In year 16-18 AD, Lachoneus gathered all the people to the center of the land. 3 Nep 3:21-24. We believe the center of the land to be at the southern tip of Illinois. There is perfect protection with the Mississippi River on the west and the Ohio River or the Wabash River on the East. In the tip of Illinois is an escarpment and remains of old fortifications and walls all the way across. The article below talks all about those stone walls and fortifications of southern Illinois.

“But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.”

And it came to pass in the seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone forth to the place which had been appointed that they should gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies.

And the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the line which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation. 3 Nephi 3:21-23

Ancient American • Issue Number 50; Article below is by Wayne May

In southern Illinois, down at the tip, there is archaeological evidence revealing a fortification project of massive undertaking. Ancient people of times gone by, constructed fortified hilltops of earth, stone and wood. These stretch from the Ohio River on the east to the Mississippi River on the west. Every hilltop could have possibly seen one fort/wall to the left and one fort/wall to the right. Signals could be passed along the fortified hilltops very fast in the event of an approaching enemy or just to announce some event. The overall distance for this line of defense is approximately 100 miles in length as a crow flies.

At least 14 pre-Columbian stone structures are known to exist in the hills of southern Illinois. There may be others… walls of which most have been taken down to ground level. In fact, the latest find was made when the foundation courses were accidentally observed, two miles east of Makanda, IL.

These walled structures, forming a rough alignment across the southern tip of Illinois between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers have one striking feature in common. Each is located on top of a high bluff that projects outward. From the rear, they can be approached easily over gently sloping ground; and it is across this approach that the walls are built. On every other side, the structures border on sheer cliffs. This would suggest that their primary purpose was defensive. However, only one (near Stonefort in southern Saline County) has a water supply within it. Stone cairns and stone-lined pits are found beside the entrance gateways of many of the enclosures. They are constructed of drystone masonry, using loose stones of moderate size, mainly from the beds of the brooks flowing along the cliff bottoms. Early records, and the recollections of very old people, indicate that the walls were originally six to ten feet high and about as wide.

They are now greatly diminished, due to farmers hauling away stones from them. Some, such as the one near Stonefort already referred to, were over 600 feet in length. The amount of labor necessary to build such walls, of stones that had to be carried up from the brook beds 200 feet below, is staggering.

The wall at the Stonefort structure forms half of an accurate ellipse with axis of 450 and 190 feet. It is not easy to see how it could have been so accurately laid out, if the area were as heavily forested at the time as it is now.

The stone walls stretch from the Mississippi River to the Ohio River, as though forming a broken, staggered line south of Carbondale, Marion, and Harrisburg, the three cities of the region, and separating off the southern tip of Illinois. The locations of nine of the walls have been positively identified, and doubtless more were destroyed to make way for modern development or are yet to be uncovered in the thickly overgrown areas of the Shawnee National Forest. One of the more recent examples was found in 1970, in Giant City State Park near Makanda, IL.

The Lewis Wall, at Makanda, is virtually identical to its counterparts. Mr. Allen, a local historian points out, “an inspection of this structure gives a clear idea of the general plan followed for all of them.” The Lewis Wall bisects the top of a steep cliff, running on a linear east-west axis for 285 feet. Six feet high at its highest point, with an average thickness of five feet, the structure is a dry-stone rampart containing an estimated forty thousand stones, all of them apparently conveyed by hand up the sheer incline from the dry streambed two hundred feet below. Stone cairns, or ceremonial rock piles, and pits appear at the rear entrance. The structure was raised ingeniously by fitting together mostly flat stones chosen for moderate size and a rough although uniform fit, the same technique used in building the other walls. “They were not insignificant structures,” Allen insists, “and the amount of manual labor required was great. The many thousands of trips necessary to be made from the brook bed to the top of the bluff, often two hundred feet or more above the creek level, represent a stupendous effort for primitive people, the more so when it is considered that some of these walls were six hundred feet long.”

Archaeologists are unable to confidently associate the Lewis Wall with the Indians, who never engaged in large-scale stonework. Nor do any Native American tribes claim it was the labor of their ancestors. Yet the dating of some of the structures has placed it in the middle to late Hopewell time line. Thanks to the availability of organic material embedded in the structure the wall has been radio carbon-dated to 50 AD, the same time period in which the fortifications of the Hopewell culture took place in the Ohio River Valley. Additional dating has taken place more recently and dates of 400 and 900 AD have been confirmed at the Lewis Wall site.

That this monumental partition has stood fundamentally intact for the last twenty centuries in this major earthquake zone is testimony to its skillful construction. In 1812 the region suffered the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history, when the New Madrid Fault generated enough seismic violence to change the course of the Mississippi River and ring church bells in faraway Virginia. The Ohio and the Mississippi rivers flowed north for 3 days according to pioneer journals of the time. Sadly, farmers have pillaged the stones for building materials since the early nineteenth century, rendering a true conception of its original condition difficult to determine. Other examples, like the wall near Stonefort (a town obviously named after the structure), were more than twice as long, stretching more than 650 feet.

Regional author Judy Magee suggests that the structures may have been originally much larger: “These walls, extending east and west from the gateway, were really one wall almost a quarter of a mile in length. Some believed that this wall and the one around Old Stone Fort on the same mountain were originally eight feet high, while, others believed they were as much as ten or even twelve feet high, especially near the gateways and at the ends.”

Writing of this particular wall, investigator Loren Coleman marveled at its formation of an accurate ellipse with axis of 450 and 190 feet. “It is not easy to see how it could have been so accurately laid out,” he writes, “if the area were as heavily forested at the time as it is now.” Clearly, the organized labor and surveying techniques necessary to construct so many massive ramparts belonged to few if any Native American cultures in the area, but certainly typical of the engineering abilities of Roman-era builders.

The line of stone walls all stand on top of finger like high bluffs thrusting southward, from which they are unassailable. Sheer cliffs fall away on either side, but each structure is easily reached from the north over gently sloping ground.

Allen points out that “a man could scale those cliffs only by careful and strenuous effort. They thus have many of the characteristics that would make them into desirable forts.” Their positions appear to have been not only chosen for specific environmental qualities, but also somewhat modified to meet certain military requirements. The erection of this first-century Maginot Line might well have been aimed at keeping away hostile parties. Any attackers would naturally want to strike up the Mississippi and Ohio, but their passing would have been effectively blocked at these easily defended rivers. But what of the stone cairns at the wall entrances? Could they be collapsed towers?

Beyond these wall fragments, the rest of the fortifications must have disintegrated long ago. The abundant forest timber of southern Illinois and scarcity of buildingstone quarries could well have compelled the people of the time to construct their homes, temples, and palaces of wood. Then, as now, builders made their structures from the local material at hand. In the event of a lost war or lethal epidemic, either of which could have forced abandonment of the site and dispersal of the inhabitants, the buildings-reduced to ashes or left to the natural processes of neglect and decay for tens of centuries- – simply would have dissolved without a trace. Of course, if this was the gathering place of a forgotten people they may have only been in the area for a short time. Could this southern tip of Illinois have been a fortified sanctuary in time of trouble, a place of resort to face some invading foe? We will probably never know for sure. But, with the Ohio River on the east flank and the Mississippi on the west flank and the stone walls meandering across the state from the east to the west, forming an inverted pyramid, it would be a great place for a long defensive siege.” Wayne May Ancient American Magazine Volume 50

“The Book of Mormon is truly unique. To illustrate, I quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife, Pat. She reported that many years ago while Jeff was working on his PhD at Yale University, he got to know one of the senior reference librarians who provided him valuable help in researching his dissertation.

One day, Jeff said, “Ilene, I need to know how many books we have in either the Sterling Memorial or Beinecke Rare Book Libraries that claim to have been delivered by an angel.” The librarian gave him a peculiar look and said, “I don’t know of any books that have been delivered by angels.” Brother Holland replied, “Well, just run a check for me, would you? It may take a little doing, but I really would like to know. It would help me with some religious writing I am doing.” (In recounting this experience, Sister Holland noted that Yale University at that time had the fourth-largest library in the nation, with nearly 9 million volumes in its collection.)

Ultimately, Ilene fulfilled this request. She reported to Brother Holland, “I have a book for you. I found one book which, it is claimed, was delivered by an angel.” She held up a paperback copy of the Book of Mormon. “I’m told you can get them for a dollar. “My word,” she continued. “An angel’s book for a dollar. You would think angels would charge more, but then again, where would they spend it?”

An angel did deliver a written text to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The angel Moroni told Joseph that “there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of [the American] continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants;” The Book of Mormon: A Miraculous Miracle President Russell M. Nelson President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles June 23, 2016 (“the American” was in the original quote. I believe American is the USA, not Central or South America)

Be Grateful

In this time of challenging and rapid change in the world, we must remain valiant to our Savior and His Church leaders. Follow President Nelson and the 14 in all they say. “Stay on the Covenant Path”, as our Prophet says.

Just this past Friday our Prophet asked us to be grateful. He also said, “We are grateful for all those who are striving to combat the covid pandemic, please bless them with protection and inspiration. Wilt Thou help us end this virus which has plagued so many of Thy children.” President Russell M. Nelson Nov 20, 2020 #givethanks #bookofmormonevidence

The quote that hit home to me this past Friday was simple but powerful. Pres Nelson said, “Relieve us of political strife” Russell M Nelson Nov 20, 2020 #givethanks

Below is the Prophets council if you haven’t heard it. 

An Angel of Light

I truly believe our country is close to the end. I have no idea if that is a few months a few years or 10 years or more, but we are close to losing the blessings of this great country. Why? Because I feel there is so much wickedness and desire for money and power now in our world than ever before. 

I believe Satan is appearing as that angel of light to deceive us. Our constitutional rights are being ripped from us. This was a fraudulent election and I strongly feel Pres Trump won this election. I pray the Lord will spare us a little longer. At the core of most Democrats are evil ideas of abortion, no freedom of speech nor worship, no right to bear arms, and socialism. I believe the Republican Party is almost as corrupt, but I believe in the honorable results I have seen with President Trump. I believe he loves America and we as a people. I pray the Lord will help our courts of law come to the correct and proper decisions.

Complaining or kicking against the pricks is wrong and will lead you nowhere but the bottom. Remember the quote, “Obedience is greater than Sacrifice?” (see 1 Samuel 15:22). With our leaders it is  better to simply be obedient than worry about why they are asking you to do something. “Just Do It”. Not blind obedience, but faithful obedience. If the Book of Mormon is the truth (and it is), then obey it. If Joseph Smith is and was a Prophet (which he is and was), just obey him. Stop trying to find fault with Brother Joseph. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and I continue to strive to be obedient to our leaders teachings. The difference between a righteous and a wicked person is simply this. The righteous are continually being obedient and repenting. The evil don’t have a desire to obey anything and they are never repenting. 

Revelation in a Changing World
Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Oct 1989

“All inspiration does not come from God. (See D&C 46:7.) The evil one has the power to tap into those channels of revelation and send conflicting signals which can mislead and confuse us. There are promptings from evil sources which are so carefully counterfeited as to deceive even the very elect. (See Matt. 24:24.)

Nevertheless, we can learn to discern these spirits. Even with every member having the right to revelation, the Church can be maintained as a house of order.

Revelation comes in an orderly way in the Church. We are entitled to personal revelation. However, unless we are set apart to some presiding office, we will not receive revelations concerning what others should do…

An unusual spiritual experience should not be regarded as a personal call to direct others. It is my conviction that experiences of a special, sacred nature are individual and should be kept to oneself.

Few things disturb the channels of revelation quite so effectively as those people who are misled and think themselves to be chosen to instruct others when they are not chosen.

Others, fearing they also might go astray, then hold back and do not seek the source of divine revelation. Obedience to constituted priesthood authority will protect us from going astray.

There are those within the Church who are disturbed when changes are made with which they disagree or when changes they propose are not made. They point to these as evidence that the leaders are not inspired.

They write and speak to convince others that the doctrines and decisions of the Brethren are not given through inspiration.

Two things characterize them: they are always irritated by the word obedience, and always they question revelation. It has always been so. Helaman described those who “began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of revelation; and the judgments of God did stare them in the face.” (Hel. 4:23.) “They were left in their own strength” (Hel. 4:13), and “the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them” (Hel. 4:24).

Changes in organization or procedures are a testimony that revelation is ongoing. While doctrines remain fixed, the methods or procedures do not.”
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/10/revelation-in-a-changing-world?lang=eng

3 Grand Keys

Instructions given by Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, February 9, 1843, making known three grand keys by which the correct nature of ministering angels and spirits may be distinguished.

D&C 129:1 There are two kinds of beings in heaven, namely: Angels, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones—

2 For instance, Jesus said: Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

3 Secondly: the spirits of just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected, but inherit the same glory.

4 When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.

5 If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.

6 If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear—

7 Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.

8 If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.

9 These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.

Be not deceived, even Satan can appear as an angel of light. See 2 Corinthians 11:14

American’s Please Repent

When the lord says below “at that day” he is speaking of we in the USA today. We are the ones sinning against His gospel, so now that day of the Gentile is leaving us. Look at our world of riots, looting, dishonesty, immoral behavior, corruption in Government, abortion, etc. That’s why the Lord says below that He will bring “the fulness of my gospel from among them.”

 “And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.” 3 Nephi 16:10

The Lord is speaking to us! To whom? Citizens of the United Stated of America. I must repent and I urge us all to do the same, for repentance is the only way this country can continue to exist. We are ripe to be swept off this Choice Land.

Burned Bones, Mysterious Timber Circles & the Rites of the Ancients – Adena Culture in Mason County, WV

Mason County, West Virginia is a place rich in history. Founded in 1804, the county is named after George Mason, who was a delegate at the American Constitutional Convention of 1787. In October of 1774, Colonel Andrew Lewis successfully lead the Virginia militia against a confederation of Algonquian Shawnee and Mingo forces led by Chief Cornstalk in the “Battle of Point Pleasant”. Lewis’ camp was named “camp Point Pleasant”, which became a permanent settlement and gradually grew into the modern town and County Seat of Mason County.

Illustration of Battle of Point Pleasant. 1854

Following the Battle of Point Pleasant, Chief Cornstalk ( Hokoleskwa or Kokolesqua in Shawnee) became a diplomat and peace advocate who secured working relations between his Shawnee kinsmen and Revolutionary Americans.

Illustration; one of the earliest depictions of Chief Cornstalk. (1720-1777) From Frost’s pictorial history of Indian wars and captivities from the earliest record of American history to the present time. 1872.

“How America Was Discovered is a story told by Handsome Lake (Seneca Prophet and contemporary of Cornstalk), and documented by Arthur C. Parker, about a young minister who meets the one he perceives to be the Lord, who then asks him to go to a new land and bring with him cards, money, a fiddle, whiskey, and blood corruption. In return the young minister will become rich. The young minister sought out Christopher Columbus, and with the help of his crew, traveled to the Americas. They turned back to report what they had seen, which caused an immigration of people from Europe to the Americas. Along with the people came the five things that aided in destroying the natives. The end reveals that the “Lord” in the gold castle was actually the devil, and that even he knew what he had caused was wrong.” Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto

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. The Buffalo of Yesteryear: Red Jacket’s speech on religious freedom (left)

Disturbing Death and Injustice

In the fall of 1777, Cornstalk and his son, Elinipsico, were wrongly detained at Fort Randolph while attempting to engage in peaceful relations with the Virginia militia, and both were murdered on November 10th.  By the time of his death, Chief Cornstalk had become a renowned figure throughout the American colonies, and there was outrage over his wrongful end.

None other than Patrick Henry (governor of Virginia at the time) attempted to bring justice upon Cornstalk’s killers, but the militiamen refused to testify against one another, and the murderers walked free.

While these historical events may be interesting enough in their own right, there are far older things buried in the ancient soil of Mason County. For over 2,000 years ago, this region of West Virginia hosted several ritual centers of the Adena Culture.

History Hidden in the Soil

The first to build burial mounds and earthworks in the Ohio River Valley, the chronology of the Adena Culture spans 1000 BC and to around 200 AD. A major Adena center (consisting of 10 earthen enclosures and between 40 and 50 burial mounds), was once located along the Kanawha River at the present-day location of Charleston, West Virginia in Kanawha County.

Another major conglomerate of Adena mounds once existed at Grave Creek Flats in Marshall County, consisting of several enclosures and around 47 mounds, including the famous Grave Creek Mound, which was originally between 60 and 65 feet in height. While these two locales have received the lion’s share of attention by historians and archaeologists in West Virginia, the lesser-known Adena sites in Mason County are extraordinary in their own right and provide a unique glimpse into Adena ritualism and burial practices.

Grave Creek Mound, Moundsville, West Virginia, USA (Tim Kiser

Ritual Circles

The Neibert Site was located along the Ohio River south of Point Pleasant, near the Gallipolis Locks and Dam. Excavations at Neibert ahead of a locks replacement project in the 1980s revealed the former existence of four or five timber circles located on a high terrace above the Ohio River.

Four of the circles were constructed in paired-post fashion, and all five were situated in a linear pattern variously 10-50 meters (32.8-164 feet) distant from one another.

Jason Jarrell and Sarah Farmer  are investigative historians and avocational archaeologists. They study many subjects including depth psychology, Biblical mysteries, political science, and comparative mythology. They’re also authors of the book, Ages of the Giants: A Cultural History of the Tall Ones in Prehistoric America (2017).

Heartland Research with Wayne May and John Lefgren have been doing magnetometry research in Iowa near Nauvoo, Illinois for signs of ancient civilizations in the Heartland during Book of Mormon Times. They have found Adena Roundhouses like the one above. Visit my blog here to read more about it.

BYU’s 2017 Department of Geological Sciences Hates New Science!* (See Below)

When I was a college student there were many discussions on the question of organic evolution. I took classes in geology and biology and heard the whole story of Darwinism as it was then taught. I wondered about it. I thought much about it. But I did not let it sway me, for I read what the scriptures said about our origins and our relationship to God.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Faith: The Essence of True Religion, p. 18.)

Our Church is Neutral on Evolution

“The Church has no official position on the theory of evolution. Organic evolution, or changes to species’ inherited traits over time, is a matter for scientific study. Nothing has been revealed concerning evolution. Though the details of what happened on earth before Adam and Eve, including how their bodies were created, have not been revealed, our teachings regarding man’s origin are clear and come from revelation.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2016/10/to-the-point/what-does-the-church-believe-about-evolution.html?lang=eng

Why? Editors Opinion

Many intellectuals and scientists love sharing the quote above which says, “The Church has no official position on the theory of evolution.” The Church has also said they are neutral on the Geography of the Book of Mormon. These statements by the Church however don’t say that we have to be neutral about these things. I believe the Church is telling us to search and pray for ourselves. The Church can’t teach us everything as we are accountable for our own spiritual growth as we learn in this life. We should read, study and search for evidences about all things, and by the Spirit we may know ALL THINGS! Moroni 10:5

Supposedly those writers at FAIR Mormon use Elder Holland’s statement below as he says, “I do not know the details of what happened on this planet before that”, to feel they can tell us all about evolution as they are smarter than the Prophets. This secular society needs to have the faith of the Brethren and end this tremendous amount of time spent in promoting evolution of ape to man and from nothing comes something.

Why is it no surprise that a vast number of those who believe in the Mesoamerican Theory of the Book of Mormon also believe man came from nothing, Noah’s flood is a myth, the Earth is billions of years in creation, and believe in Pre-Adamites?

WE DID NOT COME FROM AN APE OF THIS I AM MOST CERTAIN! MAN DID NOT EVOLVE FROM NOTHING! ADAM WAS PLACED ON THE EARTH IN ABOUT 4,000 BC! THE MATERIALS OF THE EARTH ARE BILLIONS (innumerable) OF YEARS OLD, BUT THE CREATION IS THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD, NOAH’S FLOOD IS REAL, and if there is ever a difference between Scripture and Science, always choose Scripture!

