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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 State where ancient relics are more numerous.
Commencing near Oswego River, they extending 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. [1]
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.
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.
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:
1- 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
utensils and urns forged with taste, and constructed upon the principle of
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.
Notes:
1-O. Turner, Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase, pp.
18-19.
2-E. G. Squire, Antiquities of the State of New York, pp. 10-12.
3-Mc Gavin & W. Bean. The Geography of the Book of Mormon, pp. 59 - 90.
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