas, Osages, Choctaws, Cherokees, Kaskaskias, Kansas, &c. &c. which our nation and the missionaries are domesticating as they are gathered, upon the southern limits of the land of Israel, the Pawnees, the Sioux, the Rickarees, the Mandans, the Nespersees, the Blackfeet, the Sacs, the Foxes, and many other tribes, rove and hunt from prairie to prairie, from river to river, from hill to hill, and from mountain to mountain, and live, and are blessed before the face of heaven daily as well as their contemporary whites; and, perhaps I may add, are as justifiable before God, as any people on the globe, called heathens. No church bell from its elevated steeple, rings “Go to meeting; it is Sunday,” while a dozen lesser ones, for stages and Steam boats, peal a ding dong “for parties of pleasure, as a holiday,” among these rude sons of the west.—And it is a difficult matter to make one soul of them believe the Great Spirit ever said, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” while they know, that the majority of the white nation, use it for a holiday. No politicians boast of freedom and equal rights, while thousands are imprisoned for debt, or are in bondage: No; when the tribes are at peace, the Indian is free; his land is free; his game is free; his time is free, and all is free.” LETTER NO. II. From WW Phelps to Oliver Cowdery Liberty, Mo. Nov. 6, 1834

Detailed blog titled, Joseph Smith Learned From & Taught Nephites and Native Americans

Extra Credit Reading Below: Great Information to Research

Jerusalem Torah Voice in Exile

This is part 1 on a six part series of information from a man called Maggid ben Yoseif , who posts many articles of Jewish, Native American, and Christian information. The post is called Jerusalem Torah Voice in Exile. I will be adding my opinion of these articles in the next few months as I feel they are a good source of information. Although Maggid is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his parallels and interpretation of Joseph Smith among the New York Indians is noteworthy. He says the Book of Mormon is fiction, but it is interesting how much value and credence he at times gives it. I feel we need to listen to others opinions to solidify our own feelings of truth.

My notes in orange below:

Bio: Maggid ben Yoseif

ELDERSGATE-BRIGHTSTAR Hebrew Native American Council; Gileadite School of Theological Research; House of Joseph Beit Din. Currently constructing Eldersgate Hebrew-Native American Council promoting restoration of Native American spiritual sovereignty on about 25 acres in rural Brightstar, Arkansas. However, we continue our intercession for the LAND wherever Creator takes us.

We also help ministries and pastors align w/ the “Spirit of Reconciliation” and with the “other flocks” in the Kingdom, especially Native American flocks influenced by the migration of 38 Athap(b)ascan Language Group nations. Traced to ancient pre-Jewish “Gilead” and widely assimilated across Turtle Island (the Americas) this Hebrew priesthood has “evolved” into an End-Times voice of Elijah THE Gileadite to help protect our LIVING Earth Mother, reconcile the factions of the House of Joseph and restore Native American spiritual sovereignty.

Research below links these nations with the migration of DAN, (the “Na Dene”) JOSEPH EAST M’NASHE and priests and Levites of GILEAD. Exiled from their home east of the Jordan River 17-23 years before the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel, unlike the 10 Tribes they were never severed from Covenant. Thus the Sundance and other Native ceremonial chants permute the Divine Name, YHW and H. Restoration of Native spiritual sovereignty is found in Scripture pertaining to purification lodges (sweats) in Hosea 2:18ff, a covenant with the four legged, winged and creatures who crawl to end “sword, bow and violence (FRACKING) in the Earth.” “Goring with the horn of a re’eim” (buffalo) found in Deut 33:15ff describes the buffalo horn used in the lodge by the “n’zir” (East M’nashe). Isaiah 49:6 refers to the RESTORATION — NOT SALVATION — of the “n’zirei Yisrael” as a major part of the assignment of the servant-messiah.

We are eager to share these and many other truths communicated by Elijah over the past 33 years, to lodge with elders and sundancers and perform ceremony that ministers to Mother Earth

A’Ho mitakuye oyasin
“All My Relations” – is a greeting from the Lakota (Sioux) people reflecting their worldview of oneness, interconnectedness, and harmony with all living things: people, animals, plants, even wind, rocks, and rivers. To most people, a “relation” means a family member – a blood relative.

Names: ben Yoseif (son of Joseph) . Although ben Yoseif is a “junior”, who shares the given name of his late father, neither are named “Joseph.” Rather the name ben Yoseif was given by a bat Kol (voice from Heaven) in 1994, confirmed in Torah code of ben Yoseif’s father’s and his given name in 1998 and has been validated by a number of rabbis in Jerusalem since 2000. ben Yose’ (south of the border); Tohokwahu (used primarily between he and a few Hopi friends, this is ben Yoseif’s given name — Griffin or Lioneagle — in Hopi).

ben Yoseif holds a B.A. degree in journalism, an M.B.A. degree in business administration and the equivalent of a Ph.D in theology and advanced Pentateuch (Torah) including three years of study at the ORU Graduate School of Theology, where he pursued Hebrew and Aramaic. More bio information here:

Joseph Smith knew the Iroquois

There is a belief that the Iroquois Nation played an important role in the life of Joseph Smith. He lived in an area with many Iroquois chiefs and may have even met many of these great men. Ganargua Creek (Mud Creek) was a primary stopover point for the Iroquois on their trade routes. Joseph Smith also had an interest in the creek after hearing a speech from Seneca Indian Chief Red Jacket at Palmyra in 1822.

*Moroni’s America-Maps Edition page 109. Purchase Here*

Many historians believe that Iroquoian ideas of federalism, and balance of power directly influenced the US system of government. Benjamin Franklin admired native American government structures. In 1744, Canassatego advocated in Washington the federal union of the American colonies. See Here

The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy and became known as the Six Nations.

Names and Tribes of the Iroquois

“The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee. (“People of the Longhouse”) are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy in North America. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy, as they were also Iroquoian-speaking, and became known as the Six Nations.

The Iroquois have absorbed many other individuals from various peoples into their tribes as a result of warfare, adoption of captives, and by offering shelter to displaced peoples. Culturally, all are considered members of the clans and tribes into which they are adopted by families.

The historic St. Lawrence Iroquoians, Wyandot (Huron), Erie, and Susquehannock, all independent peoples, also spoke Iroquoian languages. In the larger sense of linguistic families, they are often considered Iroquoian peoples because of their similar languages and cultures, all descended from the Proto-Iroquoian people and language; politically, however, they were traditional enemies of the Iroquois League.[2] In addition, Cherokee is an Iroquoian language: the Cherokee people are believed to have migrated south from the Great Lakes in ancient times, settling in the backcountry of the Southeast United States, including what is now Tennessee” Wikipedia

**Iroquois Confederacy** Leaders from five Iroquois nations (Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca) assembled around Dekanawidah c. 1570, French engraving, early 18th century. From *Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-1881*, edited by J.W. Powell, 1883

Part III: Haudenosaunee Corn Clan Mother first to propose ‘moneyless society’ Six Nations ties to Smith family examined

“If the European settlers, including followers of Joseph Smith had listened to the Yagowaneh of the Haudenosaunee, there may not be an economic recession at this writing, no Federal Reserve System even a currency other than money running this nation.

Elements of the Book of Mormon and Smith’s later doctrine of the Law of Consecration agree with the “moneyless society” taught by the Yagowaneh (YAH-GO-WAN’-EH), the Corn Clan Mother. This was also the lifestyle among the Haudenosaunee (HO-D’NO-SAW-NEE) also known as the Iroquois or Six Nations for centuries before the Europeans arrived. The Europeans’ failure to adopt the moneyless society and other tenets of the Great Law has resulted in the present usury-driven capitalism regulated by the suppliers of money. Consequently, we have a system that takes advantage of the impoverished and the wage-earner, which was never the America envisioned by Native Americans or our Peacemaker.

*This interesting picture shows one of the Interpreters of The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 is Joseph Smith. We know Joseph Smith Sr died in 1840 and this plaque is dated 62 years later.* However it it seems the words on the plaque are from 1794.

At the time Joseph Smith wrote that he first made contact with the angel, *Moroni*, he was living in West Central Upstate New York, in the heart of the *Seneca*, one of the six nations of the *Haudenosaunee (Iroquois).* The *Canandaigua Treaty of 1794* was interpreted for the *Haudenosaunee* by four men, including a “Joseph Smith,” who is believed by geneaologists to be Joseph Smith, Sr. (before Joe Jr. was born). The same Smith, interpreted three such treaties for the *Haudenosaunee*. Such an intimate link to the *Haudenosaunee* by the Smith family means that Joseph Smith Jr., would surely have been told the story of *Daganawida*, (the Peacemaker born of a virgin, *Jikohnsaseh*. The proximity of the Smith home to *Ganondagan* (GAN-NON’-DAY-GON), the *Haudenosaunee House of Peace* from which the *Jikohnsaseh* ruled, assures that the entire Smith family was probably familiar with this story and its tie to a moneyless society. This would apply as well to Oliver Cowdery and the Harrises, Whitmers and Pages who lived nearby and comprised the 11 witnesses who stated they saw and held all of the plates that Smith had translated at that time (presumably the autographs of the 116 pages Smith translated, which was later stolen). *However, none were witness to the *plates* when the text of the *Book of Mormon* was received by Smith while gazing inside of a deep hat at his “seer stone.” And no one — not even the 11 witnesses listed in the front of the *Book of Mormon* whose witness was “in the form of visions” actually saw physical writings on physical plates *“for fear of death.”* *Maggid*

*Editors note: Of course we don’t agree with Maggid about the stone in the hat, but know Joseph Smith used the two clear stoned spectacles fastened to a breastplate (JSH 1:35), to translate the gold plates. Also see The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 at the bottom of this blog signed by “A” Joseph Smith. We know Joseph Smith Sr. (July 12, 1771 – September 14, 1840) was the father of Joseph Smith Jr.

Maggid continues,

“Do plates validate Kingdom established by Daganawida?

Looking beyond the Six Nations across the Americas, many stories emerge of the *Great White Brother and his message of Peace, including the Hopi prophecy of the return of Pahana in the American Southwest. Christian missionaries have told us this is “the God, Jesus.” But Native Americans know the one who has walked across the Americas by many names, as others have documented. And he has appeared to many Native American prophets and seers and grandmothers — many, not as Grandfather our Creator but as our “Big Brother.” Within the circles of the Sundance lodge of the Membreno Apache is such a prophet, who has had several conversations with his “Bro.” Daganawida is believed to be only one of the many names of this Great White Brother whose message is always Peace.” Maggida

*Editors note: As you read in the Book of Mormon from Alma Chapter 18 that King Lamoni supposes that Ammon is the Great Spirit. As we read in verse 24 to 29 the King does not know the name “God”, but when Ammon said that is the same as the Great Spirit, the King now believed. We each may know the name of God differently in various cultures. Also in Alma Chapter 22, Aaron teaches Lamoni’s father about the Creation, the Fall of Adam, and the plan of redemption through Christ, and in verse 9-12, Aaron calls the Great Spirit by the name “God” which is strange to King Lamoni’s father. Again when he ties the name God as the same as the Great Spirit, he is converted. This is very similar to what the Six Nations Tribes may call the Great White Brother or Big Brother or the God, Jesus. We know Jesus has hundreds of names just in the Book of Mormon. See page 115 in Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum.

Maggida continues, “Confident that Smith knew the story of Daganawida and his Jikohnsaseh, these questions follow:

1) Do the plates record a history leading up to the “second coming” of Daganawida? (Assuming the Book of Mormon accurately reflects the writing on the plates — even though as explained above, it cannot technically be called a translation* — the book already refers to Jesus‘ earlier appearance in Jerusalem. Anything but Peace resulted in the interim, according to the outcome of the book). This means the plates could validate — as a glimpse of Kingdom Rule — the precedent established at his later appearance as Daganawida. That precedent gave the Native Americans the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee, the propriety of matriarchal rule and the command to leave the decision of going to war only in the hands of clan mothers and grandmothers as instruments of making and protecting the peace. The Great Law would naturally flow out of the dismal failure of the patriarchal rule of the sons of Lehi. Mary Jemison, for instance, was a captive of the Haudenosaunee, but refused to leave as she had more rights as an adopted Iroquois under matriarchal rule, than she had as a free American white woman.

*Editors note: See how others in the Church and non-members will get a mixed message if the intellectuals say Joseph didn’t use the plates and he didn’t translate but transcribed, where I say Joseph did use the plates and DID translate with the Urim and Thummim by the gift and power of God. Mixed messages don’t teach correctly.

Story of ‘messiah figure’ living among Native Americans 15 miles from Smith’s front door

2) Is the Book of Mormon an attempt to retell the story of Daganawida? A story that possibly told of Jesus living among the Native Americans and setting up his kingdom less than 15 miles from Smith’s front door would certainly have impressed any young, impressionable and inquiring mind. Young Smith was all of that when the plates were first revealed to him. All a Peacemaker would need would be wars to resolve and people to reunite. This presupposes that the plates were never correctly translated and were used as a “backdrop” or “platform” for Smith’s *imagination and/or his inspired writings and doctrine.” Maggid

*Editor’s note. Why do people have to say the Book of Mormon is fiction? As I was a missionary in 1975 in Fiji, one of our flip chart pages said “Ask yourself this question, could any man have written this book?” As our investigators would sit and ponder that question for a few minutes, and then answer, no!

Maggid continues,

3) Whether or not the translation is genuine, is Grandfather using this book in the Latter Days among the Saints to point to the story of Daganawida at a time when war drums are again beating on a global scale?

Representatives from various Native American tribes: from left to right, an Iroquois, an Assiniboine, a Crow, a Pawnee, an Assiniboine in gala dress, a Dakota or Sioux warrior and a Dakota or Sioux woman. (Original artwork engraved by JJ Crew after a drawing by A Huttula.) HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY

Any of these three possibilities mandate that the plates be brought forth so they may be translated by skilled Native American translators. Joseph Smith Jr. was initially told to bring the Book of Mormon (some say the plates themselves) to the Native population. It is hard to imagine that the Iroquois in the area, when presented with the Book, would not demand to have the plates since they were on Iroquois land. If the Great Law is a miniature of Kingdom Rule, presented by the Anointed One, any writings found in proximity of the Haudenosaunee where he appeared may be of global importance. Show me the plates!” Maggid

Editor’s Note: Maggid reverts to ask the question that Laman and Lemuel would ask. “Prove it to me.” I say, “oh ye of little faith?” This information about similarities between the Book of Mormon teachings and the Law of Peace are intriguing. I believe the ancient Native Americans were the Lamanites of the Book of Mormon and they did have the true gospel at some point in the Book of Mormon. We know the Lamanites kept no records so this oral tradition of the Great Peacemaker Daganawida seems a good fit as an oral tradition haned down.

The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794

November 11, 1794

The President of the United States having determined to hold a conference with the Six Nations of Indians, for the purpose of removing from their minds all causes of complaint, and establishing a firm and permanent friendship with them; and Timothy Pickering being appointed sole agent for that purpose; and the agent having met and conferred with the Sachems, Chiefs and Warriors of the Six Nations, in a general council: Now in order to accomplish the good design of this conference, the parties have agreed on the following articles, which, when ratified by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, shall be binding on them and the Six Nations.

Article I. Peace and friendship are hereby firmly established, and shall be perpetual, between the United States and the Six Nations.

Article II. The United States acknowledge the lands reserved to the Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga Nations, in their respective treaties with the state of New York, and called their reservations, to be their property; and the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb them or either of the Six Nations, nor their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof: but the said reservations shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States who have right to purchase.

Article III. The land of the Seneca nation is bounded as follows: Beginning on Lake Ontario, at the north-west corner of the land they sold to Oliver Phelps, the line run westerly along the lake, as far as O-yong-wong-yeh Creek at Johnson’s Landing-place, about four miles eastward from the fort of Niagara; then southerly up that creek to its main fork, then straight to the main fork of Stedman’s Creek, which empties into the river Niagara, above Fort Schlosser, and then onward, from that fork, continuing the same straight course, to that river; (this line, from the mouth of O-yong-wong-yeh Creek to the river Niagara, above Fort Schlosser, being the eastern boundary of a strip of land, extending from the same line to Niagara River, which the Seneca Nation ceded to the King of Great Britain, at a treaty held about thirty years ago, with Sir William Johnson;) then the line runs along the river Niagara to Lake Erie; then along Lake Erie to the north-east corner of a triangular piece of land which the United States conveyed to the state of Pennsylvania, as by the President’s patent, dated the third day of March, 1792; then due south to the northern boundary of that state; then due east to the south-west corner of the land sold by the Seneca nation to Oliver Phelps; and then north and northerly, along Phelps’ line, to the place beginning on Lake Ontario. Now, the United States acknowledge all the land within the aforementioned boundaries, to be the property of the Seneca nation; and the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb that Seneca nation, nor any of the Six Nations, or their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof: but it shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States, who have the right to purchase.

Article IV. The United States having thus described and acknowledged what lands belong to the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, and engaged never to claim the same, nor to disturb them, or any of the Six Nations, or their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof: Now the Six Nations, and each of them, hereby engage that they will never claim any other lands within the boundaries of the United States; nor ever disturb the people of the United States in the free use and enjoyment thereof.