“One need not look far into science to discover it consists too generally of a maze of facts and theory so closely interwoven that even the most learned and honorable scientist (to say nothing of the intellectually dishonest one or the novice) may have difficulty in distinguishing readily between truth and theory.” — Joseph Fielding Smith Man, His Origin and Destiny

See my blog titled EVOLUTION AT BYU here:

DNA & Dating Dinosaurs DVD

Could a Single Experiment Change Much of Science? Could Modern Science Have Some Things Wrong? Are All the Creation Accounts Actual or Myths? Is Evolution Being Taught as Fact at BYU? Can We Trust the Scriptures & Prophets? Are Our Youth Being Taught the Truth? Was There a Real World-Wide Flood? Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?

Join scientific researcher, author and international lecturer Rod Meldrum as he introduces a paradigm-altering experiment that may forever change the very foundations of science as we know it. Learn about a new millennial science, called the Universal Model, that provides the hard scientific evidences of the processes by which:

1- This magnificent Earth may have actually formed out of water.
2. How, and how long it took, for dinosaurs and trees to fossilize.
3. How a world-wide catastrophic flood at the time of Biblical Noah happened.
4. How mankind’s place in the Universe came through Adam and Eve.

Yes, We Really Can Trust the Scriptures and Prophets!

For 7 years Rod Meldrum was the head scientific researcher for Dean Sessions, author of The Universal Model. Rod gives many presentations about how science and the scriptures go hand in hand including the one above called, DNA and Dating Dinosaurs.

What Is The Universal Model?
“The purpose of science is to describe and explain Nature so that we can understand and comprehend it, but where do we learn these things simply, in a way that makes sense? For many decades, a number of incorrect theories and misleading philosophies have formed the foundation of ‘modern’ science. Now, newly discovered scientific truths in the Universal Model have revealed long-hidden natural laws that explain Nature’s workings in an easily comprehensible format. We invite all to explore and experience the adventure of learning by investigating new discoveries about the Earth and our Universe found in the UM. These scientific truths establish a New Millennial Science destined to take us through the current millennium to heights of knowledge and discovery never before imagined.” The Universal Model Home Page

“We must keep in mind that He [Christ] is allowing the wheat and tares to grow up together for a season, and by and by the tares will be gathered together and be burned up. Before the burning though, there will be a judgement, and the Lord is allowing us each right now to work out our salvation or damnation. Those that have the facts before them and reject them (see below) will pay the ultimate price, but there also must be a Great Divide that is taking place right now (talked about in the BoM and in the last chapter of Vol II of UM [Universal Model] – the Human Model) to clearly mark each of us to which side we are on.

Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“One need not look far into science to discover it consists too generally of a maze of facts and theory so closely interwoven that even the most learned and honorable scientist (to say nothing of the intellectually dishonest one or the novice) may have difficulty in distinguishing readily between truth and theory.” — Man, His Origin and Destiny

This is the purpose of the UM, to take this maze (the modern science puzzle that makes no sense – everything from nothing) and replace it with Nature’s Puzzle – they way things really are.

Melvin A. Cook in the Intro of:  Man, His Origin and Destiny also said:
“Unfortunately, owing to the strong desire of scientists to display their brilliance and ingenuity, there is a tendency for theory to become the objective instead of a means to the end. Theory then not only loses its real value, but actually becomes a stumbling block to progress. Its inventor and disciples become so engrossed in the theory that they lose sight of its fundamental purpose, the quest for truth. This condition was shockingly illustrated in my presence at a meeting of scientists when one of great renown met a factual objection with the statement, “I am more concerned with the elegance of the theory than the truth of it.” — Man, His Origin and Destiny

Therefore, the Lord will judge these so-called intellectuals to whether they want to follow and learn of the Truth (which is literally Christ) or not. The sad thing is that most do not realize following Christ means following and seeking out for the Truth.
 
The UM has already produced experiments for the first time that are “more than words” (for example it has created sandstone and petrified wood which are identical to how Nature produced it in only a few days). The UM does not just have “alternative explanations” to how things are done in Nature, it has the ONLY explanation in hundreds of instances where modern science admits their theories cannot explain such and such natural phenomena. So ‘producing’ more ‘things’ is not the solution. Science is about demonstrating the true nature of Nature, it is not technology, which is only a tool that helps us understand it better.

Therefore, we cannot expect the leaders of science today to ever change their religion of atheism and accept the truth. It’s just not going to happen. For the UM to gain a much wider acceptance, it will have to be promoted full time to a much greater degree and I will personally have to be involved with this with others. This means I will be involved in debates and interviews and making many more recordings for the Web with influencers.

Although each Volume of the UM stands alone and has more new natural law than produced by modern science over the last century, Vol III does have double the amount of natural law as the other two volumes and many more experiments seen for the first time. Being able to demonstrate the true models of both matter and energy is more than any physicist or chemist or cosmologist has ever dreamed of, as this alone changes all their fields of study – and the UM does this. It also shows the errors in the physics of the Big Bang and proves the Universe is not expanding, but rotating in a Revolutionary Universe. It really is beyond what any scientist could dream about – yet it is all real and empirically demonstrated.” Dean Sessions-Founder and Author of the “Universal Model, A New Millennial Science“

None of us . . . knows enough. The learning process is an endless process. We must read, we must observe, we must assimilate, and we must ponder that to which we expose our minds. I believe in evolution, not organic evolution, as it is called, but in the evolution of the mind, the heart, and the soul of man. I believe in improvement. I believe in growth.‖ (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 298.)

For a free PDF of quotes from Prophets about Creation and Evolution, click the link below: Creation and Evolution A witness of Prophets

The UM Is For All Lovers Of Truth by Chauncey Riddle

I have just completed reading the first two of the three systems of the new UM project of Dean Sessions. I am greatly impressed and delighted by what I found. It was like seeing an exciting, powerful new movie that deals with some of my favorite topics and concerns. To specifics:

1. Sessions is right on in pointing out that much of present day science is theory oriented rather than being fact oriented as it should be. For many scientists, theory is more important than law. Scientific laws are demonstrated by facts, but theories cannot be demonstrated by facts. There are always an infinite number of possible theoretical explanations for any finite set of facts. Theories can be eliminated by facts, but only if the persons involved in evaluating them will make the correct application: face the facts. When a theory is an article of faith, many people refuse to apply the pertinent facts which should cause them to abandon a particular theory. Sessions has called attention to specific facts and laws which should cause any honest person to reject the theories of organic evolution, the great age of fossils, the magma theory of the history of the earth, etc. How refreshing to see such candor in scientific thinking!
2. Sessions is also correct in showing that technology is as important as scientific theorizing. Technology enabled the work of Galileo to establish the helio-centric theory of the solar system, much to the consternation of the self-appointed scientists of his day. Sessions has shown by technology how granite rock is actually formed, as well as other minerals. He has shown how fossils are formed, such as petrified wood. Diamonds are now produced by technology. All of these technical achievements create facts and laws which every honest scientist must recognize and apply to theories affected by them. Technology trumps scientific theory because technology demonstrates what is (facts), whereas scientific theory only muses on what might be. Theory in science is actually metaphysics, not physics. Only when substantiated by facts and laws do theories become acceptable, and are always subject to elimination if new facts and laws come forth to negate them. Sessions has done an admirable job of showing how some present theoretical darlings of some scientists must be rejected.
3. Session’s discussions of hydrofountains, hypretherms, the Universal Flood, organic evolution, fossils, climate, history, anthropology, etc., are all refreshing and challenging. Reading this book is having one’s imagination stretched at every turn. Every serious reader who has an interest in knowing the truth will be delighted with the challenging ideas found here.

Will there be criticisms of this work? Most certainly. What form will they take?

1. One will be ignoring this work and discouraging others from reading it. Just as the politicians in charge try to marginalize everyone who is not “politically correct,” so will influential members of the science community try to ignore and belittle this work. But every honest seeker after truth will relish the opportunity to think freshly about important scientific matters, in a refined paradigm of science, and with new facts and laws to ponder.
2. Some critics will say that this work should be ignored or discounted because the author, Dean Sessions, is not a professional scientist and does not have the “necessary” academic background to propound such a work. This attitude is rubbish, of course. That is like saying someone cannot run fast because they are not part of an official Olympic Team. The proof of science is not in who says it but in the physical evidence brought to bear in evaluating our ideas about this physical world we live in. Sessions is right in pointing out that theory (which cannot be proved, but can be falsified) has become more important to many current scientists than are facts. The great example of this is the theory of organic evolution which is the darling of much of academia right now and which is completely unsupported by the facts, specifically the fact that there is no observable speciation in nature. That plus the inability to prove the immense time frame necessary for the theory spell the death-knell for the theory of organic evolution for every honest person. But evolution is a religion, a matter of faith for many persons, and they would rather give up their honesty than give up their favorite irrational article of faith.
3. Some will say that Sessions has picked and chosen very carefully the quotations of other writers which he cites to support his case. But that is not a fault. Every person picks and chooses among potential citations, a necessity in the flood of writings about every topic. What is most remarkable and commendable is the breadth and depth of the scholarship which Sessions exhibits in his writing. He has searched the literature of many fields of endeavor with exciting and telling results. Most people know the literature only in their own field. Sessions has no primary field and delves into what others have said from all the fields he deals with to help his readers realize what is being said and not said in the areas of his interest. Be grateful he has been selective and brings to you a summary of what others are saying.
4. Sessions will possibly be proved wrong about some assertions he has made in his work. This is almost inevitable for anyone doing serious thinking and writing. But the finding of such errors will not be an embarrassment for Sessions. He will laud such finding, because that will mean that the cause of truth will be advanced. His purpose is to bring truth and light to important matters, and if his work stimulates others to produce more truth and light, even unto showing his work needs to be amended, he will be grateful. He will be grateful because he writes not to give the final word but to further the ongoing human inquiry into the powerful ideas about the true nature of the universe that give us all more understanding and power.

I commend this work for all serious thinkers and lovers of truth. You will be challenged in reading the material. It is not “light” reading. But any effort will be well worth it.

Chauncey C. Riddle, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Brigham Young University, USA 10/22/2016

*A Sad Commentary about the Universal Model

Daily Universe Readers Forum April 4-10, 2017 http://newsnet.byu.edu/pdf/du20170404.pdf

BYU’s student newspaper, The Universe, printed a full-page advertisement on behalf of the “Firm Foundation Expo,” a 3-day expo that bills itself as “faithfully exploring LDS topics of our time.” In the advertisement, all of the 70+ speakers are portrayed as distinguished and as experts in some area or another.

One of those speakers is Dean W. Sessions, the author of the “Universal Model.” Mr. Sessions claims to have disproved several straightforward tenets of modern science, including the basic interior structure of the Earth (which he argues has a core of ice and liquid water) and the mass of the Earth (which he recalculates at about a third of what is known in order to fit this model). He will be speaking about his model on each day of the event.

We, members of BYU’s Department of Geological Sciences, cannot accept Mr. Sessions “Universal Model” as it runs contrary to multiple lines of empirical evidence and generations of scientific query. It would not pass expert peer review.

Students and the BYU community are reminded that organic evolution, anthropogenic climate change, radiometric dating and a 4.56 billion-year-old age of the Earth are all seriously taught on campus by professors, who are in good standing with the church, in fields directly relating to these subjects. Students may learn more about these subjects through a variety of courses offered by the Department of Geological Sciences as well as from other departments.

We, the undersigned, support the honest development of knowledge by way of the scientific method and as vetted through expert peer review. We are concerned that the presence of the aforementioned advertisement in The Universe may legitimize Dean Sessions’ “Universal Model” in the eyes of some within the community.

—Bart Kowallis, PhD, Associate Dean of CPMS; Ron Harris, PhD; Jeffrey Keith, PhD;Jani Radebaugh, PhD; Eric Christiansen, PhD; Carl Hoiland, PhD; Thomas Morris, PhD; Sam Hudson, PhD; Stephen Nelson, PhD; Geology master’s degree students:Kimberly Sowards, Colin Hale, Michael Jensen, William Meservy, TJ Slezak, Collin Jensen, Matthew Randall, Aaron Holmes, Braxton Spilker, Danielle Spencer, Rebecca Esplin, Hannah Checketts, Brian Packer, David Tomlinson, Kevin Stuart, Hanif Sulaeman, Han Deng, Joel Barker; Geology bachelor’s degree students: Torri Duncan, Jason Klimek, Brett Young, Austin Eells, Hanna Howell, Chelsea Samuelson”

It’s sad how many scholars feel they know more than most of us who are uneducated people. I feel the great and spacious building is having fun right now at our expense. May the Lord help them become humble and at least consider some of this incredible research.

The Ezra Taft Benson talk from 25 Oct 1966 at a BYU Devotional is a sobering reminder of evil people in the church with an agenda (revising church history by quoting the intellectuals and apostates and ignoring the prophets). Ezra Taft Benson said to avoid being deceived, look to the Prophet. Listen to his entire talk at https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/immediate-responsibility/

At the 32:07-33:02 mark, just before the above quote, President Ezra Taft Benson states the following.

“We all have stewardships for which we must account to the Lord. Unfortunately, some men who do not honor their stewardships may have an adverse effect on many people. Often the greater the man’s responsibility, the more good or evil he can accomplish. The Lord usually gives a man a long enough rope and sufficient time to determine whether that man wants to pull himself into the presence of God or drop off somewhere below. There are some regrettable things being said and done by some people in the church today. As President Clark so well warned, the ravening wolves are amongst us. From our own membership and they more than any others are clothed in sheep’s clothing because they wear the habiliments of the priesthood. We should be careful of them.”

It is very appropriate to speak about the Gospel of Jesus Christ while also speaking about our blessed Constitution that the Lord Himself wrote. He said, “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. D&C 101:80

Today after a very contentious voting process our citizenry seems very split on what form of government the people want. We are a divided nation. We have been divided for a long time. Think back to the time of Joseph Smith. The saints thought that in about June of 1834, Zion’s Camp was going to establish the New Jerusalem in Missouri and yet the Lord said, “now is not the time” to redeem my people. That was 186 years ago! That means the 2nd Coming has to be even closer than we may realize.

Joseph Smith Quote

“There will be two great political parties in this country. One will be called the Republican, and the other the Democrat party. These two parties will go to war and out of these two parties will spring another party which will be the Independent American [sic] Party. The United States will spend her strength and means warring in foreign lands until other nations will say, “Let’s divide up the lands of the United States,” then the people of the U.S. will unite and swear by the blood of their fore-fathers that the land shall not be divided. Then the country will go to war, and they will fight until one half of the U.S. Army will give up, and the rest will continue to struggle. They will keep on until they are very ragged and discouraged, and almost ready to give up – when the boys from the mountains will rush forth in time to save the American Army from defeat and ruin. And they will say, “Brethren, we are glad you have come; give us men, henceforth, who can talk with God.” Then you will have friends, but you will save the country when it’s [sic] liberty hangs by a hair, as it were.” – Prophet and presidential candidate Joseph Smith, 19 June 1844, as recorded in the autobiography of Mosiah Lyman Hancock. See Duane S. Crowther, Prophecy – Key to the Future, p. 10.

Constitutional Values

Today in Utah we have a party called, the Independent American Party which as part of its mission is, “to uphold and revere our Constitution in the tradition of our Founding Fathers as the only and supreme law of this land.” It was founded on many of the principles set forth by Ezra Taft Benson. I am not affiliated with this party, but I support many of its principles. You can also see a video that the Firm Foundation recorded of Greg Duerden & Wayne Hill – Utah Gubernatorial Candidates Website Here:

“If you vote for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting for evil… Always vote for the best possible candidate, whether they have a chance of winning or not. Then, even if the worst possible candidate wins, the Lord will bless our nation more because more people were willing to stand up for what is right.” Ezra Taft Benson

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” (Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759)

“The sign [above] that once labeled Joseph Smith’s office in Nauvoo’s Red Brick Store draws attention to his position as prophet, yet it hung in a place where he filled many additional roles. Like Joseph himself, the Red Brick Store fulfilled both Church and state purposes. In Joseph’s office, he received and dictated revelations. In the store’s upper assembly room, he organized the Relief Society and introduced temple ceremonies. The assembly room also housed Nauvoo’s municipal court and provided space for the political convention that nominated Joseph Smith as a presidential candidate.₁ Joseph didn’t draw a stark line between his civic and religious roles, like we might today, and his political involvement was extremely important to the Church.

In 1839, Joseph Smith and other Church leaders visited the president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, because the Saints had endured so many losses in Missouri without any redress at the local or state level. President Van Buren heard Joseph’s complaints and famously responded, “Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you. . . . If I take up for you, I shall lose the Vote of Missouri.”₂ Recognizing that the government would not protect his people, Joseph determined to do what he could to ensure the Saints’ rights were safeguarded.₃

In June 1840, Joseph Smith was considering different ways to organize a government for the Saints’ new settlement along the banks of the Mississippi River when John C. Bennett arrived. Bennett was popular with political leaders in the Illinois state capital, having been appointed quartermaster general over the state militia. He was sympathetic to the Saints’ cause and helped Joseph plan a city government with more legal protections than the Saints had enjoyed in the past.₄ The Nauvoo Charter guaranteed the local government’s rights to pass laws, form a city militia, and issue writs of habeas corpus, meaning the right to appeal arrest or imprisonment. Bennett became a Church member and returned to Springfield to shepherd the Nauvoo Charter through the Illinois legislature. The charter gained approval in December 1840. Bennett became the city’s first elected mayor in February 1841, and Joseph Smith served on the city council and as the lieutenant general of the newly formed Nauvoo Legion.₅

Joseph actively participated on the city council and introduced all 11 of the ordinances passed during the council’s first five meetings. One ordinance addressed temperance.₆ Another demonstrated his commitment to religious freedom: “Be it ordained . . . That the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter Day Saints, Quakers, Episcopalians, Universalists, Unitarians, Mohammedans, and all other Religious Sects and denominations whatever, shall have free toleration, and equal privileges, in this City.”₇ Source

Notes for above.

1. See “ Store (JS’s red brick store), Nauvoo, Illinois ,” josephsmithpapers.org.
2.  Joseph Smith, “ History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] ,” 1016, josephsmithpapers.org.
3. See Arnold K. Garr, “Joseph Smith: Mayor of Nauvoo,”  Mormon Historical Studies,  vol. 3, no. 1 (Spring 2002), 29.
4. See  Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual,  2nd ed. (Church Educational System manual, 2003), 222–24.
5. See Garr, “Joseph Smith: Mayor of Nauvoo,” 30–31.
6. See  Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual,  222–24.
7.  Joseph Smith, “ History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] ,” 1169.

Union of the Saints, A Discourse
by President Heber C. Kimball

“The preaching we have had by brother Joseph Young, is the kind I love. It is very unlike the mixed up preaching of the world; but it is music to my ears; there are no jars nor discord when we hear the sounds of the glorious Gospel of the Son of God. It matters not to me what kind of an instrument it is played on, it is music to me and to you; but if you will tear in pieces the best and most perfect thing on the earth, it will not look well in that condition.

The Gospel and plan of salvation that I have embraced, is music to me; it is sweet to my body, and congenial to my spirit; and it is more lovely than anything else I have ever seen since I have been in the world. I love it, and that is why I love this people better than any other people on God’s earth, because there was never a better people, that is, I am speaking of the majority of them; but if you take them as a whole, I do not know that you can find any worse—that is, there are some that will compare with the worst in the world for sin and wickedness.

