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Relics of some lost race were found with nearly every turn of the spade in upper New York during the early
years of colonization. Thus, it was commonly accepted by scholars and laymen alike, and even by the early saints, that an ancient
civilization once occupied the area long before the Indians became lords of the land. Yet it is the Indians who hold the secrets relevant
to the lost lands of the Book of Mormon. In the introduction of the Book of Mormon we read: “The record gives an account of two great
civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterwards separated into two nations, one known as the Nephites, and the
other the Lamanites. . . after a thousand years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of
the American Indians.”
Unfortunately, while the early Saints were eager to convert the Indians of their day, supposiing them to
be the Lamanites, they could not seem to reconcile their humble settlements as remnants of the lost civilzation of their Nephite
brothers. Thus, they began to look elsewhere for Book of Mormon territory, which led the noted intellectual and LDS archaeologist,
Hugh Nibley, to say:
"Blinded by the gold of the pharaohs and the mighty ruins of Babylon, Book of Mormon students have declared themselves
“not interested” in the drab and common place remains of our lowly Indians. But in all the Book of Mormon we look in vain for anything
that promises majestic ruins." 1
As the Saints moved further and further away from New York during their years of exile, the memory of Cumorah
soon faded from their minds. Even so, the questions about where Book of Mormon activity took place was never far from their thoughts,
which prompted the rise of a number of theories about where it all may have taken place. Unfortunately, some of the landmarks mentioned
in the scriptures could not be readily identified at that early point in history. In fact, little effort was given the study of Book
of Mormon geography during the years the Saints were being persecuted and driven from place to place, and ultimately to the Rocky
Mountains. Because the few maps available made it clear that North America was connected to South America by much narrower neck of
land, the entire hemisphere was thought to be Book of Mormon territory for a time, with all the native tribes of the Americas thought
to be Lamanites, for they all looked pretty much alike to the Saints. However, as more and more attention began to be given the scriptures
it became pretty obvious that the hemispheric model had to be pared down, for people of the ancient world simply did not have the
means or inclination to travel over such extensive territories, unless migrating. The Book of Mormon describes movement from one city
to the next taking in just a day or two. In fact, when King Benjamin called all the people of Zarahemla together to announce that
his son Mosiah would succeed him to the throne, they gathered in just one day, for he taught them on the “morrow.” Such incidents
make it all too obvious that they did not gather together across hundreds of miles as required in the hemispheric model. This was
a very limited area, one small enough that armies could march from city to city in just a day or two to help defend a neighbor’s city,
or help build or repair a town destroyed by the Lamanites.
With so few answers available, and so many theories to chose from, the saints were primed
and ready when John Lloyd Stephen’s book Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, came out with its illustrated
drawings and descriptions of the wondrous Mayan temples and monuments found in Mesoamerica. Here they had evidence of civilized and
cultured people and in a much more limited area. Little did they know at the time that the Maya would prove to be a fearful race,
with a decadent pagan religion. The temples once thought to be Nephite temples were stained with the blood of countless thousands
sacrificial victims, who, after ascending the steps of the temple, had their hearts torn out. we might remember that the Lord had
forobidden the Israelites to build their altars with hewn stone like the Maya did, or of constructing steps such as those
that led to Mayan altars. He said:
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, . . . And if thou wilt make me an altar
of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go
up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. (Exodus 20:24-26.)
Gratefully, after finally deciphering their strange hieroglyphics, the dark world of the Maya has finally come to light,
a people nothing like the Nephites. Frank Joseph revealed in an article on the subject that “in July of 2001, the world’s leading
authorities on the Maya civilization convened for a conference near Copan. . . . Honduras’ first Copan Congress illuminated the dark
world of the Maya and revealed a people who made great cultural achievements, but displayed equally great cruelty. J. Leslie Mitchell
referred to their religion as being ‘as dreadful as the world has ever seen,’ and substantiates that opinion by referring to their
customs of ‘tortures, flaying people alive, and human sacrifice.” 2 It is no wonder the Spanish Fathers burned so many Mayan books
when they first came upon them, lest Christianity be stopped in its progress.