Statue of Hiawatha (Longfellow’s Hiawatha) carrying Minnehaha at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Image by Mulad. A plaque at the site says: Hiawatha and Minnehaha by Jacob Fjelde Erected in 1911

Article V. The Seneca Nation, all others of the Six Nations concurring, cede to the United States the right of making a wagon road from Fort Schlosser to Lake Erie, as far south as Buffalo Creek; and the people of the United States shall have the free and undisturbed use of this road, for the purposes of traveling and transportation. And the Six Nations, and each of them, will forever allow to the people of the United States, a free passage through their lands, and the free use of their harbors and rivers adjoining and within their respective tracts of land, for the passing and securing of vessels and boats, and liberty to land their cargoes when necessary for their safety.

Article VI. In consideration of the peace and friendship hereby established, and of the engagements entered into by the Six Nations; and because the United States desire, with humanity and kindness, to contribute to their comfortable support; and to render the peace and friendship hereby established strong and perpetual; the United States now deliver to the Six Nations, and the Indians of the other nations residing among and united with them, a quantity of goods of the value of ten thousand dollars. And for the same considerations, and with a view to promote the future welfare of the Six Nations, and of their Indian friends aforesaid, the United States will add the sum of three thousand dollars to the one thousand five hundred dollars, heretofore allowed them by an article ratified by the President, on the twenty-third day of April 1792; making in the whole, four thousand five hundred dollars; which shall be expended yearly forever, in purchasing clothing, domestic animals, implements of husbandry and other utensils suited to their circumstances, and in compensating useful artificers, who shall reside with them or near them, and be employed for their benefit. The immediate application of the whole annual allowance now stipulated, to be made by the superintendent appointed by the President for the affairs of the Six Nations, and their Indian friends aforesaid.

Article VII. Lest the firm peace and friendship now established should be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, the United States and Six Nations agree, that for injuries done by individuals on either side, no private revenge or retaliation shall take place; but, instead thereof, complaint shall be made by the party injured, to the other: By the Six Nations or any of them, to the President of the United States, or the Superintendent by him appointed: and by the Superintendent, or other person appointed by the President, to the principal chiefs of the Six Nations, or of the nation to which the offender belongs: and such prudent measures shall then be pursued as shall be necessary to preserve our peace and friendship unbroken; until the legislature (or great council) of the United States shall make the equitable provision for the purpose.

Note: It is clearly understood by the parties to this treaty, that the annuity stipulated in the sixth article, is to be applied to the benefit of such of the Six Nations and of their Indian friends united with them as aforesaid, as do or shall reside within the boundaries of the United States: for the United States do not interfere with nations, tribes or families, of Indians elsewhere resident.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the said Timothy Pickering, and the sachems and war chiefs of the said Six Nations, have hereunto set their hands and seals.

Done at Canandaigua, in the State of New York, in the eleventh day of November, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four.

Timothy Pickering

Witnesses:
Israel Chapin
William Shepard, Jr.
James Smedley
John Wickham
Augustus Porter
James H. Garnsey
William Ewing
Israel Chapin, Jr.
Interpreters:
Horatio Jones
Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith Sr that we know, lived 1771- 1840. Could this be him? Not Likely)
Jasper Parrish
Henry Abeele

Signed by fifty-nine Sachems and War Chiefs of the Six Nations
Canandaigua, New York — November 11, 1794
O-no-ye-ah-nee
Kon-ne-at-or-tee-ooh (Handsome Lake)
To-kenh-you-hau (Capt. Key)
O-nes-hau-ee
Hendrich Aupaumut
David Neessoonhuk
Kanatsoyh (Nicholas Kusik)
Soh-hon-te-o-quent
Oo-duht-sa-it
Ko-nooh-qung
Tos-song-gau-lo-luss
John Sken-en-do-a
O-ne-at-or-lee-ooh (Handsome Lake)
Kus-sau-wa-tau
E-yoo-ten-yoo-tau-ook
Kohn-ye-au-gong (Jake Stroud)
Sha~qui-ea-sa
Teer-oos (Capt. Printup)
Soos-ha-oo-wau
Henry Young Brant
Sonh-yoo-wau-na (Big Sky)
O-na-ah-hah
Hot-osh-a-henh
Kau-kon-da-nai-ya
Non-di-yau-ka
Kos-sish-to-wau
To-he-ong-go
Oo-jau-gent-a (Fish Carrier)
Oot-a-guas-so
Joo-non-dau-wa-onch
Ki-yau-ha-onh
Oo-tau-je-au-genh (Broken Axe)
Tau-ho-on-dos (Open the Way)
Twau-ke-wash-a
Se-quid-ong-guee (Little Beard)
Ko-djeoto (Half Town)
Ken-jau-au-gus (Stinking Fish)
Soo-noh-qua-kau
Twen-ni-ya-na
Jish-kaa-ga (Green Grasshopper, Little Billy)
Tug-geh-shot-ta
Teh-ong-ya-gau-na
Teh-ong-yoo-wush
Kon-ne-yoo-we-sot
Ti-oo-quot-ta-kau-na (Woods on Fire)
Ta-oun-dau-deesh
Ho-na-ya-wus (Farmer’s Brother)
Sog-goo-ya-waut-hau (Red Jacket)
Kon-yoo-tai-yoo
Sauh-ta-ka-ong-yees (Two Skies of Length)
Oun-na-shatta-kau
Ka-ung-ya-neh-quee
Soo-a-yoo-wau
Kau-je-a-ga-onh (Heap of Dogs)
Soo~nooh-shoo-wau
Tha-og-wau-ni-as
Soo-nong-joo-wau
Ki-ant-whau-ka (Corn Planter)
Kau-neh-shong-goo

Iroquois Confederacy

85 Native Americans baptized for the dead in 1877

Also a blog about the 85 Native Americans who were baptized for the dead in 1877 at the St George Temple here. IT IS AWESOME!

First Mission to the Lammanites

The missionaries visited the Wyandots (Hurons), the Delaware’s, the Cattaraugus (Seneca Iroquois), and the Shawnees during this first Lamanite mission. While we do not know for sure why these groups were chosen for proselyting, Lori Taylor has noted that each of these Native nations claimed prophetic traditions. “The Hurons spoke of Deganawidah, the Master of Things and the Peacemaker, a Huron prophet who taught the Iroquois Confederacy a new social order of cooperation. The Delaware’s followed Neolin, a prophet who encouraged his people to reject European ways in favor of the old ways, in order to gain favor with the Great Spirit. Neolin was associated with Pontiac and his war in 1763-1764. The Iroquois believed in Handsome Lake, a prophet who received heavenly visitations in 1799-1800 from four visitors who encouraged him and his people to embrace traditional practices and to observe the ceremonial cycle. He encouraged his people to give up alcohol, witchcraft, and other vices. And lastly, the Shawnees followed Tenskwatawa, brother of the famous Tecumseh, who taught that the Shawnee needed to reject white ways in order to push back white settlement. Tenskwatawa learned from Handsome Lake and taught some things that appears to be influenced by Christianity. Although it is unclear how much the early Mormons knew about these prophets or the Native peoples who claimed them, Taylor’s speculation that the missionaries proselyted the Wyandots, Delaware’s, Cattaraugus, and Shawnees for this reason remains intriguing. Equally fascinating is Taylor’s analysis of a story told by some contemporary Iroquois that JS knew about Handsome Lake’s teachings (who was active in western New York until his death in 1815) and that the Book of Mormon was shaped by Handsome Lake’s ideas.[7] Whether there is any truth to such accounts awaits further investigation by ethnohistorians, but one thing is certain, the Book of Mormon and early white Mormon interpretations of it had more in common with the apocalyptic visions of Neolin, Tenskwatawa, and other Native prophets than with the views of most other white Americans of the nineteenth century.” Lori Taylor
_______
[1] Deloria, Indians in Unexpected Places, 15-16.
[2] Duffy, ?The Use of ‘Lamanite’ in Official LDS Discourse,? Journal of Mormon History 34, no. 1 (Winter 2008): 131.
[3] Walker, “?Seeking the ‘Remnant’: The Native American during the Joseph Smith Period,? Journal of Mormon History 19, no. 1 (1993): 1-33. Walker argues that historians have largely failed to recognize the centrality of Native Americans in early Mormonism. Mormon historians are not alone in marginalizing the importance of Native Americans when writing about nineteenth-century America. See Susan Scheckel’s The Insistence of the Indian: Race and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century American Culture for a discussion of the centrality of Natives in nineteenth-century America and the tendency of twentieth-century historians to emphasize slavery as the central race question of the century. Much of the new New Indian History of the last two decades has recovered the power and agency of Native peoples in early American history. See Richard White, The Middle Ground, Alan Taylor, The Divided Ground, Ned Blackhawk, Violence Over the Land, and Pekka Hamalainan, The Comanche Empire, for some of the best examples of this new literature.
[4] As quoted in Underwood, The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism, 80.
[5] ?The Book of Mormon,? The Painesville Telegraph, 30 November 1830, 3.
[6] Thanks to Robin Jensen, the 2004 Joseph Smith Papers Student Researcher of the Year, for checking the reference for me.
[7] Taylor, ?Telling Stories About Mormons and Indians,? PhD. Diss, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2000, 141-60, 306-51. Taylor notes that Handsome Lake’s nephew, Red Jacket, spoke in Palmyra in 1822. Native Americans and early Mormonism. Juvenile Instructor

As I said many times, Common Sense is how Personal Revelation begins. Thanks for reading.

Kansas City Hopewell Archaeological Sites 300 BC to 500 AD

Rian Nelson

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May 31, 2026

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Kansas City Hopewell Archaeological Sites 300 BC to 500 AD

There are many connections with the Nephites, the Latter-day Saints and the Hopewell in the area of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. Including, Zelph Mound, Kinderhook Plates, City Zarahemla, Land of Zarahemla, Head of River Sidon, Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Liberty Jail, Zion’s March, Plains of the Nephites, New Jerusalem, Ancient Pottery, New Temple, and Nauvoo Sacred Mounds.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has owned land in Kansas City since 1980 as I show in the map above. The Church in 2026 has begun a massive re-development project in this 500 Acres which I will share with you more about at the end of this blog under the title of LDS Church–Linked Property Development in Kansas City Area. Pioneer Crossing development will become a beacon of attraction near former LDS History sites of Independence, MO, Liberty Jail, New Jerusalem and the New Kansas City Temple. Understanding that the Zion’s Camp march ended near Liberty and Richmond, MO. Near Fishing River. In Book of Mormon times it was called the “Plains of the Nephites.”

The Kansas City Area is Indeed ‘THE’ Heartland of the Lord’s Promised Land. See all the other maps and pictures below of the historic area of Kansas City Missouri with remains of Hopewell, Nephites, and LDS Historical areas.

Nauvoo Sacred Mounds

“In the early 1970’s, when they were re-building Joseph’s Red Brick Store, while digging a trench for spot light wiring, they hit some artifacts, which resulted in calling in the archaeologists who then unearthed more artifacts and bones, all carbon dated to the Hopewell civilization of at least 2000 years ago..” Lachlan McKay quoted by Wilson Curlee

“Joseph Smith, his wife Emma, his brother Hyrum and his parents are buried in a Hopewell burial site.” Jonathan Neville

“We learned later that there were ten main mounds that were recognized by the State of Illinois as ancient burials.” Jenny Curlee More Here:https://bookofmormonevidence.org/nauvoo/

Three ancient mounds were discussed in the Joseph Smith Papers during Zion’s camp. Enon, Kinderhook and Zelph Mounds.

The Very HEARTLND of the Book of Mormon, Church History, the New Jerusalem and the Nephites is in Missouri

The People of Zarahemla were located near Nauvoo, Ill. in about 586 BC. The City of Zarahemla is first named in the Book of Mormon in about 130 BC.

The City of Zarahemla

Book: Most prominently from Mosiah 1–2 and Alma 2 onward | Time frame: ~circa 130 B.C. and destroyed in about 322 to 385 AD

While the land is named in Omni, the City of Zarahemla served as the capital of the Nephite nation from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 30, when the commonwealth was disrupted and the people divided into tribes. It was situated on the west bank of the Sidon river, and was originally built by the descendants of the people of Mulek, who left Jerusalem in 589 B.C. The city is explicitly named and described as a distinct urban center beginning in Mosiah 1–2 (~124 B.C., when King Benjamin addresses the people from a tower at the temple there) and then throughout the book of Alma (e.g., Alma 2, 4, 5). In 6 B.C., Samuel the Lamanite appeared upon the walls of Zarahemla and prophesied of wondrous events, foretelling its destruction by fire from heaven due to the wickedness of its inhabitants (Helaman 13:12–14). In accordance with this prophecy, Zarahemla was destroyed during the great upheavals that attended the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but was afterward rebuilt. Wikisource

Big Mound, Illinois

Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page 322

Kansas City Hopewell 300 BC to 500 AD

“The Kansas City Hopewell were the farthest west regional variation of the Hopewell tradition of the Middle Woodland period (100 BCE – 700 CE). Sites were located in Kansas and Missouri around the mouth of the Kansas River where it enters the Missouri River. There are 30 recorded Kansas City Hopewell sites.

The Hopewell tradition, also called the Hopewell culture and Hopewellian exchange, describes a network of precontact Native American cultures that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from 100 BCE to 500 CE, in the Middle Woodland period.

The sites are made up of distinctive pottery styles and impressive burial mounds containing stone vault tombs. It is however uncertain whether this culture developed locally when people adopted Hopewell traits, or if westward migrating Hopewell people brought it all with them.

Hopewell Interaction Sphere

The Hopewell Exchange system began in the Ohio and Illinois river valleys about 300 BCE. The culture is referred to more as a system of interaction among a variety of societies than as a single society or culture. Hopewell trading networks were quite extensive, as has been found by the evidence of goods such as obsidian from the Yellowstone area, copper from Lake Superior, and shells from the Gulf Coast in locations distant from their origins.

Kansas City Hopewell

The Kansas City Hopewell period is divided by archaeologists into three phases based on radiocarbon dates and changes in projectile point styles and ceramic decoration.” Wikipedia

Phase	Dates
Trowbridge	1 – 250 CE
Kansas City	250 – 500 CE
Edwardsville	500 – 750 CE

The Kansas City Hopewell represents the westernmost regional variant of the Hopewell archaeological complex that dates to the Middle Woodland or Early Ceramic (100 B.C. – 700 A.D.) period (Table 1). There are 30 recorded Kansas City Hopewell sites, centered around the junction of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers in northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri [map1]*. Other Hopewell variants extend throughout much of the eastern woodlands of North America and included variants such as the Ohio Hopewell, the Marksville Hopewell, and New York Hopewell [map2]*.

Plains Woodland Period

Early Woodland	500 B.C. – A.D. 1
Middle Woodland	A.D. 1 – A.D. 500	Kansas City Hopewell
Late Woodland	A.D. 500 – A.D. 1000

Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 289

Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 290

Headplates, Arm-shields, and Breastplates among the Nephites

“And the work of death commenced on both sides, but it was more dreadful on the part of the Lamanites, for their nakedness was exposed to the heavy blows of the Nephites with their swords and their cimeters, which brought death almost at every stroke. While on the other hand, there was now and then a man fell among the Nephites by their swords [wounds*] and the loss of blood, they being shielded from the more vital parts of the body, or the more vital parts of the body being shielded from the strokes of the Lamanites, by their breastplates, and their arm-shields, and their headplates; and thus the Nephites did carry on the work of death among the Lamanites.” Alma 43:37-38

Cloverdale, Missouri Archaeological Site

The Cloverdale archaeological site (23BN2) is an archaeological site located near present-day St. Joseph, Missouri. It is situated at the mouth of a small valley that opens into the Missouri River.

Excavations have shown that the site was first occupied by Kansas City Hopewell (c. 100 to 500 CE) peoples. Hundreds of years later, it was occupied by Steed-Kisker peoples (c. 1200) in the area of present-day Kansas City, Missouri. They were originally thought to be of the Plains Village period or tradition that was widespread in the central plains.

But archeologists have found evidence of significant differences, including habitation in farmsteads rather than villages, and pottery and building design more similar to the Middle Mississippian found at Cahokia, east of the Mississippi River, than to what was typical of the Plains Village. For instance, a house excavated at Cloverdale was similar to some at Cahokia: small, rectangular and partially subterranean, with wall posts set in individual holes.

In addition, Middle Mississippian shouldered jars with incised decoration were found at Cloverdale; these were typical of Cahokia style, as were water bottles, bean pots, and certain effigy forms found here. Other Mississippian items were many projectile points found at this site.

They have concluded that from about 1000-1250 CE, the people were migrants from Cahokia and similar Mississippian centers. The people increasingly adapted to local culture, resources and materials, developing a tradition that combined Mississippian and Plains elements.