As brother Joseph said, so say I—Do not fear anything this side of hell, or that is in the east, west, north or south. I do not fear it any more than I do that the sun will fall from its position in the heavens, if this people will do just precisely as they are told. You know I preach upon this a great deal. The world considers it to be quite ridiculous for us to be of one heart, and of one mind. It is this union among those who are faithful “Mormons” that makes the world afraid of us; they fear us because we differ from the world. In the United States and in the old countries, they are divided into six or seven hundred different religious denominations, all disagreeing with each other; besides political and a thousand other kinds of divisions and differences, such as whiggery, democratism, socialism, which, in short, may all be summed up under the term, Devilism. This is not the policy of the Latter-day Saints. Jesus says, if you are not one, you are not mine. Let the Christian world who profess to believe in Jesus Christ, and in his Father, and in this book, the Bible, note that passage, “Except ye are one, ye are not mine.”

Editors note:

Does that mean only one political party is good and the other is of the devil? I don’t think so. There were 75 million that voted for Joe Biden and 72 million that voted for Trump. I think there are some great people who voted from both parties. I also think many in the Democratic Party did some voter fraud from what I have read and seen. I do believe if you take the very best people from each party and determine the intent of their hearts to be good, that is the majority party and I call it the Gathered of Israel as President Nelson speaks of so often. Only God can judge this fairly. I still hope and pray Pres. Trump will win, but if he doesn’t we need to support the office of President of the United States.

There is more oneness in this people, than in any people that ever lived upon the earth. There was not that oneness in the days of Jesus, that there is now, and I suppose there never has been since the days of Enoch. Because there was such a oneness among the people of Enoch, and they could not continue to be one, and live with the people in the same world, God took them and their city with a part of the earth to Himself, and they sailed away like one ship at sea separating from another.

Jesus says, “Except ye are one, ye are not mine.” And yet the Christian world take a course to justify themselves in division, in strife, in animosity, in quarreling, in envy, in jealousy, in war and bloodshed. And yet they say they are one: I say THEY LIE. A man that says it, lies to me, and he lies to God. I say this to all the world, and to those who are passing through the city as emigrants; if you profess to be disciples of Christ, and have hatred to us in your hearts, I say you lie; in the name of the Lord God Almighty I say it. Do you not think He will sustain me in it? Yes, and all His faithful followers will too; and those who desire to be the disciples of Christ and to be one, will gather together.

I referred to the days of Jesus; was there that union then, that might have been? Jesus said to the disciples, when the people turned away from him, “Will ye also go?” This he said to the Twelve. Many of the disciples forsook him. Even Peter, the chief Apostle, turned away from him when he was in the greatest trouble, and denied him with cursing and swearing.

In this day and age of the world, we profess to be one. Jesus said then, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not. He will do so now if you will let him; he will gather us together from the four quarters of the earth—I mean the Saints, the honest in heart, the elect of God; that they may become one, and lay aside their selfishness, their bickering, their murmuring and complaining, and everything of this nature.

If a man wants my ox, let him come and tell me so, and he shall have it; he need not quarrel with me about it; and if he robs me of it, I want him to enjoy the stolen property, if he can; for I will not quarrel about the foolish things of this world, for they will soon decay, and return to their mother earth, as you and I will.

Now, brethren and sisters, I will say to the emigrants who are passing through this city, and to the world at large, that it is our intention to become perfectly one in heart and mind. Have those who have separated themselves from this people prospered? They may have prospered for a season; but by and by they become like a limb that is severed from the tree; they wither and vanish away; and all such will continue to do so from this time henceforth and forever. It is just as much impossible for a people to exist that withdraw from this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it is for a limb of a tree to live when it is severed from the body of the tree. Of this I am positive, because I know it. So I will say concerning the world and all the sects and denominations and kingdoms of the world, that oppose this work and people of God, they will wither in due time likewise, and they cannot help themselves.

Editors Note:

I believe this righteousness to be true of many of the noble and great ones in the Church and many in this world that may not be members, but only those who love and follow God and Christ are part of this gathering.

When brother Joseph Smith lived, he was our Prophet, our Seer, and Revelator; he was our dictator in the things of God, and it was for us to listen to him, and do just as he told us. Now that appears very absurd in the eyes of the world; but they all say, if they had lived in the days of Peter, Moses, or Jesus, they would not have done as the people in those days did to them; but at the same time they would take their lives if they could, and do just like them. We are the servants of God; we have been called of God through the ministry of that holy Prophet Joseph Smith, who received his authority through the ministry of holy angels. Now he was just as true a Prophet as Moses was, or as any Prophet that has ever been upon the earth; and we are just as much the authorized servants of God, as the Apostles and disciples in the days of Jesus Christ were, and I know it. And I bear testimony of it to the United States, and to the nations of the world. They say they do not believe it. What do I care whether they do or not? I know it, and God requires me to bear testimony of it, to be valiant in testimony to the truth of this work, and to preach the Gospel, and to lay before my brethren their duty.

Brother Joseph is gone, and now brother Brigham Young, the Governor of the Territory of Utah, is our Prophet, our leader, our Revelator; and it is for me and you to listen to him with all diligence, the same as we would listen to Joseph were he alive. Brother Brigham is his successor; his word is sacred; and if you do not observe it, it will not be well, and there is where I fear for you, brethren. I do not fear so much for myself as I do for you, because it will go hard with you, if you disobey his advice. There will many of you turn from the faith; you will turn your backs to us, and some will be guilty of shedding innocent blood, if you are not aware. This will be the result of apostasy. When that spirit attacks you, you will be led to do as other apostates have, who have turned from the Church of Christ.

Judas, when he lost the faith, received the power of the devil, and betrayed the Son of God into the hands of murderers. Joseph Smith in like manner was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, who took his life. He was betrayed by apostates, by men whom he once loved when they were in our midst, and had the Spirit of the Lord. We also would have been slain, if they could have got hold of us; but they were afraid to touch us; they knew it would be certain death to the man who lifted his heel against us. Just so now. I have got my old Gospel preparation laid up drying, preparing himself for action. Do I fear? No. I do not fear anything that lives on the earth, or that is in hell; Indians or anything else never will disturb us, the Saints, from this time to all eternity, if we will do precisely as we are told.

I do not speak of these things to establish myself as a Prophet, but I know what I say; I know you will prosper, and live in peace in the mountains of the Great Salt Lake, and be perfectly independent. You will have food and raiment, houses and lands, flocks and herds, and everything your hearts can desire, that there is in heaven and on earth, if you but do as you are told. If you will do this, you will think my words are very profitable to you, whether I am a Prophet or not. I am not saying anything but what my President has said time and time again. You will live in peace, and God will be your defense; and you will increase in knowledge, in power, in grace, and in every good thing that you can think of, or mention. I have said often, you may go and write blessings for yourselves, and insert every good thing you can think of, that is in heaven or on the earth, and it will all come to pass on your heads, if you do right.

What do I care for what the world says? I care no more about it than I do for the squawking of a goose. It is none of their business if I have a mind to be a Saint, and keep the commandments of God; and as you have heard it said, so say I—the time will come in which you will dwell in peace and safety; and when the time comes that you will go back to Jackson County, you will be independent, and live without any opposition at all. Can the Lord do it? Yes. All the people are in His hands, and He can turn the nations as I can an obedient horse. They are governed and controlled by the Almighty as much as we are. What can they do against us? Why nothing whatever, but if we do not do right they will be a scourge in the hands of God to scourge us, just as the Indians are at this time. There never would have been a disturbance if this people had done as they were told.

I am not speaking of the people in this city any more than of the people of other settlements. To my certain knowledge there is not a settlement in these mountains but were instructed by brother Brigham to build good forts and live in them; and on these conditions alone were volunteers permitted to go out and make new settlements.

Have any of them built forts? Tell of one settlement, if you please, excepting they commenced one in Iron County which remains unfinished yet. The Indians are now upon us, and our brethren are scattered off, three, four, and five families in a place, away off in this and in that direction, exposed to the Lamanites. They have been called into the city that they might be safe, and they are now teasing us, and wanting to go back again, and live in those exposed locations without a fort.

The Lord has made the Lamanites—the Indians, a scourge; but if this people will turn to and do just as they have been told, their wrath will be turned away in a short time, but not until the Lord God sees that this people are determined to do right. Upon the same principle that my wrath would be turned away from a child that repented under the rod of correction, so will the Lord’s wrath be turned away from His children when they repent, and go and do what they are told. A spirit of compassion seizes me the moment I see a repenting child; so it is with our heavenly Father. But the most of parents, when they tell their children to do a thing, and happen to give them a little slap on the ear for disobedience, the next moment they are saying, “O my dear child, I am sorry, let me give you a piece of bread and butter.” Our Father in heaven does not do so, until he sees contrition of heart in His children, for their wrongs.

Editors Note:

The evil “Deep State” that lies at the very core of our government will not go away and is as vexing to we as Christians and Latter-day Saints in these days, and is equal to the Gadianton Robbers of the Book of Mormon who continually raided and killed both Lamanites and Nephites. The Lord is trying us and saying to we as a Country, “Repent, Repent!” The Lord is not speaking to the evil ones, but to we of Israel who are not being obedient to Him.

We live in the days of Prophets, Apostles, High Priests, and servants of God who have the Priesthood upon them, and I know it. Gentlemen, I have been a member of this Church near 23 years, and passed through the whole of the difficulties in Kirtland, Ohio, and Missouri. When brother Brigham and myself and others, with our families, left Kirtland to go to Missouri with Joseph Smith, we had to lie with our firelocks by our side. When we arrived in Missouri, the devil contrived to raise the armies of the wicked against us there; and all the Elders and male members that could be counted from the western boundaries of Missouri to Nova Scotia, were not more than 205 men. We went up to Missouri to reinstate our brethren who had been driven out of Jackson County. We went up near 1,000 miles with our firelocks in our hands. Was there any fear in us? No. It never entered into our hearts, from the day we started to the time we returned again. I never saw the time but I could whip out twenty of the best men on earth.

I had a spirit on me as much superior to this earth, as the earth is superior to the degraded spirits of the wicked that dwell on its face. It was the Spirit of the Lord that stood by me, and diffused strength into my body, and into my limbs, until the very hair of my head felt all alive. Did they fear us in that upper country? Yes, they ran as though they were never going to stop in the world. We felt perfectly able to clear out that country to Nova Scotia, and we could have done it with 205 men, if the Lord God had commanded us, as the Gideonites did in days of old. Yes; 205 men, with the Spirit and power of God upon them, and their faces shining like the sun, it cannot be told what they could accomplish; neither can we form any conception of it.

Editors Note:

Just as those of Zion’s Camp could do it with 205, don’t you think 50-70 million righteous voters can do it now? Or can a very righteous 20 million overtake Satan, or 20,000 or 2,000 or 200, even as Zion’s Camp could? Yes! Why should we fear any of the evil Republicans, Democrats or Independents at all? We shouldn’t fear but pray, not sin but repent, not get mad but get humble, and fight this as a righteous battle against the Deep State who I am certain Satan himself is at the head.

Let us be as one person from this time henceforth, and do not let us suffer ourselves to become cold and stupid, but be Saints all the day long; and we shall build up the kingdom of God, and be prospered in all things we set our hands to do.

These are a few things I wanted to say; still there are many more things of great importance to us if we will only listen to them. One is, take care of your grain; for it is of more worth to you than gold and silver. I know you will see harder times before another harvest, than you have seen this season. Do you believe it? Did they believe it last year, when there were 15,000 bushels of wheat in the Tithing Office? No. When brother Brigham said the same thing last spring, to stir up the people to be careful of their grain, they said, “O no, brother Brigham, we cannot surely come to such scarcity as you foretell; look at the storehouse, it is full.” How much was there in the storehouse this harvest? There is not one bushel of grain of any kind, and I do not know that there will be.

There has been a great quantity thrashed out this harvest, but little of it has come into the public store, and the hands on the public works are obliged to live. If you go into the joiner’s shop, it is almost left desolate. If you go into the machine shops, and into the mason’s shop, they are the same; and yet there are thousands of bushels being thrashed out and ground into flour, and sold for from seven to ten dollars per hundred weight to the world—the emigrants who are passing through here yet—and at the same time the business on the public works stopped for want of it.

Brethren and sisters, please to look at this; you know I am telling you the truth, which is every day exhibited before your eyes.

The public ground here has to be enclosed before we can put forth a hand to build a Temple to the name of our God; and you are ready to feed everybody else under the heavens but the workmen. Have you turned from the Lord your God, and forgot His purposes? Think of it, you farmers!

Editors note:

Just as Heber C Kimball is chastising the Saints about grain, how are we doing with food storage? As he is upset at the Saints for not building forts, are we fortifying our homes and cities and states with proper righteousness and teachings? What can we learn from this sermon?

I do not know but I am wearying the brethren, but these things were on my mind, and I have got a back load of them yet; I see them, and reflect upon them in my heart. O Lord God, what will become of us? Have the people forgotten thee and thy purposes, with the Holy Priesthood upon them—with the sacred ordinances of God’s house upon them? Now think of it, brethren and sisters. There is enough, and we need never want bread; but if we do not take the right course, we are sure to see sorrow, and the greatest you have ever seen. Some of you never saw any in your lives. Those who were never without bread, and clothing, and good houses to dwell in, murmur the worst; and those who never had any troubles and trials since they have been in this Church, or since they have been on the earth, are the most ready to complain. This may appear strange doctrine to you, but you know it is true.

Editors Note:

Have we been in the fight for our Republic for many years? Have we only voted recently? Have we only today decided to do something. Have we taken our Government for granted with this wonderful Land of Liberty? Have we never had many trials or felt much in tribulation as Citizens of this great United States of America? Are those of us with the least amount invested in the Country, complaining the most? Let us repent if it is the case.

As to getting rich, why bless your souls, is not the earth the Lord’s and the fulness thereof? Are not the gold and precious metals in the mountains, in the dells, and in the cliffs of the earth, all the Lord’s? He created all; and the human family, with all the treasures of earth, are in His hand. They all belong to the Lord our God, and we are His people if we do His will. Are we not heirs to all these riches? Certainly we are; every son and daughter of Adam, who loves the great Father of our spirits and His Son Jesus Christ, and obeys the Gospel, and listens to him whom God has delegated as an Apostle and Prophet to counsel His people, I tell you that all this treasure is theirs, and the devils cannot help themselves. I am just as sure of it as I am that the sun will rise and set tomorrow. Do you believe it, brethren and sisters? Do you know it? Yes, you know it. Now if you ever expect to enjoy it, you have got to live for it, as individuals, independent of any other man or woman. You have got to live as independent Saints, and obey the will of God independently as it is taught, and laid before you from time to time. All that wish to be delivered from the scourge, and from afflictions, will have to rise up and do right to their God, and to each other, not as a Conference merely, but as a people, as the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am not going to command you to do it; but my advice is for you to do it. Rise up now, and do just as you are told, and you will see happy times.

I know there is a greater desire in this people for things that perish, for theatrical performances and dancings, than there is for the public interests of the Kingdom of God. Well, let us be Saints indeed, and show to the world that we are for God and for none else.

Among some people in the world it is popular to be a Christian; and among another class it is not popular; but it is popular with me to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and then it is popular for me to do the will of the Holy Spirit.

Editors Note

Do we love our homes and cars and smart phones more than God? Do we strive to be part of this world so the popular person will praise us? It is not popular in our current world of progressives to love Donald Trump’s agenda as he loves America, just as it is not popular to be a good Christian or a good Muslim or Jew. What do the evil who point their finger at us from that great and spacious building say about us? Do they believe in equal rights and in free speech, or the right to bear arms, or that abortion is killing? No they trample under foot the saying’s of God. May we not be as them and may we Repent. We don’t ask others to repent but we, the Children of Israel are willing to do it. The only difference between a righteous and an evil person is; the righteous are always repenting. How are we doing?

A single man can accomplish more with the power of the Spirit of God, than this whole people can, if they will not do right. Do I fear anything? No; but if I have to bow down to the chastening rod, as I have already done many times in this Church, I will do it like a man of God. I have been driven five or six times, and yonder are my habitations, and they may rot there. And so have some of you been driven in like manner; and some of you never had one thing to trouble you in your lives. I am now well off; but if I have got to come to it again as I have in former times, I will round up my back to the burden, and make it as tough as a piece of sole leather, to bear what shall be laid upon me manfully, or else I will die. I have no fears upon that ground at all; but my prayers are, by night or by day, for the Lord to take me from the earth, rather than I should sin against Him, or against my brethren, or against our President Brigham Young. I have known him 30 years, and he and brother Joseph Smith have been comrades together; and better men never lived on the earth than they are; and you may tell the kings and rulers of the earth this, and the nations over which they preside, if you please. The reason why we would rather have him to be our Governor than any other man, is because he is the best man we are acquainted with.

I have lived in the State of New York, town of Bloomfield, Monroe County, right in the heart of the country where the ancient Lamanites, and other veterans, destroyed each other, root and branch; where the Book of Mormon was discovered in the hill of Cumorah. From among those rich hills the people are flocking to these mountains. Why? Because this is the richest place in the world.

Editors Note

It seems Heber C. Kimball is speaking here about his familiarity of the area known as Cumorah. He indicates this country was where Lamanites and veterans were destroyed, validating the information Heartlanders believe that the final battles took place near Cumorah, not in Mexico somewhere.

The country adjacent to the Sweet Waters has actually become a rich gold mine. Talk about gold! The Lord can change any of the elements into gold as easy as He could change the water into wine.

I suppose I had better bring my disjointed remarks to a close. I feel first-rate; I feel like a soldier of Christ, like a man of God. I feel sometimes that I could take one of those mountains, and handle it as I could a football. Bless your souls! If you will only do as the Lord tells you through His delegated agent, who gives you the voice of God and the wisdom of God, I am not troubled at all. The question is asked many times, “Has brother Brigham got the Urim and Thummim?” Yes, he has got everything; everything that is necessary for him to receive the will and mind of God to this people. Do I know it? Yes, I know all about it; and what more do you want? That is true, gentlemen; I am one of his witnesses in the last days, and to bear testimony of the truth of “Mormonism.”

Editors Note

Like Heber C. Kimball, I believe there is a sacred importance of having the original Urim and Thummim in possession of the Church. It is a reminder of the importance of having the revealed word of God as the Book of Mormon and the Priesthood with it. This type of heavenly instrument may be available to us all as an instrument for us to translate, interpret, understand, and see Heavenly things of God in the life to come. (See my last Editors Note below)

I say to the Saints, do not look upon us as perfect beings; notwithstanding, if you are perfect yourselves, then look for it in us, and not until then. If any of you are perfect, we want you to come here that we may see such beings, and know how to model ourselves after you; just as I take a piece of clay and shape it after another model more beautiful still.

Some of you think you have passed through awful tribulations in leaving your mothers and friends. I was glad when I got away from mine, because they persecuted me, and lied about me, and persecuted my brethren; so I was glad to get away from them. But they will see the day when they will be glad to come to brother Heber, and say, “Let me black your boots, clean your horse, or drive your carriage,” &c.

You talk about carriages; good heavens! I am just as sure of enjoying these blessings as I am of enjoying anything on this earth. If you do not believe it, read that book (the Bible), which speaks about the armies of heaven, and about horsemen and chariots, and men armed with swords, and all kinds of instruments of music; it is all spoken of in this book, and we will enjoy it, while those who seek our destruction, and all sinners, will go to hell.

All this enjoyment of the good things of heaven and earth will come by a separation of the righteous and the wicked. There was a time when an eruption took place in heaven, and Michael and his armies arose, and cast out the rebellious portion of the angels from heaven. Don’t you think they got tired of contention, and broils, and tumults? Yes, so they universally agreed to cast it out. We will get tired of it too, in these last days, and we will make a separation between Saint and Sinner. The Sectarian priests have written and preached about forty years ago, and have proved to their readers, and to their hearers, that there would be a separation, and the sheep would be placed on the right hand and the goats on the left; I suppose the goats mean those that are not good for much, they bear no wool.