Unfortunately, the early Saints had no way of knowing such facts at the time, nor much in the way of instruction on geography,
or the ethnology of the various races scattered across the hemisphere. Moreover, there were no alternate theories being presented,
nor any way to debate them if theiy had been. Nor could they have known at the time that most of the ruins thought to be Nephite in
origin post-date the Nephite era by several centuries. Even John Lloyd Stephens himself did not date the Mayan ruins he discovered
very much earlier than the Spanish Invasion.
He said:
"I am inclined to think that there are not sufficient grounds for the belief in the great antiquity that
has been ascribed to these ruins; that they are not the works of people who have passed away and whose history has become unknown.
Opposite as is my idea to all previous speculations, I am inclined to think that they were constructed by races who occupied the country
at the time of the invasion by the Spaniards, or of some not very distant progenitors.” 3
Time and modern dating methods have proven him right, but little of that information ever filtered down to
the Saints. Thus, theories continued to rise which placed Zarahemla and other prominent cities in the Book of Mormon in settings from
Guatemala to Mexico.
One of the first limited models was created by a member of the RLDS Church, Louis Edward Hills, who John Sorenson
credits with coming up with the first model which made the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Central America the narrow neck of land. The
setting proposed by Hills has Lehi landing in El Salvador, has the Usumacinta River as the Sidon, and places the Hill Cumorah in Mexico.4Because many among the Reorganized Church do not find the subjects contained in the D&C doctrinally binding, such as D&C 128,
which places Cumorah in New York state, it was easy for them to take North America out of the equation altogether. Even so, none of
the early LDS Apostles ever questioned that western New York was the proper location for the Hill Cumorah. In the face of so much
evidence coming from Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, Joseph Fielding smith remarked:
"We cannot say that the Nephites and Lamanites did not possess the territory of the United State and that the Hill
Cumorah is in Central America. Neither can we say that the great struggle which resulted in the destruction of the Nephites took place
in Central America. . . From all the evidence in the Book of Mormon, augmented by the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, these
final battles took place in the territory known as the United States of America and in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes and hills
of western New York. And here Moroni found the resting place for the scared instruments entrusted to his care." 5
It seems strange that the Mesoamerican theory has persisted so long, for John Sorenson himself, a leading authority on
the Mesoamerican setting, claims: “archaeological work done in the area where the final battles took place, supposing that to be around
the Tuxtla Mountains of Veracurz—is not sufficiently detailed to identify evidence of battles.” 6
Yet it
is the opinion of numerous scholars that western New York was the scene of a terrible exterminating battle.
"The museums in New York state are filled with the instruments of warfare that had been fashioned by the
red men and so freely used in that historic area. The opinion is expressed in all those relic halls that western New York was the
site of an ancient battlefield. There is more evidence of a well planned defensive warfare in that locality than there is in any other
region on the American continent. It is the opinion of most scholars that the defenses on the drumlin hills were prepared by a people
more civilized than the Indians and were exterminated by the inferior race who were still in possession of the country when Columbus
discovered the land." 7
Professor O. Turner wrote extensively about that ancient race. He said:
". . . there is perhaps no portion of the United States where ancient relics are more numerous. Commencing near Oswego River, they
extend westward all over the western counties of the state. We clear away the forests and speak familiarly of subduing the “virgin
soil,” and yet the plow upturns the skulls of those whose history is lost. Then as now the western portion of New York state had attractions
and inducements to make it a favorite residence, . . . The forests invited the chase, the rivers and lakes, local commerce and fishing,
and the fertile soil for agriculture. The evidence that this was one, at least, of their final battlefields, predominate. They are
the fortifications, entrenchments, and warlike instruments of an extinct race. That here was war of extermination we may well conclude
from masses of human skeletons we find indiscriminately thrown together, indicating a common and simultaneous sepulture from which
age, infancy, sex and no condition was exempt. "8
References to a New York Cumorah by various Church leaders presented problems for Mesoamerican theorists, for it meant Moroni
would have had to carry the plates thousands of miles before burying them, which led David Palmer to susggest that
maybe there were two hill Cumorahs. He said:
"There are two hills called Cumorah. The one in the state of New York was where Moroni buried the plates later
given to Joseph Smith. The original hill Cumorah is in Mexico. It was the place where Mormon buried the Nephite library and where
the Nephites were destroyed."9
In response to such an unorthodox notion, Mark E. Peterson, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
stood In General Conference on March 5th, 1953, and tried to dissuade the Saints from accepting the newly proposed theory. He said:
" I do not believe that we should accept every theory advanced by men of science as though it were true. These men
change their minds much too often for that. I do not believe that we should give credence to the highly speculative theories about
Book of Mormon geography. I do not believe that there were two Hill Cumorahs, one in Central America, and the other one in New York,
for the convenience of the Prophet Joseph Smith, so that the poor boy would not have to walk clear to Central America to get the gold
plates. I do not believe we can be good Latter-Day Saints and question the integrity of Joseph Smith. 10
Of additional importance is the fact that an entire Nephite library was seen by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery,
right there in New York. Brigham Young recounts the experience they had:
The hill opened up and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he
did not think, at the time, whether they had light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid
the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet
high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up on the corners and along
the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and
laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: “This sword will never be sheathed
again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ. 11
Can we suppose that many wagon loads of plates were transported over thousands of miles from Mexico to the Hill
Cumorah in New York state where Joseph and Oliver then saw them? Reason suggests no!