Cahokia had developed a major urban center to the east of the Mississippi River, featuring numerous platform mounds and other forms of major earthworks, and gathering a large, dense population. It was the largest and central urban center of the Mississippian culture, which extended throughout the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and into the Southeast.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverdale_archaeological_site

*These Iowa Sites are just north of Missouri on the Mississippi River*

The Renner Village Hopewell Archeological Site

The Renner Village Archeological Site (23PL1) is a prehistoric archaeological site located in the municipality of Riverside, Platte County, Missouri. It was a village site inhabited from approximately 1 CE to 500 CE by peoples of the Kansas City Hopewell culture and through the Woodland period to 1200 CE by peoples of the Middle Mississippian culture. It was added to the National Historic Register on April 16, 1969.

Excavations
Archaeologists have found artifacts relating to the Hopewell and Middle Mississippian at the site, which is one of several Kansas City Hopewell sites located near the junction of Line Creek and the Missouri River.

The site was first excavated by Waldo Wedel of the US National Museum in 1937. He discovered decorated pottery styles typical of Hopewell pottery. It was excavated for a second time in 1954 by the Kansas City Archaeological Society and a third time by Gary Brenner from 1980 to 1993.

During the summer of 2009 the site was the subject of local controversy over the building of a new playground at the location. The city council of Riverside listened to testimony from archaeologists and local residents and decided to pay for rescue excavations at the site. Cultural Resource Services Group at SCI Engineering was contracted to do the excavation work in the summer of 2009 and the area was opened to the public in the spring of 2010 as Renner-Brenner Park, named for two families who had owned the site.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renner_Village_Archeological_Site

15 Things Archeologists Discovered In Missouri That Will Amaze You

Missouri is home to numerous significant archaeological finds, including artifacts from various historical periods.

Written by Stephanie Butler

1. Jaguar Gorget from Fairfield Mound in Benton County

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

The Jaguar Gorget is the most recognizable Missouri artifact. It was most likely made during the Middle Woodland period (250 B.C.- 450 A.D.).

2. Bone tool from Boone County

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

The workmanship on this is fascinating.

3. Head pot from Pemiscot County.

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

4. Cahokia point found in Jefferson County

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

Cahokia points were made between A.D. 900 and 1300.

5. Walls Engraved Bottle

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

Found in Southeast Missouri, this bottle is from the Mississippian Period (A.D. 800 to 1600) and is 21.5 cm tall.

6. Graham Cave point from Graham Cave

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

The cave is now a Missouri State Park just off I-70 near Danville. The cave has been excavated between 1949 and 1961 by The University of Missouri and the Missouri Archaeological Society. The site protects Pre-Columbian artifacts from the ancient Dalton and Archaic period dating back to as early as 10,000 years ago.

7. Dalton Point

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

A beautiful Dalton point that dates back to 8950 – 7900 B.C. One of the oldest known point types in North America, Dalton points normally demonstrate exceptional workmanship.

8. Jesuit Rings

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

These three brass rings found at archaeological sites in Missouri are examples of Jesuit rings. These rings were used by missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries, possibly as gifts to recent native converts.

On the top ring, the IHS design stands for Iesus Hominum Salvator, meaning “Jesus Savior of Mankind.”

The middle rings’ Double-M design has an inverted M superimposed over an upright M and stands for Mater Misericordia, or “Mother of Mercy.”

The bottom ring depicts a Crucifixion scene.

9. A discoidal from Butler County.

alt — Facebook/ Museum of Anthropology, Mizzou

The discoidal is made from granite and is 5.9 cm in diameter. Our friends at Arrowheads.com define a discoidal as “a round Mississippian game stone that was used in the ancient Native American game known as chungke or chunkey.”

10. Council ring, Graham Cave

alt — Wikimedia/ By Kbh3rd – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

The above image shows the edge of an excavation with layers that have been dated more than 8800 years back. It partially exposes a circle of stones around a larger stone, considered to possibly be a council ring.

11. Turtle Effigy Vessel found at Murphy Mound in Pemiscot County

This turtle effigy is an example of a Cat-monster vessel, which describes a type of pottery where the bowl is the body of an animal or “monster” with carved designs forming the head and tail. These are frequently found in the central Mississippi River valley, and especially in Pemiscot County. The style dates from the Late Mississippian period, after A.D. 1350.

12. Lilbourn Mace found in New Madrid County

The Lilbourn Mace is one of the most unique artifacts found in Missouri. It is Mill Creek chert and measures 40 cm long, 13 cm wide, and 2.3 cm thick. It dates back to the Middle Mississippian period (A.D. 1200 – 1400).

13. A mastodon skeleton on display in the museum at the Mastodon State Historical Site in Imperial

alt — Wikimedia/ By Kevin Saff from Minneapolis, USA – Genuine mastodon skeleton replica Uploaded by Kbh3rd, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Mastodon State Historic Site is a 431-acre archaeological and paleontological site with recreational features that preserves the Kimmswick Bone Bed. In the early 19th century, bones of mastodons and other now-extinct animals were first found at this location. As a result, the area became well known as one of the most extensive Pleistocene ice age deposits in the country.

When scientists excavated a stone spear point made by hunters of the Clovis culture (14,000-10,000 years ago) in 1979, history was made. The point was found in direct association with mastodon bones, creating the first solid evidence of the coexistence of mastodons and people. The Kimmswick Bone Bed was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

14. Paddlewheel of the Arabia located at the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City

alt — Wikimedia/ By Johnmaxmena2 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

The steamboat Arabia was a side wheeler steamboat built in 1853 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. On September 5, 1856, it hit a snag in the Missouri River and sank near Parkville, Missouri. The steamboat and its contents were found in the late 1980s by a team of researchers. We recently posted about this Archaeological site in Missouri if you’re interested in more information.

15. Cahokia Copper, left figure from Malden

alt — Wikimedia/ By Herb Roe, CC BY-SA 3.0

Pictured are three examples of Mississippian culture avian-themed repoussé copper plates. The figure on the right is from Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma, and the middle plate is from the Etowah Mounds in Georgia. The figure on the left is Wulfing plate A, one of Wulfing cache from Malden, Missouri. Many examples of this type of artwork have been found in many states throughout the Midwest and Southeast.

Which was your favorite? We especially love the head pot and the amazing Cahokia copper! All of these artifacts are intriguing for infinite reasons, and we’re curious: which one interests you the most? Let us know.

A special thanks to The University of Missouri Museum of Anthropology as well for their help and information about these amazing items.” https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/state-pride/missouri/archeologists-discoveries-mo

LDS Church–Linked Property Development in Kansas City Area

AI Copilot says the following:

“A major LDS Church–connected real estate project in the Kansas City area is Pioneer Crossing, a proposed $2.3 billion mixed-use development on about 472 acres in Clay County, near Interstate 435 and Highway 152 in the Northland region www.utahmoneywatch.com. The project is being advanced by Land Reserve, Inc., a Utah-based real estate entity owned by the Church’s Property Reserve fund.

Project Scope

If approved and built, Pioneer Crossing would include:

Over 1 million sq. ft. of retail
Hundreds of thousands of sq. ft. of office space
~1,500 residential units
A 150‑room hotel
Restaurants, entertainment, sports facilities, and conference space
~4,000 parking spaces www.utahmoneywatch.com

The plan draws on concepts from other large developments like Johnson County’s Corporate Woods and Wyandotte County’s Legends project KMBC Channel 9.

Related Land Sales

The LDS Church has also listed 533 acres in the same Northland area (near I‑435 and I‑152) for sale, marketed as Project 587 KMBC Channel 9. This land is part of a larger 1,860‑acre tract the Church sold in Lee’s Summit, MO, which is already in city master plans for commercial, industrial, and residential uses Metro Voice News. The Clay County Economic Development Council has endorsed a plan for the 587 project, envisioning amenities like a VA hospital, youth ball fields, and parks KMBC Channel 9.

Status

Pioneer Crossing has moved through part of Kansas City’s public‑finance approval process, but full council action is still pending www.utahmoneywatch.com. The 587 land listing has generated significant interest from developers, though local officials are pushing for adherence to earlier master plans before endorsing final designs KMBC Channel 9.

Significance

This project is notable for its scale and LDS Church ownership, positioning it as part of a broader pattern of Utah‑controlled institutional capital shaping large‑scale developments beyond Salt Lake City www.utahmoneywatch.com. If realized, it could become one of the largest mixed‑use developments in the Kansas City metro area.” CoPilot AI

There is so much information about ‘THE’ Heartland of the Promised Land in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. I challenge you to do your own research and evaluate, then pray abut it to have the opportunity to receive personal revelation on truth.

Hidden Archaeology at Utah’s Bingham Canyon Mine

Blog Posts

Rian Nelson

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May 30, 2026

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Hidden Archaeology at Utah’s Bingham Canyon Mine

I share some history in Utah that may connect to the timelines of the Book of Mormon as I discuss the Bingham Canyon Mine below. Under the Bingham Canyon Mine were found shafts and tunnels with hidden artifacts and a likely validation of activity and archaeology dating from the Fremont culture 1-1300 AD, Adena and Hopewell time lines as well.

I believe it very possible that the Jaredites in about 2200 BC landed near Seattle Washington and they migrated all over Canada, The USA and Central and South America as show on the map below. Details here: bookofmormonevidence.org/jaredites

Bingham Canyon Mine Est. 1906

Much information below are segments from the Video ” What They Found in the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine in 1906 — Three Shafts Were Sealed That Week”

“The Bingham Canyon Mine is now the largest man-made excavation on Earth. You can see it from space, but nobody talks about what the original crews found before the industrial operation began, and nobody explains why a copper mine needed to seal off sections that contain no copper at all… Now, to understand what happened in those sealed shafts, you need to know what Bingham Canyon was before it became a mine.

The Aqua of Mountains where Bingham Canyon sits have been inhabited for over 8,000 years. The Fremont people, then the Shoshone, considered the canyon sacred. Their oral histories describe it as a place where the old ones built into the mountain long before their ancestors arrived. The Shoshoni had specific warnings about certain areas of the canyon. Tribal elders told early settlers that some sections were forbidden, not because of spiritual taboos, but because people who entered certain caves didn’t come back the same.

They spoke of stone rooms that sang and tunnels that went down forever. Those warnings were documented in the journals of Jedidiah Smith, the first American explorer to traverse the region in 1826. Smith noted that his Shoshoni guides refused to approach the western face of the canyon, claiming it was a place of the ancients, not meant for the living.

When Mormon settlers reached the area in 1848, they found something strange. The canyon already had excavations, small test pits, sure, but also larger openings that showed evidence of metalwork far older than any Native American activity in the region.

Brigham Young surveyors noted worked tunnels of unknown origin in reports from 1850. One surveyor, a man named Erasmus Snow, went further in his personal correspondence. In a letter to his brother dated November 1851, he described finding a shaft descending at a precise angle, its walls bearing chisel marks of such uniformity that no hand tool could have made them. We dropped stones and counted to 30 before hearing them strike bottom. That’s over 400 ft deep. In 1851, cut into solid rock with precision that shouldn’t have been possible with the technology available to pre-Colombian cultures.

These weren’t natural caves. The walls were too uniform, the angles too precise. By the 1860s, small-scale mining operations started pulling copper and silver from surface deposits. The deeper they went, the more inconsistencies appeared. Miners kept hitting voids that shouldn’t exist in that geology. Spaces that had been deliberately carved out, then backfilled with material that didn’t match the surrounding rock. In 1896, the Boston Consolidated Mining Company bought up claims across the canyon. Their geologist, Samuel Newhouse, wrote in a private letter to investors about pre-existing excavations of considerable age interfering with our survey grid. That letter is in the Bancroft Library Archives at UC Berkeley. I found it three years ago while researching unrelated mining records. New House recommended against deep drilling in certain sections. He marked them on maps as unstable substrate. But the term he used in his field notes was different. Chambers, artificial origin, extent unknown. Nobody listened.

By 1903, industrial operations were underway. Steam shovels, dynamite, the kind of extraction that doesn’t stop for historical curiosities. Then came April 1906. The first discovery happened on April 11th. A drilling team working the southwest face about 280 ft down broke through into a cavity. Not a natural fisher, a rectangular space roughly 12 ft high extending back into the mountain in a straight line. The drill operator’s name was Clayton Moore.

His account, recorded in a later deposition for an unrelated lawsuit, describes what he saw when they lowered a lantern into the opening. The walls were smooth. Dress stone fit so tight you couldn’t slide a knife blade between the blocks. And there were markings, not Indian markings, symbols I’d never seen, running in bands along the ceiling. Moore’s crew reported the find to the shift supervisor, a man named Holay. Holay went down himself with two engineers. They spent 4 hours inside that chamber before coming back up and immediately wiring the Boston office.

What happened next is where the story gets deliberately vague. in official records. The mine’s daily operations log for April 12th through April 14th is missing from the archives. Just those three days, every other day in 1906 is accounted for. Those three pages were removed and the binding shows they were cut out carefully, not torn. But we have the personal diary of one of the engineers who went into that first chamber. His name was Robert Ashworth and his granddaughter donated his papers to the Utah State Historical Society in 1978. She had no idea what was in them.

Ashworth wrote that the chamber extended at least 200 ft into the mountain. The walls weren’t just smooth. They showed evidence of tool marks consistent with advanced metal working. Circular saw patterns in granite. precision cuts that would require diamond tipped industrial equipment, equipment that didn’t exist in the 1800s or the 1700s, or according to conventional history any time before the 20th century. Ashworth describes finding three distinct layers of construction… 1:12 to 6:26 minute of What They Found in the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine in 1906 — Three Shafts Were Sealed That Week

Video continued from 6:50 to 9:12

“On April 13th, two more chambers were discovered. One directly below the first, accessed by what Ashworth called a descending corridor with steps too wide for normal human stride. The second was in the North face at a depth of 310 ft, and it was different. This one had artifacts. Ashworth’s description is precise. He was an engineer trained to document what he saw without embellishment. He describes finding metal implements that showed no rust despite obvious age. Containers made of a ceramic material he couldn’t identify and a series of stone tablets carved with the same symbols they’d seen in the first chamber.

The metal objects were particularly anomalous. Ashworth noted that they appeared to be made of an alloy he couldn’t classify, not bronze, not iron. When struck, they produced a tone that resonated for several seconds, like a bell, but deeper. One piece was shaped like a cutting tool with an edge that was still sharp enough to scratch steel. The ceramic containers had a strange property. They were translucent when held up to lamp light, revealing internal structures that suggested they had been molded or cast rather than hand formed. Some contained residue that Ashworth described as crystalline powder, white with hints of blue, that left a metallic taste when accidentally touched to the tongue. He took samples. Those samples were confiscated when the chambers were sealed. One of the tablets had a diagram. Ashworth sketched it in his diary. It shows a cross-section of the canyon with multiple levels of chambers connected by vertical shafts.

The diagram indicated at least seven levels descending over 800 ft. But there was more to that tablet. Around the edges of the diagram were what appeared to be numerical notations. Ashworth, who was fluent in multiple languages and had studied ancient mathematics as a hobby, recognized the numbering system as base 12, not base 10. Duo decimal counting, the kind used by the Sumerians and Babylonians thousands of years before the common era.

Why would a structure in Utah use a mathematical system from ancient Mesopotamia? That charmed drawing stayed hidden in Ashworth’s personal effects for 72 years…” From the video below, What They Found in the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine in 1906 — Three Shafts Were Sealed That Week

Video below from about 14 minutes onward.

“Now, let’s talk about what those chambers actually were. The architectural style Ashworth described doesn’t match any known Native American construction. The Fremont people built pit houses and granaries. The Shoshone used temporary structures. Neither culture worked in dressed stone blocks with precision joinery. But it’s not just the style, it’s the engineering.

Ashworth documented joint tolerance of less than 1 millimeter between stone blocks weighing several tons each. That level of precision requires not just skill, but measurement tools accurate to fractions of an inch and lifting equipment capable of positioning massive weights with surgical accuracy. The ancient Egyptians achieved similar precision at Giza, but they had thousands of workers, decades of time, and a centralized state apparatus to support the effort. Who had that infrastructure in pre-Colombian Utah?

The symbols Ashworth sketched in his diary show geometric patterns similar to pre-Colombian Central American iconography, but with the symbols Ashworth sketched in his diary show geometric patterns similar to pre-Colombian Central American iconography, but with significant differences. Some researchers have compared them to ancient Phoenician or even proto-Sumerian writing systems, though the connection is speculative at best.

What’s interesting is that similar symbol sets have appeared in other anomalous North American sites. The grave creek stone from West Virginia discovered in 1838. The Bat Creek stone from Tennessee found in 1889. The Los Luna Decalogue stone in New Mexico which bears Paleo Hebrew script and has been carbon dated to anywhere between 500 BCE and 500 CE depending on which expert you ask.

All of these artifacts suggest contact between the old world and the Americas long before Columbus. And all of them have been dismissed, ignored, or locked away by mainstream archaeology. The Bingham Canyon symbols fit that pattern. They suggest knowledge that wasn’t supposed to be here. What isn’t speculative is the construction technique. The fused material Ashworth mentioned appears in other anomalous sites around the world.