I guess I had better stop speaking. May the Lord God bless you forever; and may union, peace, righteousness, and salvation be with you forever and ever. Amen.” Union of the Saints, Etc A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered at the Special Conference in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, August 13, 1853

Final Editors Note

As I was reading D&C 130 9-11 tonight I had an interesting thought. It seems this section is speaking of a possible 3 different Urim and Thummim’s.
1- Verse 9, the earth will become like crystal and a be a Urim and Thummim.
2- Verse 10, “the” white stone mentioned in Rev 2:17 will be a Urim and Thummim given to each to use in the various levels of the Celestial Kingdom, on this earth. This becomes the first of two white stones we receive.
3- Verse 11, “a” white stone with a new name for those in the highest order of the Celestial Kingdom. The new name is the key word as this is the second white stone we possess.

In other words those who reach exaltation have their own (two-stone) Urim and Thummim, while those who receive one of the various degrees of glory within the celestial kingdom receive just a one stone Urim and Thummim which could be called a “seer stone” by itself to be used as another type of Urim and Thummim.

(Food for thought, not for a controversy)

D&C 130:9 This ^aearth, in its ^bsanctified and ^cimmortal state, will be made like unto ^dcrystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be ^eChrist’s.10 Then the white ^astone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a ^bhigher order of kingdoms will be made known;11 And a ^awhite stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new ^bname written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that ^aovercometh will I give to eat of the hidden ^bmanna, and will give him a ^cwhite^dstone, and in the stone a new ^ename written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

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Yesterday I spoke about how difficult it is to be humble. Today I share with you how to become humble. I am mostly writing this blog for me, as the challenge we are going through in our Nation is paramount on my mind. How can I know the Lord is behind our government? Who can I trust, and how can I help this wonderful USA remain as a blessed Constitution.

I ask you the following question that President Nelson asked us, “How can we find answers to questions that perplex us?…”

Below are other worthy thoughts from the same talk, Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives that President Nelson spoke of. Prayer is the most simple and powerful tool we have been given to answer our questions and to help us stay humble.

“Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen!…”

“Does God really want to speak to you? Yes!…”

“You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust….”

“Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true….”

“I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that “if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation… “

“I am optimistic about the future. It will be filled with opportunities for each of us to progress, contribute, and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. But I am also not naive about the days ahead. We live in a world that is complex and increasingly contentious. The constant availability of social media and a 24-hour news cycle bombard us with relentless messages. If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.

Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

All quotes above from, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives” By President Russell M. Nelson

President Ballard pleads with Latter-day Saints to ‘pray for this country’ as United States is at ‘another crossroad’

By Sarah Jane Weaver Updated 21 OCT 2019 11:25 AM MST

WORCESTER, Mass. — Concluding a busy, three-day visit to New England — an area rich in Church and U.S. history — President M. Russell Ballard pled with local Latter-day Saints to “join a new movement” by inviting their neighbors, colleagues and friends to pray for the United States, its leaders and its families.

“Our nation was founded on prayer, it was preserved by prayer, and we need prayer again,” said the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “I plead with you this evening to pray for this country, for our leaders, for our people, and for the families that live in this great nation founded by God.”

Speaking to an estimated 12,000 people gathered in the DCU Center near Boston, President Ballard reminded the congregation that “this country was established and preserved by our founding fathers and mothers who repeatedly acknowledged the hand of God through prayer.”

New England, he continued, was the seedbed of so very much that led to the founding of this nation.

“We must stand boldly for righteousness and truth, and must defend the cause of honor, decency, and personal freedom espoused by Washington, Madison, Adams, Lincoln, and other leaders who acknowledged and loved God.”

President Ballard arrived in New England on Friday, Oct. 18, accompanied by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Kathy Christofferson; and Elder Randall K. Bennett, a General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Shelley Bennett. The leaders participated in a member devotional at the site of the Joseph Smith Birthplace in Sharon, Vermont; spoke to missionaries in the area; met with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and other local VIPs; attended sacrament meeting and addressed millennials living in and around Boston.

President Ballard said as he prepared to address Latter-day Saints, he realized that looking for the Lord’s hand in the early history of the United States “might help us recognize His hand in our own lives.”

“Please look for the Lord’s hand in your lives and in the lives of your family, as I do in the lives of my ancestors and family,” he said. “Expect it. Do not dismiss it. Do not relegate the experiences in your lives to coincidences.”

From the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 through the signing of the U.S. Constitution in September 1787, the “wise men” whom the Lord “raised up unto this very purpose” relied upon divine providence, said President Ballard.

“As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have a solemn duty to face the Lord and deliver His message,” said President Ballard. “His words often include words of encouragement and expressions of love. They also include words of warning.”

America and the nations of the earth, as in times past, “are at another crossroad,” he said.

“Let it begin today that we take leadership and reach out in our own prayers and encourage our neighbors, our friends, our families … to pray for this country that we all love much.” Read the rest of the article here

America is the Promised Land

Knowing this Promised Land of the United States of America is indeed the land promised, helps each of us understand the Covenant we have made with the Lord. We are a blessed people, all who live on this Covenant land. We have an obligation to pray for its success, to live righteously, to utilize this land for the prosperity needed to share the Gospel with other wonderful lands. If we know not the land that the Book of Mormon speaks of, how could we know who these covenants are made with? The greater stewardship that we Americans have will be our grater downfall if we fail to utilize this land the Lord has given us.

Why is Elder Ballard in his talk above pleading for each of us to pray for the United States? If we fail, the world fails. If we are unrighteous how can we bless the lives of the world in need? Are we more blessed than other lands or people” No! We have been given a different stewardship and I am afraid if we fail, our punishment will be greater than those who are not blessed with this land. The Lord loves us all equally and He is a righteous judge.

Marion G. Romney in 1975 said, “I bear you my personal witness that I know that the things I have presented to you today are true.” Now read what he said below and you will know that indeed the United States of America is the Promised Land of the Lord.

America’s Destiny

“Millennia ago he declared: “There shall none come into this land [he was speaking of America] save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord… In the western part of the state of New York near Palmyra is a prominent hill known as the “hill Cumorah.” (Morm. 6:6.) On July twenty-fifth of this year, as I stood on the crest of that hill admiring with awe the breathtaking panorama which stretched out before me on every hand, my mind reverted to the events which occurred in that vicinity some twenty-five centuries ago—events which brought to an end the great Jaredite nation… Thus perished at the foot of Cumorah the remnant of the once mighty Jaredite nation, of whom the Lord had said, “There shall be none greater … upon all the face of the earth.” (Ether 1:43.)… This second civilization to which I refer, the Nephites, flourished in America between 600 B.C. and A.D. 400. Their civilization came to an end for the same reason, at the same place, and in the same manner as did the Jaredites…

The tragic fate of the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations is proof positive that the Lord meant it when he said that this “is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.” (Ether 2:9.)

This information, wrote Moroni, addressing himself to us who today occupy this land, “cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles” (now, Gentiles is the term used by the Book of Mormon prophets to refer to the present inhabitants of America and to the peoples of the old world from which they came)…

Now my beloved brethren and sisters everywhere, both members of the Church and nonmembers, I bear you my personal witness that I know that the things I have presented to you today are true—both those pertaining to past events and those pertaining to events yet to come. The issue we face is clear and well defined. The choice is ours. The question is: Shall we of this dispensation repent and obey the laws of the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, or shall we continue to defy them until we ripen in iniquity?

That we will repent and obey and thereby qualify to receive the blessings promised to the righteous in this land, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.” America’s Destiny Marion G. Romney Oct 1975

Another Plea from Elder Romney

“I will give you a lesson today that the Lord has taken great pains to bring to us… In the western part of the state of New York near Palmyra is a prominent hill known as the “hill Cumorah” (Mormon. 6:6). [There] perished at the foot of Cumorah the remnant of the once mighty Jaredite nation, of whom the Lord had said, ‘There shall be none greater… upon all the face of the earth’ (Ether 1:43, p. 461). “As I contemplated this tragic scene from the crest of Cumorah and viewed the beautiful land of the Restoration as it appears today, I cried in my soul, how could it have happened?… This second civilization to which I refer, the Nephites, flourished in America between 600 B.C. and A.D. 400. Their civilization came to an end for the same reason, at the same place, and in the same manner as did the Jaredites…I bear you my personal witness that I know that the things I have presented to you today are true—both those pertaining to past events and those pertaining to events yet to come.” (President Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency 145th Semiannual Conference, Saturday Morning Session, October 4, 1975; emphasis added.)

Are We Listening to our Leaders, Past and Present?  

Below is a copy of Rod Meldrum’s 36 Prophesies and Promises that show the Book of Mormon references that indicate the United States of America as the Promised Land of the Nephites.

“For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.” Alma 5:40

My Opinion- 

“We are still in the middle of a very vital and contentious voting process. For the past few months we Americans who love our country have all been sitting on pins and needles. This has been difficult for us all. I believe there are some who want more Liberty and Freedom, and there are those who want more Tyranny and Freedom. By Liberty I mean our rights come from God, and Tyranny means our rights come from man. 

We have seen very close elections before. In 1960 Kennedy beat Nixon in a very close and still a controversial election. Nixon conceded, trying to save our country from a constitutional crisis. In 2000 Bush beat Gore in an even closer election which was also a controversial outcome. Our Supreme Court had to sort this one out and because of the rule of law, Bush remained the president.

Now we just finished another controversial election between Biden and Trump. No matter what side of the aisle you are on, you are either very happy or very sad, and depending on the final outcome that could change our mood for the good or bad. I admit as of right now I am concerned whether or not the outcome will be seen as legitimate or not. I am a Trump fan and I still feel he may have won. I have not given up prayer and hope. I believe with all my heart, Trump is the one who can help our country and promote Christian values best. My hope is that our Country stay clam as we decide this outcome. 

I have seen so much success that President Trump has accomplished for our Country, and I don’t see anything Biden has done for us that surpasses Trumps achievements. On top of my list for supporting Trump is:

I oppose abortion, believe in my right to bear arms, freedom of religious speech and conservative judges. Trump has established peace in the Middle East, cut taxes, made our immigration system more fair, and he doesn’t take money from special interest groups. Biden does not believe in these core values. I also believe there is a possibility that the Biden family may be corrupt. I will wait and see what’s found on Hunter’s hard drive before I make a final judgement. 

In this current 2020 vote, I see some legal errors made and some very sketchy voting procedures from the Democrat’s. Until that is looked into and proven, I can’t support Mr. Biden.  The only correct thing to do is believe in and follow the Constitution. I will be prayerful and turn this over the the lawyers and judges. Whether Trump wins or looses, I will have to accept the decision. I will do it with love and try my best to respect the office of President. That is how we all should try and act.  Humble ourselves, fight a legal and righteous battle and then accept the outcome. I pray I can stay humble if the voting doesn’t go as I hope it does.”

Victim and Survivor

In this world of right and left, good and evil, hero and villain, and victim and survivor, it is a good idea to remember our purpose in life. All the Lord wants from us is to be humble and loving. If we focus more on the Lord and less on ourselves, the happier we will be.

When someone is wronged there are two things we can do. Lash out and blame others, or look deep within and see what lesson may be learned. When a tragedy happens we can blame the Lord or love the Lord. When a friend offends us we can become defensive, or humble yourself and try and understand what just happened.

When we are politically correct in this life that is the easy thing to be. To act as the Savior would have us be, is the hard thing and takes a tremendous amount of patience. To be tolerant is a wonderful quality, but not at the expense of tolerating sin or evil.

If we think of the victim as being the subject of trauma or violent crime, the opposite is the perpetrator; although, from what we know in today’s world the victim can turn into the perpetrator.

Victim mentality is an acquired personality trait in which a person tends to recognize themselves as a victim of the negative actions of others, and to behave as if this were the case in the face of contrary evidence of such circumstances. Victim mentality depends on clear thought processes and attribution. It is so much easier to turn to the Lord than staying as a victim.

The influence of Satan is becoming more acceptable. When tragedy happens we always ask, “Why did he do it”, or “What made her act that way”. Remember what the Lord said, “For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.” Alma 5:40

Beware of Political Correctness

“Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.11

Talk about man creating God in his own image! Sometimes—and this seems the greatest irony of all—these folks invoke the name of Jesus as one who was this kind of “comfortable” God. Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like “comfortable” doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in?

And what of those who just want to look at sin or touch it from a distance? Jesus said with a flash, if your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off.12 “I came not to [bring] peace, but a sword,”13 He warned those who thought He spoke only soothing platitudes. No wonder that, sermon after sermon, the local communities “pray[ed] him to depart out of their coasts.”14 No wonder, miracle after miracle, His power was attributed not to God but to the devil.15 It is obvious that the bumper sticker question “What would Jesus do?” will not always bring a popular response.” Holland, Jeffery R. “The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship.” Conference, April 2014.

The fact is that in our world, we are encouraged to worship the God of Political Correctness who has become so large that he entirely eclipses the place of righteous indignation and/or a bold stand for truth. If our world wants a soft god, wouldn’t it make sense that we would also tend to criticize those from the scriptures who are examples of God’s pro-active righteousness and justice?”

Beware of Moral Relativism

“It is well to worry about our moral foundation. We live in a world where more and more persons of influence are teaching and acting out a belief that there is no absolute right and wrong, that all authority and all rules of behavior are man-made choices that can prevail over the commandments of God. Many even question whether there is a God.

The philosophy of moral relativism, which holds that each person is free to choose for himself what is right and wrong, is becoming the unofficial creed for many in America and other Western nations. At the extreme level, evil acts that used to be localized and covered up like a boil are now legalized and paraded like a banner. Persuaded by this philosophy, many of the rising generation—youth and young adults—are caught up in self-serving pleasures, pagan painting and piercing of body parts, foul language, revealing attire, pornography, dishonesty, and degrading sexual indulgence” Truth and Tolerance Elder Dallin H. Oaks September 11, 2011

What does it mean that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church?

“Our first responsibility and purpose is to testify of Jesus Christ to a world that suffers to know of His divine mission. As my response to that great responsibility, I will speak about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the only true and living Church. In doing so I know I speak against the powerful tide of what is called “political correctness.”

The fashionable opinion of this age is that all churches are true. In truth, the idea that all churches are the same is the doctrine of the anti-Christ, illustrated by the Book of Mormon account of Korihor (see Alma 30). That account was given to teach us a vital lesson in our day.

A revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1831, soon after the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke of those who had been given “power to lay the foundation of this church.” The Lord then referred to the Church as “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased” (D&C 1:30).

Because of this declaration of the Lord, we refer to this, His Church—our Church—as the “only true Church.” Sometimes we do this in a way that gives great offense to people who belong to other churches or who subscribe to other philosophies. But God has not taught us anything that should cause us to feel superior to other people. Certainly all churches and philosophies have elements of truth in them, some more than others. Certainly God loves all of His children. And certainly His gospel plan is for all of His children, all according to His own timetable.

So what does it mean that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church?

Three features—(1) fulness of doctrine, (2) power of the priesthood, and (3) testimony of Jesus Christ—explain why God has declared and why we as His servants maintain that this is the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth.” The Only True and Living Church elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles June 25, 2010   Complete Article Here

Political Correctness Isn’t Correct, LDS Official Says
By Jeff Vice, Staff Writer Deseret News Published: November 16, 1994

In all the furor over social and political correctness, people may be losing sight of values and what is truly good, Elder James E. Faust said at a devotional at Brigham Young University on Tuesday.

“Your generation lives in a day when many things are measured against the standard of social and political correctness,” warned Elder Faust, a member of the Council of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I challenge that false doctrine of human behavior. The influence of Satan is becoming more acceptable.”Speaking on “Trying to Serve the Lord Without Offending the Devil,” Elder Faust said that he and other LDS leaders hope young people, “unfamiliar with the sophistries of the world, can keep themselves free of Satan’s enticements and evil ways.”

New York Yankees great Yogi Berra reportedly once said, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” However, “It doesn’t work that way,” said Elder Faust during the morning devotional, which was simulcast on both KBYU-FM and KBYU-TV.

By embracing political correctness, unknowing people have been led to accept several actions that could be interpreted as being offenses against God – such as abortion, homosexuality and the so-called “zero population” movement, Elder Faust said.

“Any alternatives to the legal and loving marriage between a man and woman are helping to unravel the fabric of human society,” Elder Faust said. “These so-called alternative lifestyles must not be accepted as right because they frustrate God’s commandments for a life-giving union of male and female within a legal marriage as stated in (The Old Testament). If practiced by all adults, these lifestyles would mean the end of the human family.”

In other cases, the devil “takes some delight every time a home is broken up, even when there is no parent to blame,” Elder Faust said. “This is especially so where there are children involved. The physical and spiritual neglect of children is one of the spawning grounds for so many of the social ills of the world.”

Also, Elder Faust said that many “broad-minded” people are ignoring God’s commandments by taking the guise of “not imposing religious belief” – such as those who are challenging the “sin laws” on gambling, alcohol and drug consumption.

They are ignoring “the health and social costs to society of the vices,” Elder Faust said.

Teach Us Tolerance and Love
Russell M. Nelson Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles April 1994

“I have been impressed to speak on the subject of tolerance—a virtue much needed in our turbulent world. But in discussing this topic, we must recognize at the outset that there is a difference between tolerance and tolerate. Your gracious tolerance for an individual does not grant him or her license to do wrong, nor does your tolerance obligate you to tolerate his or her misdeed. That distinction is fundamental to an understanding of this vital virtue.

I attended a “laboratory of tolerance” some months ago when I had the privilege of participating in the Parliament of the World’s Religions. There I conversed with good men and women representing many religious groups. Again I sensed the advantages of ethnic and cultural diversity and reflected once more on the importance of religious freedom and tolerance.

I marvel at the inspiration of the Prophet Joseph Smith when he penned the eleventh article of faith: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” [A of F 1:11]

That noble expression of religious tolerance is particularly poignant in light of the Prophet’s personal persecution. On one occasion he wrote, “I am at this time persecuted the worst of any man on the earth, as well as this people, … all our sacred rights are trampled under the feet of the mob.”

Joseph Smith endured incessant persecution and finally heartless martyrdom—at the hands of the intolerant. His brutal fate stands as a stark reminder that we must never be guilty of any sin sown by the seed of intolerance.” Continued Here.

To Order The Annotated Book of Mormon Click Here!

“Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.” Ether 13:8

The Land of Joseph is the United States of America where the Native American Indians, or Hopewell or Nephites and Lamanites lived.

“Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others” -Pres. Russell M. Nelson

Historians and archaeologists all over the world have known for years about the existence and cultures of Native Americans in North America. See the chart below:

The Hopewell Culture describes the common aspects of the Native American culture that began in the Florida panhandle in 600 – 500 BC that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and Midwestern United States from 300 BC to 400 AD, in the Middle Woodland period.

WE KNOW IT!

