Book of Mormon Geography #05 We Found the Narrow Neck

This is the fifth video presentation in the 2026 Book of Mormon Geography series, and it represents a red letter event: the first pin in the map in the New World.

After more than 20 years of research and travel, we are finally comfortable going public with the first Book of Mormon correlation on a real world map. The narrow (small) neck of land mentioned in Alma 22:32, Alma 63:5, and Ether 10:20 is Barra San Marcos off the Pacific coast of Chiapas near the town of Tonalá. 

These are the script notes from the video episode:

We Found the Narrow Neck

We analyzed the narrow neck of land from 21 different perspectives.

1.      NOT an isthmus. This has been a red herring for nearly 200 years.

2.      Book of Mormon text.

a.      4 names: narrow neck, small neck, narrow pass, narrow passage.

b.     5 motifs: borders, movement, choke point, west sea, game preserve.

3.      More than 1,500 necks of land exist around the world. What do we learn?

4.      Example of “small neck of land” from 1676 English travel book.

5.      Non-English translations of the Book of Mormon: tongue, strip of land.

6.      Mayan neck of land: long and slender passage accessing the Puuc Hills.

7.      Early Modern English: Example of “narrow neck of land” from Colombia.

8.      Nephite word usage patterns: by, between, a Nephite, narrow.

9.      Explanatory power: land northward/land southward origin of the terminology.

10. Gareth Lowe’s research: military choke point.

11. Ric Hauk’s research: fortifications at Los Horcones.

12. 1.5 day’s journey.

13. 1 day’s journey.

14. The west sea.

15. Eastern component of the west sea.

16. Hagoth’s port.

17. The place where the sea divides the land.

18. The city of Lib.

19. Mormon’s extraordinary fortifications at the city of Desolation.

20. AI rendering.

21. Archaeological sites on the Barra San Marcos.

1. All 21 lenses lead us to the same place: Barra San Marcos, a sandbar fronting Mar Muerto and Laguna de la Joya near the city of Tonalá along the Pacific coast of Chiapas, Mexico.

Barra San Marcos, the narrow neck of land, is the first pin in the New World Book of Mormon map. It’s an important place, because a total of 16 different named Book of Mormon places are immediately adjacent, so finding the narrow neck of land identifies a total of 16 Book of Mormon locations:

1.      Small neck of land (Alma 22:32)

2.      Narrow neck of land (Alma 63:5, Ether 10:20)

3.      Narrow pass (Alma 50:34, 52:9, Mormon 3:5)

4.      Narrow passage (Mormon 2:29)

5.      Place where the sea divides the land (Ether 10:20)

6.      City of Lib (Ether 10:19-20)

7.      Hagoth’s port (Alma 63:5)

8.      Land Desolation (Alma 22:32)

9.      Land Northward (Alma 22:31)

10. Land Bountiful (Alma 22:33)

11. Land Southward (Alma 22:32)

12. Line between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation (Alma 22:32)

13. West to East defensive line in land Bountiful (Helaman 4:7)

14. West sea (Alma 63:5)

15. West sea, eastern component (Alma 50:34)

16. Teancum vs. Morianton battlefield (Alma 50:34)

Red Herring: If we have finally located the narrow neck of land, it will explain why the Book of Mormon geography puzzle has not been solved for nearly 200 years. See the blog article “Red Herrings” published January 27, 2016.

2. The Book of Mormon’s narrow place.

4 Names in the text: narrow pass (3X), narrow neck (2X), small neck (1X), narrow passage (1X)

7 Scriptural Passages + 3 Parallel Passages

Alma 22:31-33 the land on the northward was called Desolation; and the land on the southward was called Bountiful, it (Bountiful) being the wilderness which was filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind…32 it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite  on the line between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation,  from the east to the west sea (synonymously parallel with Helaman 4:7 “from the west sea even unto the east, it being a day’s  journey for a Nephite”); and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla  was nearly surrounded by water,  there being a small neck of land  between the land northward and the land southward.  33 And it came to pass that the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea.  And thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south, that thereby they (the Lamanites) should have no more possession on the north, that they (the Lamanites) might not overrun the land northward.

Alma 50:34 they (the army of Teancum) did not head them (the people of Morianton) until they (people of Morianton) had came to the borders of the land Desolation.  And there they (the army of Teancum) did head them (the people of Morianton) by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea, by the sea on the west and on the east.

Alma 52:9 he (Captain Moroni) also sent orders unto him (Teancum) that he (Teancum) should fortify the land Bountiful and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them (the Nephites) on every side. (synonymously parallel with Alma 22:34 “afflictions on every hand”).

Alma 63:5 Hagoth, he being an exceeding curious man, therefore he went forth and built him (Hagoth) an exceeding large ship on the borders of the land Bountiful by the land Desolation and launched it forth into the west sea by the narrow neck which led into the land northward.

Mormon 2:29 the Lamanites did give unto us (the Nephites) the land northward, yea, even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward.  And we did give unto the Lamanites all the land southward.

Mormon 3:5-6, 8 I (Mormon) did cause my people (the Nephites) that they (the Nephites) should gather themselves (the Nephites) together at the land Desolation to a city which was in the borders by the narrow pass which led into the land southward.  6 And there we (the Nephites) did place our armies, that we (the Nephites) might stop the armies of the Lamanites, that they (the Lamanites) might not get possession of any of our (Nephite) lands. Therefore we (the Nephites) did fortify against them (the Lamanites) with all our force (synthetically parallel with Mormon 4:4 “the Lamanites could have had no power over them” (the Nephites) …8 we (the Nephites) did beat them (the Lamanites) again and did slay a great number of them (the Lamanites), and their (Lamanite) dead was cast into the sea.

