Zelph, the “White” Lamanite, and Book of Mormon Geography

Zelph, the “White” Lamanite, and Book of Mormon Geography
by Michael R. Ash

In 1834 while traveling to Missouri with Zion’s camp, Joseph and several other members passed through Pike County, Illinois, which was dotted with Indian burial mounds containing bones and other Indian artifacts. Like the rest of us, these early Mormons tried to make sense of new information according to their current understanding. To the early Mormons, all antique Indian artifacts were obvious evidences of ancient Book of Mormon civilizations.

That such an approach to antiquities may be naïve, does not make it any less common. Some modern Mormons, for example, have touted the remains and architectural structures of tenth-century Mesoamericans as evidence for Nephite or Lamanite civilizations, disregarding the fact that “tenth-century” Mesoamericans would have lived outside Book of Mormon parameters. This fallacious methodology is not limited to Mormons, however. In a variety of fields attempts to validate one’s beliefs with “evidence” that, although unrelated to the actual claim, offers superficial parallels to the issue at hand.

Joseph was not immune to such erroneous speculations. While traveling through Pike County he wrote his wife Emma,

The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest and sincere men, wandering over the plaines [sic] of the Nephites, recounting occasionaly [sic] the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity...[1]

On June 3, the day before Joseph wrote his letter to Emma, some of the men had dug into a mound and discovered human skeletal remains and an arrowhead. The remains caught the attention of the party as well as the prophet. While Joseph didn’t mention the details of this find to his wife, seven accounts were recorded that detailed the discovery and Joseph’s remarks regarding the person to whom these bones belonged. According to the accounts, Joseph claimed that these were bones of a “white” Lamanite prophet by the name of Zelph. Some of the accounts claim that Joseph learned this information by way of revelation. The actual details of the accounts vary and are, at times, at odds with other accounts.

Since critics rarely accept the words of Joseph Smith in any other revelatory capacity, why do they so frequently cite the Zelph incident in their campaign against the Church? According to the critics, the Zelph incident forces a Book of Mormon geography that includes the northeastern part of the United States. Thus the limited Book of Mormon geography—especially a geography that presumes Mesoamerica as the lands encompassed by Book of Mormon events—should be precluded from consideration as accurate since (according to the critics) such a geography is not tenable if one accepts the “revelation” of Joseph concerning the identity of “Zelph.” It may be that critics tacitly acknowledge the relative strength of a Mesoamerican Book of Mormon geography and therefore they attempt to force the more-problematic hemispheric geography upon Latter-day Saints.

When compiling the particulars of the event for the History of the Church, some important details were changed. As noted in Chapter 4.3 (Part II), in typical nineteenth-century fashion, the official “history” comprised details from a variety of journal entries but was written as if Joseph, himself, were authoring the history. Willard Richard was responsible for compiling the events into one narrative and made some alterations that effected how future generations understood the details of the event. As Kenneth Godfrey observes,

…Wilford Woodruff’s “inhabitants of this continent” became “inhabitants of this country” (others would later say “county”), and Woodruff’s statement that mounds in the area had been built “probably by the Nephites and Lamanites” became an implied certainty when Richards left out the word “probably.” The mere “arrow” of the three earliest accounts became an “Indian Arrow” …and finally a “Lamanitish Arrow.” The phrase “known from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains,” …became “known from the Hill Cumorah” …or “eastern sea to the Rocky Mountains”… The statement that the battle in which Zelph was killed occurred “among the Lamanites” …became “with the Lamanites.”[2]

Did Joseph Smith make these corrections himself to Richard’s manuscript, or did Richards make the alterations? Since Richards account wasn’t published until 1846—after Joseph’s death—the final account may not have had Joseph’s editorial approval.

There is also some question as to the accuracy of the various accounts. We don’t know, for example, how much time lapsed between when the event transpired and when the accounts were recorded. Some of the accounts claim that the Zelph bones belonged to a man of large stature, whereas other accounts claim that he was “short” and “stout.”[3] While early accounts claim that Zelph was a “white” Lamanite, some of the later accounts claim he was a Nephite.[4] We know from at least one record that the author was not a first-hand witness to the primary happenings, and we are unsure if any of the authors were first-hand witnesses or if they simply recorded hearsay.[5] In general, however, the accounts agree that Joseph said the bones belonged to a “white” Lamanite named Zelph. Several of the accounts suggest that Joseph learned this information from a vision.