Vitrified stone created by exposing rock to temperatures above 100° C. The process requires sustained controlled heat that ancient cultures supposedly couldn’t generate. Yet, it shows up in Scottish hill forts, in the Sahara Desert, and in certain megalithic sites across Europe and Asia, and now apparently 300 ft below a mountain in Utah.

The most famous examples are the vitrified forts of Scotland. Over 60 sites where stone walls have been melted and fused together…” From the video below, What They Found in the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine in 1906 — Three Shafts Were Sealed That Week

Rockefeller and Guggenheim Conspiracy
21:55 to 25:39

Another former employee, a drill operator who worked the mine from 1987 to 2003, reported that his crew once hit a void at a depth of 520 ft. They were immediately pulled back. The hole was filled with concrete and the drilling pattern was retooled. He was told it was a legacy issue and to include nothing about the incident in his daily report.

A void at 520 ft. below the areas where the 1906 chambers were sealed. Exactly where Ashworth’s diagram predicted there would be deeper levels. But why? If they’re just empty rooms, why not excavate them and move on? If they contain artifacts, why not study them or at least document them properly? The answer might lie in who owned the Boston Consolidated Mining Company in 1906. The majority shareholder was a man named William Rockefeller, brother of John D. Rockefeller.

The company’s board included members of the Guggenheim family who controlled much of the American copper industry at the time. These weren’t small-time prospectors. They were industrialists with connections to the highest levels of government and academia. But there’s more to the Rockefeller connection.

William Rockefeller was deeply involved in what was then called industrial archaeology. the practice of studying ancient construction techniques to improve modern engineering. He funded expeditions to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Peru specifically to document advanced construction methods used by ancient civilizations.

In 1904, 2 years before the Bingham Canyon discovery, Rockefeller donated funds to establish the Department of Archaeology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. One of the department’s first projects was cataloging anomalous American artifacts that didn’t fit conventional historical timelines. The department’s archives are still restricted. Researchers need special permission to access them and even then certain collections are marked as under review indefinitely. The Guggenheims had similar interests.

Daniel Guggenheim, who served on the Boston Consolidated Board, was a trustee of the Smithsonian Institution and personally funded several archaeological expeditions in the American Southwest between 1902 and 1910. The artifacts collected during those expeditions were supposed to be cataloged and displayed. Most of them never were. If they found something in those chambers that challenged the accepted history of human civilization in North America, they had both the resources and the motivation to bury it, literally. And they had the infrastructure to do it quietly.

The Rockefellers and Guggenheims controlled mining operations, railroads, museums, and academic institutions. They could move artifacts, seal sites, and suppress information without raising public suspicion because they owned every link in the chain of custody.

There’s a pattern here that shows up across multiple sites. When evidence emerges that doesn’t fit the established timeline, it gets categorized as an anomaly, dismissed as misidentification, or simply removed from public access.

The most common question that is asked about mounds is, “How many exist?” In the 1800’s the Smithsonian sponsored many expeditions to identify mound sites across America. A map (shown below) was produced by Cyrus Thomas in 1894 in a Bureau of Ethnology book. They found approximately 100,000 mound sites, many with complexes containing 2 to 100 mounds. The figure of 100,000 mounds once existing— based on Cyrus Thomas map revealing 100,000 sites—is often cited by others, but that estimate is far, far too low. After visiting several thousand mounds and reviewing the literature, I am fairly certain that over 1,000,000 mounds once existed and that perhaps 100,000 still exist. Oddly, some new mound sites are discovered each year by archaeological surveys in remote areas. But in truth, a large majority of America’s mounds have been completely destroyed by farming, construction, looting, and deliberate total excavations” – Gregory L. Little, Ed.D., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks, Eagle Wing Books, Inc., Memphis, TN [2009].

Video continued, “The Smithsonian’s missing giant skeletons. The Newark Holy Stones found in Ohio and declared fraudulent despite no credible evidence of forgery. The Michigan relics, thousands of artifacts suggesting pre-Colombian contact with Mediterranean cultures. All locked away and ignored. Bingham Canyon fits the pattern. Discovery, documentation, immediate suppression.” From the video below, 21:55 to 25:39. What They Found in the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine in 1906 — Three Shafts Were Sealed That Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDxNHJUFGIY

Living Dates of the Fremont People in Utah

The Fremont culture—named after the Fremont River in Utah—thrived in what is now Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho, and Colorado for roughly 1,000 to 1,300 years. Archaeological evidence and historical records place their occupation in Utah from about 200 AD to 1300 AD Utah Stories. Some sources give a slightly broader range, from AD 1 to 1301, reflecting regional variations in settlement and cultural continuity Wikipedia.

Timeline and Context

Earliest evidence: Maize farming in Utah began around 100 B.C. in the Sevier Valley, spreading over centuries History to Go.
Peak period: The Fremont culture reached its height in the 11th and 12th centuries AD, with widespread farming, rock art, and distinctive pottery History to Go.
Decline: After about 900 AD, the landscape shifted from a mix of farming and foraging to a more settled, agricultural society. Over time, the Fremont culture was gradually replaced or absorbed by Numic-speaking peoples—ancestors of the Ute and Shoshone—who moved into the region from the west Utah Stories+1.

Cultural Life

The Fremont were semi-sedentary, agrarian societies who farmed corn, beans, and squash, supplemented by hunting, gathering, and gathering native plants like pinyon nuts and berries Legends of America+1. They lived in pit houses, wickiups, and rock shelters, and are known for their rod-and-bundle baskets, grayware pottery, and moccasins with dew claws for traction Legends of America+1.

In summary: The Fremont people lived in Utah from roughly 200 AD to 1300 AD, with their culture flourishing for over a millennium before being replaced by later Indigenous groups Utah Stories+1.

Nephites and Jaredites in Utah

I will share some additional information about Nephites and Jaredites roaming around the area of Utah according to leaders and others.

We believe the original Lamanites likely landed near Florida. The Lamanites chased Nephi north into Tennessee and later Mosiah went northward into Missouri and Iowa. This is called the Heartland theory. We do also believe that over many years the Lamanites migrated all over Canada, western USA and into South and Central America. According to Parley P. Pratt, the first mission to the Lamanites was in 1830 to Buffalo NY, Sandusky Ohio and Independence MO. See D&C 28, 30, and 32.

We also know the Prophet Joseph Smith said the saints would settle right in the midst of the Lamanites in Utah.

In the Midst of the Lamanites

“No,” said the old Patriarch [Joseph Smith Sr.], his whole being seeming to be alive with animation. “The Lord has told Joseph that when we leave here we will go into the Rocky Mountains, right into the midst of the Lamanites.”

This information filled our hearts with unspeakable joy, for we knew that the Book of Mormon and this gospel had been brought to light more for the remnants of Jacob upon this continent than for the Gentiles.

Father Smith again enjoined upon us profound secrecy in this matter, and I don’t think it was ever uttered by one of Father Huntington’s family.

The history of Nauvoo shows that we located in Nauvoo in 1839 and left it in 1846.

See Sources here: The Young Woman’s Journal, II, (December, 1890), pp. 124-125; (February, 1891), pp. 225-226; (April, 1891), pp. 314-315; (May, 1891), p. 366; (July, 1891), pp. 466-468; IV (March, 1893), pp. 274-275; (April, 1893) pp. 320-321; (June, 1893), pp. 424-425; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 63

Brigham Young also spoke about Gadianton’s in the mountains near St George.

Gadianton Robbers in Utah

Upon one occasion President Brigham Young was in the Tabernacle at St. George and was speaking on the spirit world. He stated that it was not far from us and if the veil could be taken from our eyes there wouldn’t be either a man, woman or child who would dare go out of “this tabernacle as the spirits of the Gadianton robbers were so thick out there. This is where they lived in these mountains,” said he.” Crowther, Duane S., 1967, Life Everlasting, Bookcraft, SLC, UT, p. 165, as quoted from N. B. Lundwall, Temples of the Most High, p. 89.

“Of course, the significance of this statement makes sense only in light of the land of Zarahemla being in the United States [D&C 125]. The Nephites wouldn’t have gone all the way from Mexico into the United States to hunt the Gadianton Robbers, nor would the Gadiantons have gone into the United States to hide from Nephites in Mexico. It is clear that since the Gadianton Robbers were hiding out in Utah in the St. George region, the Land of Zarahemla must have been in the United States as well. The “mountains” mentioned in the following scriptures, therefore, are the Rocky Mountains of the United States.” Some references used from Joseph Smith Foundation Website

We also have an amazing story from an early pioneer named Zeke Johnson that shows possible Nephites or Jaredites in Utah.

A Nephite or a Jaredite?

EXPERIENCE OF ZEKE JOHNSON, son of Joel Hills Johnson, born in 1869. (Recorded in the JOHNSON BULLEITN, September 1973)

*Zeke Johnson son of Joel Hills Johnson (Picture from J Gregory Barron)*

“I have been requested to relate an experience I had in 1908-9 in San Juan Co. I was just making a home in Blanding and the whole country there was covered with trees and sagebrush. I was working hard to clear the ground to plant a few acres of corn. We had five acres cleared and stared to plant corn. My little boy, Roy, about 7 or 8 years old was there to help me plant the corn. I’d plow around the place, then he would plant the furrow with corn, then I’d cover it and plow again. While I was plowing on that piece of ground, I discovered there were ancient houses there, that is the remains of them.

As I was plowing around I noticed that my plow had turned out the skeleton of a small child, the skull and backbone, but most of the bones of course were decayed and gone. Part of the skeleton was there, so I stopped immediately as my plow had passes it a little. I turned and looked back against the bar of the plow between the needles. As I was looking at that little skeleton that I had plowed out and wondering, all of a sudden, to my surprise, I saw the bones begin to wiggle and they began to change position and to take different color and within a minute there lay a beautiful little skeleton. It was a perfect little skeleton.

Then I saw the inner parts of the natural body coming in the entrails, etc. I saw the flesh coming on, and I saw the skin come on the body when the inner parts of the body were complete. A beautiful head of hair adorned the top of the head, and in about a half minute after the hair was on the head, it had a beautiful crystal decoration in the hair. It was combed beautifully and parted on one side. In about half a minute after the hair was on the head, the child raised up on her feet. She was lying a little on her left side with her back toward me. Because of this I wasn’t able to discern the sex of the child, but as she raised, a beautiful robe came down over her left shoulder and I saw it must be a girl.

She looked at me and I looked at her, and for a quarter of a minute we just looked at each other smiling. Then in my ambition to get hold of her, I said, ‘Oh you beautiful child.’ I reached out as if I would embrace her and she disappeared. That was all I saw, and I just stood there and wondered and thought for a few minutes… Now, I couldn’t tell that story to anyone, because it was so mysterious to me and such. Why should I have such a miraculous experience? I couldn’t feature a human being in such a condition as to accidentally plow that little body out and see it come alive. A body of a child about 5 to 7 years old, I’d say. I just couldn’t tell that story to anyone until finally, one day I met a dear friend of mine, Stake Patriarch, Wayne II. Redd of Blanding. He stopped me on the street, and said, ‘Zeke, you have had an experience on this mesa you won’t tell, and I want you to tell me.’ Well, I told it to him. Then he had me tell it to other friends and since then I’ve told it in 4 temples in the United States, and many meeting houses, many socials, Fast meetings, and at Conference time.

I wondered and worried about it for years as to why I was allowed to see it, a common man like me – uneducated as I was. Why was I, just a common man, allowed to see such a marvelous manifestation of God’s powers? One day as I was walking along with my hoe on my shoulder, going to hoe some corn, something said, ‘Stop under the shade of the tree for a few minutes and rest.’ This just came to me and I thought I would, so I stopped there and this was given to me:

It was an answer to my prayers. I prayed incessantly for an answer as to why I was privileged to see that resurrection. Then I was told why. When the child was buried there, it was either in time of war with the different tribes, or it was wintertime when the ground was frozen, and they had no tools to dig deep graves. If it were during time of war they couldn’t possibly take time to dig a deep grave. They just planted the little body as they could under the circumstances. Then it was done, the sorrowing Mother knew that it was such a little shallow grave that in her sorrow she cried out to the little group present, ‘That little shallow grave, the first beast that comes along will smell her body, and will dig her up and scatter her to the four winds. Her bones will be scattered all over these flats.’

There just happened to be a man present holding the Priesthood. (A Nephite or a Jaredite, I don’t know which, because they both had been in this country.) This man said, ‘Sister, calm your sorrows. Whenever that little body is disturbed or uncovered, the Lord will call her up and she will live.’ Since that time I have taken great comfort, great cheer, consolation, and satisfaction with praise in my heart and soul, until I haven’t the words to express it, that it was I that uncovered that little body.

Thank you for listening to me. I just can’t tell this without crying.”

Zeke Johnson, son of Joel Hills Johnson

See more information here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/nephites-and-jaredites-in-utah/

Overwhelming Evidence: Mounds, Skeletons & Artifacts near Cumorah Land

Rian Nelson

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May 29, 2026

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Overwhelming Evidence: Mounds, Skeletons & Artifacts near Cumorah Land

Now in May of 2026 the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum has become very popular with over 40,000 now printed. We are still attacked with an unusually heated fervor by some of our fellow members of the Church who believe the Mesoamerican theory and not the Heartland theory. I would like to respond briefly.

Agreement/Disagreement

Both theories believe Nephi built his ship somewhere near Khor Kharfot, Oman. Both theories also believe Joseph Smith was shown the records from Moroni in the stone box at the hill Cumorah in New York.

There is really only two initial differences between the Heartland theory and the Mesoamerican theory.

Did Lehi leave Oman traveling east towards India and then arrive on the western coast of the Pacific at Guatemala or Chile? Or did Lehi leave Oman traveling southwest and land somewhere in the Gulf of America near Florida?
Was the location of the last battles of the Nephites and Lamanites in NY or Mexico? Mesoamericans believe that the hill in NY was not the same place that the final battles occurred which happened somewhere in Mexico. Heartlanders believe the hill Cumorah in NY was both the place that Joseph found the records and it is also around that same hill that the final battles occurred. Not ON that same hill, but around and about that hill.

Editorial Position of the Annotated Book of Mormon

From: David Hocking, Rod Meldrum, Jonathan Neville, Boyd Tuttle, Wayne May, and Rian Nelson

Whatever you feel is fine with us, but but we strongly believe the Book of Mormon plates were buried in the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York and the last battles of the Nephites happened near that same hill. Hill Ramah where the Jaredites were destroyed is also the exact same hill. (Ether 15:11)

Here is what the Editors of the Annotated Book of Mormon shared with the Mesoamericans, who attacked our book.

We still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah; and
We trust people to make their own informed decisions.

The prophets have been clear about two points:

(i) the Hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is in New York and
(ii) we don’t know for sure the locations of other Book of Mormon events.

Email to Mesoamerican believers: “We have adopted the above in red as our editorial position, as anyone who reads the book can see. If you were confident in your position, you would encourage all to read the Annotated Edition and see the flaws for themselves, but instead you warn your readers to “stay away” and then stand before them as their “truth filters” and “Interpreters” thus preventing them from ever entering in.” Annotated BofM Editors

Why do many insist that the final battle of the Nephites and Lamanites didn’t happen at the one and only Hill Cumorah? Many yell the words, “It’s a clean hill”, meaning there are no arrowheads found there, or they say, “where are all the bones?” Bones from 1,400 years ago that weren’t even buried? No breastplates or head plates? Ever hear of spoils of the war. Too small of a hill? The final battles didn’t happen just on a little hill, but in the Land of Cumorah. See Mormon 6:2. Oliver Cowdery said in Letter VII it was the hill of the final battles. Good enough for me. It makes sense. I believe the final battles happened in the Land of Cumorah, near the hill.

The purpose of the information below is to share with you significant archaeological evidence for the ancient Hopewell and Adena Culture in the Hill Cumorah Land. There is evidence of fortifications, pottery, copper, weapons, palisades, bones, forts, mass burials, mounds, tools and other artifacts all around this land in Upstate NY. I believe the Hopewell culture matches up with the Nephite culture extraordinarily well. The Hopewell originated in 600 BC at the panhandle of Florida from Crystal River to Pensacola, Florida. History documents this. The Hopewell then traveled north into Georgia and Tennessee. There is evidence of a huge society of the Hopewell from Missouri to Illinois to Indiana and then to Ohio which was the dominant historical area of this people. History shows the end of the Hopewell civilization around the year 400 AD near Hill Cumorah in New York. Historians say the Hopewell just disappeared and historians have no idea what happened. I feel I have a good idea what happpened. The final battle at Cumorah was 385 AD. This is some of the best evidence of a possible link to the Hopewell and the Nephites.

Cumorah Question

A series of objections to Mormonism were emailed by a professor friend of music superstar Jay Osmond (drummer of the world famous Osmond Brothers and Osmond family musical dynasty) requesting Jays response and answers to his challenges. The questions, which were to be used in conjunction with a course being taught by professor D. Kline in a prominent eastern university, were forwarded to researcher and author Rod L. Meldrum, an advocate for the Book of Mormon who has also conducted scientific research in several related fields of science and DNA, for a response. [All Questions and Answers here]: Below is just one of those questions and its answer.