Ether 10:20-21 they (the Jaredites) built a great city (city of Lib) by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.  21 And they (the Jaredites) did preserve the land southward for a wilderness to get game.  And the whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitants.

5 Narrative motifs: why do we think all 7 + 3 passages and all 4 names refer to the same general locality that we refer to as the “narrow place” or the “narrow neck area?” All 7 + 3 passages are describing the same vicinity using similar language.

A. Borders – land Northward (8X)/land Southward (6X), implied borders (7X), Bountiful (5X)/Desolation (5X), borders (3X)

B. Led by or led into – movement along a path, travel corridor (5X)

C. Proximity – singular sea (8X), west sea (5X), west sea with an eastern component (yea clause) (1X), east sea (0).

D. Topography favors defenders – choke point where a modest-sized Nephite garrison could prevent Lamanite movement from south to north (4X)

E. Game preserve in the land southward (2X), dense population in the land northward (1X)

A1. The narrow neck area has always been a border region. Anciently it was the border between Guatemala and Mexico. Today it is the border between the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

B1. The narrow neck area has always been a travel corridor. Today it is traversed by Barra San Marcos Road, Cabeza de Toro Road, Federal Highway 200, and the original line of the Trans Isthmian Railroad. Barra San Marcos is almost certainly the narrow or small neck of land. The railroad grade could be the narrow passage, and the route of Federal Highway 200 between Cerro Bernal and the Sierra Madre is probably the narrow pass.

C1. The narrow neck area is dominated by the Pacific Ocean, what the Book of Mormon calls the west sea.

D1. The narrow neck area is the only place along the Pacific coast of Chiapas where the coastal plain disappears and the Sierra Madre borders the ocean, creating a natural choke point where a modest sized garrison of soldiers could control south to north movement.

E1. The Book of Mormon describes the Jaredites protecting hunting habitat in the land Southward. Today, most Mexican wilderness preserves are in the southern part of the country.

3. What is a “neck of land?”

Cultural presumption: narrow neck = isthmus contradicts the text. The narrow neck is always associated with 1 and only 1 sea, the west sea. What do you call a coastal landform with an exposure to only 1 sea? It is NOT an isthmus. It could be a cape, a peninsula, a head, a barrier island, a sandbar. This changes everything.

Over 1,500 named “necks” exist worldwide. 6 are isthmuses. The rest are peninsulas. Simply based on the global distribution of landforms called “necks” there is a 99.6% chance the narrow (small) neck in the Book of Mormon is a peninsula.  For an analysis of 115 necks of land, see blog article “Necks of Land” published September 12, 2014.

The US GNIS (Geo Names Info System) lists 1,306 necks. 4 are isthmuses. 808 are capes aka peninsulas. Based on this US data, the odds are 200 to 1 that the narrow (small) neck is a peninsula, NOT an isthmus. Other necks are the land between 2 flowing streams, the small part of stream meanders, and sand bars or barrier islands along a shoreline. Inland necks are common. Note the colloquial “neck of the woods.”

Long Island has 58 necks of land. 100% are peninsulas. Most are on the south side by the estuarial waters.

Virginia has 206 necks of land. 100% are peninsulas. Most are on the east side by the estuarial waters.

Sandbars and barrier islands form along depositional coasts. 20% of the coastlines in the world are depositional. Much of the eastern seaboard of the United States is depositional coast. Ditto the Gulf of Mexico, coast of Chiapas, etc. 

4. Example of a “small neck of land” in Tabasco from Dampier’s Voyages published in London in 1676. See blog article “OED on Necks of Land” published September 14, 2014. This is a coastal sand bar that runs between Laguna Redonda and Laguna Machona.

5. The 3 “neck” passages in the Spanish Book of Mormon are translated “tongue of land.” The 3 “neck” passages in the Portuguese Book of Mormon are translated “strip of land.” The 3 “neck” passages in the French Book of Mormon are translated “strip” or “tongue.” The 3 “neck” passages in the Italian Book of Mormon are translated “isthmus” (1X), “tongue” (1X), and “strip” (1X).  See the blog article “Romance Languages” published September 15, 2014.

6. Mayan Neck = edge or limit (border). Alexander Tokovinine, Place and Identity in Classic Maya Narratives (Dumbarton Oaks: 2013) p. 24. Chilam Balam of Chumayel “cal” or “kaal” with connotation of pass or passage. Notice the type of landform the Maya called a “neck”: long and skinny, they look almost like ancient sandbars on the edge of the Puuc Hills. See the blog article “Maya Place Names” published January 18, 2018.

7. The work of Royal Skousen and Stanford Carmack has shown that the language of the earliest text was primarily Early Modern English.

EModE usage per the OED. Narrow = much longer than it is wide such as a city street, a shoelace. See blog article “OED on Narrow” published on October 10, 2014. An example of a coastal landform the British (Sir Francis Drake) in 1630 called a “narrow neck of land” is a sandbar protecting Cartagena harbor in Colombia.

