Commentaries of Virginia Elieson

The numbers on the map correspond to the commentary numbers below.

Q. What are the major points of Book of Mormon geography?
A.

1. The Book of Mormon contains 40 typed pages of just geographical references.
2. There are four major land areas in the Book of Mormon; the land of Nephi; land Bountiful, the land of Zarahemla, and the land of Desolation.
3. Much of the Book of Mormon geography describes travels and communications between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
4. The Land of Nephi is mentioned 41 times before coming of Christ but not once afterward.
5. The Lord led the righteous people from the land of Nephi on four different occasions;
   1. "Mosiah being warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the land of Nephi, and as many as would hearken to the voice of the Lord", between 279 and 130 B.C., Omni 12-13.
   2. "Now Alma being warned of the Lord…made it known to his people, therefore they gathered together…and departed into the wilderness…" between 135 and 121 B.C., Mosiah 23:1.
   3. "And it came to pass that the people of king Limhi did depart by night into the wilderness…and bent their course towards the land of Zarahemla, being led by Ammon and his brethren." Mosiah 22:11, between 145 and 121 B.C.
   4. "…and the Lord said unto him (Ammon): Get this people out of this land, that they perish not…and they gathered together all their people, all the people of the Lord…and departed out of the land, and came into the wilderness which divided the land of Nephi from the land of Zarahemla…" Alma 27:11-14, between 90 and 77 B.C. This left the Lamanites who would not heed the word and the Nephites who had dissented from the land of Zarahemla. From then on, there were continual and frequent wars and battles between the Lamanites and Nephites.
6. The land of Nephi was north of the land of their First Inheritance.
7. The land of Zarahemla was north of the land of Nephi.
8. The land Bountiful was north of the land of Zarahemla.
9. The land of Desolation was north of the land Bountiful.
10. There are twice as many references to north and south directions than east and west (excluding references to the east and south wilderness and west and south sea.)
11. The land of Zarahemla was far away from Nephi and yet was close; why? There were two ways to go with something in between that prevented travel in a straight course.
12. The river Sidon is the only river named in the Book of Mormon. It generally ran from north to the south and emptied into the west sea or the head of the river Sidon, i.e., to bring something "to a head."
13. Christ appeared in the land Bountiful, in the city in the land Bountiful.
14. The Mulekites landed in North America and stayed where they first settled. It became Zarahemla.
15. The Nephites went up out of the land of Zarahemla and down into the land of Nephi. They would go up and down and round about…round about what? The west sea.
16. Sometimes the path or course traveled from the land of Nephi to the land of Zarahemla had a bend in it. What was it bent around? The west sea.
17. The west sea was the Gulf of Mexico. In this way, it provided that the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla to be nearly surrounded by water. (Alma 22:32) This is also the reason the Nephites had to fight a two front war.
18. The Nephites named the west sea when they lived in the land of Nephi…which would have been west of them at that time. Since Hebrew is read from right to left, the west sea was the sea west of them.
19. It was the custom of the Nephites to name their cities lands and villages after those that first settled it. "Now the land south was called Lehi, and the land north was called Mulek, …for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south." Hel 6:10. This applied to the land of Ammonihah. Alma 8:7
20. A narrow strip of wilderness, the east wilderness, ran between the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla.

Q. Did Joseph Smith say anything about geography?
A. Yes. He did say that:

• Lehi landed in the Americas a little south of the Isthmus of Darien, Panama.
  Times and Seasons, vol. 3 (November 1841-October 1842), Vol. 3 No. 22 September 15, 1842 927
• He said that the ruins of Quirigua, Guatemala were surely from Nephite origin.
  Times and Seasons, vol. 3 (November 1841-October 1842), Vol. 3 No. 22 September 15, 1842 927; Page 942 of this issue of the Times and Seasons states: "The Times and Seasons, Is edited, printed and published Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, by Joseph Smith." [W]e have found another important fact relating to the truth of the Book of Mormon. Central America, or Guatimala [Guatemala], is situated north of the Isthmus of Darien and once embraced several hundred miles of territory from north to south. - The city of Zarahemla, burnt at the crucifixion of the Savior, and rebuilt afterwards, stood upon this land…
• He said that the Jaredites settled in Aztalan, Wisconsin. This is an archeological site similar to the thousands found in the Mississippi valley region attributed to the Mound Builders of North America. The site contains three small stepped pyramidal mounds.
  Times and Seasons, "Truth will prevail." Vol. III. No. 16. CITY OF NAUVOO, ILL. JUNE 15, 1842. [Whole No. 52 From the Millennial Star Pg 88.] After the death of Don Carlos Smith, Josephs younger brother in August of 1841, Joseph took responsibilities of editor of Times and Seasons.
• He said that Zelph was a Lamanite warrior found in Illinois.
  On June 3, 1834, in Pike County, Illinois, some of the men of Zion's Camp located some bones and an arrowhead about a foot below the ground. Seven of the members of Zion's Camp who were with Joseph either recorded or orally related their accounts of what was said. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelph These accounts declared that the bones were from Zelph, a "white Lamanite" general who was a righteous man and was a chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, whose fame was known from the Hill Cumorah or eastern sea to the Rocky Mountains.

Q. How do you account for the long distances and many miles this map would require people to travel?
A. Consider:

• Zion's Camp traveled over 900 miles from May 1 to June 19, 1834 with 25 wagons 205 men, 11 women and 7 children. They only took 40 days in travel.
• The Mormon Battalion marched on foot 1,900 miles, from Omaha, Nebraska to San Diego, California in 6 months. Alexander Donaphin, (The man who saved Joseph Smith's life when he was arrested at Far West) was in the same Mexican War and took his men from Independence, Missouri to San Diego and back through New Orleans, Louisiana; 5,000 miles in 12 months.
• The saints went from Winter Quarters with 73 wagons and one cannon to Salt Lake, 1,050 miles in 2.5 months. Brigham Young turned around in August and returned to Winder Quarters the same year.
• The ship Brooklyn sailed from New York harbor to San Francisco, California with 238 Mormon saints and traveled 24,000 miles in five months and twenty-seven days.
• Concerning Moroni's travels from mesoamerica to New York to avoid the Lamanites, it's not so far. Guatemala City to New York City is 2,400 miles (as the crow flies.)