Question from Dr. D. Kline: There should be over 230,000 bodies around the Hill Comorrah [Cumorah]. The place Joseph Smith saw his vision, and the one geographical site confirmed by the Mormon Church. There should be mass burial sites, steel swords, bones, and much more. Such an epic battle would have left behind vast amounts of archaeological evidence, yet all that has been found is a few stone weapons. And as if the lack of archaeological confirmation is not enough of a problem, the LDS Church refuses to allow outside excavation. Contrast this with Biblical archaeology, where any known Biblical sites have been excavated and verified.

Answer by Rod Meldrum: Really? There were 60,000,000 bison exterminated on the plains, most of which were left where they lay when they died. Where is the evidence for this massive slaughter, today? And these were not small 150 pound human’s but 1800 pound animals with much heavier bones and bodies. Yet there is nothing left of them today to show they were indeed here. Any dead body quickly deteriorates to nearly nothing in short order in these wet/humid climates. The only way anything from a human body would be preserved is through burial and the Nephites specifically record that the Lamanites left the bodies of the fallen Nephites “and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.” This is clearly indicative of non-burial and therefore no one should expect such remains.

Some have incorrectly assumed that the final battles of the Book of Mormon occurred in one single relatively small location or even on the Hill Cumorah itself, but the book, as well as the archaeological evidence, suggests otherwise. In 1851, the Smithsonian Institution published the book Antiquities of the State of New York which provides overwhelming evidence of massive burials all over the western portion of the state of New York. Here are a few quotes from this authoritative and informative book.

Evidence of an Ancient Civilization in Upper State New York by Hidden in the Heartland

PAGE 79 “A MILE TO THE EASTWARD…IS ANOTHER OF THE ‘BONE PITS,’ ALREADY SEVERAL TIMES REFERRED TO, WHICH IS ESTIMATED, BY THOSE WHO EXCAVATED IT ORIGINALLY, TO HAVE CONTAINED FOUR HUNDRED SKELETONS HEAPED PROMISCUOUSLY TOGETHER. THEY WERE INDIVIDUALS OF EVERY AGE AND SEX.”

PAGE 99 “THE “BONE PITS” WHICH OCCUR IN SOME PARTS OF WESTERN NEW YORK, CANADA, MICHIGAN, ETC., HAVE AN UNQUESTIONABLY CORRESPONDING ORIGIN. THEY ARE OF VARIOUS SIZES, BUT USUALLY CONTAIN A LARGE NUMBER OF SKELETONS. ONE OF THE PITS DISCOVERED SOME YEARS AGO, IN THE TOWN OF CAMBRIA, NIAGARA COUNTY, WAS ESTIMATED TO CONTAIN THE BONES OF SEVERAL THOUSAND INDIVIDUALS…”

PAGE 100 “…THE AREA WAS A DEPOSITORY OF THE DEAD. IT WAS A PIT EXCAVATED FOUR OR FIVE FEET DEEP AND FILLED WITH HUMAN BONES… HUNDREDS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN THROWN IN PROMISCUOUSLY, OF BOTH SEXES AND ALL AGES. NUMEROUS BITS OF ARROW-POINTS WERE FOUND AMONG THE BONES AND IN THE VICINITY…”

PAGE 103 “AMONG THEM WERE A FEW FETAL BONES. MANY OF THE SKULLS BORE MARKS OF VIOLENCE, LEADING TO THE BELIEF THAT THEY WERE BROKEN BEFORE BURIAL…”

PAGE 144 “IN EXCAVATING THE CANAL [ERIE CANAL] THROUGH THE BANK… ANOTHER BURIAL PLACE WAS DISCLOSED, EVIDENTLY MORE ANCIENT, FOR THE BONES CRUMBLED TO PIECES ALMOST IMMEDIATELY UPON EXPOSURE TO THE AIR… THE NUMBER OF SKELETONS IS REPRESENTED TO HAVE BEEN COUNTLESS…”

Below are some articles from local newspapers near Palmyra from 1818 to 1822.

Vol. XIV. Geneva, N. Y., August 7, 1822. No. 10.

A Mound, of extraordinary dimensions, has been recently discovered & opened in the southeast part of this county. It is about fifty feet in length and eighteen in breadth at one extremity, and gradually terminating to a complete point at the other. Within this space large quantities of human bones have been dug up, apparently of all ages. Some of the skull bones are very large, and one thigh bone in particular is said to be much too large for the present race of men. The bodies appear to have been thrown in without any order or regularity, as the bones are found cross-wise and in every form. No relics of utensils or implements have been found with them, and whether they were the victims of a battle, or from what cause they were disposed of in this manner, we pretend not to say, but from the works in the vicinity of the mound resembling fortifications, we should judge that to have been the case. Large trees have grown directly over the mound, and the bones on being exposed to the air soon become calcareous. After giving this statement, we leave it to the curious, and those better skilled on this subject, to make such speculations as these facts render deductible.(A large number of human bones in the last stage of decay, were lately found in the town of Nunda — Allegany Co. — promiscuously covered over in a field; near which, on the top of a hill, were the remains of an old fort, inaccessible on every side but one, which appears to have been the work of a civilized people; but tradition even does not point to the time about which it was erected.)

Note: This article was reprinted in the Aug. 14, 1822 issue of the Palmyra Herald and Canal Advertiser

Vol. XIV. Geneva, N. Y., September 18, 1822. No. 16.

Circleville, O., Aug. 20.
Our Antiquities. — A few days since while some mechanics were digging near the north west corner of the “square fort” in this place, they came to a strata of earth, differing in quality and color from that which composed the wall generally — on which reposed the skeleton of a human being which had probably been mouldering there for centuries. The skeleton was discovered about ten feet from the summit of the wall, and four from its base, or common level of the adjacent earth. The bones are said by those who first discovered them, to have extended nine or ten feet, from head to foot! They immediately crumbled on exposure to the air. The wall is composed of clay, which is readily converted into bricks — for which purpose it is rapidly disappearing before the devouring hand of man. The layer of earth on which the skeleton was found, was composed of dark fine sand, much resembling alluvial soil; it extended three or four rods in length, and is totally unfit for the purposes for which the remainder of the wall is using. — Olive Branch.

Vol. I. Palmyra, N. Y., Wednesday, January 21, 1818. No. 9.

From the North American Review.
[ Nov. 1816 ].

LITERARY.

Indian Antiquities. — The following account, which we take from the Western Gazetteer, adds something to our former knowledge of those hitherto inexplicable wonders, that are found in such abundance in our western country. We have not room to examine any of the speculations, which have entered the heads of our philosophers and antiquarians on the subject; and if we had, we should hardly expect, where all is conjecture and uncertainty, to afford much amusement or profit to our readers. There is something, however, extremely curious in the inquiry itself; although we cannot hope, that any very important or certain results can be drawn from the few facts, which have as yet been given to the world. We can safely infer from them nothing more, than that this immense tract of country, which has every mark of having been for centuries past a desolate wilderness, has been thickly inhabited at some former period by a warlike people, who had made much greater advances in the arts of civilized life, than any of the aboriginal inhabitants of North America, who have been. known since its discovery by Europeans. The mounds described below are situated in the town of Harrison, Indiana Territory. ‘We examined from 15 to 20. In some, whose heights was from ten to fifteen feet, we could not find more than four or five skeletons. In one, not the least appearance of a human bone was to be found. Others were so full of bones, as to warrant the belief, that they originally contained at least one hundred dead bodies; children of different ages, and the full grown, appeared to have been piled together promiscuously. We found several scull, leg and thigh hones, which plainly indicated that their possessors were men of gigantic stature. The scull of one skeleton was one fourth of an inch thick; and the teeth remarkably even, sound and handsome, all firmly planted. The fore teeth were very deep, and not so wide as those of the generality of white people. Indeed, there seemed a great degree of regularity in the form of the teeth, in all the mounds. In the progress of our researches, we obtained ample testimony, that these masses of the earth were formed by a savage people. Yet, doubtless possessing a greater degree of civilization than the present race of Indians. We discovered a piece of glass weighing five ounces, resembling the bottom of a tumbler, but concave; several stone axes, with grooves near their heads to receive a withe, which unquestionably served as a helve; arrows formed from flint, almost exactly similar to those in use among the present Indians; several pieces of earthen ware; some appeared to be parts of vessels holding six or eight gallons; others were obviously fragments of jugs, jars, and cups: some were plain, while others were curiously ornamented with figures of birds and beasts, drawn while the clay or material of which they were made was soft, and before the process of glazing was performed. The small vessels were made of pounded or pulverized muscle shells, mixed with an earthen or flinty substance, and the large ones of clay and sand. There was no appearance of iron; one of the sculls was found pierced by an arrow, which was still sticking in it, driven about half way through before its force was spent. It was about six inches long. The subjects of this mound were doubtless killed in battle, and hastily buried. In digging to the bottom of them we invariably came to a stratum of ashes, from six inches to two feet thick, which rests on the original earth. These ashes contain coals, fragments of brands, and pieces of calcined bones. From the quantity of ashes and bones, and the appearance of the earth underneath, it is evident that large fires must have been kept burning for several days previous to commencing the mound.

Almost every building lot in Harrison village contains a small mound; and some as many as three. On the neighboring hills, northeast of the town, is a number of the remains of stone houses. They were covered with soil, brush, and full grown trees. We cleared away the earth, roots and rubbish from one of them, and found it to have been anciently occupied as a dwelling. It was about twelve feet square; the walls had fallen nearly to the foundation. They appeared to have been built of rough stone, like our stone walls. Not the least trace of any iron tools have been employed to smooth the face of them, could be perceived. At one end of the building, we came to a regular hearth, containing ashes and coals; before which we found the bones of eight persons of different ages, from a small child to the heads of the family. The positions of their skeletons clearly indicated, that their deaths were sudden and simultaneous. They were probably asleep, with their feet towards the fire, when destroyed by an enemy, an earthquake, or pestilence.”

Vol. I. Palmyra, N. Y., Wednesday, January 28, 1818. No. 10.

Extract from the Western Gazeteer.

The author of this interesting and valuable work, in speaking of the antiquities of the state of Indiana that now exist near Vincennes, County of Knox, says that “On the hills, two miles east of the town, are three large mounds; and others are frequently met with on the prairies, and upland, from White-river to the head of the Wabash. They are in every respect similar to those in Franklin county, already described.

The French have a tradition, that an exterminating battle was fought in the beginning of the last century, on the ground where Fort Harrison mpw stands, between the Indians living on the Mississippi, and those of the Wabash. The bone of contention was the lands lying between those rivers, which both parties claimed. There were about 1000 warriors on each side. The condition of the fight was, that the victors should possess the lands in dispute. The grandeur of the prize was peculiarly calculated to inflame the ardor of savage minds. The contest commenced about sunrise. Both parties fought desperately. The Wabash warriors came off conquerors, having seven men left alive at sunset, and their adversaries but five. The mounds are still to be seen where it is said the slain were buried.”

By D. C. Miller. Batavia, N. Y., October 18, 1822. Vol. 11, No. 553.

AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.

To the editors of the Louisiana Republican.

Gentlemen: —
In the course of my observation & travels through several parts of the United States, I have kept minutes of the most remarkable events which have occurred under my own observation, extracts from which I design, occasionally, to submit to you, and if you think them worthy of insertion in your useful paper, you are at liberty to use them accordingly.

All accounts extant, relative to the size of the ancient settlers of our country, agree that this race of beings must have been larger than the present; but none that I have seen give any evidence of this fact. From my own observation, I have evidence at least of one person of gigantic stature.

In the year 1810, I opened, with several other persons who accompanied me for the purpose, one of the flat mounds common in the western country. It was built of regular layers of flat stones, and covered lightly with earth. This was 4 miles west of the town of Worthington, in Ohio, and within a few rods of the banks of the river Scioto. — In this mound we found the skeletons of a number of bodies, some of a very large size, they were deposited directly due east and west, the heads to the west; precisely as is the practice in Christian burials.

After several hours fatigue in opening & examining this mound, we retired to a house of a Mr. Miller, about 200 yards from the spot, who informed us that he had taken a skeleton from the mound adjoining the one we had examined, which was supposed to be, when living, a man of at least 7 feet 4 inches. He stated that such was the opinion of all who had seen the bones in his possession — that the bone of the leg, which had lost a little at each end, was then longer than the bone of the tallest man in the settlement, measuring from the heel to the cap of the knee.

Mr. Miller stated that he had also in his possession, the jaw bone of this skeleton, which he said, would cover loosely the face of any of his neighbors; and that, when he found the skeleton, he picked from one of the joints of the neck bone, (which was also much larger than any he had seen before,) a stone arrow point; from which circumstances, it was thought his death had been occasioned. I made many inquiries of Mr. Miller, who seemed to be a very intelligent man. He informed me that he had been living at his residence on the Scioto, for many years; — that when he first settled there, he was told by all the old Indians that these mounds existed at a period beyond the recollection of the oldest of them, and that the tribe of Indians before them could give no account of the mounds, other than that they were burying places before they inhabited the country.

From these circumstances, together with some others, which have come under my observation, I have been of opinion, that the bones frequently found in these mounds, must have been the skeletons of a race of beings inhabiting the country, of whom the Indians had no knowledge. The most remarkable circumstance stated by Mr. Miller was, that when ploughing his field, he traced plainly the remains of an ancient building in the form of a house, as there was a manifest difference in the appearance of the earth; and pointing at the same time to the hearth stone in his fire-place, he observed “the hearth-stone which you see there, I took myself from the place where I suppose the fire-place was in the ancient building of which I speak.” The Indians, he added, gave him the same account of the appearance of this old building as they had of the mounds; that it existed before their time. During the war, and while on my way to Detroit, I intended calling on Mr. Miller, for more particular information, but upon my arrival at Worthington, I learned that he was dead.

Every information tending to prove the existence of a vast ancient population of any part of our country, ought to be preserved — but few persons can or will afford to spend time and money to the attainment of such an object. I have occasionally noted what had passed under my observation since the year 1807 in the western country; and, as I find leisure, will transmit them to you to be filed away through the medium of your paper, till better proof can be obtained of the existence of a vast ancient population of our country.

It would, in my opinion, be a very laudable act in the general government to encourage or authorize some competent person to collect the most important facts in relation to this subject. And the present state of profound peace and tranquility of our country is, perhaps as favorable as any other in the history of our national affairs for such an undertaking.
A TRAVELLER.

Note 1: This article was also reprinted in the Oct. 30, 1822 issue of the Palmyra Herald and Canal Advertiser, along with an article on Mordecai M. Noah’s scheme for a gathering of Israel in America.

Note 2: Early settlers moving into the western country once frequently encountered burial mounds and graves containing the bones of such ancient giants, but evidence of these exceptionally tall and robust Indians is rarely uncovered today. The prevalence of these reports during the 1820s and 1830s lead some Americans to speculate that their land had once been inhabited by a civilized (perhaps white) race of “mighty men of yore.” Mormon writers have often pointed out the evidence of these large skeletons as supporting the story of the Jaredites or Nephites in the pre-Columbian Americas. LDS author Phyllis C. Olive, on pages 30-34 of her 2001 book, The Lost Tribes of the Book of Mormon, sets forth her evidence that the Book of Mormon people were not only the “Mound-Builders,” but that they were also a “large and mighty nation living in the near vicinity of the Hill Cumorah and throughout the entire mound building region — the giant, Mound Builders so long sought for; a people who bear remarkable similarities to those described in the Book of Mormon.” See also the same writer’s 1998 book, The Lost Lands of the Book of Mormon, where she expresses the same ideas. The thought does not seem to have occurred to these Mormon writers, that pre-1830 reports of American antiquities could have influenced the writing of the Book of Mormon itself.

Source: http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/NY/miscNYSg.htm

Many piles of bones comes from many Hopewell forts around Cumorah, but mostly east of the Hill, which would be the direction that the Lamanites would come from the Ohio collapse. Squire did the survey work uncovering numerous bones in piles in the ditches around the forts and some mound piles of stack bones with swallow dirt cover. Aboriginal Monuments of Western New York (below)……Wayne May has it for sale on his site. wwwancientamerican.com first and second edition. Both are good. Bone piles are in the Holland Purchase book as well, any early book on western New York, mentions the antiquity of numerous bones around the small enclosures of western N.Y.

See more great Historical Research from the sources below:

| E.G. Squier | Aboriginal Monuments | Chapter IV Below|

MOUNDS, BONE-HEAPS, ETC.