Between = something of a different genre or nature by twin or by twain such as a hammock between 2 trees or a hallway between 2 rooms. This means the narrow neck of land which was between land northward and land southward was a completely different kind of landform than either of the 2 twins.

8. Nephite Usage

Narrow (path, way). Small (Liahona spindles) See blog article “Narrow and Small Things” published November 9, 2012.

By (margin, proximity ca. 5 – 10 air kilometers maximum distance) See blog article “By and By” published March 13, 2014.

Between (by twins) See blog article “Between Things” published October 2, 2014 (war between the Nephites and the Lamanites).

A Nephite (ordinary citizen or soldier, not elite athlete) See blog article “A Nephite” published October 10, 2014.

9. Explain the land northward/land southward configuration. Pacific coast of Chiapas is oriented just N of NW. This is the likely source of this familiar Jaredite terminology.

10. Gareth Lowe (1922 – 2004) focused on the strategic military value of the area around Cerro Bernal. See the blog article “Gareth Lowe’s Maps” published November 28, 2017. Image shows Cerro Bernal in Google Earth with the Maps Terrain Layer activated. Image shows 2 Mexican boys playing in the waters of Laguna de la Joya with Cerro Bernal coming to the water’s edge.

11. Ric Hauck focused on the defensive fortifications at Los Horcones which are extensive and impressive.

Other proximate features:

12. Line Bountiful/Desolation (1.5 day’s journey) 525 meters eastern terminus.

13. Defensive Line in Bountiful (1 day’s journey) 514 meters eastern terminus.

14. West Sea: Pacific Ocean.

15. Eastern Component of the West Sea: Laguna de la Joya. East of either Mar Muerto or the Pacific Ocean.

16. Hagoth’s Port: Marinas in the eastern end of Mar Muerto. Home of the Mexican shrimp fleet. See the blog article “The Narrow (Small) Neck of Land” published March 28, 2013, point #11 top and bottom portions.

17. Place Where the Sea Divides the Land: Boca de Tonalá.

Rolando Amado story. See the blog article “Sea Divides the Land” published February 8, 2016. Barra de Tonalá on the Oaxaca side. Barra San Marcos on the Chiapas side.

18. City of Lib (Tiltepec, Tzuzucutli, Perseverancia, less likely Pijijiapan) Tzuzucutli was excavated by the BYU New World Archaeological Foundation, reported in 1983. NWAF.

19. City of Desolation with extraordinary fortifications – megalithic granite (Tiltepec, Iglesia Vieja, Ciudad Perdida, Perseverancia all used granite in their architecture.)

Mormon 4:4 the Lamanites could have had no power over them (the Nephites). Explanatory power: Righteousness? No. Mormon 2:15. Numerical superiority? No. Mormon 2:25. Military fortification technology Mormon 3:6.

20. AI rendering of a typical neck of land. Slender peninsula.

21. Archaeological sites on Barra San Marcos. The landform has been stable since Book of Mormon times.

Summary of 21 Lenses on the Narrow Neck of Land

1.      NOT an isthmus. This opens up new possibilities including Barra San Marcos.

2.      Book of Mormon text.

a.      4 names: narrow neck, small neck, narrow pass, narrow passage.

b.     5 motifs: borders, movement, choke point, west sea, game preserve.

c.      Barra San Marcos and the pass between Cerro Bernal and the Sierra Madre check every box.

3.      More than 1,500 necks of land around the world. Peninsula, estuarial waters, depositional coast. Barra San Marcos is typical.

4.      Example of “small neck of land” from 1676 Tabasco coast. Sandbar between 2 lagoons. Similar to Barra San Marcos.

5.      Non-English translations of the Book of Mormon: tongue, strip of land. Could be describing Barra San Marcos.

6.      Mayan neck of land: long and slender passage accessing the Puuc Hills. Similar to Barra San Marcos in shape and function.

7.      Early Modern English: Example of “narrow neck of land.” Cartagena sandbar similar to Barra San Marcos.

8.      Nephite word usage patterns: by, between, a Nephite, narrow. All fit well with the features in the Tonalá region.

9.      Explanatory power: land northward/land southward terminology fits the Chiapas coastline.

10. Gareth Lowe’s research: military choke point. Only place along the Pacific coast of Chiapas that fits the Book of Mormon description.

11. Ric Hauk’s research: fortifications at Los Horcones. Every archaeologist who has worked in this area comments on the defensive fortifications.

12. 1.5 day’s journey. Plausible. From the west sea to a point in the east far enough upslope to impede travel.

13. 1 day’s journey. Plausible. From the west sea to a point in the east far enough upslope to impede travel.

14. The west sea. Pacific Ocean.

15. Eastern component of the west sea. Laguna de la Joya. Fits the text.

16. Hagoth’s port. Modern marinas in the right place.

17. The place where the sea divides the land. Impressive place where estuarial waters and the open ocean swirl and mix. 500 meters wide.

18. The city of Lib. 3 good options.

19. Mormon’s extraordinary fortifications at the city of Desolation. Megalithic granite. Unique in Mesoamerica.

20. AI rendering. A typical neck of land peninsula.

21. Archaeological sites on the Barra San Marcos. Stable landform.

Barra San Marcos comfortably fits 100% of the relevant scriptural criteria. We have plausible candidates for all 16 locations proximate to the narrow neck of land. This is the only place in the Americas with such a high degree of fit to the text. We have found the narrow neck.

