Elder Orson Pratt was the brother of Parley P. Pratt. Orson and Parley were members of the original Twelve Apostles of the early restored church. He was perhaps the Church's leading Book of Mormon scholar. It was Orson Pratt who in 1879, just two years before his death, divided the Book of Mormon into chapters and verses and supplied the first footnote cross-refernces. Orson Pratt was also very outspoken about the Book of Mormon Geography and though not always totally correct in some of his ascertions, they where scholarly based and generally correct. And having been associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith, having heard the Prophet speak first hand, there is much truth in what Elder Orson Pratt taught. It was Orson Pratt who gave the meaning of the name 'Adam-ondi-Ahman' as being 'Valley of God, where Adam dwelt.' Orson said, "It was the original language spoken by Adam."

From the Journal of Discourses, a very lengthy paragraph is taken which summarizes and reflects the very essence of the matter of Cumorah and the Nephite last 10 years of demise. From the Isthmus of Darien of Southern Panama to the hill Cumorah in New York state, the scene of war, carnage, and bloodshed would unfold much as Elder O. Pratt has stated in the discourse presented below. I have included some points of qualification and exception in [a dull red color].

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt,
Nephite America—The Day of God's Power—The Shepherd of Israel
Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, February 11, 1872.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)

About three hundred and seventy-five years after the birth of Christ, the Nephites occupying North America, the Lamanites South America, and wars having existed between them for nearly fifty years, the Lamanites began to overpower the Nephites, and they drove them northward from the narrow neck of land which we call the Isthmus of Darien, burning, destroying and desolating every city, town and village through which they passed. The Nephites continued to flee before their conquerors until they came into the interior of the State of New York. There, the king or commander [Mormon wrote this request of King Aaron himself.]of the Nephites wrote an epistle to the Lamanites and requested an armistice for four years [This 'four' year period is not substanciated by the record, though it was the stated time that the Jaredites gathered their peoples in during their last stand.], for the purpose of gathering in all the Nephite nation into that one place. The king of the Lamanites granted this armistice, and during these four years [Again, the record does not support that the armistice lasted four years, in fact there is strong evidence that this was not the case and that the armistice was for a much shorter time even to only being about one year.] they had no battles, but were occupied very diligently in gathering the whole Nephite nation into that one region, and the Lamanites gathering the whole Lamanitenation into the same region of country. Many millions on both sides were here gathered together, and when the four years had expired, hostilities were renewed, many battles were fought and the Nephites were overpowered, men, women and children being hewn down. The great and last battle, in which several hundred thousand Nephites perished was on ['round about'] the hill Cumorah, the same hill from which the plates were taken by Joseph Smith, the boy about whom I spoke to you the other evening. A few Nephites dissented over to the Lamanites and joined them, and a few escaped into the south country. Mormon, one of the prophets of the Nephites, who had the records in his possession, being commanded of the Lord, hid up the records in the hill Cumorah before the battles commenced. I mean all the records except an abridgment. The gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was taken are only an abridgment from vast numbers of other plates which were hidden up by Mormon in that hill. This abridgment, reserved and not hid up by Mormon, he gave to his son Moroni. He and Moroni both surveyed the destruction of their nation; they fell, wounded among the vast numbers on that hill, but their wounds were not fatal and they survived and for a short time kept themselves hid. Mormon, however, was afterwards discovered and destroyed by the Lamanites. Moroni continued from three hundred and eighty-four years, the date of the destruction of his nation, until four hundred and twenty years after Christ, that is the last date given in this record. Moroni tells us, as a prophet of God, that he was commanded of the Lord to hide up these records in the hill Cumorah, not in the same place where the other records had been hidden by his father Mormon, but in another place [Mormon hid all the records deep within a room in the interior of the hill, and Moroni hid his abridgement on the side of the same hill but in 'another place' than the rest of the records.] , for the Lord had promised the prophet Moroni that he would bring these records to light in the latter days, when he should bring forth a great and powerful nation [The United States.] upon this land. The Lord showed all these things to these ancient prophets, and they understood our history and wrote about it before ever Columbus discovered America. Moroni informs us that after the Lord should establish in the latter days a great and powerful nation of the Gentiles on the face of this land, and should deliver them by his power out of the hands of all other nations, then the Lord would bring forth this abridgment, these plates which Moroni was commanded to hide up; that the records should be revealed, that the individual who should discover them should, by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, be able to translate the records from the language in which they were written into our language, that these records should be brought forth expressly to accomplish the great purposes of the Lord in the last days in regard to warning all the nations of the Gentiles first, and that they might have the Gospel preached unto them in its ancient purity, as it was preached on this great western hemisphere, in order that the fulness of the Gentiles might be brought in, then their times should be fulfilled. After the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled by the coming frth of these records, the prophet informs us that the records should be sent to all the scattered remnants of the house of Israel in the four quarters of the earth, and that then the Lord would set his hand in power to deliver his people Israel from all the nations and kingdoms under the whole heaven, and that he would bring them back to the land of their fathers.
(Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 14: 332 - 333.)

Now, it should be noted that Orson Pratt was one who also adopted the 30 degree landing site along the coast of Chili for Lehi's initial landing. Though personally I have many strong reasons not to accept that portion of Elder Olson's prognosis, it does not diminish the acceptance of the doctrine of Cumorah as taught by Elder Pratt above.

And while Orson Pratt personally supported the 30 degree landing site in Chili, as a matter of discourse he was less adamant in the matter. In fact his statement in this regard in this particular recorded sermon was rather qualifying with allusion to 'judgement from the description of the country contained in the record' as quoted below.

"As near as we can judge from the description of the country contained in this record the first landing place was in Chili, not far from where the city of Valparaiso now stands." (Ibid.)

Thus Orson does present the picture of softening his stance on a Chili landing site to being more speculative under a judgement call, rather than the very strong statement of absoluteness exhibited in his summary concerning Cumorah. And I believe that this is very reflective of the matter. Elder Orson Pratt knew from a Gospel sermon perspective that Cumorah was Cumorah. And his personal 'judgement' in comparison was his own feelings concerning Lehi's landing site. His discourse clearly presents it and states it as such. And as a matter of truth, the actual record of the Book of Mormon paints a picture of a heavily forested wilderness filled with beasts of every kind, a bounteous land for growing plants. And that does little to support such a Chilian Coastal landing.

---

---

Rev. 9-21-01

Hit Counter:

Return to Book of Mormon Geography Home Page
Return to Cumorah is Cumorah Home Page