VARIOUS references to mounds or tumuli, resembling those found in the Valley of the Mississippi, have been made in the preceding pages. These mounds are far from numerous, and hardly deserve a separate notice. It is nevertheless an interesting fact to know that isolated examples occur, in situations where it is clear no dependence exists between them and the grand system of earth-works of the Western States. It serves to sustain the conclusion that the savage Indian tribes occasionally constructed mounds; which are however rather to be considered as accidents than the results of a general practice. The purposes of the mounds of New York, so far as can be determined, seem uniformly to have been those of sepulture. They generally occur upon commanding or remarkable positions. Most of them have been excavated, under the impulse of an idle curiosity, or have had their contents scattered by “money-diggers,” a ghostly race, of which, singularly enough, even at this day, representatives may be found in almost every village. I was fortunate enough to discover one upon Tonawanda Island, in Niagara River, which had escaped their midnight attentions. It was originally about fifteen feet in height. At the base appeared to have been a circle of stones, perhaps ten feet in diameter, within which were several small heaps of bones, each comprising three or four skeletons. The bones are of individuals of all ages, and had evidently been deposited after the removal of the flesh. Traces of fire were to be discovered upon the stones. Some chippings of flint and broken arrow-points, as also some fragments of deers’ horns, which appeared to have been worked into form, were found amongst the bones. The skulls had been crushed by the superincumbent earth.

The mounds which formerly existed in Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Livingston, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Chenango, and Delaware counties, all appear to have contained human bones, in greater or less quantities, deposited promiscuously, and embracing the skeletons of individuals of all ages and both sexes. They probably all owe their origin to a practice common to many of the North American tribes, of collecting together at fixed intervals the bones of their dead, and finally depositing them with many and solemn ceremonies. They were sometimes heaped together so as to constitute mounds; at others placed in pits or trenches dug in the earth; and it is probable they were in some instances buried in separate graves, but in long ranges, or deposited in caverns, either promiscuously or with regularity.

A massive heap of giant mound builder skeletons were found in what we call Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Press on September 13, 1932.

The period when this second burial took place occurred at different intervals amongst the different tribes, but was universally denominated the “Festival of the Dead.” Bartram, speaking of the burial customs of the Floridian Indians, says: “After the bone-house is full, a general solemn funeral takes place. The nearest kindred and friends of the deceased, on a day appointed, repair to the bone-house, take up the respective coffins, and, following one another in the order of seniority, the nearest relations and connections attending their respective corpses, and the multitude succeeding them, singing and lamenting alternately, slowly proceed to the place of general interment, when they place the coffins in order forming a pyramid. Lastly, they cover all over with earth, which raises a conical hill or mount. They then return to town in order of solemn procession, concluding the day with a festival which is called the ‘Feast of the Dead?‘”¹³ The author here quoted adds in a note, that it was the opinion of some ingenious men with whom he had conversed, “that all those artificial pyramidal hills, usually called ‘Indian Mounts,’ were raised on such occasions, and are generally sepulchres;” from which opinion he takes occasion to dissent. There is no doubt a wide difference between the mounds thus formed and the great bulk of those connected with the vast ancient enclosures of the Western States.

The large cemeteries which have been discovered in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio, seem to have resulted from a similar practice. In these the skeletons were generally packed in rude coffins composed of flat stones, placed in ranges of great extent. The circumstance that many of these coffins were not more than two or three feet in length, gave rise to the notion of the former existence here of a pigmy race. The discovery of iron and some articles of European origin in one of these cemeteries in the vicinity of Augusta, Kentucky, shows that this mode of burial existed at a late period among the Indians in that direction.

The “bone-pits” which occur in some parts of Western New York, Canada, Michigan, etc., have unquestionably a corresponding origin. Several of these have been described in a previous chapter. They are of various sizes, but usually contain a large number of skeletons. In a few instances the bones appear to have been arranged with some degree of regularity.

“The Bones of Several Thousand Individuals”https://scienceviews.com/squier/aboriginalmonuments22.html#14

One of these pits discovered some years ago, in the town of Cambria, Niagara county, was estimated to contain the bones of several thousand individuals. Another which I visited in the town of Clarence, Erie county, contained not less than four hundred skeletons. A deposit of bones comprising a large number of skeletons was found not long since, in making some excavations in the town of Black Rock, situated on Niagara River, in Erie county. They were arranged in a circle, with their heads radiating from a large copper kettle, which had been placed in the centre, and filled with bones. Various implements both of modern and remote date had been placed beside the skeletons.

In Canada similar deposits are frequent. Accounts of their discovery and character have appeared in various English publications, among which may be named the “British Colonial Newspaper,” of September 24th, 1847, and the “Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,” for July, 1848. From a communication in the latter, by Edward W. Bawtree, M. D., the subjoined interesting facts are derived.

A quantity of human bones was found in one spot, in 1846, near Barrie, and also a pit containing human bones near St. Vincent’s. Great numbers were found in the latter, with several copper and brass kettles, and various trinkets and ornaments in common use among the Indians. This discovery led to the examination of a similar pit, about seven miles from Penetanqueshene, in the township of Giny. “This pit was accidentally noticed by a Canadian while making sugar in the neighborhood. He was struck by its appearance and the peculiar sound produced at the bottom by stamping there; and, in turning up a few spadefuls of earth, was surprised to find a quantity of human bones. It was more accurately examined in September, 1847, and found to contain, besides a great number of human skeletons, of both sexes and all ages, twenty-six copper and brass kettles and boilers; three large conch-shells; pieces of beaver-skin in tolerable preservation; a fragment of a pipe; a large iron axe, evidently of French manufacture; some human hair (that of a woman); a copper bracelet; and a quantity of fiat auricular beads, perforated through the centre.

“The form of the pit is circular, with an elevated margin; it is about fifteen feet in diameter, and before it was opened was probably nine feet deep from the level of its margin to its centre and bottom; it was, in one word, funnel-shaped. It is situated on the top of a gentle rise, with a shallow ravine on the east side, through which, at certain seasons, runs a small stream. The soil is light, free from stones, and dry. A small iron-wood tree, about two inches in diameter, is growing in the centre of the pit.

“The kettles in the pit were found ranged at the bottom, resting on pieces of bark, and filled with bones. They had evidently been covered with beaver-skins. The shells and the axe were found in the intervals between the kettles. The beads were in the kettles among the bones, generally in bunches of strings.

“The kettles, of which Fig. 4 is an example, resemble those in use at the present day, and appear to be formed of sheet copper, the rim being beaten out so as to cover an iron band which passes around the mouth of the vessel. The iron handle by which they were suspended hooks into eyes attached to the band above mentioned. The smallest holds about six gallons; the largest not far from sixteen gallons. The copper is generally very well preserved; the iron, however, is much corroded. Two of the kettles were of brass.

“The largest of the conch-shells, Fig. 5, weighs three pounds and a quarter, and measures fourteen inches in its longest diameter. Its outer surface has lost its polish, and is quite honey-combed by age and decomposition; the inside still retains its smooth lamellated surface. It has lost its color, and appears like chalk. A piece had been cut from its base, probably for making the beads that were found in it.¹⁴ From the base of the columella of the smallest shell a piece had been cut, evidently for the purpose of manufacturing beads. The extreme point of the base of each shell had a perforation through it.

“The beads are formed of a white chalky substance, varying in degree of density and hardness; they are accurately circular, with a circular perforation in the centre; of different sizes, from a quarter to half an inch, or rather more, in diameter; but nearly all of the same thickness, not quite the eighth of an inch. They may be compared to a peppermint lozenge with a hole through the centre. They were found in bunches or strings, and a good many were still closely strung on a fibrous woody substance. The bracelet is a simple band of copper, an inch and a half broad, closely fitting the wrist. The hair is long, evidently that of a woman, and quite fresh in appearance.

“Another pit, about two miles from that just noticed, was also examined in September. It is considerably smaller, being not more than nine feet in diameter, by about the same original depth. It is situated on rising ground, in a light sandy soil, and there is nothing remarkable in its position. A beech-tree, six inches thick, grew from its centre. It contained about as many skeletons as the other pit, but had no kettles in it. The bones were of individuals of both sexes and of all ages. Among them were a few fetal bones. Many of the skulls bore marks of violence, leading to the belief that they were broken before burial. One was pierced by a round hole, like that produced by a musket ball. A single piece of a brass vessel was found in the pit; it had been packed in furs. A large number of shell beads, of various sizes, were also found here. Besides these, there were some cylindrical pieces of earthenware and porcelain or glass tubes, from an eighth to a quarter of an inch in diameter, and from a quarter to two inches long.¹⁵ The former had the appearance of red and white tobacco-pipes, worn away by friction, the latter of red and white glass. A hexagonal body, with flat ends, about an inch and a half in diameter, and an inch thick, was also found. It was composed of some kind of porcelain, of hard texture, nearly vitreous, and much variegated in color, with alternate layers of red, blue, and white. It was perforated through the centre.

“The third of these pits was examined in November, 1847. It is situated in the township of Oro, on elevated ground. The soil is a light sandy loam. It measures about fifteen feet in diameter, has the distinctly defined elevated ring, but the centre less depressed than in those before examined, which may have resulted from the greater bulk of its contents. On its margin grew formerly a large pine, the roots of which had penetrated through the pit in every direction. The bones, which were of all sizes, were scarcely covered with earth. The skeletons amounted to several hundreds in number, and were well preserved. On some, pieces of tendon still remained, and the joints of the small bones in some cases were unseparated. Some of the skulls bore marks of violence.

“As in the first noticed pit, so in this, were found twenty-six kettles—four of brass and the rest of copper, one conch-shell, one iron axe, and a number of the flat perforated shell beads. The kettles were arranged in the form of a cross through the centre of the pit, and in a row around the circumference. The points of this cross seem to have corresponded with the cardinal points of the compass. All except two of the kettles were placed with their mouths downwards. The shell was found under one of the kettles, which had been packed with beaver-skins and bark. The kettles were very well preserved, but had all been rendered useless by blows from a tomahawk. The holes were broken in the bases of the vessels. Should any doubt exist as to the purposes of these pits, the fact that the kettles were thus rendered unserviceable would tend to increase that doubt, as it appears to have been a proceeding so very contrary to the habits and ideas of the Indians in general.¹⁶

“A pipe was found in this pit, described as having been composed of blue limestone or hard clay. On one side it had a human face, the eyes of which were formed of white pearly beads. An iron axe and sundry beads were also found here.

“A fourth pit was opened in December, 1847. It is situated on a gentle slope, in the second concession west of the Penetanqueshene road, in the township of Giny. In size it corresponds very nearly with the two first described, and probably contained about the same number of skeletons. In it were found sixteen conch-shells; a stone and clay pipe; a number of copper bracelets and ear ornaments; eleven beads of red pipe-stone; copper arrow-heads; a cup of iron resembling an old iron ladle; beads of several kinds, and various fragments of furs. The shells were arranged around the bottom of the pit, not in a regular row, but in threes and fours; the other articles were found mixed with the bones. The bones were of all sizes, and the skulls uninjured except by time. The accompanying sketch (Fig. 7) will sufficiently indicate the character of the pipes. The arrow-heads, as they are supposed to have been, were simple folds of sheet copper, resembling a roughly-formed ferule to a walking stick. Besides the flat circular beads, which were found in great numbers, were a few cylindrical porcelain beads, etc. The red-stone beads were five eighths of an inch broad, and three eighths thick, with small holes at one end, uniting with each other.

“There is reason to believe that the above constitute but a very small proportion of the pits that may be found in this neighborhood. The French Canadians, now that their attention has been directed to the subject, say that they are of frequent occurrence in the woods. But besides these larger and more evident excavations, smaller ones of the same shape and apparent character are often met with. They are usually called ‘potato-pits.’ So far as they have been examined, they do not contain deposits. Some appear to have been covered with bark at the bottom. One was examined in which were found some pieces of pottery and one or two human bones mixed with stones and black mould; which seemed to strengthen the supposition previously formed, that they were Indian graves from which the bones had been removed for interment in the large pits.

“A fifth pit has also been examined. It occurs about eight miles from Penetanqueshene, near the centre of the town of Giny. Close by its side is another pit, which is not circular but elongated, with a mound on each side. At the brow of the hill, if it may be so called, and commencing about twenty yards from the pits, there is the appearance of a long ditch extending in a southwestern direction; another ditch about half the length of this meets it at right angles on the top of the rising ground, and is continued a few yards beyond the point of junction; a third ditch intersects the short one, as shown in the following plan.

Figure 8.

“The two first ditches form two sides of a parallelogram; but there is no sign of an enclosure at the other sides, where the ground is low and nearly level. The long ditch is seventy-five paces in length, the other half that length. The first terminates at a moderate sized gum-tree, the latter at the foot of a large birch. These ditches appear to be a succession of small pits or graves, and have an average depth of from one to two feet. Excavation disclosed no bones. Upon the north side of the shorter and upper ditch, several Indian graves were found, not placed in any order, but scattered around at various distances apart. Three of these were examined and found to contain human bones. In one was an entire skeleton. No implements or ornaments accompanied the bones.

“The bones in the large pits were covered with three or four feet of earth, which is more than is usually found over them, and the marginal ring was in consequence less apparent. It contained very few relics besides the bones, which, from their decayed condition, seemed to indicate that burials here were made at a very remote period.”

In Isle Ronde, situated near the extremity of Lake Huron, is a burial-place of the aborigines corresponding generally with those just described. It was visited in 1843 by Mr. Schoolcraft, who states that the human remains appeared to have been gathered from their original place of sepulture and finally deposited here. The bones were all arranged longitudinally, from north to south, in a wide grave or trench. There is upon the same island an Indian cemetery of comparatively modern date, in which the interments were made in the ordinary way. Another similar burial-place was visited by Mr. Schoolcraft, in the town of Hamilton, seventeen miles west of the head of Lake Ontario. The burials had been made on a high, dry ridge, in long trenches and rude vaults; the bones being piled upon each other longitudinally as at Isle Ronde. The trenches extend over the entire ridge; and one of these examined by Mr. Schoolcraft was estimated to include not less than fifteen hundred square feet. Various remains of art, pipes, shells, beads, etc., were found with the bones, and among them several brass kettles, in one of which were five infant skulls.

The origin of the various cemeteries above noticed admits of no doubt. The same practice which Bartram described as existing among the Floridians, and which we have reason to believe prevailed among the Indians of Tennessee, Kentucky, etc., also existed in a slightly modified form among the more northern tribes. They, too, had their solemn “Festival of the Dead,” which is minutely described by Charlevoix, Brabeuf Creuxius, and other early writers. Says Charlevoix: “This grand ceremony, the most curious and celebrated of all connected with the Indian religion, took place every eight years among some of the tribes, every ten years among the Hurons and the Iroquois. It was called the ‘Féto dos Morts,’ Festival of the Dead, or ‘ Festin des Ames.’

“It commenced by the appointment of a place where they should meet. They then chose a president of the feast, whose duty it was to arrange every thing and send invitations to the neighboring villages. The appointed day arrived, all the Indians assembled and went in procession, two and two, to the cemetery. Among some tribes of stationary habits, the cemetery was a regular burial-ground outside the village. Some buried their dead at the foot of a tree, and others suspended them on scaffolds to dry; this last was a common proceeding among them when absent from home on a hunting expedition, so that on their return they might more conveniently carry the body with them.

“Arrived at the cemetery, they proceeded to search for the bodies; they then waited for some time to consider in silence a spectacle so capable of furnishing serious reflections. The women first interrupted the silence by cries of lamentation, which increased the feeling of grief with which each person seemed over- come. They then used to take the bodies, arrange the separate and dry bones, and place them in packets to carry on their shoulders. If any of the bodies were not entirely decomposed, they separated the flesh, washed the bones, and wrapped them in new beaver-skins. They then returned in the same procession in which they came, and each deposited his burden in his cabin. During the procession the women continued their lamentations, and the men testified the same marks of grief as on the death of the person whose bones they bore. This was followed by a feast in each house, in honor of the dead of the family. The succeeding days were considered as public days, and were spent in dancing, games, and combats, at which prizes were bestowed. From time to time they uttered certain cries, which were called ‘les cris des âmes.’

“They made presents to strangers, and received presents from them on behalf of the dead. These strangers sometimes came a hundred and fifty leagues. They also took advantage of these occasions to treat on public affairs or select a chief Every thing passed with order, decency, and moderation; and every one seemed overcome with sentiments suitable to the occasion. Even the songs and dances expressed grief in some way. After some days thus spent, all went in procession to a grand council-room fitted for the occasion. They then suspended the bones and bodies in the same state as they had taken them from the cemetery, and placed there the presents intended for the dead. If among the skeletons there happened to be one of a chief, his successor gave a grand feast in his name. In some cases the bodies were paraded from village to village, and every where received with great demonstrations of grief and tenderness, and every where presents were made to them. They then took them to the spot designated as their final resting-place. All their ceremonies were accompanied with music, both instrumental and vocal, to which each marched in cadence.

“The last and common place of burial was a large pit, which was lined with the finest skins and any thing which they considered valuable. The presents destined for the dead were placed on one side; and when the procession arrived, each family arranged itself on a sort of scaffold around the pit; and as soon as the bodies were deposited, the women began again to cry and lament. Then all the assistants descended into the pit, and each person took a handful of earth, which he carefully preserved, supposing it would serve to give them success in their undertakings. The bodies and bones were arranged in order, and covered with furs and bark, over which were placed stones, wood, and earth. Each person then returned to his home, but the women used to go back from day to day with some sagamatie (pounded parched corn).” ¹⁷

13. Travels, p. 5l4.

14. Dr. Bern W. Budd, of New York, states that this shell, the pyrula perverse, abounds in the Gulf of Mexico and particularly in Mobile Bay. It has also been found by the officers of the U. S. Coast Survey as far north as Cape Fear, in North Carolina.