Book of Mormon Prophecies Fulfilled in Latin America

The Book of Mormon contains dozens of major prophecies about the children of Lehi in the Americas in the latter days. Many of these prophecies fit comfortably in Latin America. Some of them exclusively refer to Latin America. We now know that Mesoamerica is the part of the world with the highest degree of fit to the Nephite text. See the article "Book of Mormon Geography #04 Mesoamerica Best Fits the Text." Most prophecies referencing Book of Mormon peoples can be productively understood in a Latin American context.

Mexican Dancers

Point #01  The Americas are home to 35 independent nations. 33 of them (94%) are in Latin America.

Point #02  1,056,714,000 people live in the Americas. 744,357,000 of them (70%) are Latin Americans. See the article "Interesting Baseline Numbers." 

Point #03  The size of the US expatriate population residing in Latin America (2,016,000) is about the same as the number of federally enrolled American Indians (2,000,000) residing in the US. See the article "Interesting Baseline Numbers."

Point #04  Many Book of Mormon instances of the phrase "this land" reference an extent of territory larger than any single modern nation. See the article "This Land". Ditto 19th century usage of the phrases "this continent" and "this country."

Point #05  Columbus, in his 4 voyages, visited what are today 18 modern nations in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. According to 1 Nephi 13:12, these 18 modern nations are all part of "the promised land." See the article "Voyages of Columbus."

Point #06  The Book of Mormon mentions a "mighty nation" that will be preeminent ("lifted up") in both the Americas and the world. As you follow the chronology described in these passages, you realize this mighty nation was Spain. See the articles "Prophecy Fulfilled 016" and "Mighty Nation = Spain."

Point #07  The Book of Mormon prophesies that the Gentiles will be established in the New World as free nations in a land of liberty. See the article "Free Nations." The Americas generally are a land of liberty. The nations in the Americas that are most free are, in order: Canada, Uruguay, Barbados, Chile, and Dominica. The US is #15 on the list behind Belize, Argentina, and Panama.

Point #08  The Book of Mormon prophesies that any endeavor to enthrone a king in the Western Hemisphere will be short lived. See the article "No Kings." Kings have been attempted in the US, Mexico, and Brazil. None endured.

Point #09  The Book of Mormon says the Gentiles in the Americas will scatter, drive, hunt, smite, and slay Lehi's posterity. From 1492 to 1650, 45 million people died by violence or disease under Spanish and Portuguese colonial administration. See the articles "Prophecy Fulfilled 017" and "Scattered Driven Hunted Smitten Slain."

Point #10  Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that in the latter days, the Lamanites would be driven, hunted, smitten, and scattered with "no place for refuge." This prophecy was explicitly fulfilled in Latin America where Indian reservations never developed. In contrast, the US has over 300 Indian reservations in 41 of the 50 states where Native Americans have enjoyed some degree of safety, autonomy, and property protection. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 013."

Point #11  The Book of Mormon predicts there will be Christians in the Americas - lots of them, and there are. See the article "Christians by Continent and Country." South America (83%) is the most Christian of the 7 continents, followed by North America (77%) and Oceania (65%). In North America, Mexico (91%) is the most Christian country, followed by Panama (90%) and Guatemala (85%).

Point #12  At the beginning of his record, Nephi explained the type of content that should be documented on the large plates: reigns of the kings, wars, and contentions. That is precisely the type of content scholars find today on Maya stelae from Mesoamerica. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 005."

Point #13  Lehi prophesied that the information on the plates of brass would go to his seed in multiple nations and multiple languages. This is happening throughout Latin America as the Book of Mormon gets translated into more and more languages. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 004."

Point #14  Mormon prophesied that the Lamanites in the future would be counted as naught among the Gentiles. Naught means zero, nothing, non-entity. This prophecy was explicitly fulfilled in the early days of the Spanish conquest as the Europeans claimed that natives were sub-human animals without souls. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 006."

Point #15  The Book of Mormon prophesies that:

• Multitudes of Gentiles will emigrate to the Americas. 1.4 million came over in the colonial era.
• These Gentiles will originate from many nations. The 1.4 million came from 9 European nations.
• The Lamanites will be vastly more numerous than the Gentiles. Scholarly estimates of the indigenous population in the Americas at European contact (1492) exceed 50 million. 93% of those were in what is today Latin America with 32% in Mexico and 29% in the Andean countries.

See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 007."

Point #16  The Book of Mormon prophesies that the Gentiles emigrating to the Americas will leave captivity and become prosperous in their new home as they inherit lands. That is exactly what happened in Latin America. People who were in the lower classes in Europe became landed elites in the New World. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 008."

Point #17  The Book of Mormon lays out a precise multi-faceted prophecy with a strict timeline. Large Lamanite populations will be decimated by a Gentile invasion that will nearly annihilate the hapless natives. After a demographic recovery, the Gospel will be restored and Lamanite fortunes will improve to the point that they will become a powerful political and economic force to be reckoned with. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 010." This explicit pattern is attested in Latin America where the population nadir occurred in 1650, but not in the US or Canada where the demographic collapse did not bottom out until decades after the Restoration.

Point #18  The Book of Mormon predicts that the posterity of Lehi will reside in multiple Gentile nations. Hispanics comprise 21% of the population of the US. Latin Americans comprise 5% of the population of Spain and nearly 3% of the population of Canada. Sizable Latin American minorities reside in Japan as well as in most European countries. See the articles "Prophecy Fulfilled 012" and "Interesting Baseline Numbers."