“Let the Government of the United States also continue to gather together, and to colonize the tribes and remnants of Israel (the Indians), and also to feed, clothe, succor, and protect them, and endeavor to civilize and unite; and also to bring them to the knowledge of their Israelitish origin, and of the fulness of the gospel which was revealed to, and written by, their forefathers on this land;… He has revealed the origin and the Records of the aboriginal tribes of America, and their future destiny. —And we know it. He has revealed the fulness of the gospel, with its gifts, blessings, and ordinances. —And we know it. He has commanded us to bear witness of it, first to the Gentiles and then to the remnants of Israel and the Jews. —And we know it. He has commanded us to gather together his Saints on this Continent, and build up holy cities and sanctuaries. —And we know it.” PROCLAMATION of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. New York April 6, 1845. James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75), 1:, p.252-266

ANCIENT RECORDS
“Circumstances are daily transpiring which give additional testimony to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. . . . it was [once considered] improbable, nay, almost impossible—notwithstanding the testimony of history to the contrary, that anything like plates could have been used anciently; particularly among this people. The following letter and certificate, will, perhaps have a tendency to convince the skeptical, that such things have been used, and that even the obnoxious Book of Mormon, may be true; and as the people in Columbus’ day were obliged to believe that there was such a place as America; so will the people in this day be obliged to believe, however reluctantly, that there may have been such plates as those from which the Book of Mormon was translated.” John Taylor [Times and Seasons 4 (May 1, 1843), pp. 185-6]

THIS LAND
“The Angel also informed him that America had once been people by a remnant of the seed of Israel of the tribe of Joseph who became two great Nations upon this Land one of those Nations were the present Natives of America or the Indians the other Nation was distroid [sic] about four hundred years after Christ.” Pratt, Parley Parker 1807-1857. An epistle written by an elder of the Church,

“I am asked to occupy the few minutes yet remaining: If the Spirit gives me liberty I will pursue the train of thought that has passed through my mind while Brother Richards has been speaking upon the spirit that has gone abroad upon the remnants of the house of Israel who occupy this land, the American Indians whom we understand to be the descendants of the Nephites, the Lamanites, the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites who formerly possessed this land, whose fathers we have an account of in the Book of Mormon.” The Indians—The Influence of the Elders Among Them in the Interest of Peace, Etc. Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at Logan, Sunday Afternoon, February 5th, 1882

THE HISTORY OF HIS FOREFATHERS
Mormon lived in that age of the world, and was a Nephite, and a Prophet of the Lord. He, by the commandment of the Lord, made an abridgment of the sacred records, which contained the history of his forefathers, and the Prophecies and Gospel which had been revealed among them; to which he added a sketch of the history of his own time, and the destruction of his nation. Previous to his death, the abridged records fell into the hands of his son Moroni, who continued them down to A. D. 420; at which time he deposited them carefully in the earth, on a hill which was then called Cumorah, but is situated in Ontario County, township of Manchester, and State of New York, North America. This he did in order to preserve them from the Lamanites, who overran the country, and sought to destroy them and all the records pertaining to the Nephites. This record lay concealed, or sealed up, from A. D. 420 to September 22, 1827, at which time it was found by Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., he being directed thither by an angel of the Lord.” A Voice of Warning, page 96 Parley P. Pratt

CUMORAH/RAMAH
“Moroni told Joseph that he had hidden up the records four centuries after the birth of Jesus, while he was living on the earth. He said that the Nephites, the people to which he belonged, called the hill where they stood Cumorah, and that a still earlier people, the Jaredites, called it Ramah. This was a very important hill in the history of both these peoples.” The Latter-day Prophet. History of Joseph Smith Written for Young People by George Q. Cannon 1900

THE LORD WILLED IT!
Joseph Fielding Smith said the following in the April 1966 General Conference, “America was discovered because the Lord willed it. The gospel was restored in America, rather than in some other land because the Lord willed it. This is the land “shadowing with wings” spoken of by Isaiah that today is sending ambassadors by the sea to a nation scattered and peeled, which at one time was terrible in the beginning (Isaiah 18:1-2). Now that nation is being gathered, and once again they shall be in favor with the Lord.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1966, pp. 12-15).

HERE IN AMERICA
“Moroni’s father was commander of the armies of this ancient people, known as Nephites. His name was Mormon. The war of which we speak took place here in America some four hundred years after Christ. As the fighting neared its end, Mormon gathered the remnant of his forces about a hill which they called Cumorah, located in what is now the western part of the state of New York… When finished with his record, Moroni was to hide it up in that same Hill Cumorah which was their battlefield. It would come forth in modern times as the Book of Mormon, named after Moroni’s father, the historian who compiled it.” (“The Last Words of Moroni,” Conference Reports, October 1978) Mark E. Petersen

CURRENT AS THE MORNING NEWSPAPER
“It’s narrative is a chronicle of nations long since gone. But in its descriptions of the problems of today’s society, it is as current as the morning newspaper and much more definitive, inspired, and inspiring concerning the solutions to those problems… If the Book of Mormon is true, then America is a choice land, but if it is to remain such the inhabitants of the land must worship the God of the land, the Lord Jesus Christ. The histories of two great nations, told with warning in this sacred volume, indicate that while we must have science, while we must have education, while we must have arms, we also must have righteousness if we are to merit the protection of God.” Gordon B. Hinckley The Power of the Book of Mormon Ensign June 1988

A MIGHTY LAND
This has always been a mighty land in God’s plan. It was in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman prior to his death, called the great high priests together and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. The Lord appearing there proclaimed Adam to be Michael, the Prince, the Archangel. (D&C 107:53-54) It is to that same spot that Adam, as the Ancient of Days, shall come to visit his people (D&C 116), where judgement shall be set and the books opened. (Daniel 7:9 ff; Revelation 20:4) It is here on this land that the New Jerusalem shall be built “unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph” — ourselves and those others the literal descendants of Lehi. (Ether 13:5 ff; 1 Nephi 14:1-2, 2 Nephi 10:18) And finally, it is here on this hemisphere that Zion shall be built. (Tenth Article of Faith.) It is this fact and this purpose, the building of Zion on this hemisphere, which is Zion, which seems to be the dominant elements in all of God’s dealings with them who possess this land, for Isaiah, speaking more than twenty-five hundred years ago, declared that “out of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3.) President J. Reuben Clark, Jr The Glorious Purpose page 103

CHOICE ABOVE ALL OTHER LANDS
“Because of his faithfulness and integrity, Joseph received greater blessings than the progenitors of Jacob, and was rewarded with the land of Zion. His brothers, with malicious intent, separated him and cast him out from among them. The Lord, in rewarding him, separated him from his brothers — the other tribes of Israel — and gave him an inheritance in a land that is choice above all other lands, which, we have learned from the Book of Mormon and modern revelation, is America… We are informed in the revelations given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, that the city of Zion and the New Jerusalem is one and the same. In a number of revelations the Lord speaks of the New Jerusalem which is to be built…” Zion and Jerusalem by Joseph Fielding Smith, Improvement Era Vol. 22 JULY 1919

ONLY TWO PROMISED LANDS

3 Nephi 20:22: “And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you.
23 Behold, I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
24 Verily I say unto you, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have testified of me.
25 And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant—
27 And after that ye were blessed then fulfilleth the Father the covenant which he made with Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed—unto the pouring out of the Holy Ghost through me upon the Gentiles, which blessing upon the Gentiles shall make them mighty above all, unto the scattering of my people, O house of Israel.”
28 And they shall be a scourge unto the people of this land. Nevertheless, when they shall have received the fulness of my gospel, then if they shall harden their hearts against me I will return their iniquities upon their own heads, saith the Father.
29 And I will remember the covenant which I have made with my people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in mine own due time, that I would give unto them again the land of their fathers for their inheritance, which is the land of Jerusalem, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father.” 3 Nephi 20:22-29

AMERICA’S PAST UNCOVERED
“Remarkable discoveries of evidences of America’s prehistoric civilizations in various parts of the country are frequently being reported in public prints…

On Sept. 10, what are believed to be bodies of a royal family of the ancient mound builders were unearthed in a group of mounds near Bainbridge, Ohio. With these remains were found strands of pearls, some of extraordinary size and perfection; also ornaments of silver and copper and some sculptured objects of exquisite workmanship.

This is a highly interesting find. It shows that these mound builders in the Mississippi valley were wealthy and civilized, and that they must have had commercial connections with distant places where pearl oysters were procured.

Scientists know nothing certain about the time when the mound builders lived, whence they came and what became of them.

However, when Zion’s Camp, in the year 1834, was temporarily located on the western bank of the Illinois river, the Prophet Joseph and others ascended a high mound, on the top of which three altars had once stood. On removing some soil, they uncovered a skeleton, between the ribs of which there was an arrowhead. To the Prophet it was later made known that this was the remains of a Lamanite warrior, by the name of Zelph, who served the great Onandagus, a prophet known from the Hill Cumorah to the Rocky Mountains. Zelph was slain during the last struggle between the Lamanites and Nephites. May not this furnish a key to the mystery of the mound builders in the Mississippi valley? Besides this, at various points, from Maine to California, we find evidences of a race, or perhaps more than one race, that, like the Jaredites, who from their point of departure, carried with them “the fish of the waters,” depended largely upon sea food for their sustenance. The evidence of this they have left in numerous shell mounds, which consist almost entirely of oyster shells, some of gigantic size.

Some tell us American archaeology does not corroborate the Book of Mormon. As I see it, American Archaeologists will never unravel the mysteries of this country without the Book of Mormon.” THE JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR, Vol. 60, No. 10 October 1925 Janne M. Sjodahl

INTEREST IN HISTORY AND IN GEOGRAPHY
“We have a great message to tell the world. We have to live it, and then we have to tell it, too. If you’re interest in history and in geography, just think what you can get out of the Book of Mormon! The Book of Mormon is the most tangible evidence that we have the truth, for no man could have written it at the time that it was written—except the story of the Prophet Joseph be a true story. Just imagine what that book has to tell us about America. Go back to the promises of Jacob and Moses and Joseph, who was sold into Egypt and who was promised a new land in the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. Nobody in this world, outside of this Church, can tell you where that new land is, and yet Moses, in describing that land, used the word precious five times in just four short verses in the bible (see Deuteronomy 33:13–16). He called it a precious land, and we read the history of how Lehi and his people came here and how they were told that it was a land choice above all other lands. This fact is repeated over and over again in the scriptures.

From a historical standpoint, it ought to be worth something to people to know about this land of America or when Columbus discovered it. The knowledge that we get through the Book of Mormon is a knowledge that we can’t get any other way in all this world. It not only tells us of the great destiny of this land of America, but it also gives the promises of the Lord through his prophets that it would be a land choice above all other lands and that it would be the land upon which God would build his New Jerusalem in the latter days. It was hidden away from the eyes of the world that it might not be overrun, and the Spirit of the Lord moved upon a man across the great waters to come here. We understand and know that man was Columbus. You see what a marvelous thing it is to have understanding.”
LeGrande Richards, “You’re Fringe Benefits” 1975 Devotional

Next find real artifacts that exist today that are dated during those time frames of 200 BC to 400 AD. Look at their travel patterns and hunter gatherer societies and compare it with the location you have found.

Finally, does the land and these people you are looking for, match these 17 promises and prophecies below as recorded in the Book of Mormon? (I can give you 19 more if you need them). If not, don’t be alarmed. The answer is: “The events of the Book of Mormon happened in the Heartland of the United States of America.” Item 8 below is a {REVELATION}. It shouldn’t be disputed. The way the Meso boys get around this, is they say the entire continent includes the New Jerusalem not just the USA. (So the Promised land could be Greenland, or Nova Scotia, or Venezuela, or Montreal? I guess it could be, but I don’t think it is. The place of the Constitution written by the Lord Himself and the place where the Garden of Eden is located is the Promised Land. What else is an important location of a promised land? Hill Cumorah, Palmyra, Susquehanna, Colesville, Kirtland, Nauvoo, Independence, MO, Salt Lake City? There is overwhelming evidence that as Elder L Tom Perry said, “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a palace 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.

Stop looking. The Hopewell Mound builders are the society that match the criteria of what you are looking for.

Historic Hopewell Mounds

These historic mounds were the ceremonial center of the Hopewell culture from 200 BC – 500 AD. A stretch of land along the North Fork of Paint Creek contains the most striking total set of Hopewell culture remains in Ohio. This enormous legacy of geometric landmarks was created by unknown inhabitants prior to the time of the American Indians living on this land. Their name actually comes from Confederate General Mordecai Hopewell, who owned the land when the mounds were first discovered back in 1840. No one actually knows what name those original builders called themselves.

Interesting similarities, shared by the five mound groups in the Hopewell Culture, make them part of a larger picture.  Each field usually has a small circle, a larger circle and a square. Each square is 27 acres and the larger circle would fit perfectly within the square. The large circles all have the same diameter and encompass 20 acres. Many of these appear to have been laid out for their astrological significance.

The main section is often called the “Great Enclosure”, a six foot high, rough, rectangular, earthen enclosure measuring approximately 2800′ X 1800′. Mound 25 is located within this area and was the site of early excavations in the 1800’s. This treasure trove contained shells from the Gulf Coast, copper from Lake Superior region, and obsidian from Wyoming.  It appears that when the ceremonial life of a site was finished, they built a mound much like we would put up a headstone or monument”. Source

Why Did the Hopewell People Build Enormous Mounds?

Mica Raptor Talon Effigy, Hopewell Culture, Ohio, North America. John Weinstein © The Field Museum

The Hopewell culture (or Hopewellian culture) of the United States refers to a prehistoric society of Middle Woodland (c. 100 BC-AD 500) horticulturalists and hunter-gatherers. They were responsible for building some of the largest indigenous earthworks in the country, and for obtaining imported, long distance source materials from Yellowstone Park to the Gulf coast of Florida.

Geographically, Hopewell residential and ceremonial sites are located in the American eastern woodlands, concentrated along the river valleys within the Mississippi watershed including parts of the Missouri, Illinois and Ohio Rivers. Hopewell sites are most common in Ohio (called the Scioto tradition), Illinois (Havana tradition) and Indiana (Adena), but they can also be found in parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The largest cluster of earthworks are found in the Scioto River Valley of southeastern Ohio, an area which is considered by scholars the Hopewell “core”.

 

Settlement Patterns

The Hopewell built some truly spectacular ritual mound complexes out of sod blocks–the best known is the Newark mound group in Ohio. Some Hopewell mounds were conical, some were geometric or effigies of animals or birds. Some of the groups were enclosed by rectangular or circular sod walls; some may have had a cosmological significance.

Generally, the earthworks were solely ritual architecture, where nobody lived full time but ritual activity included the manufacture of exotic goods for burials, as well as feasting and burial ceremonies. The people are thought to have lived in small local communities of between 2-4 families, dispersed along the fringes of rivers and connected to one or more mound centers by shared material cultural and ritual practices.

Rockshelters, if available, were often used as hunting campsites, where meat and seeds may have been processed before returning to base camps.

Hopewell Economy

At one time, archaeologists thought that anyone who built such mounds must have been farmers: but archaeological exploration has clearly identified the builders of the mounds as horticulturalists, who built earthworks, participated in long-distance exchange networks, and only periodically traveled to earthworks for social/ceremonial gatherings.

Much of the diet of the Hopewell people was based on hunting white-tailed deer and freshwater fish, nuts and seeds, supplemented by the tending and shifting slash and burn methods of growing local seed-bearing plants such as maygrass, knotweed, sunflowers, chenopodium and tobacco.

This defines the Hopewell semi-sedentary horticulturalists, who exercised a varying degree of seasonal mobility, following the various plants and animals as the weather changed throughout the year.

Artifacts and Exchange Networks

It is really unknown how much of the exotic materials found in the mounds and residential areas got there as a result of long-distance trade or as a result of seasonal migrations or long distance travels. But, quite nonlocal artifacts are found in many Hopewell sites, and were manufactured into a variety of ritual objects and tools.

• Appalachian mountains: black bear teeth, mica, steatite
• Upper Mississippi valley: galena and pipestone
• Yellowstone: obsidian and bighorn sheep horns
• Great Lakes: copper and silver
• Missouri River: Knife River Flint
• Gulf and Atlantic coast: marine shell and shark’s teeth

 

Craft specialists made pottery, lithic tools, and textiles, in addition to exotic ritual artifacts.

Status and Class

It seems inescapable: there is evidence for the presence of an elite class, in the form of non-utilitarian grave goods from imported and local materials, complex burial mounds, and elaborate mortuary processing facilities, all used for a segment of the society. Selected deceased individuals were processed in ritual center charnel houses and then buried in mounds with exotic funerary offerings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What additional control those individuals had while living, apart from earthbound construction, is difficult to establish. It may have been kin-based councils or non-kin sodalities; it may have been some hereditary elite group who arranged for the feasting and earthwork construction and maintenance.

Archaeologists have used stylistic variations and geographic localities to identify tentative peer polities, small collections of groups that were centered around in one or more mound centers, particularly in Ohio. Relations between the groups were typically nonviolent among different polities based on the relative lack of traumatic injuries on Hopewell skeletons.

The Rise and Fall of the Hopewell

The reason why hunter-gatherer/horticulturalists built big earthworks is a puzzle–but one shared by the earlier American Archaic tradition. It is possible that the florescence of mound construction occurred because of​ the uncertainty of the small communities, created by greater sedentism, territoriality, population aggregation along the waterways. If so, then economic relationships might have been established and maintained through public ritual, or mark territory or corporate identity. Some evidence exists suggesting at least some of the leaders were shamans, religious leaders.

Little is known about why Hopewell mound-building ended, either about AD 200 in the lower Illinois Valley and about AD 350-400 in the Scioto river valley. There is no evidence of failure, no evidence of widespread diseases or heightened death rates: basically, the smaller Hopewell sites simply aggregated into larger communities, located away from the Hopewell heartland, and the valleys were largely abandoned.

Hopewell Archaeology

Hopewell archaeology began in the early 20th century with the discovery of spectacular artifacts of stone, shell, and copper from mounds in a complex on Mordecai Hopewell’s farm on a tributary stream of the Scioto River in southcentral Ohio.

A few more sites:

• Ohio: Mound City, Tremper mounds, Fort Ancient, Newark Earthworks, Hopewell site
• Illinois: Pete Klunk, Ogden Fettie,
• Georgia: Kolomoki

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources

https://www.thoughtco.com/hopewell-culture-north-americas-mound-building-170013brams EM. 2009. Hopewell Archaeology: A View from the Northern Woodlands. Journal of Archaeological Research 17(2):169–204.

Bolnick DA, and Smith DG. 2007. Migration and social structure among the Hopewell: Evidence from ancient DNA. American Antiquity 72(4):627-644.

DeBoer WR. 2004. Little Bighorn on the Scioto: The Rocky Mountain Connection to Ohio Hopewell. American Antiquity 69(1):85-108.

Emerson T, Farnsworth K, Wisseman S, and Hughes R. 2013. The Allure of the Exotic: Reexamining the Use of Local and Distant Pipestone Quarries in Ohio Hopewell Pipe Caches. American Antiquity 78(1):48-67.

Giles B. 2013. A Contextual and Iconographic Reassessment of the Headdress on Burial 11 From Hopewell Mound 25. American Antiquity 78(3):502-519.

Magnani M, and Schroder W. 2015. New approaches to modeling the volume of earthen archaeological features: A case-study from the Hopewell culture mounds. Journal of Archaeological Science 64:12-21.

McConaughy MA. 2005. Middle Woodland Hopewellian Cache Blades: Blanks or Finished Tools? Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 30(2):217-257.

Miller GL. 2015. Ritual economy and craft production in small-scale societies: Evidence from microwear analysis of Hopewell bladelets. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology39:124-138.

Van Nest J, Charles DK, Buikstra JE, and Asch DL. 2001. Sod blocks in Illinois Hopewell mounds. American Antiquity 66(4):633-650.

Wright AP, and Loveland E. 2015. Ritualised craft production at the Hopewell periphery: new evidence from the Appalachian Summit. Antiquity 89(343):137-153.

Yerkes RW. 2005. Bone chemistry, body parts, and growth marks: Evaluating Ohio Hopewell and Cahokia Mississippian seasonality, subsistence, ritual, and feasting.American Antiquity 70(1):241-266.

 

Joseph Fielding Smith

“While the statement has been made by some writers that the Prophet Joseph Smith used a seer stone part of the time in his translating of the record, and information points to the fact that he did have in his possession such a stone, yet there is no authentic statement in the history of the Church which states that the use of such a stone was made in that translation. The information is all hearsay, and personally, I do not believe that this stone was used for this purpose. The reason I give for this conclusion is found in the statement of the Lord to the Brother of Jared as recorded in Ether 3:22–24. These stones, the Urim and Thummim which were given to the Brother of Jared, were preserved for this very purpose of translating the record, both of the Jaredites and the Nephites. Then again the Prophet was impressed by Moroni with the fact that these stones were given for that very purpose. It hardly seems reasonable to suppose that the Prophet would substitute something evidently inferior under these circumstances. It may have been so, but it is so easy for a story of this kind to be circulated due to the fact that the Prophet did possess a seer stone, which he may have used for some other purposes” (Joseph Fielding Smith, “Doctrines of Salvation,” Vol. 3, 225-26).