"This modernistic theory of necessity, in order to be consistent, must place the waters of Ripliancum and
the Hill Cumorah some place within the restricted territory of Central America, notwithstanding the teachings of the Church to the
contrary for upwards of 100 years. Because of this theory some members of the Church have become confused and greatly disturbed in
their faith in the Book of Mormon. . . .
It is known that the Hill Cumorah where the Nephites were destroyed is the hill where the Jaredites were
also destroyed. This hill was known to the Jaredites as Ramah. It was approximately near to the waters of Ripliancum, which the Book
of Ether says, ‘by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all.” Mormon adds: “And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land
of Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites.”
(Ether 15: 8-11.)
It must be conceded that this description fits perfectly the land of Cumorah in New York, as it has been known since
the visitation of Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for the hill is in the proximity of the Great Lakes, and also in the land of
many rivers and fountains. Moreover, the Prophet Joseph Smith himself is on record, definitely declaring the present hill called Cumorah
to be the exact hill spoken of in the Book of Mormon.
Further, the fact that all of his associates from the beginning down have spoken of it as the identical hill
where Mormon and Moroni hid the records, must carry some weight. It is difficult for a reasonable person to believe that such men
as Oliver Cowdery, Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, David Whitmer, and many others, could speak frequently of the spot
where the Prophet Joseph Smith obtained the plates as the Hill Cumorah, and not be corrected by the Prophet if that were not the fact.
That they did speak of this hill in the days of the Prophet in this definite manner is an established record of history." 12
Let us finally leave Mesoamerica to the people God led to that regions, some of which were also Israelites according
to my findings. Joseph's seed was destined to inherit the promised land of America forever, a land choice above all others, a
land of liberty seen in prophetic vison as far back as Nephi’s day. In so doing we will make the final paradigm shift from the original
hemispheric view of Book of Mormon geography, and the subsequent limited Mesoamerican setting, back to the regions around our very
own Hill Cumorah where it belonged all along.
1-Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon. Melchizedek Priesthood manual, 1957, app. sec. titled “ Looking for the wrong things.”
2-Frank Joseph, “Latest Discoveries Show the Maya in a New Light,” Ancient American, issue # 41, pp. 37-39.
3-John Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas & Yucatan, vol.2, p. 374.
4-John Sorenson, The Geography of Book of Mormon Events, A Source Book, p. 31-33, 87-88.
5-Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salivation, vol. 3, pp. 240-241
6-John Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting, p. 133.
7-McGavin & Bean, Geography of the Book of Mormon, p. 87-88.
8-O Turner, Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York. P 20.
9-David Palmer, Why Search for Cumorah, FARMS Reprint, p. 26.
10-Mark E. Peterson, The Improvement Era, 143 Annual Conference of the Church, April 4-6, 1953; pp. 83-84.
11-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses vol., 19, p. 38.
12-Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, pp. 233-234.
The Shifting Focus of
Book of Mormon
Geography