Point #19  A curious scriptural phrase is "numbered among." In the Book of Mormon, it generally means membership in a particular ethnic group. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 011." The Book of Mormon in several places says the Gentiles in America will be numbered among the Lamanites. This prophecy has literally been fulfilled as Europeans and Native Americans have intermarried, creating huge mestizo populations in Mexico (62%), Peru (60%), Guatemala (60%) and most other Latin American countries. In the US. 2.8% of the population claims some American Indian ancestry. See the article "Interesting Baseline Numbers." 

Point #20  The Book of Mormon famously predicts the American war of independence from Great Britain fought from 1776 to 1783. This same passage applies equally well to 18 other wars of independence that liberated Latin American nations from Spain, Portugal, and France beginning with the Haitian Revolution in 1791. By 1825, almost every nation in the Americas was free, which paved the way for the Book of Mormon to come forth in 1830 and be archaeologically vindicated (first report of Palenque in a Latter-day Saint publication) in 1833. See the articles "Prophecy Fulfilled 015," and "Early Book of Mormon Geograpny" point #4 (top and bottom portions) which further explains "David Whitmer's Testimony."

Point #21  Father Lehi prophesied that multiple Gentile nations would come to the Americas and take possession of Lamanite land. By the mid 1700's, nearly every square kilometer of the Americas was claimed by one or more of the European colonial powers. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 020."

Point #22  Nephi saw in vision the Bible being taken from the Gentiles to the Lamanites. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled #019." This happened in a dramatic way beginning in 1553 when Dominican linguists in Guatemala translated major portions of the Bible into indigenous Mayan languages as part of their evangelical outreach.

Point #23  The Book of Mormon says that through the posterity of Lehi, every nation on earth will be blessed. Obviously, spiritual blessings will come as the Book of Mormon is widely known and cherished. But, there is a tangible, material blessing as well. 5 of the top 10 food crops in the world were domesticated in the Americas and shared globally after Columbus. See the article "Food Crop Staples." Corn (Mexico), potatoes (Peru), cassava (South America), tomatoes (South America), and sweet potatoes (Peru) bless every nation on the planet every day.

Point #24  The Book of Mormon prophesies that people from Gentile nations will help gather in Lamanites to the city and land of the New Jerusalem. That prophecy is being fulfilled as missionaries from the US and other Gentile nations serve in Latin America, gather Lamanites to the Church, and those Lamanites move to the US in large numbers. There are nearly 200 Hispanic wards and branches of the Church in Utah, for instance. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 018."

Point #25  The Book of Mormon warns against unjust economic systems where the rich exploit the poor and the widows and fatherless are victimized. See the article "Prophecy Fulfilled 014." Many such predatory economies have existed in Latin America since the European conquest.

Point #26  It is useful to note what the map of the Americas looked like in March 1830 when the Book of Mormon first became available to the public. See the article "1830 Americas."

Point #27  With so many Book of Mormon prophecies pointing directly to Latin America, it is understandable why several modern day Prophets and Apostles have talked about the connection:

• "Father Lehi in the Mexico City Temple" (Gordon B. Hinckley)
• "President Nelson in Guatemala"
• "Elder Gong on Father Lehi's Children"
• "Elder Quentin L. Cook on Lehi's Descendants"

Scattered Driven Hunted Smitten Slain

Codex Coyoacan 1529, Mexico

 
The image shows Hernan Cortes and his mistress Marina looking on while a hapless native gets killed by a man-eating Spanish attack dog. 

The Book of Mormon says the Gentiles invading the Americas would treat Lehi's posterity with inhumane brutality.

1 Nephi 13:14 The Gentiles would be numerous "many multitudes." See the blog article "Prophecy Fulfilled 007" that documents the arrival of 1.4 million Europeans during the colonial era.

1 Nephi 13:14 The natives "were scatterred before the Gentiles and were smitten." Deuteronomy 28:22 says God smites with the sword and with disease. The blog article "Prophecy Fulfilled 010" documents the death of 45 million human beings in Latin America from 1492 to 1650 from both violence and disease.

1 Nephi 22:7 After the house of Israel in the Old World has been scattered and confounded, God "will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles." That mighty nation was Spain which was the most powerful country on earth for about 150 years in the 1500's and 1600's. It was the most powerful country in the New World for 300 years. See the blog articles "Prophecy Fulfilled 016"  and "Mighty Nation = Spain."

1 Nephi 22:7 Spain prior to the 1820's was "upon the face of this land" which means North and South America. See the blog article "This Land." By them (Spain) shall our seed (Lamanites) be scattered.

1 Nephi 22:8 After Spain scatters the Lamanites, then the marvelous work of the Restoration and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon will commence.

2 Nephi 1:11 Spain and other colonial powers will take control of formerly native lands. Lamanites will "be scatterred and smitten." The expropriation of indigenous land began on Columbus' second voyage in 1493. 

Helaman 15:12 Lamanites will be driven, "hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered." 

Helaman 15:12 Lamanites will have "no place for refuge." This describes the Latin American system where Indian reservations do not exist. See the blog article "Prophecy Fulfilled 013."

3 Nephi 16:8-9 Lamanites will be scattered, cast out, trodden under feet, smitten, afflicted, slain, hated by the Gentiles. Native Americans will be a hiss and a byword among the Gentiles. 

