Documented Basis for Book of Mormon Map

What is being presented here has a solid logical basis upon what has been stated by authorities and other historical sources. And it conforms to what the Book of Mormon itself does also state. Presumptions and subjective judgmental bias aside, it is sound and supportable and quite objective in its development.

At a time when the known and current facts concerning Ocean travel would consent to a possible crossing of the Pacific Ocean from West to East of being achievable with the currents and winds, it was scholarly accepted that a Ship could well achieve a land fall on the Chilian coast. But no one would even have accepted or considered as possible a landing from the east to the west to have been 'a little south of the Isthmus of Darien'. It just was not possible with the knowledge of that day. Since that day, the facts relative to the 'El Nino' effects have been discovered and considered. And in an El Nino year, a crossing could very well have been made that could have landed just south of the Isthmus of Darien.

After the death of Joseph Smith and further after the death of Fredrick G. Williams, an obscure slip of paper was a gift to the Church by Ezra G. Williams, the son of Elder Williams in 1864. On that paper were found notes considered written by Elder Frederick G. Williams, one of Joseph Smith's counselors concerning doctrine and history of the Church with lines setting off each such item. At the bottom of the page was the item concerning the Chili landing site. Ezra himself identified the writing as in his father's hand but he never did state that any of the notes were of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Study has shown the possibly the slip of paper came from a meeing of 'The School of the Prophets' as it matches another such paper of Elder Williams in its form. Note: in the school of the prophets each other would in turn present and tend to teach or discuss some item of study. So at best it would be a note written down from such a discussion. There is nothing that suggests that it was Joseph Smith who was the source of the noted statement. A July 1950 Improvement Era article by John A. Widtsoe discounts the note as having been a 'revelation of Joseph Smith' as some had began to speculate that it was. He state that diligent search had failed to trace it to the Prophet.

Some who favored the traditional models, particularly the 'western hemipherical model' have taught that it was given by Joseph Smith by revelation that Lehi landed on the Chili coast at 30 degrees latitude. By logic, reason of other arguments, this has been discounted as being a possible landing of Lehi's party.

"The course that Lehi traveled from the city of Jerusalem to the place where he and his family took ship, they traveled nearly a south south East direction until they came to the nineteenth degree of North Lattitude, then nearly east to the Sea of Arabia then sailed in a south east direction and landed on the continent of South America in Chile thirty degrees south Lattitude." (LDS Archive, Ms d 3408 fd 4)

The considered placement decided upon by this page is based upon a statement made during the Prophet Joseph Smith's life time and it is well documented as having appeared in the Times and Seasons Church publication of which Joseph Smith was the responsibile editor. That statement has been compiled into a book entitled, 'The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith' and credited as being authored as 'by Joseph Smith.' The people who compiled the book were those of the Church's Historian Office, with the Official Historian of the Church at the time being Joseph Fielding Smith as assisted by his aids. Joseph Fielding Smith later became the President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The relevant portion from that text is found on page 267 in most editions of the book and states:

" ... Lehi went down by the Red Sea to the great Southern Ocean, and crossed over to this land, and landed a little south of the Isthmus of Darien, ... " ~ TPJS, p. 267.

This 'Darien' landing site has historical support of a Muscogee Indian who ruled in the Creek confederacy and is recorded in Chapter 3 entitled 'The Modern Indians of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi' by Albert James Pickett's book "History of Alabama". It states: "In 1822, Big Warrior, who then ruled the Creek confederacy, confirmed this tradition, even going further back than Milfort, taking the Muscogees from Asia, bringing them over the Pacific, landing them near the Isthmus of Darien, and conducting them from thence to this country." Milfort was a prior historian who had extracted that the Muscogee had come from the land of Mexico years before the days when the Spanish had come.

Thus this last consideration of Lehi's landing has Church historical published fact of the Times and Season as well as Joseph Fielding Smith's considered word on it in the text of the 'Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.' That would be two prophets, the one confirming the other. And then in an outside historical fact there comes an Indian statement of confirmation as well that the Isthmus of Darien was the landing region of their people and from Asia. Now Asia was not just the 'Far East' of such as China. The Turkey and Palestinian regions were also considered as of Asia, being named 'Asia Minor' or the Middle East as opposed to the Far East.

Because the small plates are but a hignly condensed abridgment as to things that are temporal, which includes the day to day historical events, and is but a record primarily concerned with those things which are of a spiritual nature and importance; much of the historical details just are not in the small plates record. This includes the details of the Journeying in the wilderness both in the land of the middle east and in the land of promise upon their arrival in the land of the Americas. Nephi records this fact and that such details are in the 'large plates of Nephi' and not in his 'small plate' record.