“I attended sessions of meetings for the institute teachers, held in the assembly room on the fourth floor of the Church Office Building. I cannot say that I was very greatly edified. Too much philosophy of a worldly nature does not seem to mix well with the fundamentals of the gospel. In my opinion many of our teachers employed in the church school system have absorbed too much of the paganism of the world and have accepted too readily the views of uninspired educators without regard for the revealed word of the Lord. What to do about it I do not know. It is a problem for the Presidency to consider. It is a very apparent fact that we have traveled far and wide in the past 20 years [since his father’s death]. What the future will bring I do not know. But if we drift as far afield from fundamental things in the next 20 years, what will be left of the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith? It is easy for one who observes to see how the apostasy came about in the Primitive Church of Jesus Christ. Are we not traveling the same road? The more I see of educated men—I mean those who are trained in the doctrines and philosophies now taught in the world, the less regard I have for them. Modern theories which are so popular today just do not harmonize with the gospel as revealed to the prophets, and it would be amusing if it were not a tragedy to see how some of our educated brethren attempt to harmonize the theories of men with the revealed word of the Lord. Thank the Lord, there is still some faith left and some members who still cherish the word of the Lord and accept the prophets. Surely the world is ripening rapidly for the destruction, and Satan has power and dominion over his own. If any are saved surely the Lord must soon come and have power over his Saints and reign in their midst, and execute ‘judgment upon Idumea, or the world.” Joseph Fielding Smith The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith 212. Deseret Book Co., 1972

“It makes no difference what is written or what anyone has said, if what has been said is in conflict with what the Lord has revealed, we can set it aside. My words, and the teaching of any other member of the Church, high or low, if they do not square with the revelations, we need not accept them. Let us have this matter clear. We have accepted the four standard works as the measuring yardsticks, or balances, by which we measure every man’s doctrine. You cannot accept the books written by the authorities of the Church as standards in doctrine, only in so far as they accord with the revealed word in the standard works. If Joseph Fielding Smith writes something which is out of harmony with the revelations, then every member of the Church is duty bound to reject it. If he writes that which is in perfect harmony with the revealed word of the Lord, then it should be accepted.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 3: 203.)

“Whitmer thus continued to the grave, his 1829 on-site understanding of “Urim and Thummim” as a single seer stone. The Church in Utah attempted to correct Whitmer’s “error” above, shortly after its publication in the Chicago Times, with these comments . . . “The next error is that the seer stone which Joseph used in the translation ‘was called Urim and Thummim.’ The instrument thus denominated was composed of two crystal stones ‘set in the two rims of a bow.’ The seer stone was separate and distinct from the Urim and Thummim. The latter was delivered to the angel as well as the plates after the translation was completed; the former remained with the Church and is now in the possession of the President.” [Reynolds 1883, 85; citing, on his page 84 as his source quoted, “The Deseret Evening News at the time of the publication of his letter . . . ,” by which Reynolds means the letter of the Chicago Times correspondent to the Chicago Times, reporting his interview with Whitmer.” Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder page 1522

For the best detailed article on the Urim and Thummim being the only instrument that Joseph Smith used to translate the Gold Plates read here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/historical-prattle-or-competent-testimony-method-of-translation/

Winchester, the Smoking Gun of the Peep Stone!

As most of you know Benjamin Winchester was the culprit of making up the stories that the pyramids in Central America proved that the Book of Mormon happened in that area. He wanted to show his rival preachers that the Book of Mormon had proofs of the existence of a people just like the Bible had proof that it happened in the Old World in Jerusalem. Now Winchester could compete against these ministers and PROVE the Book of Mormon to be a true history of a true people. It was good that Winchester was trying to prove the Book of Mormon but he was doing it in Central America where the pyramids were dated long after the Nephites were destroyed. (See the Smoking Gun Article Here.)

Evolution of seer stone narrative – Benjamin Winchester by Jonathan Neville

Just this past September, Firm Foundation was honored to have Glenn Beck’s support and endorsement. He made a special video for our group and he did a voice recording for a radio ad that promoted our conference. He has asked Rod what more can he do for us, as that will be a blessing for us in promoting the Book of Mormon. Glenn is also very concerned about our Native American Brothers and Sisters and is constantly praying on how to help them.

Back in about Aug. 2010 while Glenn was still on Fox News, was given Steve Smoot’s wonderful book and documentaries. Below you will see what was aired live on Fox News. Because of Glenn’s brazenness to share things that the intellectuals say are hoaxes, he was fired from Fox News but continues to do very well on blaze.tv and on his daily radio program. Below you will see part one and part two of these videos and then we have shared with you Steve Smoot’s Chapter 49 from his wonderful book, Lost Civilizations of North America where Steve shares his feelings about the Family and how we are created. We are also offering his book and documentary from 35-50% off below.

Part 1 Lost Civilizations of North America;

Part 2 Lost Civilizations of North America;

CHAPTER 49

Lost Civilizations on North America; Creation by Chance or Design—Hosting the Foreign Press Corps by Steven E. Smoot

In August of 1993, our family was asked to host a delegation of seven foreign journalists from Belgium, Holland, Germany, France and England, who were headquartered in Washington D.C. and were coming west to cover the visit of Pope John Paul II to Colorado. In a conversation with their director, he indicated that he wanted his coworkers to experience a little bit of small town USA. He mentioned, how over time, many of these reporters had become very cynical in their views of American society. This was the result of their continual exposure to the day-to-day crime and corruption of big cities and the politics of Washington. They had become very much disillusioned with the American way of life, having only lived in major cities. Their director wanted them to see and to understand that there was another side to American culture, which could only be understood by visiting and experiencing family life in small towns across America.

After a nice dinner prepared by my wife, we had planned a little family night program, starting with a short lesson and some fun Bluegrass and Country music, shared by our family Bluegrass band. In starting the lesson I picked up and placed my beautiful little daughter on my lap. As she looked up to me with her adoring big brown eyes, I expressed my love for her and my reverence for her life. I then pointed out to the group, her little hands in mine, showing how her perfect little fingernails, where placed on the end of her fingers in such a way as to protect her sensitive touch. Then I asked them to observe her adoring eyes that were looking up to me, watching my every move. I pointed out to them that her little eyebrows and eyelashes and eyelids, were placed to protect herself lovely brown eyes. Then we observed her cute little ears on the side of her head, placed, shaped and formed so perfectly to capture sound, enabling her to hear.

I then pointed to her perfectly designed nose, which enabled her to breathe throughout the night. Then we looked at the first of her little teeth, wondering if they would all come in straight. I then emphasized the wonder of this beautiful creation and how her intuitive spirit and brain enabled her to think, reason, walk, run, talk and play, and in so doing, allowed her to utter some of her first words, one of which was “daddy.” I told them that I marveled at how well her little complex digestive, nervous and circulatory systems function in order to properly sustain her. I also realized that this miracle of life would someday in the future, through her own reproductive organs be able to reproduce another beautiful child like unto herself. Today she has a little daughter who calls me “gumpa.”

As we continued the visit, we discussed the important role that strong families play in the future of society. A couple of weeks after this ‘family night’ was over, we received two unusual letters from two of the reporters. Both letters mentioned that on their final day of travel, as they were all together, one of the reporters had taken a vote on what was the most memorable experience of their trip to the West. They both mentioned that the vote taken was unanimous, that the night the reporters had spent in a simple family home evening was their most memorable of their trip. The reporter from Holland, in a letter sent a few weeks later, had included his article; in it he gave us some insights into their comments. Pointing out that as our appreciation for a child grows so does our appreciation for family. His article on the importance of children and family life was published in a number of newspapers in Holland and Denmark.

In conceptualizing and developing a number of real estate projects, office buildings, shopping centers, a hotel and golf course community, I have come to appreciate the complexity of thought, organization and design that goes into just one of these multifaceted projects. It has given me a greater appreciation for the complexity and the organization that is found in nature.

The traditional sources and insights into the origin of man and the creation of a world emanates primarily from ancient scripture. Conversely, the evolutionary dogma holds that Darwinism is a more comprehensive and reasonable hypothesis in explaining the origin of man and the organization that is found in nature. Yet, even today, it is difficult to find a scientist on the planet that can give a coherent explanation of how natural selection really works and how the meticulous organization of nature occurred.

Evolutionary science is based on the inference that you can get life from something that has no life. And that life came from some mutation of a coincidental combination of elements. All speculation as to how life started is an educated assumption. There is nothing inherently wrong with educated assumptions, since that is where all research begins. The problem, however, arises as researchers become so vested in their own theories that they start to view their theories as fact. This not only happens in religious circles, but in science circles as well. That is why, it is difficult to get to the truth, and why all avenues of meaningful research should be encouraged.

When one considers the intricacy and complexity of the creation of a human life, it is unfathomable to consider a world without some measure of design. Simply stated, I have never found that a building could simply erect itself. Within the framework of the building industry, even if one were to gather all the raw materials needed for the construction of a hotel and all material needed were delivered to the building job site, how many millennia would you have to wait before these raw materials would assemble themselves into a functioning and working building? The answer is intuitive because most people have observed that the tendency in this natural world is that everything tends towards disorder, not towards order, when left to itself, which is in essence, a restatement of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Another way of stating this law is that entropy tends to increase, where entropy is a measure of the system order.³⁹⁵

Darwin’s vague concepts of Natural Selection though complex for his day, were given at a time when science knew little about the complexity of even a single living cell. Since the 1950s, powerful microscopes have been employed to do cell research. They have observed that life gets much more complex instead of simpler at the cell level, an idea that would have been foreign to scientists of the 1800s. Complex structures have been observed that cannot be explained by Darwin’s process of natural selection, and even Darwin himself acknowledged that in stating: “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organism existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive slight modifications, my theory would absolutely breakdown.” ³⁹⁶

Thus, this invokes the question as to which would take the greatest amount of faith? The idea that this earth and mankind came about by happen-chance and by way of natural selection or by acknowledging the idea that there could have been an intelligent designer or designers that helped to bring organization to the elements found in nature? Within the sciences there are still many questions that have no factual answers, such as where did life first begin? Or how can one get life from that which has no life?

These questions are so complex that they have plagued the scholarly mind, since the beginning of recorded time. This has also caused some within the sciences to believe that there are questions, which shouldn’t be asked or explored, if one wants to advance in the sciences, receive government grants or have their printed works published. This is especially seen in today’s academic and politically correct scientific community, where most archeologists and anthropologists rely almost solely on the government for support. Those who question the “established” traditional science learn quickly that a discussion or exploration into Creation-related questions, and into the origins of man or the merits of intelligent design is considered strictly taboo.

In her book, Native Americans Before 1492, Looking into the Origin of the Ancient Mound Builders, Lynda Norene Shaffer acknowledged that it was “a journey into the unknown and full of surprises.” She went on to say in the preface of her book, that “there are many controversies in North American archaeology,” stating: “I was taken back by the nature of some of the disputes in North American archaeology and by the ways in which they are pursued by some of the experts…Long before I finished this study, it became clear to me that such controversies would make it exceedingly difficult to write a book about the mound building region that would please all the archaeologists…Though I have often felt that I was making my way through a field of mines, I was never tempted to turn back [for what] I was finding was altogether too interesting.”³⁹⁷

³⁹⁵ Charles Kittel, Thermal Physics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1969, 61

³⁹⁶ Ibid, Where Does the Evidence Lead?

³⁹⁷ Lynda Norene Shaffer, Native Americans Before 1492, Looking into the Origin of the Ancient Mound Builders, Preface

Let’s discuss Indian tribe names which will help us as we discuss each of them. This is just a general review and it is just a matter of my opinion as I have researched this for years.

There are two Large Tribes that were always at war with each other, the Algonquian and the Iroquois. The names on the list below (Map 1, 2) each are various sub-tribes under that group of people. Sometimes in history the writer will use various names for the same group of people.

Alleghewi = Tallegwi = Tsalagi = Cherokee = Allegheny = IROQUOIS!

“There can be no reasonable doubt that the Alleghewi or Tallegwi, who have given their name to the Alleghany River and Mountains, were the mound-builders. The destiny which ultimately befell the Mound-builders can be inferred from what was known of the fate of the Huron themselves in their final was with the Iroquois. The greater portion of the Huron people were exterminated, and their towns reduced to ashes. Of the survivors many were received and adopted among the conquerors. A few fled to the east and sought protection from the France.” Archaeological History of Ohio: The Mound builders and Later Indians pg 438

“It may be considered as beyond dispute that the Cherokees are a branch or off-shoot of the Huron-Iroquois family. Their language proves it. “The striking fact has become evident that the course of the migration of the Huron-Iroquois family has been from eastern Canada, on the Lower St. Lawrence, to the mountains of northern Alabama.” Archaeological history of Ohio : The Mound builders and later Indians / by Gerard Fowke.

I believe the Cherokee are most likely to be descendants of the Lamanite/Nephite mixture that survived the last battle at Cumorah.

North American Indian Tribes

One of the most important non-LDS books which supports the Heartland Book of Mormon geography!  Old World Roots of the Cherokee: How DNA, Ancient Alphabets and Religion Explain the Origins of America’s Largest Indian Nation, by Dr. Donald N. Yates provides the most stunning new research validating the Heartland Model. The Cherokee share DNA and cultural similarities with ancient Jewish populations. This blockbuster book is critical for the true “remnant” of the Book of Mormon

THE CITIES, FORTIFICATIONS AND EARTHWORKS OF THE TALLIGEWI

THE PROBLEM OF THE OHIO MOUNDS.

BY CYRUS THOMAS.

Washington
Government Printing Office
1889

INTRODUCTION.

No other ancient works of the United States have become so widely known or have excited so much interest as those of Ohio. This is due in part to their remarkable character but in a much greater degree to the “Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,” by Messrs. Squier and Davis, in which these monuments are described and figured.

The constantly recurring question, “Who constructed these works?” has brought before the public a number of widely different theories, though the one which has been most generally accepted is that they originated with a people long since extinct or driven from the country, who had attained a culture status much in advance of that reached by the aborigines inhabiting the country at the time of its discovery by Europeans.

The opinion advanced in this paper, in support of which evidence will be presented, is that the ancient works of the State are due to Indians of several different tribes, and that some at least of the typical works, were built by the ancestors of the modern Cherokees. The discussion will be limited chiefly to the latter proposition, as the limits of the paper will not permit a full presentation of all the data which might be brought forward in support of the theory, and the line of argument will be substantially as follows:

First. A brief statement of the reasons for believing that the Indians were the authors of all the ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley and Gulf States; consequently the Ohio mounds must have been built by Indians.

Second. Evidence that the Cherokees were mound builders after reaching their historic seats in East Tennessee and western North Carolina. This and the preceding positions are strengthened by the introduction of evidence showing that the Shawnees were the authors of a certain type of stone graves, and of mounds and other works connected therewith.

Third. A tracing of the Cherokees, by the mound testimony and by tradition, back to Ohio

Fourth. Reasons for believing that the Cherokees were the Tallegwi of tradition and the authors of some of the typical works of Ohio.

CHAPTER V.

THE CHEROKEES AND THE TALLEGWI.

The ancient works of Ohio, with their “altar mounds,” “sacred enclosures,” and “mathematically accurate” but mysterious circles and squares, are still pointed to as impregnable to the attacks of this Indian theory. That the rays of light falling upon their origin are few and dim, is admitted; still, we are not left wholly in the dark.

If the proof be satisfactory that the mounds of the southern half of the United States and a portion of those of the Upper Mississippi Valley are of Indian origin, there should be very strong evidence in the opposite direction in regard to those of Ohio to lead to the belief that they are of a different race. Even should the evidence fail to indicate the tribe or tribes by whom they were built, this will not justify the assertion that they are not of Indian origin.

If the evidence relating to these works has nothing decidedly opposed to the theory in it, then the presumption must be in favor of the view that the authors were Indians, for the reasons heretofore given. The burden of proof is on those who deny this, and not on those who assert it.

It is legitimate, therefore, to assume, until evidence to the contrary is produced, that the Ohio works were made by Indians.

The geographical position of the defensive works connected with these remains indicates, as has been often remarked by writers on this subject, a pressure from northern hordes which finally resulted in driving the inhabitants of the fertile valleys of the Miami, Scioto, and Muskingum, southward, possibly into the Gulf States, where they became incorporated with the tribes of that section. [Footnote: Force: “To what race did the mound—builders belong?” p. 74, etc.] If this is assumed as correct it only tends to confirm the theory of an Indian origin.

But the decision is not left to mere assumption and the indications mentioned, as there are other and more direct evidences bearing upon this point to be found in the works of art and modes of burial in this region. That the mound—builders of Ohio made and used the pipe is proven by the large number of pipes found in the mounds, and that they cultivated tobacco may reasonably be inferred from this fact.

The general use of the pipe among the mound—builders is another evidence of their relation to the Indians; while, on the other hand, this fact and the forms of the pipes indicate that they were not connected with the Nahua, Maya, or Pueblo tribes.

Although varied indefinitely by the addition of animal and other figures, the typical or simple form of the pipe of the Ohio mound— builders appears to have been that represented by Squier and Davis [Footnote: Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, 1847, p. 179.] in their Fig. 68; and by Rau in Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, No. 287. [Footnote: 1876, p. 47, Fig. 177.] The peculiar feature is the broad, flat, and slightly—curved base or stem, which projects beyond the bowl to an extent usually equal to the perforated end. Reference has already been made to the statement by Adair that the Cherokees were accustomed to carve, from the soft stone found in the country, “pipes, full a span long, with the fore part commonly running out with a short peak two or three fingers broad and a quarter of an inch thick.” But he adds further, as if intending to describe the typical form of the Ohio pipe, “on both sides of the bowl lengthwise.” This addition is important, as it has been asserted [Footnote: Young Mineralogist and Antiquarian, 1885, No. 10. p. 79.] that no mention can be found of the manufacture or use of pipes of this form by the Indians, or that they had any knowledge of this form.

E. A. Barber says: [Footnote: Am. Nat., vol. 16, 1882, pp. 265, 266]

The earliest stone pipes from the mounds were always carved from a single piece, and consist of a flat curved base, of variable length and width, with the bowl rising from the center of the convex side (Anc. Mon., p. 227).

The typical mound pipe is the Monitor form, as it may be termed, possessing a short, cylindrical urn, or spool—shaped bowl, rising from the center of a flat and slightly—curved base. [Footnote: For examples of this form see Rau: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, No. 287, p. 47, Fig. 177.]

This 36 page softcover book, RED MAN’S ORIGIN, provides the earliest and most complete account of the story of the origins and migrations of the Cherokee people, as first told by Native Cherokee George Sahkyah Sanders; translated and recorded by Cornsilk (William Eubanks – a Cherokee) from the recitation in Cherokee in the 1890s in Indian Territory.  This faithful reproduction by Cherokee Native Donald Panther Yates provides unique insights into Cherokee origin lore and history.

Accepting this statement as proof that the “Monitor” pipe is generally understood to be the oldest type of the mound—builders’ pipe, it is easy to trace the modifications which brought into use the simple form of the modern Indian pipe. For example, there is one of the form shown in Fig. 5, from Hamilton County, Ohio; another from a large mound in Kanawha Valley, West Virginia; [Footnote: Science. 1884, vol. 3, p. 619.] several taken from Indian graves in Essex County, Mass.; [Footnote: Abbott, Prim. Industry, 1881, Fig. 313, p. 319; Bull. Essex Inst., vol. 3, 1872, p. 123.] another found in the grave of a Seneca Indian in the valley of the Genesee; [Footnote: Morgan, League of the Iroquois, p. 356.] and others found by the representatives of the Bureau of Ethnology in the mounds of western North Carolina.
Fig. 5. Pipe from Hamilton County, Ohio.