Mormon 5:20 Lamanites will be "driven and scattered by the Gentiles."

So, how did the Spanish conquistadores displace, dispossess, and generally destroy amost 50 million children of Lehi? They used military force, forced relocation, and enslavement. Natives were forced on pain of death to relocate and become gold and silver miners, pearl divers, plantation slaves, loggers, cochineal harvesters, weavers, etc. On the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) those natives who fled into the mountainous interior were hunted down by cavalry and war dogs. As natives died by the millions on Hispaniola and Cuba from disease and starvation, the Spanish staged slave raids across Venezuela and the Bahamas to replenish their labor pool. Most of the captured slaves died enroute and their bodies were thrown into the ocean. 

In the former Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, Cortes drove the entire Mexica population out, levelled their structures, and built an exclusive Spanish enclave that still exists in the Mexico City Zocalo today, Native farming communities by the thousands were burned or torn down and survivors were concentrated into Spanish mission towns so they could be forced to convert to Catholicism, donate labor, and pay taxes. Many natives committed suicide rather than submit to this extortion.

In highland Guatemala, Pedro de Alvarado followed Cortes' example, burning nobles at the stake, destroying the Kiche and Kaqchikel capitals, and forcing survivors into new mission towns. After years of guerilla warfare, the natives finally gave up and submitted to Spanish domination. The Yucatan peninsula was turned into vast haciendas that controlled all the best land and scarce water supplies.

After Francisco Pizarro captured Cusco, the Inca nobility fled to Vilcabamba in the Amazon basin. The Spanish soon invaded, killed Tupac Amaru, and forced the survivors to relocate. Francisco de Toledo forced 1.4 million Andean farmers and herders into controlled towns thbat provided a rotating labor force for the rich silver mines at Potosi, Bolivia and the mercury mines at Huancavelica, Peru. The mortality rate in these mines was so high that the Spanish began importing African slaves as replacements.

In northern Mexico, indigenous towns were destroyed and the former inhabitants were sent as slaves to plantations throughout southern Mexico and the Caribbean. In New Mexico, Juan de Oñate took revenge on Acoma Pueblo because his nephew was killed. Hundreds were enslaved. Men over 25 had one foot cut off to prevent their escape.

The carnage described in the foregoing 5 paragraphs all happened before the year 1600.

Huge Spanish mastiffs were trained to dismember, disembowel, and kill people by biting their throat. These dogs terrorized the natives who literally provided a ready food source for the beasts. If you visit any of the Inquisition museums throughout Latin America today you will see instruments of torture that will make your stomach turn. All of these insidious methods of inflicting pain were used on the native Americans at the mere suspicion of insubordination. In the words of Linda Schele, the Spanish overlords stole not only land, possessions, and family members, they destroyed the native's "mental sovereignty." Indigenous Americans in Latin America became a permanent underclass groveling in subservience.

For more context on Spanish (and Portuguese) depravity, see the blog article "Prophecy Fulfilled 017." 

For more than 300 years, this kind of inhumane brutality fulfilled Book of Mormon prophecies about the children of Lehi being scattered, driven, hunted, smitten, and slain. English colonial treatment of American Indians in what is today the United States of America was tame in comparison.  

Interesting Baseline Numbers

 Population of the Americas (35 nations) (2025)

• Latin America less Mesoamerica  497,240,000  47.06%
• US and Canada  389,503,000  36.86%
• Mesoamerica  169,971,000  16.08%
• The Americas  1,056,714,000  100% 

Size of Regions in the Americas (square kilometers)

• US and Canada  19,818,190  49.70%
• Latin America less Mesoamerica  17,818,741  44.69%
• Mesoamerica  2,238,224  5.61%
• The Americas  39,875,155  100% 

Highest Peaks in the Americas (feet)

• Latin America less Mesoamerica (Aconcagua) 22,838
• US and Canada (Denali) 20,310
• Mesoamerica (Orizaba) 18,491

Latter-day Saint Members (2025)

• US and Canada  7,141,500  50.86%
• Latin America less Mesoamerica  4,696,000  33.44%
• Mesoamerica  2,204,000  15.70%
• The Americas  14,041,500  100%

Dedicated Temples (October, 2026)

• US and Canada  117  65%
• Latin America less Mesoamerica  43  23.89%
• Mesoamerica  20  11.11%
• The Americas  180  100%

US Expatriates Living in Latin America (US State Department)

• Mesoamerica  1,634,000  81.05%
• Latin America less Mesoamerica  382,000  18.95%
• All of Latin America  2,016,000  100% 

American Indian and Alaska Native Population in the US

• Some Native American Ancestry Mixed with Other Races  9,700,000 (US Census Bureau)
• Native American  3,700,000  (US Census Bureau)
• Native Americans on Federal Rolls 2,000,000 (US Bureau of Indian Affairs)
• Indian Reservations  326  (US Bureau of Indian Affairs)

Latin Americans (Hispanics) in the US and Canada

• US  73.2 million  21.34%  (US Census Bureau)
• Canada  1.2 million  2.87%  (Statistics Canada)

Latin Americans in the Americas

• Others not Latin Americans  312,357,000  29.56%
• Latin Americans  744,357,000  70.44%

Book of Mormon Geography #04 Mesoamerica Best Fits the Text

1st video in this series: "Book of Mormon Geography #01 River Sidon Flowed North."