The term “Lamanite” is a cultural designation assigned to Lamanites by an outside group (jus like the term “Indians”). An individual could become a Lamanite. An entire group could become Lamanites when no other Lamanites existed. The term varied in application during Book of Mormon times. During Joseph’s day (and, for the most part, in our modern Mormon vernacular), the term “Lamanite” was synonymous with “Indian,” “Native American,” or, in some cases, “Polynesian.”

In 1840 Joseph Smith began editing the original Book of Mormon (published in 1830) in order to clarify some of the sentences and phraseology. In the 1830 edition, Nephi prophesied that the descendants of Lehi would become a “white and delightsome” people. In the 1840 edition, Joseph corrected this to more accurately reflect the intent of the text by changing the reading to a “pure and delightsome” (2 Nephi 30:16) people.[6] “Pure” and “white” are often synonymous in the scriptures (see Daniel 7:9, Revelation 15:6, and D&C 110:3[7]). When Joseph edited the 1830 Book of Mormon, he changed the “white” to “pure” to better convey the meaning of the scriptures. “White” was not an inaccurate term, but it was more ambiguous. It seems likely, therefore, that in 1834 Joseph could easily have used the term “white” to signify “pure.” One of the Zelph accounts, for instance, claims that Zelph was “white” and that the “curse”—which the Book of Mormon designates as a separation from God—was lifted because of his “righteousness.”[8]

Thus, even if we accept a belief that Joseph received a revelation about a “white” Lamanite named “Zelph,” what do we really learn? According to such a revelation these men had discovered the bones of a “pure,” or righteous Indian (“Lamanite”)—possibly a prophet (and there is nothing in LDS doctrine that would preclude a Lamanite from also being a “prophet”)—who was killed in battle.

One extra bit of information—noted by the critics—is that one of the accounts claims these bones were found in the land of “desolation.”[9] Since “Desolation” is a land mentioned in the Book of Mormon, the critics argue that according to Joseph’s revelation, this was part of Book of Mormon lands.

But we don’t know if the “desolation” comment was part of the information that Joseph supposedly claimed to have seen in vision (if, indeed, he had received a vision of Zelph) or if such a comment was simply speculation or terminology adapted to his environment. In Alma 22:30 we learn that the Book of Mormon land of Desolation was so named because of the numerous bones that were discovered by the people of Zarahemla. It’s certainly possible that if Joseph actually called the area “desolation” that he might have been comparing it to the bone-covered land in the Book of Mormon, or he might have speculated that the area could fit the description of the Book of Mormon “Desolation” because of all the bones they had seen.

In 1832 (two years prior to the “Zelph” discovery) LDS leader, W.W. Phelps had already purposed that the land between the Mississippi and the Rock Mountains was the Book of Mormon “Desolation.”[10] Therefore, it’s also likely that Joseph was simply repeating a common interpretation of Book of Mormon geography. In 1842, Parley P. Pratt speculated that the Book of Mormon, “Desolation,” was located in Central America.[11] This would have been an unlikely speculation if Joseph had previously claimed to have seen in a vision that Pike County, Illinois, was part of the Book of Mormon’s Desolation.

In summary, while Joseph Smith most likely took interest in the “Zelph” bones, we don’t know if he received a revelation about the deceased individual, or if he was merely making speculative comments—although it’s possible (since most of the account agree on this point), that Joseph did receive some revelation about this individual. Of the second-hand things reported, however, it is difficult to discern which things may have come to Joseph by revelation or which details he may have added on his own. When we recognize that, in some instances, these accounts contradict each other on various details, we have to wonder how accurately these accounts reflect what Joseph actually said. Even if, however, we assume that some of the core details in these accounts are accurate, they do not conflict with a Book of Mormon geography that supposes a limited geography in Mesoamerica.

In the end, the Zelph incident is a curious event in early Mormon history. While we may freely accept that Joseph had a vision concerning the person whose bones were discovered, we learn more about early Mormon speculations concerning Book of Mormon geography than we do about revelations on Book of Mormon geography.