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again towards the promised land. And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days, we did arrive to the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.

And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.

And it came to pass that we did find upon the Land of Promise, as we journied in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow, and the ox, and the ass, and the horse, and the goat, and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were used for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.

And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore, that I might engraven upon them the record of my people. And upon the plates which I made, I did engraven the record of my father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of my father; and also, many of mine own prophecies have I engraven upon them. And I knew not at that time when I made them, that I should be commanded of the Lord to make these plates; wherefore, the record of my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness, are engraven upon those plates of which I have spoken; wherefore, the things which transpired before that I made these plates, are of a truth, more particularly made mention upon the first plates.

23 And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.

24 And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.

25 And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.

CHAPTER 19

1 AND it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the record of my people. And upon the plates which I made I did engraven the record of my father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of my father; and also many of mine own prophecies have I engraven upon them.

2 And I knew not at the time when I made them that I should be commanded of the Lord to make these plates; wherefore, the record of my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness are engraven upon those first plates of which I have spoken; wherefore, the things which transpired before I made these plates are, of a truth, more particularly made mention upon the first plates.

Thus Nephi's record we read has less information about such things as 'journeying in the wilderness', of which we are concerned. We have a very shortened account of Lehi's 8 years journey from the Valley of Lemuel to the first land of Bountiful in the small plates. And we have only one verse/paragraph/sentence concerning the 'journeying in the wilderness' of the promised land. Nephi explains that his other first record, the large plates, had greater details concerning their journeying and proceeds in the wilderness. The immediate inference is to the immediately mentioned journey in the wilderness of the promised land, though it also includes in meaning the long 8 year journey in the 'old world'.

Some readers are mislead by the fact that the 1830 original chapter 5 has been divided into more chapters and scriptural verses. So the concept of the record concerning the journeying in the wilderness is actually chapter divided between two separate chapters. To find not only animals of every kind in the forests would take great distance traveled, but to further explore and find various deposits of metal ores would involve even further travel distance. Still some teach that Lehi's landing site was the same as the eventual 'land of first inheritance' without ever considering that Lehi's party did travel and journey and finally settle in that land where Nephi would have access to the 'metal ore deposits' to make his plates he was commanded to do to make the record of his people. Logically. that would be were the 'land of first inheritance' would be, where the deposites of metal ore were.

There is Book of Mormon scriptural record evidence that the land of Lehi's landing was the same as the land of Bountiful of the nation of Zarahemla. Here we can compare what has been said concerning that land of landing where was found 'all manner of wild animals of every kind' and again in a discription of that land area the comprised Bountiful of the nation of Zarahemla.

 The Lord would have been considered to have been logical in his guiding of Mulek's and Lehi's parties to America. He would have brought both parties to where his intentions could be met in bring them to this land. Neither of the parties brought with them domesitic animals of any quantity. Thus they would both be needing access to where those animals of the Jaredites had 'wandered to'. The Book of Mormon states that the animals had come into the land south for food (Alma 22:31). Thus a logical presumption is that neither Lehi's nor Mulek's parties would be brought any great distance from their location. Lehi was brought to the land south of the narrow neck and Joseph Smith's quote states that that was a little south of the Isthmus of Darien on the Pacific or West Coast. To keep the two parties separated for hundreds of years, it is logical that the Mulekites would be brought to the Atlantic coast where various previous sea trade routes to the land of the west was known from the old world. And the Book of Mormon states that Mulek's group was brought to land north of the narrow neck. North enough to find the wandering and likely the hunting for civilization and people, Coriantumr but not far from where the animals had wandered into the land south either. The Sidon River associated with the Magadalena river, is a navigable half of its distance into the interior of the land, which is where Mosiah's people found the people of Zarahemla located in the center or heart of the land, some distance from the coastal lands.

Like the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle, all of these pieces seem to fit and come together. Some like a more limited model they base on the brief Book of Mormon discriptions. But the Book of Mormon states its self to be a highly condensed abridgment of less than one hundredth part of the record of the people and their history and their lands. This becomes quite appearant when in some places never before mentioned lands and cities sudden appear in the history's story. And when considered that there was even more than that left out and that it was by an abridged religious history of mainly the Nephites, one must come to understand the an 'awful lot' has been left out and not mentioned of the people and their lands.

As for the want of a reasonable East Sea of South America, one cannot rely on the perceptions of science as science does not even accept the universal flood of Noah and the division of the land in the days of Peleg. Their scientific theories do not accept those events in their recognition of the times of events occuring. Certainly if Noah and Peleg's division of the lands occured, then such as an