2nd video in this series: "Book of Mormon Geography #02 500 Clues."

3rd video in this series: "Book of Mormon Geography #03 Misreading the Map."

The 4th video in this series was published on October 13, 2026:

In this episode, Brad Omer and I walk through 18 major criteria from the text that all converge on one place: Mesoamerica. We explain why Meso throughout our lifetimes has been the Book of Mormon model with the highest degree of fit to the text. Here is an executive summary of the 18 points:

1. East Sea and West Sea. These are salt water oceans.
2. Land Northward and Land Southward. These were probably in a NW relationship to each other because passages describing them reference the West Sea.
3. A Narrow Place (Neck, Pass, Passage) is between Land Northward and Land Southward.
4. A Narrow Strip of Wilderness ran from the East Sea to the West Sea, dividing the Land Southward into Nephite lands to the north and Lamanites lands to the south.
5. You always go down from Nephi to Zarahemla and up from Zarahemla to Nephi.
6. River Sidon originates in the Narrow Strip of Wilderness and flows northward to the sea.
7. The Book of Mormon describes a temperate or tropical climate. Armies in the field nearly naked at New Years imply a low latitude setting.
8. The maximum extent of Book of Mormon lands does not exceed about 800 miles in any direction.
9. The Book of Mormon describes state level society, i.e. advanced civilizations.
10. Directional cardinality based on point of view.
11. Hill Cumorah N of the Narrow Place in Land Northward.
12. Large scale migrations northward, even beyond Jaredite heartland.
13. Shipbuilding industry, cargo and passenger vessels in West Sea.
14. Timber shipped from Land Southward to Land Northward.
15. Cement as a building material in Land Northward. Cement is a durable material that will leave traces in the archaeological record discoverable today.
16. Destruction in 3 Nephi 8 caused by volcanic, seismic, and meteorological activity.
17. Abundant precious metal ores.
18. Dozens of plausible micro geographies.

Appropriate methodology is to start with the text, read it closely, and use the scientific method to judge the strength of real world correlations. Serious students who apply this methodology are nearly unanimous that Mesoamerica is the region with the highest degree of fit to the text. Contemporary scholarship tends to reinforce this proposed setting. In other words, the more we learn, the stronger the case becomes. 

A viable geography will not make the Book of Mormon more true. It will make the Book of Mormon more real. It will help us understand this text with more profound comprehension.

Book of Mormon Geography #03 Misreading the Map

The first video in the 2026 Book of Mormon geography series explains how the text unambiguously requires the river Sidon to flow from south to north. See the blog article "Book of Mormon Geography #01 River Sidon Flowed North."

The second video in this series explains why the text itself is the most important of 6 major tools that will allow us to accurately locate Book of Mormon geography in the real world. See the blog article "Book of Mormon Geography #02 500 Clues."

The third video in this series was published on September 24, 2026.

It walks through assumptions about the text and establishes guidelines that will help us more accurately interpret what the Nephite authors intended us to understand. This is an executive summary of the points Brad Omer and I make in the video.

The text is foundational - the ultimate source of truth for any serious Book of Mormon geography effort. This ensures compliance with the Church directive to not imply any prophetic or Church support for proposed theories.

Multiple people can and do read the same textual passages quite differently. Hence, the need for guidelines aka assumptions about the text aka an interpretive apparatus.

The Book of Mormon is a real record of real people who lived in the real world, so a physical map is possible. The Church has told us the book is set in the Americas, so we have a general starting point. The Old World setting of the Book of Mormon is well-established. In the Old World, we had a reliable specific starting point - Jerusalem. Once we establish a viable specific starting point in the New World, progress solving the Book of Mormon geography puzzle will be rapid. 

Cardinal directions from the Old World carried through to the New World. Ditto ups and downs in a spatial context referring to elevation. 

There are no silver bullets, no easy button, no single criterion solutions. Seeds brought from the Old World flourishing in the New World are one example of a complex topic that can easily get oversimplified. We must account for hundreds of data points. This is not an algebraic equation where a + b = c. It is more like a 3 dimensional scatter plot where best fit analysis typically uses calculus. 

We must account for all references to a word or phrase. Cherry picking, even from the text of the Book of Mormon, is a logical fallacy.

As a true eye-witness account, the Book of Mormon is rational and consistent. 

Geonymns are physical, not selectively metaphorical. John Sorenson ("I could not make it fit my schema, so like many references in the Old Testament, it must be metaphorical.") is a counter example. Named geonyms are singularities. A double definition is a logical flaw. The city of Aaron entry in the 1981 and 2013 indices ("possibly two different cities") is a counter example. Ditto the city of Nephihah ("possibly two cities by this name").

Hyperbolic phrases such as the "face of the whole land" (Mormon 1:13) can be interpreted via hyper-literal, common sensical, or metaphorical lenses. Hyperbolic phrases are generally figures of speech that should be interpreted with common sense. The most likely interpretive solution derives from the text's extreme consistency. It is so consistent Royal Skousen coined the term "systematic phraseology." So, we analyze every instance of a word or phrase and deduce patterns that explain Nephite idioms' semantic range of meaning.

The Nephite author's point of view was boots on the ground. The correlation of the Gulf of Mexico/America with the place where the sea divides the land (Ether 10:20) is one counter example. People on the ground would not perceive a 500 kilometer wide feature the way we do on a modern map. Our proposal for the place where the sea divides the land (Boca de Tonalá) is half a kilometer wide and when you are standing on one side of it, you can easily see the other side with the open ocean and lagoon waters swirling and mixing through the gap.