15. These were clearly the European imitations of the much prized Indian wampum.

16. Dr. Bawtree is mistaken in supposing this practice uncommon. The Oregon Indians invariably render useless every article deposited with their dead, so as to remove any temptation to a desecration of the grave which might otherwise exist. A similar practice prevailed among the Floridian Indians.

17. Charlevoix, Vol. II., p. 194, ubi supra; Creuxii Historia Canadensis, p. 97.

If you are willing and able, you can find thousands of references to mounds, bones, artifacts, and remnants of ancient Hopewell with the Nephites and Lamanites timeline all over the area of New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Jaredites 344 Days- First Ships Built near Kuwait

Rian Nelson

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May 28, 2026

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344 Days?

I believe there is only one way the Jaredites could have left the area of the Tower of Babel in about 2200 BC and then arrived on the Promised Land of North America. On the Pacific Ocean. We read Ether 6:11 which says, “And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.” This is the biggest key about the travel route of the Jaredites. Ask yourself where could the Jaredite barges be “driven forth” for 344 days on today’s oceans? Even though the map below is not concise in its dimensions, the travel of Lehi took about 5 or 6 months and the trip for the Jaredites took about one year, (for the 2nd set of barges only). Yes there were at least two separate sets of barges spoken about in Ether Chapter 2. The second barges likely left China or Japan and sailed on the “great deep” for about 1 year.

This information is a summary mainly about the ships being able to be built south of the Tower of Babel near Kuwait, then travel on the “many waters” from the Persian Gulf and other waters up to China or Japan. I go into further detail of the entire voyage below.

As you see on the map below, travel on the Atlantic took Columbus about 69 days from Spain to the Bahamas. It took Philip Beale 40+ days to sail his Phoenicia ship from Tunisia to Miami on his voyage in 2020. It only took the Pilgrims 66 days from southern England to Plymouth Rock. It would also take Lehi about 140 to 170 days to sail from Oman to Florida according to British Sea Captain Philip Beale. If Nephi left Oman and traveled east towards India and landing in Guatemala or Chile , Captain Beal said it would take at least 18 months to arrive and the ship would land but the people would be dead as there wouldn’t be enough food and water aboard.

Notice below in the pink circle, a key location where Columbus, Nephi and Mulek likely intersected in their voyages to America.

Near Kuwait- Jaredites Build their First Set of Barges

I believe the Jaredites traveled on foot from the Tower of Babel area (Bagdad, Iraq) about 400 miles south to *near Kuwait, and built their first set of barges and crossed “many waters” beginning in the Persian Gulf. I will share with you historical evidence to show ancient ships were built near Kuwait in Eridu, and Uruk all near Ur of the Chaldees where Abraham came from.

More information about Eridu being the first civilization in the Old World comes from Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology quoted below.

Bible’s First City

“Genesis 4 follows the account of the “fall” of man and his expulsion from the Garden of Eden (a Hebrew term cognate with “paradise,” and actually matching quite well, in a sense, with the language of the king list: “After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridu”). The first part of the chapter describes the birth of Cain and Abel, the former’s murder of the latter, and the banishment of Cain’s family eastward from Eden, to the “land of Nod” (Nod meaning “wandering”)…

Bible’s First City—Built by Whom, or for Whom?

A cursory reading of the passage would seem to imply that Cain built the city, and named it “Enoch” after his firstborn son. Of course, it is entirely possible that Eridu could have borne a different name right at the beginning of its founding. But there is more nuance contained in this passage that appears to align well with even the name of the city Eridu.

That’s because the city name Eridu is actually a good fit with the name of Enoch’s son, Irad/Erad (the last letter u in “Eridu” representing a fairly standard additional suffix). It could theoretically be possible to read the Hebrew of the verse in the following manner: “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch; and he [Enoch, rather than Cain] builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his (Enoch’s) son. And unto Enoch was born Irad …” (Genesis 4:16-18). But there is an additional angle to this that may not necessarily imply a re-reading…
Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology https://armstronginstitute.org/886-eridu-the-bibles-first-city-and-the-family-of-cain-archaeological-parallels-to-the-biblical-account

Reed Boats in Kuwait

“Reed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with planked boats. Reed boats can be distinguished from reed rafts, since reed boats are usually waterproofed with some form of tar.[1] As well as boats and rafts, small floating islands have also been constructed from reeds.

The earliest discovered remains from a reed boat are 7000 years old, found in Kuwait. Reed boats are depicted in early petroglyphs and were common in ancient Egypt. A well-known example from the Book of Exodus is the ark of bulrushes in which the baby Moses was set afloat.” Wikipedia

After sailing through the Persian Gulf, they continued through the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Thailand, South China Sea and perhaps the Philippine Sea. (Many Waters). They plausibly arrived in either Japan, Taiwan, or near Shanghai, China. From there, in about 4 years at Morianccumer (Japan, China, or Taiwan), they built their 2nd set of barges (“build, after the manner of barges which ye have hitherto built.”Ether 2:16), to sail to the Promised Land.

Many Waters vs. Great Deep

There is a big distinction of the 1st and 2nd sets of barges as the waters were very different. The 1st barges sailed over the Many Waters, not oceans but bays, gulfs, inlets, and seas. The 2nd set of barges were built smaller and tighter and so they could sail on the top of the water and below in the Ocean, specifically the huge Pacific Ocean.

We read Ether here: “For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.

And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?” Ether 2:24-25

The smaller, tighter and more buoyant barges would likely have followed the ocean flow of the Kuroshio Current (NE) to the North Pacific Drift, (East) right into the State of Washington or Oregon, or southern Canada. Remember it is likely the Jaredites consisted of the lineage of Ham, Shem, and Japeth. After arriving near Seattle, they could have again broken up into groups where possibly Ham could have traveled from the Northwest USA to California and Mesoamerica. (The Olmecs lived near Mexico in 1500 BC). A Shem group as the Priesthood lineage may have traveled to the Land of Ramah where the Lord had the Nephites live as well. Yes the Brother of Jared had the Priesthood in my opinion and was a Hebrew through Shem and Eber. Also know that there were many tribes that came over the years to Canada, USA and Mexico who were not Jaredites at all. They likely spread out all over the North and South American Continents.

The Adena Culture (we believe this is likely a Jaredite time frame, but it doesn’t have to be), lived near Ohio, as the Jaredites and Adena may be related). After arriving near Seattle, Jaredites could easily have over many years, taken the Columbia River to the Snake and then the Missouri and Ohio rivers, to migrate through the Heartland of North America to New York and the Hill Cumorah or Ramah. To see a complete blog and details visit here.

*Ancient Ships near Kuwait/Eridu

“Eridu is located on a natural hill in a basin approximately 15 miles long and 20 feet deep, which is separated from the Euphrates by a sandstone ridge called the Hazem.(See map below) This basin, the As Sulaybiyat Depression (formerly: Khor en-Nejeif), becomes a seasonal lake (Arabic: Sebkha) during the rainy season from November to April. During this period, it is filled by the discharge of the Wadi Khanega. Adjacent to eastern edge of the seasonal lake are the Hammar Marshes.

In the 3rd Millennium BC a canal, Id-edin-Eriduga (NUN)ki “the canal of the Eridug plain”, connected Eridu to the Euphrates river, which later shifted its course. The path of the canal is marked by several low tells with 2nd Millennium BC surface pottery and later burials. The site contains 8 mounds:

Mound 1 – Abū Šahrain, 580 meters x 540 meters in area NW to WE, 25 meters in height, Enki Temple, Ur III Ziggurat (É-u₆-nir) Sacred Area, Early Dynastic plano-convex bricks found, Ubaid Period cemetery
Mound 2 – 350 meters x 350 meters in area, 4.3 meters in height, 1 kilometer N of Abū Šahrain, Early Dynastic Palace, remnants of city wall built with plano-convex bricks
Mound 3 – 300 × 150 meters in area, 2.5 meters high, 2.2 kilometers SSW of Abū Šahrain, Isin-Larsa pottery found
Mound 4 – 600 × 300 meters in area, 2.5 kilometers SW of Abū Šahrain, Kassite pottery found
Mound 5 – 500 × 300 meters in area, 3 meters high, 1.5 kilometers SE of Abū Šahrain, Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods
Mound 6 – 300 × 200 meters in area, 2 meters high, 2.5 kilometers SW of Abū Šahrain
Mound 7 – 400 × 200 meters in area, 1.5 meters high, 3 kilometers E of Abū Šahrai
Mound 8 – Usalla, flat area, 8 kilometers NW of Abū Šahrain, Hajj Mohammed and later Ubaid…

Ziggurat at Eridu

The site (see map above) was initially excavated by John George Taylor, the British Vice-counsel at Basra, in 1855. Among the finds were inscribed bricks enabling the identification of the site as Eridu. Excavation on the main tell next occurred by R. Campbell Thompson from April 10 until May 8 in 1918, and H. R. Hall from April 21 until May 8 in 1919, who also conducted a survey in the area around the tell. An interesting find by Hall was a piece of manufactured blue glass which he dated to c. 2000 BC. The blue color was achieved with cobalt, long before this technique emerged in Egypt.

This lump of glass is currently dated to the twenty-first century BC or even earlier, and is considered as perhaps the earliest such glass object in the world in the History of glass. It was produced during the Akkadian Empire or the early Ur III period.

Ancient Mesopotamian Ships

*“Excavation there (Eridu near Ur of the Chaldees) resumed from 1946 to 1949 under Fuad Safar and Seton Lloyd of the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities and Heritage. Among the finds were a Ubaid period terracotta boat model, complete with a socket amidship for a mast and hole for stays and rudder, bevel-rimmed bowls, and a “lizard type” figurine like those found in a sounding under the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Soundings in the cemetery showed it to have about 1000 graves, all from the end of the Ubaid period (Temple levels VI and VII). They found a sequence of 17 Ubaid Period superseding temples and an Ubaid Period graveyard with 1000 graves of mud-brick boxes oriented to the southeast. The temple began as a 2 meter by 3 meter mud brick square with a niche. At Level XI it was rebuilt and eventually reached its final tripartite form in Level VI. In Ur III times a 300 square meter platform was constructed as a base for a ziggurat. These archaeological investigations showed that, according to A. Leo Oppenheim, “eventually the entire south lapsed into stagnation, abandoning the political initiative to the rulers of the northern cities”, probably as a result of increasing salinity produced by continuous irrigation, and the city was abandoned in 600 BC. In 1990 the site was visited by A. M. T. Moore who found two areas of surface pottery kilns not noted by the earlier excavators.” Wikipedia

Italiano: Magur-boat . circa 2000 BC. Unknown 782 La barca di Magur

Hugh Nibley said, “The oldest accounts of the ark of Noah, the Sumerian ones, describe it as a ‘magur boat,’ peaked at the ends, completely covered but for a door, without sails, and completely covered by the waters from time to time, as men and animals rode safe within. But the remarkable thing about Jared’s boats was their illumination by stones which shone in the dark because they had been touched by the finger of the Lord (Ether 3:6, 6:3).

“The Rabbis tell of a mysterious Zohar that illuminated the ark, but for further instruction we must go to much older sources: the Pyrophilus is traced back to the Jalakanta stone of India, which shines in the dark and enables its owner to pass unharmed beneath the waters; this in turn has been traced back through classical and Oriental sources to the Gilgamesh Epic, where Alexander’s wonderful Pyrophilus stone turns up as the Plant of Life in the possession of the Babylonian Noah.

“A large number of ancient traditions, first brought together in the present century, justify one in assuming some sort of legendary shining stones in the ark of Noah. Whether or not there is any historical reality behind it, the fact is that we now know, from sources completely inaccessible to the world of Joseph Smith, that such a tradition actually did exist in very ancient times. It is nothing to laugh at after all.” (The Prophetic Book of Mormon, p. 244)

https://www.gospeldoctrine.com/book-mormon/ether/ether-6 (Ether 3:6, 6:3).

Uncovering a 4,000-Year-Old Mesopotamian Ancient boat uncovered from the ruins of Uruk (Just North of Ur)

“With archaeologists returning to Iraq, many finds are coming to light, including a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian boat from the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk. According to a press release by the German Archaeological Institute, the boat was discovered largely intact by a joint German-Iraqi team. The Mesopotamian boat was constructed out of organic materials covered in bitumen, a substance made from crude oil and commonly used for waterproofing across Mesopotamia. This construction technique is similar to that used in the building of Noah’s ark (Genesis 6:14). Since the boat’s burial, however, the organic material has completely decomposed, leaving behind only the outer bitumen cover, which served to preserve the boat’s original shape and size.” Source

E-abzu temple of Eridu

Excavation there resumed from 1946 to 1949 under Fuad Safar and Seton Lloyd of the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities and Heritage. Among the finds were a Ubaid period terracotta boat model, complete with a socket amidship for a mast and hole for stays and rudder, bevel-rimmed bowls, and a “lizard type” figurine like those found in a sounding under the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Soundings in the cemetery showed it to have about 1000 graves, all from the end of the Ubaid period (Temple levels VI and VII).[19][20][21][22][23] They found a sequence of 17 Ubaid Period superseding temples and an Ubaid Period graveyard with 1000 graves of mud-brick boxes oriented to the southeast. The temple began as a 2 meter by 3 meter mud brick square with a niche. At Level XI it was rebuilt and eventually reached its final tripartite form in Level VI. In Ur III times a 300 square meter platform was constructed as a base for a ziggurat.[24] These archaeological investigations showed that, according to A. Leo Oppenheim, “eventually the entire south lapsed into stagnation, abandoning the political initiative to the rulers of the northern cities”, probably as a result of increasing salinity produced by continuous irrigation, and the city was abandoned in 600 BC.[25] In 1990 the site was visited by A. M. T. Moore who found two areas of surface pottery kilns not noted by the earlier excavators.[26]” Wikipedia

An additional quote from Hugh Nibley is as follows: “Truly remarkable is the statement in Ether that the submarine nature of Jared’s ships made them ‘like unto the ark of Noah,’ since that aspect of the ark, perhaps its most characteristic, is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, and has led to great confusion among Bible illustrators, ancient, medieval, and modern…They lead us directly to the most puzzling problem of all-that of the illumination of the ark, for while the window is called a zohar (more properly tsohar), i.e., shiner or illuminator…in a boat equipped to go under water other sources for both [light and ventilation] would have to be found, and it is in the lighting department that the Jewish sources are most specific. For the Rabbis do not settle for the zohar-the lighter of the Ark-as being simply a window: for some of them it was rather a miraculous light-giving stone…Rabbi Akiba ben Kahmana, for example, says it was a skylight, while Rabbi Levi said it was a precious stone. He quotes R. Phineas as saying that ‘during the whole twelve months that Noah was in the Ark he did not require the light of the sun by day or the moon by night, but he had a polished gem which he hung up; when it was dim he knew that it was day, and when it shone he knew it was night.'” (A Book of Mormon Treasury, p. 140)

The Miracle of Ocean and Flow of the Seas

Notice above, the Monsoon Summer flows exactly as the Jaredites would have needed to travel from the Persian Gulf to China. However at the map below notice on the Lehi’s voyage the currents flow the opposite direction from Sept to Nov near Oman to take him to Florida.

Map at https://www.researchgate.net/figure/a-Schematic-diagram-of-the-Arabian-Sea-monsoon-system-and-surface-currents-Arrows_fig1_339911151

See detailed blog here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/jaredites-2-sets-of-barges/ and a podcast video here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/jaredites/

What is the Difference Between Patriarchal and Melchizedek Priesthood?

Rian Nelson

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May 27, 2026

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What is the Difference Between Patriarchal and Melchizedek Priesthood?

About the Priesthood.

“Adam and the Presidency of the Priesthood. The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel; he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven. The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever the Gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven, it is by Adam’s authority.” HC Vol 3 page 385-386

“Jesus Christ is the great High Priest of God; Christ is therefore the source of all true priesthood authority and power on this earth (Heb. 5–10). Man does not take such priesthood power unto himself; it must be conferred by God through his servants (Heb. 5:4; D&C 1:38).” Priesthood Richard G. Ellsworth and Melvin J. Luthy

My First Recent Understanding of Patriarchal vs Melchizedek

Adam had the priesthood given to him during Creation as it says above, so that he could help in the creation of the world. Most likely others were given a Patriarchal Priesthood that went from father to son. These holders of a Patriarchal Priesthood are likely keys that a worthy father may use to bless his personal Family). In order to preside over a body of worthy brethren Prophets and Fathers likely had to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood by ordination on earth, by a worthy Higher Priesthood holder. I would think that Adam had hands laid on his head by his father, Eloheim during Creation. Some priesthood in the days of Adam was most likely patriarchal not necessarily a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, as I would think Heavenly Father gave Adam a Patriarchal Priesthood through lineage, but God would also ordain Adam with the Higher Order to preside over the people of the earth.