So far, the modification consists in simply shortening the forward projection of the stem or base, the bowl remaining perpendicular. The next modification is shown in Fig. 6, which represents a type less common than the preceding, but found in several localites, as, for example, in Hamilton County, Ohio; mounds in Sullivan County, east Tennessee (by the Bureau); and in Virginia. [Footnote: Rau: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, No. 287, p. 50, Fig. 190.] In these, although retaining the broad or winged stem, we see the bowl assuming the forward slope and in some instances (as some of those found in the mounds in Sullivan County, Tenn.) the projection of the stem is reduced to a simple rim or is entirely wanting.
Fig. 6. Pipe from Hamilton County, Ohio.
Fig. 7. Pipe from Sullivan County, Tennessee.

The next step brings us to what may be considered the typical form of the modern pipe, shown in Fig. 8. This pattern, according to Dr. Abbott, [Footnote: Prim. Industry, 1861, p. 329.] is seldom found in New England or the Middle States, “except of a much smaller size and made of clay.” He figures one from Isle of Wight County, Va., “made of compact steatite.” A large number of this form were found in the North Carolina mounds, some with stems almost or quite a foot in length.
Fig. 8. Pipe from Caldwell County, North Carolina.

It is hardly necessary to add that among the specimens obtained from various localities can be found every possible gradation, from the ancient Ohio type to the modern form last mentioned. There is, therefore, in this peculiar line of art and custom an unbroken chain connecting the mound—builders of Ohio with the Indians of historic times, and in the same facts is evidence, which strengthens the argument, disconnecting the makers from the Mexican and Central American artisans.

As this evidence appears to point to the Cherokees as the authors of some of the typical mounds of Ohio, it may be as well to introduce here a summary of the data which bear upon this question.

Reasons which are thought well—nigh conclusive have already been presented for believing that the people of this tribe were mound— builders, and that they had migrated in pre—Columbian times from some point north of the locality in which they were encountered by Europeans. Taking up the thread of their history where it was dropped, the following reasons are offered as a basis for the conclusion that their home was for a time on the Ohio, and that this was the region from which they migrated to their historic locality.

As already shown, their general movement in historic times, though limited, has been southward. Their traditions also claim that their migrations previous to the advent of the whites had been in the same direction from some point northward, not indicated in that given by Lederer, but in that recorded by Haywood, from the valley of the Ohio. But it is proper to bear in mind that the tradition given by Lederer expressly distinguishes them from the Virginia tribes, which necessitates looking more to the west for their former home. Haywood connects them, without any authority, with the Virginia tribes, but the tradition he gives contradicts this and places them on the Ohio.

The chief hostile pressure against them of which we have any knowledge was from the Iroquois of the north. This testimony is further strengthened by the linguistic evidence, as it has been ascertained that the language of this tribe belongs to the Iroquoian stock. Mr. Horatio Hale, a competent authority on this subject, in an article on Indian migrations published in the American Antiquarian, [Footnote: Am. Antiquarian, vol. 5, 1883, p. 26] remarks as follows:

Following the same course of migration from the northeast to the southwest, which leads us from the Hurons of eastern Canada to the Tuscaroras of central North Carolina, we come to the Cherokees of northern Alabama and Georgia. A connection between their language and that of the Iroquois has long been suspected. Gallatin, in his “Synopsis of Indian Languages,” remarks on this subject: “Dr. Barton thought that the Cherokee language belonged to the Iroquois family, and on this point I am inclined to be of the same opinion. The affinities are few and remote, but there is a similarity in the general termination of the syllables, in the pronunciation and accent, which has struck some of the native Cherokees.”

The difficulty arising from this lack of knowledge is now removed, and with it all uncertainty disappears. The similarity of the two tongues, apparent enough in many of their words, is most strikingly shown, as might be expected, in their grammatical structure, and especially in the affixed pronouns, which in both languages play so important a part.

More complete vocabularies of the Cherokee language than have hitherto been accessible have recently come into possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, and their study serves to confirm the above conclusion that the Cherokees are an offshoot of Iroquoian stock.

On the other hand, the testimony of the mounds all taken together or considered generally (if the conclusion that the Cherokees were the authors of the North Carolina and East Tennessee mounds be accepted) seems to isolate them from all other mound—building people of that portion of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Nevertheless there are certain remains of art which indicate an intimate relation with the authors of the stone graves, as the engraved shells, while there are others which lead to the opinion that there was a more intimate relation with the mound—builders of Ohio, especially of the Scioto Valley. One of these is furnished by the stone pipes so common in the Ohio mounds, the manufacture of which appears also to have been a favorite pursuit of the Cherokees in both ancient and modern times. (Map 4)

In order to make the force of this argument clear it is necessary to enter somewhat further into details. In the first place, nearly all of the pipes of this type so far discovered have been found in a belt commencing with eastern Iowa, thence running eastward through northern Illinois, through Indiana, and embracing the southern half of Ohio; thence, bending southward, including the valley of the Great Kanawha, eastern Tennessee, and western North Carolina, to the northern boundary of Georgia. It is not known that this type in any of its modifications prevailed or was even in use at any point south of this belt. Pipes in the form of birds and other animals are not uncommon, as may be seen by reference to Pl. XXIII of Jones’s Antiquities of the Southern Indians, but the platform is a feature wholly unknown there, as are also the derivatives from it. This is so literally true as to render it strange, even on the supposition here advanced; only a single one (near Nashville, Tenn.), so far as known, having been found in the entire South outside of the Cherokee country.

This fact, as is readily seen, stands in direct opposition to the idea advanced by some that the mound—builders of Ohio when driven from their homes moved southward, and became incorporated with the tribes of the Gulf States, as it is scarcely possible such sturdy smokers as they must have been would all at once have abandoned their favorite pipe.

Some specimens have been found north and east of this belt, chiefly in New York and Massachusetts, but they are too few to induce the belief that the tribes occupying the sections where they were found were in the habit of manufacturing them or accustomed to their use; possibly the region of Essex, Mass., may prove to be an isolated and singular exception.

How can we account for the fact that they were confined to this belt except upon the theory that they were made and used by a single tribe, or at most by two or three cognate tribes? If this be admitted it gives as a result the line of migration of the tribe, or tribes, by whom they were made; and the gradual modification of the form indicates the direction of the movement.

In the region of eastern Iowa and northern Illinois, as will be seen by reference to the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences [Footnote: Vol. 1, 1876, Pl. IV.] and the Smithsonian Report for 1882, [Footnote: Smithsonian Report for 1882 (1884), Figs. 4—8, pp. 689—692] the original slightly—carved platform base appears to be the only form found.

Moving eastward from that section, a break occurs, and none of the type are found until the western border of Ohio is reached, indicating a migration by the tribe to a great distance. From this point eastward and over a large portion of the State, to the western part of West Virginia, the works of the tribe are found in numerous localities, showing this to have long been their home.

In this region the modifications begin, as heretofore shown, and continue along the belt mentioned through West Virginia, culminating in the modern form in western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

As pipes of this form have never been found in connection with the stone graves, there are just grounds for eliminating the Shawnees from the supposed authors of the Ohio works. On the other hand, the engraved shells are limited almost exclusively to the works of the Shawnees and Cherokees (taking for granted that the former were the authors of the box—shaped stone graves south of the Ohio and the latter of the works in western North Carolina and East Tennessee), but are wanting in the Ohio mounds. It follows, therefore, if the theory here advanced (that the Cherokees constructed some of the typical works of Ohio) be sustained, that these specimens of art are of Southern origin, as the figures indicate, and that the Cherokees began using them only after they had reached their historical locality.

Other reasons for eliminating the Shawnees and other Southern tribes from the supposed authors of the typical Ohio works are furnished by the character, form, and ornamentation of the pottery of the two sections, which are readily distinguished from each other.

That the Cherokees and Shawnees were distinct tribes, and that the few similarities in customs and art between them were due to vicinage and intercourse are well—known historical facts. But there is nothing of this kind to forbid the supposition that the former were the authors of some of the Ohio works. Moreover, the evidence that they came from a more northern locality, added to that furnished by the pipes, seems to connect them with the Ohio mound—builders. In addition to this there is the tradition of the Delawares, given by Heckewelder, which appears to relate to no known tribe unless it be the Cherokees. Although this tradition has often been mentioned in works relating to Indians and kindred subjects, it is repeated here that the reader may judge for himself as to its bearing on the subject now under consideration:

The Lenni Lenape (according to the tradition handed down to them by their ancestors) resided many hundred years ago in a very distant country in the western part of the American continent. For some reason which I do not find accounted for, they determined on migrating to the eastward, and accordingly set out together in a body. After a very long journey and many nights’ encampments [Footnote: “Many Nights’ encampment” is a halt of one year at a place.] by the way, they at length arrived on the Namaesi—Sipu, [Footnote: The Mississippi or The River of Fish; Namaes, a fish, and Sipu a river.] where they fell in with the Mengwe, [Footnote: The Iroquois, or Five Nations.] who had likewise emigrated from a distant country, and had struck upon this river somewhat higher up. Their object was the same with that of the Delawares; they were proceeding on to the eastward, until they should find a country that pleased them. The spies which the Lenape had sent forward for the purpose of reconnoitring, had long before their arrival discovered that the country east of the Mississippi was inhabited by a very powerful nation who had many large towns built on the great rivers flowing through their land. Those people (as I was told) called themselves Talligew or Tallgewi. Many wonderful things are told of this famous people. They are said to have been remarkably tall and stout, and there is a tradition that there were giants among them, people of a much larger size than the tallest of the Lenape. It is related that they had built to themselves regular fortifications or intrenchments, from whence they would sally out, but were generally repulsed. I have seen many of the fortifications said to have been built by them, two of which, in particular, were remarkable. One of them was near the mouth of the river Huron, which empties itself into the Lake St. Clair, on the north side of that lake, at the distance of about 20 miles northeast of Detroit. This spot of ground was, in the year 1776, owned and occupied by a Mr. Tucker. The other works, properly intrenchments, being walls or banks of earth regularly thrown up, with a deep ditch on the outside, were on the Huron River, east of the Sandusky, about six or eight miles from Lake Erie. Outside of the gateway of each of these two intrenchments, which lay within a mile of each other, were a number of large flat mounds in which, the Indian pilot said, were buried hundreds of the slain Talligewi, whom I shall hereafter, with Colonel Gibson, call Alligewi. Of these intrenchments Mr. Abraham Steiner, who was with me at the time when I saw them, gave a very accurate description, which was published at Philadelphia in 1789 or 1790, in some periodical work the name of which I can not at present remember.

When the Lenape arrived on the banks of the Mississippi they sent a message to the Alligewi to request permission to settle themselves in their neighborhood. This was refused them, but they obtained leave to pass through the country and seek a settlement farther to the eastward. They accordingly began to cross the Namaesi—Sipu, when the Alligewi, seeing that their numbers were so very great, and in fact they consisted of many thousands, made a furious attack upon those who had crossed, threatening them all with destruction, if they dared to persist in coming over to their side of the river. Fired at the treachery of these people, and the great loss of men they had sustained, and besides, not being prepared for a conflict, the Lenapi consulted on what was to be done; whether to retreat in the best manner they could, or to try their strength, and let the enemy see that they were not cowards, but men, and too high—minded to suffer themselves to be driven off before they had made a trial of their strength and were convinced that the enemy was too powerful for them. The Mengwe, who had hitherto been satisfied with being spectators from a distance, offered to join them, on condition that, after conquering the country, they should be entitled to share it with them; their proposal was accepted, and the resolution was taken by the two nations, to conquer or die.

Having thus united their forces the Lenape and Mengwe declared war against the Alligewi, and great battles were fought in which many warriors fell on both sides. The enemy fortified their large towns and erected fortifications, especially on large rivers and near lakes, where they were successfully attacked and sometimes stormed by the allies. An engagement took place in which hundreds fell, who were afterwards [pg 45]buried in holes or laid together in heaps and covered over with earth. No quarter was given, so that the Alligewi at last, finding that their destruction was inevitable if they persisted in their obstinacy, abandoned the country to the conquerors and fled down the Mississippi River, from whence they never returned.

The war which was carried on with this nation lasted many years, during which the Lenape lost a great number of their warriors, while the Mengwe would always hang back in the rear leaving them to face the enemy. In the end the conquerors divided the country between themselves. The Mengwe made choice of the lands in the vicinity of the great lakes and on their tributary streams, and the Lenape took possession of the country to the south. For a long period of time, some say many hundred years, the two nations resided peacefully in this country and increased very fast. Some of their most enterprising huntsmen and warriors crossed the great swamps, and falling on streams running to the eastward followed them down to the great bay river (meaning the Susquehanna, which they call the great bay river from where the west branch falls into the main stream), thence into the bay itself, which we call Chesapeake. As they pursued their travels, partly by land and partly by water, sometimes near and at other times on the great salt—water lake, as they call the sea, they discovered the great river which we call the Delaware.

This quotation, although not the entire tradition as given by Heckewelder, will suffice for the present purpose.

The traces of the name of these mound—builders, which are still preserved in the name “Allegheny,” applied to a river and the mountains of Pennsylvania, and the fact that the Delawares down to the time Heckewelder composed his work called the Allegheny River “Allegewi Sipu,” or river of the Allegewi, furnish evidence that there is at least a vein of truth in this tradition. If it has any foundation in fact there must have been a people to whom the name “Tallegwi” [Footnote: There appears to be no real foundation for the name Allegewi, this form being a mere supposition of Colonel Gibson, suggested by the name the Lenape applied to the Allegheny River and Mountains.] was applied, for on this the whole tradition hangs. Who were they? In what tribe and by what name shall we identify them? That they were mound—builders is positively asserted, and the writer explains what he means by referring to certain mounds and inclosures, which are well known at the present day, which he says the Indians informed him were built by this people.

It is all—important to bear in mind the fact that when this tradition was first made known, and the mounds mentioned were attributed to this people, these ancient works were almost unknown to the investigating minds of the country. This forbids the supposition that the tradition was warped or shaped to fit a theory in regard to the origin of these antiquities.

Following the tradition it is fair to conclude, notwithstanding the fact that Heckewelder interpreted “Namaesi Sipu” by Mississippi, that the principal seats of this tribe or nation were in the region of the Ohio and the western slope of the Allegheny Mountains, and hence it is not wholly a gratuitous supposition to believe they were the authors of some of the principal ancient works of eastern Ohio (including those of the Scioto Valley) and the western part of West Virginia. Moreover, there is the statement by Haywood, already referred to, that the Cherokees had a tradition that in former times they dwelt on the Ohio and built mounds.

These data, though slender, when combined with the apparent similarity between the name Tallegwi and Cherokee or Chellakee, and the character of the works and traditions of the latter, furnish some ground for assuming that the two were one and the same people. But this assumption necessitates the further inference that the pressure which drove them southward is to be attributed to some other people than the Iroquois as known to history, as this movement must have taken place previous to the time the latter attained their ascendancy. It is probable that Mr. Hale is correct in deciding that the “Namaesi Sipu” of the tradition was not the Mississippi. [Footnote: Am. Antiquarian, vol. 5, 1883, p. 117.] His suggestion that it was that portion of the great river of the North (the St. Lawrence) which connects Lake Huron with Lake Erie, seems also to be more in conformity with the tradition and other data than any other which has been offered. If this supposition is accepted it would lead to the inference that the Talamatau, the people who joined the Delawares in their war on the Tallegwi, were Hurons or Huron—Iroquois previous to separation. That the reader may have the benefit of Mr. Hale’s views on this question, the following quotation from the article mentioned is given:

The country from which the Lenape migrated was Shinaki, the “land of fir trees,” not in the West but in the far North, evidently the woody region north of Lake Superior. The people who joined them in the war against the Allighewi (or Tallegwi, as they are called in this record), were the Talamatan, a name meaning “not of themselves,” whom Mr. Squier identities with the Hurons, and no doubt correctly, if we understand by this name the Huron—Iroquois people, as they existed before their separation. The river which they crossed was the Messusipu, the Great River, beyond which the Tallegwi were found “possessing the East.” That this river was not our Mississippi is evident from the fact that the works of the mound—builders extended far to the westward of the latter river, and would have been encountered by the invading nations, if they had approached it from the west, long before they arrived at its banks. The “Great River” was apparently the upper St. Lawrence, and most probably that portion of it which flows from Lake Huron to Lake Erie, and which is commonly known as the Detroit River. Near this river, according to Heckewelder, at a point west of Lake St. Clair, and also at another place just south of Lake Erie, some desperate conflicts took place. Hundreds of the slain Tallegwi, as he was told, were buried under mounds in that vicinity. This precisely accords with Cusick’s statement that the people of the great southern empire had “almost penetrated to Lake Erie” at the time when the war began. Of course in coming to the Detroit River from the region north of Lake Superior, the Algonquins would be advancing from the west to the east. It is quite conceivable that, after many generations and many wanderings, they may themselves have forgotten which was the true Messusipu, or Great River, of their traditionary tales.

The passage already quoted from Cusick’s narrative informs us that the contest lasted “perhaps one hundred years.” In close agreement with this statement the Delaware record makes it endure during the terms of four head—chiefs, who in succession presided in the Lenape councils. From what we know historically of Indian customs the average terms of such chiefs may be computed at about twenty—five years. The following extract from the record [Footnote: The Bark Record of the Leni Lenape.] gives their names and probably the fullest account of the conflict which we shall ever possess:

“Some went to the East, and the Tallegwi killed a portion.

“Then all of one mind exclaimed, War! War!

“The Talamatan (not—of—themselves) and the Nitilowan [allied north—people] go united (to the war).

“Kinnepehend (Sharp—Looking) was the leader, and they went over the river. And they took all that was there and despoiled and slew the Tallegwi.

“Pimokhasuwi (Stirring—about) was next chief, and then the Tallegwi were much too strong.

“Tenchekensit (Open—path) followed, and many towns were given up to him.

“Paganchihiella was chief, and the Tallegwi all went southward.

“South of the Lakes they (the Lenape) settled their council—fire, and north of the Lakes were their friends the Talamatan (Hurons!).”

There can he no reasonable doubt that the Alleghewi or Tallegwi, who have given their name to the Allegheny River and Mountains, were the mound—builders.

This supposition brings the pressing hordes to the northwest of the Ohio mound—builders, which is the direction, Colonel Force concludes, from the geographical position of the defensive works, they must have come.

The number of defensive works erected during the contest shows it must have been long and obstinate, and that the nation which could thus resist the attack of the northern hordes must have been strong in numbers and fertile in resources. But resistance proved in vain; they were compelled at last, according to the tradition, to leave the graves of their ancestors and flee southward in search of a place of safety.

Here the Delaware tradition drops them, but the echo comes up from the hills of East Tennessee and North Carolina in the form of the Cherokee tradition already mentioned, telling us where they found a resting place, and the mound testimony furnishes the intermediate link.

If they stopped for a time on New River and the head of the Holston, as Haywood conjectures, [Footnote: Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn., p. 223.—See Thomas, “Cherokees probably mound—builders,” Magazine Am. Hist., May. 1884, p. 398.] their line of retreat was in all likelihood up the valley of the Great Kanawha. This supposition agrees also with the fact that no traces of them are found in the ancient works of Kentucky or middle Tennessee. In truth, the works along the Ohio River from Portsmouth to Cincinnati and throughout northern Kentucky pertain to entirely different types from those of Ohio, most of them to a type found in no other section.

