The historian, O. Turner, has written
extensively about the mysterious ancient civilization that once made New York
their home.
We are surrounded by evidence that a race preceded the present Indians,
farther advanced in civilizations and the arts, and far more numerous. Here
and there upon the brow of hills, at the head of ravines, are their
fortifications, their location selected with skill and adapted to refuge,
subsistence and defense. Uprooted trees of the forest that are the growth of
many centuries, expose their molding remains, the uncovered mounds with masses
of their skeletons promiscuously heaped one on top of the other, as if they
were the gathered and hurriedly entombed dead of well contested battlefields.
In our villages, upon our hillsides, the plow and the spade discover their
rude implements adapted to war, the chase and domestic use. All these
unintelligible witnesses, bring but unsatisfactory knowledge of races that
have preceded us. Although not confined to this region, there is perhaps no portion of the
United States where ancient relics are more numerous. Commencing near Oswego
River, they extended westwardly over all the western counties of the state.
We clear away our forests and speak familiarly of subduing the "Virgin
soil," and yet the plow up turns 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, for this ancient people, assailed
from the north and east, made this their refuge in a war of extermination,
fortified the commanding eminences, met the shock of a final issue, were
subject to its adverse results. The forest 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 a war of extermination, we may well conclude, from
masses of human skeletons we find indiscriminately thrown together, indicating
a common and simultaneous sepulcher from which age, infancy, sex and no
condition, was exempt.
Bones, many of which indicate a race of people one third larger than the present, have been found throughout the New York region. Artifacts of brass, copper, silver and iron have been found everywhere - including swords and shields and numerous articles of warfare. The ruins of fortifications such as those built by Moroni dot the countryside, and the evidence of a superior race who predate the Indians can be found throughout the territory. Unfortunately, little is mentioned of these discoveries and any comments regarding them have been very selective. Consequently few of the Saints are even aware of their existence.
Many of these artifacts date back to antiquity which clearly indicate a highly civilized people once lived in the area. Even the ancient forts in the region are strikingly similar to those built by Moroni and his people - complete with palisades of timbers and moats surrounding them. Numerous artifacts of war have also been found.
These fortifications extended from the counties of St. Lawrence on the north, (eastern end of Lake Ontario) to Chautauqua on the south, (land of Nephi) embracing the counties of Jefferson, (land northward) Oswego, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, Wayne, Monroe, Livingston, (all within the land of many waters) Orleans, Niagara, (both within the western extension of the land northward) Erie, (Zarahemla) Genesee, (Bountiful) and Wyoming (the eastern borders.) Such powerful external evidence of an ancient people once occupying an area so closely matching the descriptions given within the text cannot easily be dismissed. E. G. Squire describes the area:
Throughout this entire region ancient remains are found in considerable abundance;
. . . It
is to be presumed that they are most numerous in sections remarkable for their
fertility of soil, their proximity to favorable hunting and fishing grounds - in
short, possessing the greatest number of requisites to easy subsistence. . .They
are particularly numerous in Jefferson county, in the vicinity of the central
lakes, in the southern part of Monroe, in Livingston, Genesee, and Erie
counties. Many are said to exist in Chautauqua; but the lateness of the season,
and the unsuspected number of remains elsewhere claiming attention, prevented me
from examining them.
In 1812, Governor De Witt Clinton made the following
comment about the early inhabitants of his
state. He said:
Previous to the occupancy of this region by the progenitors of the present race of Indians, it was inhabited by a race of men much more populous and more advanced in civilization. Who they were, whence they came and whither they went, have been themes of speculation by learned antiquarians, who have failed to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. He further comments: Why have we no history of such a nation as must have inhabited this part of the world? Probably if a knowledge of these ancient people is ever obtained, it will be derived from inscriptions on stone or metals, which have withstood the rust of time.3
Little did he know that just 18 years later a book would come forth; a book translated from golden plates which would give the history of the people who built these forts and who once roamed the very regions he was standing on.
Dr. Bradford, author of American Antiquities, is convinced these numerous fortifications were built by a people: "elevated far above the savage state. Many of them indicate great elegance of taste, and a high degree of dexterous workmanship and mechanical skill." He regards them as monuments of an "ancient and enlightened people." After extensive research of the many fortifications and monuments left by these ancient people he came to several enlightened conclusions:
utensils and urns forged with taste, and constructed upon the principle of1- That they were all of the same origin, branches of the same race, and possessed of
similar customs and institutions.2- That they were populous, and occupied a great extent of territory
3- That they had arrived at a considerable degree of civilization, were associated in large
communities, and lived in extensive cities.4- That they possessed the use of many of the metals such as lead, copper, gold, and
silver, and probably the art of working in them.5- They sculptured in stone, and sometimes used that material in the construction of
their edifices.6- That they had the knowledge of the arch of receding steps, of the art of pottery, -
producing
chemical compositions and of the art of brick-making.
7- That they worked the salt springs, and manufactured that substance.
8- That they were an agricultural people living under the
influence and protection of
regular forms of government.
9- That they possessed a decided system of religion, and a
mythology connected with
astronomy, which, with its sister science geometry,
was in the hands of the priesthood.
10- That they were skilled in the art of fortification.
11- That the epoch of their original settlement, in the United States, is of great antiquity.
Such attributes bear remarkable similarities to those peoples described within the Book of Mormon and lends further credence to the premise that western New York was the homeland of both the Nephite and Jaredite nations. The sheer number of artifacts found in the area, and the comments of those who excavated the territory before the encroachment of civilization, provides ample evidence that a vanished race once lived in western New York. Artifacts abound, ancient burial mounds are present, and numerous fortifications similar to those described in the scriptures dot the landscape. Nowhere else can we find so many qualifying similarities between the animals, grains, and minerals mentioned in the Book of Mormon either. Of even more importance is the fact that nowhere else can we find more successful correlations between the topography of a given land and those described in the Book of Mormon. For this reason, and because the lands in question were located in the promised land (United States of America), the territory of western New York is worthy of serious consideration in the search for the lands of the Nephites and Jaredites. Far too many things fit far too well for this setting to be dismissed lightly.
End Notes:
1- O. Turner, Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase,
pp. 18-19.
2
3- Mc Gavin & W. Bean. The Geography of the Book of Mormon, pp. 59 - 90.
Copyright © 1998 by Phyllis Carol Olive