In other words, this is how it may have been.
Patriarchal = Given by birth only from your Patriarchal Line or Physical Father (A Worthy Father given rights (Not Ordained) to Preside over his family.
Melchizedek = Ordained by the Laying on of Hands by those in authority.(Rights to Preside over a community or people or an large group of people).

M Friend Dr. Scott Cold said, “Patriarchal priesthood and Aaronic Priesthood are particularly vulnerable to nepotism over merit. Melchizedek priesthood is generally well fortified against nepotism over merit. And this is why it was first given to Enoch, Enoch being the first to show merit for it against extreme opposition.”

We know, “Jesus Christ is the Firstborn of Heavenly Father in the spirit and the Father’s Only Begotten Son in the flesh” You Have a Birthright By R. Val Johnson Church Magazines

So, are there two or three Priesthoods in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Officially only two: We will discuss that more as we progress through this discussion.

“Thus, the LDS doctrine of priesthood differs from all other views. (Melchizedek) Priesthood is not vocational or professional. It is not hereditary, passed by inheritance from father to son (even the Levitical priesthood was conferred by Ordination). It is not offered for money. It is not held by a group of specialists who are separated from the community (all worthy Latter-day Saint men are eligible to be ordained to the priesthood). And yet it is not a “priesthood of all believers,” as in the Protestant conception.” (Encyclopedia of Religion, 11:529).

Title of the True Priesthood

“A thought from Doctrine and Covenants 106–108. Why is the higher priesthood named after someone called Melchizedek? Wouldn’t it make more sense to name it after the Lord? The early Saints wondered about this, and the Lord explained it through the Prophet Joseph Smith:

“Before his [Melchizedek’s] day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.

“But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:3–4).

This revelation also helps us understand other scriptures. When Alma talks about ordaining priests “after his [God’s] holy order, which was after the order of his Son” (Alma 13:1) and says all the holy prophets were “ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God” (Alma 13:6), he means they held the Melchizedek Priesthood. (Jacob makes a similar statement in 2 Nephi 6:2.) Order seems to be a key word. So if you ever wondered whether the Book of Mormon prophets held the Melchizedek Priesthood, now you know!” Source here:

“And it came to pass that they were brought before the priests, and delivered up unto the priests by the teachers; and the priests brought them before Alma, who was the high priest. Now king Mosiah had given Alma the authority over the church.” Mosiah 26:7-8

Kinderhook Plates and Priesthood

As it says Joseph may have translated a portion of the Kinderhook Plates printed again in the Times and Seasons, “I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth.” (Then followed a reprint of material from the Times and Seasons article.) Deseret News Sept 3, 1856

So Pharaoh, king of Egypt apparently received his Kingdom, with possibly “A” Patriarchal Priesthood form Noah to Ham” but, we know from the scriptures that Ham’s offspring with Egyptus could not hold the Melchizedek Priesthood as we read below.

About Patriarchal and Melchizedek Priesthoods

“In the Bible, Melchizedek, also transliterated Melchisedech or Malki Tzedek, was the king of Salem and priest of El Elyon. He is first mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20, where he brings out bread and wine and then blesses Abram and El Elyon. In Christianity, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus is identified as “High priest forever in the order of Melchizedek“, and so Jesus assumes the role of High Priest once and for all.” Wikipedia; (El Elyon is a name for God that means Most High, Creator of heaven and earth”, according to Bible Study Tools).

During the time of Adam it seems the Higher Priesthood of God was apparent in the Prophets and each Prophet called of God was ordained. However, after the flood when Noah reigned, it seems the father to son Priesthood called the Patriarchal Priesthood was maybe given by simply being a father. The Highest Priesthood later called Melchizedek Priesthood after the righteous man named Melchisedek or Shem (Likely the Same Person), who was the King of Salem.

I believe The Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood is simply the right of worthy priesthood-holding fathers to preside over their descendants through all ages; it includes the personal revelation necessary and rights of fathers who hold keys over their families, but it does not hold the keys of presiding or over a church or congregation. It is not the same as the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Ham and the Priesthood

You will learn more as you contemplate the scripture about Ham and the Priesthood in Abraham 1:22-27 comparing scripture to the possible translation from Joseph Smith.

“Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.

From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.

The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;

When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.

Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.” (Not Higher Priesthood like Melchizedek) Abraham 1:25

Noah had the High Priesthood from Adam, and also had the Patriarchal Priesthood from his father, Lamech. Ham likely had only the Patriarchal Priesthood from Noah, and so Ham’s sons with Egyptus, had the only the Patriarchal Priesthood because of his father, but not likely the Highest or Melchizedek Priesthood, as the scriptures say the Son of Ham and Egyptus, could not hold the highest Priesthood, and they were not ordained to that calling by the laying on of hands). Seemingly, Ham tried to imitate the Higher Priesthood (See Abraham 1:21-27), as Satan does imitate a his priesthood today. (This is the likely reason that Ham and Japheth’s descendants claimed “A” Priesthood or a Patriarchal Priesthood to preside as a representative of the family). But as only having a Patriarchal Priesthood Ham’s children had no right of presiding or officiating in a Church.

Now let’s not get confused, as I also understand that Shem was likely the same person as Melchizedek, which adds further discussion into this Priesthood line of authority that we won’t address here. See my blog here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/shem-is-melchizedek-2/

Did the Brother of Jared Hold the Priesthood?

Some Type of Priesthood (Maybe Patriarchal) that Doesn’t Authorize Ordinances and Sealings.

It seems that all three of Noah’s sons had some type of priesthood which was likely the Patriarchal Priesthood, which comes simply by being the son of your father. Yet it seems Noah gave only Shem the Melchizedek Priesthood, as the line of Shem is where the Melchizedek Priesthood comes from for us today. Remember Shem is likely the King of Salem or same man named Melchizedek. Shem or Melchizedek is the Priesthood line that Christ came through.

For example my father ordained me to the Melchizedek Priesthood, but did my father have both Patriarchal and Melchizedek Priesthood to give me? (He only could give me the Patriarchal Priesthood as simply being my father), but he did not ordain me to have the Patriarchal Priesthood, my father however did ordain me to the Melchizedek Priesthood. But any worthy holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood could have ordained me, correct? In other words when did simple Patriarchal Priesthood end, and we now only have the Ordaining of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood today?

I remember as a member of a Bishopric I had a question about priesthood, so I called the LDS phone number we all should know for questions of any kind at, 801-240-1000, and they gave me a Priesthood leader who was authorized to speak to my question. He told me that we only have the two Priesthoods today the Aaronic and Melchizedek. I understood that over 25 years ago, to mean that only the Melchizedek Priesthood is given by ordination. This has helped me answer the question I posed in Chapter 11E, as to why there were 3 levels of Priesthood or 3 altars spoken of in this question and answer?

This makes sense. Both sons of Noah, Ham and Japeth had a Patriarchal Priesthood, but only Noah’s son Shem was given the Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood to carry on through the Saviors time and through ordination today from a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder.

Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood or, (Higher Melchizedek Priesthood).

Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, (He likely had Patriarchal Priesthood from his father Ham, but he could not be ordained to the Highest Priesthood of Melchizedek), notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;” Abraham 1:21-27 (That may mean the Pharaohs could claim they can use the Patriarchal Priesthood and pretend it was the same as the Melchizedek Priesthood which they could not be ordained to).

Did the Brother of Jared Hold the Priesthood?

I share with you that I believe the Jaredites likely landed near Seattle Washington. I also share that I believe the Jaredites who were blessed with keeping the Adamic Language very likely had the correct Priesthood. Bruce R. McConkie said, “These promises of God to the Jaredites contain the essential elements of the everlasting covenant detailed later to Father Abraham and to every covenant people. These elements include priesthood, posterity, and a land of inheritance” Bruce McConkie, A New Witness 505

Yes! They Retained the Adamic Language, which relates to the Priesthood. Ether was their last Prophet and Mahonri Moriancumer would have the Priesthood or else why did Jared always ask him to talk with the Lord on behalf of the Jaredites? I realize you don’t have to have the Priesthood to see Christ, as we know Joseph Smith saw Christ without holding the Priesthood, but it makes sense that Prophets had the ordained Priesthood and especially those who were sent to the Promised land of North America, such as Lehi and Mahonri Moriancumer.

“The book of Moses described the language of Adam as “pure and undefiled”. It is intimately connected with the “Priesthood, which was in the beginning, [and] shall be in the end of the world also.” MOSES 6:5 Thomas R. Valletta, “Jared and His Brother,” in Fourth Nephi, From Zion to Destruction, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles Tate Jr. (BYU Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center

“The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “All the prophets had Melchizedek priesthood.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 181) As D&C 84:17 explains, Melchizedek priesthood is the presiding authority which “continueth in the church of God in all generations.” There can be no church organization or full administration without it. This system held Moses through Malachi. Interestingly, Lehi held Melchizedek priesthood and keys sufficient to lead his family to a promised land with fully functioning temples and no Aaronic or preparatory priesthood. That he, Jeremiah, and Ezekial were quorum associated seems likely.” Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood Operation From Moses to Malachi
By Vivian McConkie Adams · July 5, 2022

In a video I did online here: bookofmormonevidence.org/jaredites, I will share with you my details of why I believe the Jaredites Landed near Seattle and why I strongly believe the Jaredites had the Priesthood.

So are there 3 Orders of the Priesthood or 2?

Elder Packer said, “There are references to a patriarchal priesthood. The patriarchal order is not a third, separate priesthood. (See D&C 84:6–17; D&C 107:40–57.) Whatever relates to the patriarchal order is embraced in the Melchizedek Priesthood. “All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to [the Melchizedek] priesthood.” (D&C 107:5.) The patriarchal order is a part of the Melchizedek Priesthood which enables endowed and worthy men to preside over their posterity in time and eternity.”— Packer, Boyd K. (February 1993), Ensign, “What Every Elder Should Know—and Every Sister as Well: A Primer on Principles of Priesthood Government”

Summation:

As Elder Packer said above, “The patriarchal order is not a third, separate priesthood.” There are only Two priesthoods today in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Aaronic and Melchizedek.

1.The Melchizedek Priesthood is the “higher priesthood” that incorporates all priesthoods within itself (Teachings, p. 180). It holds “the right of presidency, and has power and authority over all the offices in the church in all ages of the world, to administer in spiritual things” (D&C 107:8). This order of ordination is an unchanging order that has been present in all dispensations (cf. Matt. 10:1; 16:19; John 20:23; Eph. 4:11; Heb. 7:24). From Adam to Moses, all major prophets held the Melchizedek Priesthood; Joseph Smith taught that the prophets after the death of Moses and before the time of Christ held this same priesthood and were “ordained by God himself” (Teachings, p. 181). This authority is superior to the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood that functioned under the law of Moses. The Nephites held the Melchizedek Priesthood and observed the law of Moses under that authority (cf. Alma 13:6–18).

Here is another example what we may mean by “3” Priesthoods including “Patriarchal Priesthood”, from Author: Ellsworth, Richard G., and Author: Luthy, Melvin J.

“1.The Melchizedek Priesthood is the “higher priesthood” that incorporates all priesthoods within itself (TPJS, p. 180). It holds “the right of presidency, and has power and authority over all the offices in the church in all ages of the world, to administer in spiritual things” (D&C 107:8). This order of ordination is an unchanging order that has been present in all dispensations (cf. Matt. 10:1;16:19; John 20:23; Eph. 4:11; Heb. 7:24; see also Hebrews, Epistle to the). From Adam to Moses, all major prophets held the Melchizedek Priesthood; Joseph Smith taught that the prophets after the death of Moses and before the time of Christ held this same priesthood and were “ordained by God himself” (TPJS, p. 181). This authority is superior to the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood that functioned under the Law of Moses. The Nephites held the Melchizedek Priesthood and observed the Law of Moses under that authority (cf. Alma 13:6-18).

2.The patriarchal order of the priesthood is the right of worthy priesthood-holding fathers to preside over their descendants through all ages; it includes the ordinances and blessings of the fulness of the priesthood shared by husbands and wives who are sealed in the temple (see Sealing: Temple Sealings).

3.The Aaronic Priesthood, including the Levitical Priesthood, was instituted under the Law of Moses at the time when Israel rejected the greater powers, blessings, and responsibilities of the Melchizedek Priesthood. God gave them a “lesser priesthood” comprising specific areas of authority dealing with sacrifices and temporal concerns of salvation (Ex. 20:19; JST Ex. 34:1-2). This authority was granted as a right to Aaron and his lineal descendants forever. Levitical Priesthood refers to certain duties within the Aaronic Priesthood that were delegated to worthy male members of the tribe of Levi (see Priesthood in Biblical Times).” Richard G. Ellsworth, and Melvin J. Luthy

I believe today, especially within our Church, we should be only be concerned about the Melchizedek and the Aaronic or Levitical Priesthood, as the Church teaches. Each of the fathers on this earth who act according to God’s laws have the opportunity to preside over their families in righteousness all the days of their lives, which is called “A” Patriarchal Priesthood. This should not be confused with a Church Patriarch or a Patriarchal blessing. A father gives a “Fathers” blessing and a “Patriarch gives “Patriarchal” Blessing.

Joseph Smith’s view

Why Central America?

Smoking Gun(s)

Benjamin Winchester

The Legacy

The Problem with Mesoamerica

Why Zarahemla?

Head of Sidon

Confluence

North/South Orientation

I asked Claude:

Claude AI answered:

The Underlying Debate:

Evidence of an Ancient Civilization in Upper State New York Hidden in the Heartland

Mesoamerican Opinion of Hill Cumorah

Witnesses of Hill Cumorah in North America

Two Main Topics- North Eastern Heartland (North Country) Western Heartland (Zarahemla)

By Small Means

North Country = Cumorah Area

Cumorah truth, right in front of our eyes.

Clarifying Sam’s Point

Where is the North Country?

Written and Deposited not Far from That Place by Jonathan Neville

For example, Lucy Mack Smith told people it was a record of the Indians.

Omer Traveled Out of the Land Ohio?

Coriantumr Bones in the Land Northward

Route of Coriantumr?

Did Ether Remain with Coriantumr?

Receive Personal Revelation

“It’s My Truth”

Dido, also known as Elissa, is the legendary Phoenician princess and founder of Carthage.

Carthage Foundation

A Legendary and Tragic Life

The Phoenicia Ship: A Memory from Carthage by Erij Ben Sassi

Carthage Before the Ship

Summer 2019: The Preparation

The Day: Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Phoenicia Ship is more than a replica!

Our Promise

Erij Ben Sassi Supporter of The Phoenicia Ship. President and Founder of The Association Didon of Carthage- Tunisia-North

Greetings From John Lefgren President of Heartland Research,

I asked Claude AI May 31, 2026:

Q: How are Tunisians and Phoenician’s related?

The Phoenicians founded Carthage in Tunisia

The Punic people — a Phoenician offshoot

Genetic and cultural legacy

What happened after Carthage?

Q: When were the first Tunisians and Phoenicians Christians? Who were some of the first converts?

Phoenician Christians

North African (Proto-Tunisian) Christians

Tertullian (c. 155–220 CE)

Perpetua and Felicity (martyred 203 CE)

St. Cyprian (c. 210–258 CE)

St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE)

Why Was North Africa So Central?

Eryj Ben Sassi Bio

Habib Osta Bio

According to Bible Hub:

Cainites Lived Near Jerusalem Sethites Lived Near Eden which was near the Garden of Eden.

The Wicked World of Enoch

Answers to Gospel Questions

The doctrine is repeated in sermons in the Journal of Discourses, such as this one by Charles W. Penrose:

Pearl of Great Price Student Manual – Religion

Joseph Smith Didn’t Believe in Watchers

GIANTS BONES

THE GIANT SKELETON

Giant Human Skeletons Found Buried in Mounds Across North America

The Mound Builders: Unusual Burial Sites

Senator’s Lee and Curtis question new Pentagon designation for Latter-day Saints

Can anyone tell me why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?

Michael Knowles 6/8/26 on Mormon controversy:

I Have a Question!

John Sorensen Theory

Hinterlands

The Land of Joseph

Gadiantons/Dissenters

Difference between a Lehite (Joseph) and a Mulekite (Judah/Levi)

Who is Mulek?

Land of Mulek

Grok AI Question: What date did the people of Zarahemla meet the Nephites

Evidence of an Ancient Civilization in Upper State New York
Hidden in the Heartland

Two Main Topics-
North Eastern Heartland (North Country)
Western Heartland (Zarahemla)

Written and Deposited not Far from That Place
by Jonathan Neville

Erij Ben Sassi
Supporter of The Phoenicia Ship.
President and Founder of The Association Didon of Carthage- Tunisia-North

Cainites Lived Near Jerusalem
Sethites Lived Near Eden which was near the Garden of Eden.

Was Zoram a Cohen, or a holder of the Levitical Priesthood, which we call Aaronic Priesthood today?
https://bookofmormonevidence.org/was-zoram-a-cohen/