On the contrary, it happens precisely in accordance with the theory advanced and the Cherokeee traditions, that we find in the Kanawha Valley, near the city of Charleston, a very extensive group of ancient works stretching along the banks of the stream for more than two miles, consisting of quite large as well as small mounds, of circular and rectangular inclosures, etc. A careful survey of this group has been made and a number of the tumuli, including the larger ones, have been explored by the representatives of the Bureau.

The result of these explorations has been to bring to light some very important data bearing upon the question now under consideration. In fact we find here what seems to be beyond all reasonable doubt the connecting link between the typical works of Ohio and those of East Tennessee and North Carolina ascribed to the Cherokees.

The little stone vaults in the shape of bee—hives noticed and figured in the articles in Science and the American Naturalist, before referred to, discovered by the Bureau assistants in Caldwell County, N. C., and Sullivan County, Tenn., are so unusual as to justify the belief that they are the work of a particular tribe, or at least pertain to an ethnic type. Yet under one of the large mounds at Charleston, on the bottom of a pit dug in the original soil, a number of vaults of precisely the same form were found, placed, like those of the Sullivan County mound, in a circle. But, though covering human remains moldered back to dust, they were of hardened clay instead of stone. Nevertheless, the similarity in form, size, use, and conditions under which they were found is remarkable, and, as they have been found only at the points mentioned, the probability is suggested that the builders in the two sections were related.

There is another link equally strong. In a number of the larger mounds on the sites of the “over—hill towns,” in Blount and Loudon Counties, Tenn., saucer—shaped beds of burnt clay, one above another, alternating with layers of coals and ashes, were found. Similar beds were also found in the mounds at Charleston. These are also unusual, and, so far as I am aware, have been found only in these two localities. Possibly they are outgrowths of the clay altars of the Ohio mounds, and, if so, reveal to us the probable use of these strange structures. They were places where captives were tortured and burned, the most common sacrifices the Indians were accustomed to make. Be this supposition worthy of consideration or not, it is a fact worthy of notice in this connection that in one of the large mounds in this Kanawha group one of the so—called “clay altars” was found at the bottom of precisely the same pattern as those found by Squier and Davis in the mounds of Ohio.

In these mounds were also found wooden vaults, constructed In exactly the same manner as that in the lower part of the Grave Creek mound; also others of the pattern of those found in the Ohio mounds, in which bark wrappings were used to enshroud the dead. Hammered copper bracelets, hematite celts and hemispheres, and mica plates, so characteristic of the Ohio tumuli, were also discovered here; and, as in East Tennessee and Ohio, we find at the bottom of mounds in this locality the post—holes or little pits which have recently excited considerable attention. We see another connecting link in the circular and rectangular inclosures, not combined as in Ohio, but analogous, and, considering the restricted area of the narrow valley, bearing as strong resemblance as might be expected if the builders of the two localities were one people.

It would be unreasonable to assume that all these similarities in customs, most of which are abnormal, are but accidental coincidences due to necessity and environment. On the contrary it will probably be conceded that the testimony adduced and the reasons presented justify the conclusion that the ancestors of the Cherokees were the builders of some at least of the typical works of Ohio; or, at any rate, that they entitle this conclusion to favorable consideration. Few, if any, will longer doubt that the Cherokees were mound builders in their historic seats in North Carolina and Tennessee. Starting with this basis, and taking the mound testimony, of which not even a tithe has been presented, the tradition of the Cherokees, the statement of Haywood, the Delaware tradition as given by Heckewelder, the Bark Record as published by Brinton and interpreted by Hale, and the close resemblance between the names Tallegwi and Chellakee, it would seem that there can remain little doubt that the two peoples were identical.

It is at least apparent that the ancient works of the Kanawha Valley and other parts of West Virginia are more nearly related to those of Ohio than to those of any other region, and hence they may justly be attributed to the same or cognate tribes. The general movement, therefore, must have been southward as indicated, and the exit of the Ohio mound—builders was, in all probability, up the Kanawha Valley on the same line that the Cherokees appear to have followed in reaching their historical locality. It is a singular fact and worthy of being mentioned here, that among the Cherokee names signed to the treaty made between the United States and this tribe at Tellico, in 1798, are the following: [Footnote: Treaties between the United States of America and the several Indian tribes (1837), p. 182.] Tallotuskee, Chellokee, Yonaheguah, Keenakunnah, and Teekakatoheeunah, which strongly suggest relationship to names found in the Allegheny region, although the latter come to us through the Delaware tongue.

If the hypothesis here advanced be correct, it is apparent that the Cherokees entered the immediate valley of the Mississippi from the northwest, striking it in the region of Iowa. This supposition is strengthened not only by the similarity in the forms of the pipes found in the two sections, but also in the structure and contents of many of the mounds found along the Mississippi in the region of western Illinois. So striking is this that it has been remarked by explorers whose opinions could not have been biased by this theory.

Mr. William McAdams, in an address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, remarks: “Mounds, such as are here described, in the American Bottom and low—lands of Illinois are seldom, if ever, found on the bluffs. On the rich bottom lands of the Illinois River, within 50 miles of its mouth, I have seen great numbers of them and examined several. The people who built them are probably connected with the Ohio mound—builders, although in this vicinity they seem not to have made many earthen embankments, or walls inclosing areas of land, as is common in Ohio. Their manner of burial was similar to the Ohio mound— builders, however, and in this particular they had customs similar to the mound—builders of Europe.” [Footnote: Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 29th (Boston) meeting, 1880 (1881), p. 715.] One which he opened in Calhoun County, presented the regular form of the Ohio “altar.”

A mound in Franklin County, Ind., described and figured by Dr. G. W. Homsher, [Footnote: Smithsonian Report for 1882 (1884), p. 722.] presents some features strongly resembling those of the North Carolina mounds.

The works of Cuyahoga County and other sections of northern Ohio bordering the lake, and consisting chiefly of inclosures and defensive walls, are of the same type as those of New York, and may be attributed to people of the Iroquoian stock. Possibly they may be the works of the Eries who, we are informed, built inclosures. If such conclusion be accepted it serves to strengthen the opinion that this lost tribe was related to the Iroquois. The works of this type are also found along the eastern portion of Michigan as far north as Ogemaw County.

The box shaped stone graves of the State are due to the Delawares and Shawnees, chiefly the former, who continued to bury in sepulchers of this type after their return from the East. Those in Ashland and some other counties, as is well known, mark the location of villages of this tribe. Those along the Ohio, which are chiefly sporadic, are probably Shawnee burial places, and older than those of the Delawares. The bands of the Shawnees which settled in the Scioto Valley appear to have abandoned this method of burial.

There are certain mounds consisting entirely or in part of stone, and also stone graves or vaults of a peculiar type, found in the extreme southern portions of the State and in the northern part of Kentucky, which can not be connected with any other works, and probably owe their origin to a people who either became extinct or merged into some other tribe so far back that no tradition of them now remains.

Recently a resurvey of the remaining circular, square, and octagonal works of Ohio has been made by the Bureau agents. The result will be given in a future bulletin.

Read More Here:

North America Inhabited by a White People before the Ancients (Jaredites)

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.

One of the great myths that is promoted by those who believe the Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon, is that there in a lack of evidence of any large battle at Hill Cumorah. They always speak of no arrowheads being found on or around the Hill Cumorah thus this proves the final battles were on some other hill in Mexico. They choose Mexico because that is where the many monuments and pyramids were found in about 1842. Another problem with these pyramids is they are dated from 700 to 1000 AD, long after the Nephites would have lived there.

Part 1 Below is from Ted Dee Stoddard who is a huge Mesoamerican supporter. Part 2 are evidences from many Heartlanders finding all types of arrowheads on and around Hill Cumorah and the mid-west of North America.

Mesoamerican Theorists also ask, “where are all the large cities in North America?” We can show thousands of cities in Mesoamerica. In North America we can find millions of Mounds and Cultural Centers especially all over the Eastern part of North America. See maps below.

Part1 Mesoamerican Theory

EVIDENCES THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON TOOK PLACE IN MESOAMERICA

Why Mesoamerica?

Criteria for Book of Mormon Lands and People
 There are several theories held among Latter-day Saints for the location of Book of Mormon lands. Some place the geography of the book in upstate New York or near the Great Lakes. Others look to Peru and South America, or to the Baja Peninsula, or Texas, and some even propose the Malaysian Peninsula. BMAF supports a Mesoamerican context for the major Book of Mormon sites. Other locations may meet some of the following criteria, but only Mesoamerica meets all these elements required by the book itself.  This list of criteria is not a cafeteria list.  Any Book of Mormon lands proposal must be able to demonstrate all.

The Demise of One “Mormon Myth” about the Hill Cumorah

by Ted Dee Stoddard, Phd  BMAF Board of Advisers

In recent Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum email circles, we’ve been discussing the need for conducting soil samples around the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York to verify whether hundreds of thousands of Jaredite, Nephite, and Lamanite soldiers indeed lost their lives around the hill. If they did, soil samples would confirm the presence of higher-than-normal levels of calcium and phosphate from the skeletal remains of the deceased soldiers. I personally think the Hill Cumorah soil-sample “evidence” that some Book of Mormon readers “teach” is nothing more than a “Mormon myth,” but I’m willing to bide my time until my thinking is confirmed or until I have to “eat crow” as a result of my thinking.

I’m guilty—and I admit it—of promoting several Mormon myths while I was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1950s. One particular myth I “taught” dealt with warfare artifacts, especially arrowheads, which presumably had been found around the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York. During each fourth discussion, the Book of Mormon lesson, I routinely said something like the following: “Proof that tremendous ancient battles took place around the Hill Ramah/Cumorah comes from the arrowheads that have been found around the hill where the last great battles of the Jaredites and Nephites-Lamanites took place. Archaeologists and others have picked up bushel basket after bushel basket of arrowheads around the hill.”

I now know that such comments represent the epitome of what I fondly refer to as a “Mormon myth.” I didn’t teach the Cumorah arrowhead myth because I was deceitful. I firmly believed the account that had been passed on to me by other senior missionaries who helped prepare me for missionary work. In connection with the Cumorah arrowhead myth, the excerpts from the letter that follows were written by Langdon Smith, a member of the Church who, upon hisretirement, did archaeological investigations around the Hill Cumorah area in upstate New York. The letter as given below is taken from the second edition of Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Lovell Allen and Blake Joseph Allen, pages 702–3. At the time he wrote the letter, Langdon had not been exposed to the thinking that the “real” hill Cumorah of the Book of Mormon was located in Mesoamerica.

To: Book of Mormon Archaeological Digest
From: Langdon Smith, New Haven, Vermont, 2001

In the full text of his letter, Langdon refers to a man who lived in the Palmyra region who was a collector of artifacts. The man was not a member of the Church, but he had read the Book of Mormon. According to Smith, the elderly man, whose name is J. Golden Fisher, stated, “There just aren’t any artifacts of the kind spoken of in the [Book of Mormon] around that hill.” Langdon concludes by expressing his faith that the Church is true and that the Book of Mormon is a second witness of Christ. He then says, “But the battle, well, it must have been fought at some other hill.”

Langdon’s comments add to my chagrin for teaching the “arrowhead Mormon myth” about Cumorah while I was a missionary. Such outcomes naturally make me interested in having answers to the following questions: Are Mormon missionaries today still teaching the Cumorah arrowhead myth? Are they also teaching what will likely turn out to be a Mormon myth about purported soil samples associated with Cumorah?

More information: Stoddard, Ted Dee Topic/Type: Book of Mormon Names and Places The Great Lakes”Heartland” ModelE-mail Articles

Part 2 Heartland Model

“One of the old Indian Trails which became the route of the first road of the white man in this area, from Canandaigua Lake, two miles south of the Hill to Lake Ontario twenty-two miles north passing the “nose” of the Hill Cumorah. The finding of Indian arrow and spearheads in great quantities on the slopes of the Hill and in the fields surrounding it indicates that long after the great battle in which the Nephites were annihilated Hill Cumorah has been an important battle ground. Willard Bean’s  experience coincides with Giles’ conclusion as he found many arrowheads and artifacts as he visited and worked on the Hill Cumorah in the early 1900’s.” A STUDY OF THE HILL CUMORAH: A SIGNIFICANT LATTER-DAY SAINT LANDMARK IN WESTERN NEW YORK Cameron J. Packer Religious Education Master of Arts

“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)

In New York State Bulletin #2 it is documented that several miles south of “Mormon Hill,” as it was then called, a site was found where flint arrowheads and spear points and many unfinished weapons were found in great abundance. All of the above sources are cited in Brenton G. Yorgason, Little Known Evidences of the Book of Mormon, 1989, p. 10.

Artifacts near Montrose Iowa

Jerry Sloat/ June 28, 2000, Daily Democrat, Fort Madison, Iowa.

The wooded hills and ravines along the rivers in this area were popular Indian hunting and camping grounds for hundreds of years before the appearance of white settlers. So the archeological survey to be conducted prior to construction work in Happy Hollow this year should result in some interesting finds.

Although the climate of the Midwest is not conductive to the preservation of wood, leather or bone, an abundance of stone remnants of past Indian cultures, arrowheads, axe heads, knives, pestles, and other stone implements — were once easily found in the smaller streams and freshly plowed fields along the Mississippi, Skunk and Des Moines river valleys.

Three or four generations ago nearly every young boy owned a cigar box full of such treasures. Many were broken pieces or arrowheads, shards of pottery, spear points and effigy good luck stones. Perfect, unbroken pieces were true collectors items, and many a boy or young man who was an avid artifact hunter, and perhaps bit of a shrewd trader to boot, built impressive collections of Indian implements.

There are still many such collectors around. But with the passing years actually finding an artifact is becoming harder and harder. Many collectors now depend upon trading or buying the choice specimens needed to complete a display.

Perhaps one of the most plentiful sources of Indian artifacts in this area has been the area around Montrose. Because of its location along the rapids of the Mississippi, and the excellent fishing there, it is believed that Indian villages of one sort or another have been there for a thousand years. When the white settlers first appeared here it was the location of a Sac and Fox encampment called “Cut Nose Village.” Until they were driven out by the Sac and Fox, it was thought to be the location of an Illini Indian village. Before that it was probably once occupied by the Iowa tribe, and even earlier, by the prehistoric Woodland Indian civilizations who disappeared so mysteriously.

In the late 19th century nearly everyone in Montrose had a collection or Indian artifacts. Fred Green found a 15 pound stone axe head in such perfect condition that it is now in a British museum.

J.B. Kiel collected dozens of stone axe heads, and more than a thousand arrowheads, spear points, knives and grinding stones. He sold and gave hundreds of them to the Smithsonian Institute and the Davenport Academy of Science.

Manessa Reeves was digging a trench in front of his store at Montrose and unearthed a war axe weighing over seven pounds but it was an imperfect specimen because a sizable chunk had been broken off. Ray Rigby found a four pound stone pestle that had probably been used to grind hominy, a favorite Indian food.

Among the more unusual finds was one by Fred Barker. His was a large double-edged axe with a hole drilled through it for a handle. Most stone axes were grooved on either side so that the split end of a handle could be tied to it.

On his farm just below Montrose, Jerry Anderson collected 20 hatchets, axes and mortars as well as a large number of stone knives, spear points and arrowheads. They were found in such a small area that Anderson believed it must have been either a manufacturing location or a storage place.

The Montrose area was so rich in Indian artifacts that they can still be found in numbers there. When Paul Hellige built a new house in the Schlotter addition near Montrose a couple of dozen years ago, he found many arrowheads while digging the basement.

It is unlikely that Happy Hollow was ever as popular an Indian location as Montrose. But when the Sac and Fox Indians laid seige to the original Fort Madison during the War of 1812, they had to have a sizable camp nearby. What would have been a better location — close by, but still out of sight and sound of the fort — than Happy Hollow! By John Lefgren

Support for Arrowheads, Artifacts, and Mounds, near Zarahemla.

John Lefgren and Wayne May are ready to do some scanning in Montrose, Iowa. They will be looking for evidence of ancient people living in that area during the time of the Nephites. The Germans with their world famous SENSYS Magnetometry equipment will be flying into Iowa to do the scanning. Below is a brief description of what they will be doing from Nov 9-12, 2020.

The preparations for the November Expedition are underway. The German engineers are getting the SENSYS MX V3 equipment with all its associated parts ready. Here is a video link that shows the packaging of the equipment. The freight is moving as air and surface cargo from Berlin, Germany, to Montrose, Iowa. We are making an allowance in the shipping time for a few days to clear U.S. Customs. We have already rented space near the site for assembly and storage of the equipment. he success of our search depends entirely upon the science that produces exact measurements. Of all the sub-terrain archaeological artifacts that SENSYS can quickly identify, fire pits are among the easiest. The heat of ancient fires altered the magnetic properties of soils and rocks. The SENSYS fluxgate tube can measure one-billionth of a Tesla (one nano-Tesla). The earth’s magnetic field that moves the needle of a Boy Scout’s compass is 50,000 nano-Teslas. So, the SENSYS machine is about 1/50,000th as sensitive as a compass needle. This fineness of measurement makes it possible to locate an ancient fire pit or post hole. There are 16 data readings per square inch. Figure it out. How many square inches in a hundred acres? Each magnetic data reading is significant. Each point has GPS coordinates that are +/- 0.25″ accurate. These measurements are beyond the understanding of any scientist or engineer from a past generation. That is how far modern science has taken us. During the last week, we have put our attention on community relations. There can be no discovery unless we can gain access to farmland. Now that the harvest is over, several owners have permitted us to scan their lands. Over ten days, we plan to survey 1,000 acres. We will have a reception for landowners to come to the site to see the scanning for themselves. We want to show them the exciting digital maps that will have evidence of ancient human activities from the ground. Science teachers from the local high school have expressed their interest in bringing busloads of students to the site. We are pleased to arrange a schedule to accommodate their requests. On the third day of the Expedition, we will have new and exciting images that will show what is buried underground. So, high school students will have a chance to see the equipment in operation on the farmlands of Lee County. From Ohio, Richard Moats, an archeologist, will also give students the benefit of his more than 30 years of experience in this field of study. We are sure that this will be an exciting project. We are arranging for representatives of the local press to come to the project so they can report on the local students’ interest in discovering pre-Eutotation habitation from the very lands they walk. We are ready to give to students, landowners, and local government officials a fascinating demonstration of how modern science makes it possible to see something that was last seen 2,000 years. We are happy to report that yesterday a former President of the Iowa Academy of Science agreed to help us with our community outreach. The Academy started in 1875 and has promoted the understanding of science in Iowa for one and a half centuries. The data flow from our search is enormous. Yesterday we retained the services of two computer scientists who have 70 years of computer programming. They have already begun to organize the systems required to handle such a volume of data. The German engineers and scientists will ensure that American computer experts can create essential images on digital maps. We are grateful for these developments. SENSYS Scanning

Support for Arrowheads, Artifacts, Pottery, Head and Breastplates near Cumorah.

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bofm.blog/hill-cumorah-archaeological-verification/

bofm.blog/mounds-skeletons-artifacts-near-cumorah/

bofm.blog/jaredites-nephites-josephites-final-battle-at-cumorah/

bofm.blog/bones-at-cumorah/

bofm.blog/a-study-of-the-hill-cumorah-a-significant-latter-day-saint-landmark-in-western-new-york/

Hundreds of Thousands of Arrowheads USA

Who’s Who in Indian Relics Volumes 1-16 acres not like any other Who’s Who book. It is entirely a book of photographed artifacts, showing thousands and thousands of pictures of authentic prehistoric artifacts. There are 16 volumes and about 400 pages in each all in full color. It chronicles present day collectors and their collections. Artifact identification. Published by The Messenger Printing Co., Kirkwood., 1988

Over 1,000,000 Mounds

“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 [2013].

State of Ohio over 8,500 Culture sites of 50 to 100 mounds each.