Multiple attestations of a location in the text facilitate triangulation and contextualization, but single instances of a place name should still be included in any map. 

The text explicitly gives multiple meanings to a few major place names such as Nephi and Zarahemla.

Joseph Smith's translation was under divine tight control as per 2 Nephi 3:11, 21 2 Nephi 29:2-3, 3 Nephi 21:11, D&C 5:5-7, 10-11, 15-16; D&C 18:34-36.

The Yale 2009 edition is our preferred text. This means Amalekites should be Amlicites (Alma 21:2). Midian should be Middoni (Alma 24:5). Nephihah should be Moroni (Alma 51:26).

The language of the text as it fell from the lips of the prophet Joseph was Early Modern English (EModE) which places the linguistic setting in the 1500's and 1600's. This means the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is our relevant lexical resource. Places where EModE makes a difference in Book of Mormon geography:

• A "neck of land" is NOT an isthmus. It is generally a peninsula, cape, head, sandbar, spit, or some other coastal feature.
• The "head" of a river is generally the confluence of 2 tributaries that come together to form a stream large enough to be called a "river."
• "Between" means somethng of a different nature by two twins as in a hall between two rooms. Since the narrow neck was between the lands northward and southward, we should be looking for a landform strikingly different from either of the two twins.

To interpret the text consistently,

• "A Nephite" is an ordinary citizen or soldier.
• A "day's journey" is a standard unit of measure.
• "Many waters" is a salt water ocean. That means Hill Cumorah is seaside.
•  East or west of Sidon is riverside. If the land of Melek is riverside, and the Sidon is flowing northwesterly at that point, then 3 day's journey north of Melek (Alma 8:6) will be east of Sidon.

Yea clauses explicate a previous clause. Alma 50:34 describes a singular sea on the west that also has an eastern component such as you would find on a depositional coast with a lagoon system behind a barrier island or a sandbar. 

The Book of Mormon took place in the Holocene Epoch. The geological layout of the Americas has been relatively stable throughout the Holocene. The surface of the earth was impacted, but coastlines did not change much during the destruction described in 3 Nephi 8.

We should take advantage of the best modern tools such as the Yale 2009 text, searchable electronic databases, geographic information systems (we use Google Earth), and LIDAR.

Our best efforts to interpret the text using these assumptions, guidelines, and apparatus notwithstanding, there will still be some ambiguity. It is simply the nature of the beast. 

Book of Mormon Geography #02 500 Clues

The first video in the 2026 Book of Mormon Geography series explains how the text unambiguously requires the river Sidon to flow from south to north. See the blog article "Book of Mormon Geography #01 River Sidon Flowed North."  

The second video in this series was published on September 10, 2026.

In it, Brad Omer and I walk through 6 essential tools that will allow us to accurately locate Book of Mormon geography in the real world. This is an executive summary of the points we make in the video.

Introduction to Brad Omer of Lehi, Utah. He is a life-long careful student of the Nephite text who has written extensively on the war chapters. His video on the war chapters is on the Discover the Book of Mormon YouTube Channel.

Brad Omer and Kirk Magleby will produce a series of videos locating Book of Mormon places in the real world. We expect this series to be groundbreaking in its rigor and methodological sophistication. We will need exceptional tools in our backpack as we embark on this journey of discovery. 

Tool 1 of 6 is the realization that Book of Mormon geography is not essential. So, why do we care?

• Exploring Book of Mormon spatial correlations is very enjoyable.
• It helps us understand the text at a much more profound level. As an example, I cited this blog article "Captain Moroni in Space and Time."

Tool 2 of 6 is the intersection of mind and heart (D&C 8:2),  study and faith (D&C 88:118). A combination of devotion and rationality will help us take the Nephite scriptural record to the world.

Tool 3 of 6 is the realization that the Book of Mormon describes real people who lived in a real time in a real place. It is authentic ancient history. Our quest can eventually be successful. We patiently wait for revelatory finality, but in the meantime we will use the best means at our disposal. The witness of the spirit is decisive. As an example, I cite my personal conversion story. Rational processes bring pleasure, satisfaction, and affirmation that help ground testimony.

Tool 4 of 6 is the Church's Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Geography. It is foundational because it lets us know:

• The text has impressive internal consistency.
• The only known location is the entire Western Hemisphere aka the Americas, and that ambiguity extends even to the Hill Ramah/Cumorah whose location has not been revealed.
• Joseph Smith at various times seemed to support North American and Central American locations for Book of Mormon cities and events. (We describe the sensation Stephens and Catherwood's 1841 Incidents of Travel in Central America and Yucatan caused in Nauvoo.)
• We should avoid speculation. The only way to do this is to be grounded in the text - to let the text speak for itself.
• We must not imply prophetic or Church support for our theories. In fact, we should not even discuss the subject of Book of Mormon geography in official Church settings.

Cherry picking is a major logical fallacy. Debates over content in the modern historical record are a black hole that has not advanced the state of the art. We are to avoid contention. Brad and I will give grace and respect to serious Book of Mormon geography students even though we may differ with their conclusions. We mentioned Jay Mackley who is a Heartland theorist, George Potter who advocates a South American setting, and Dave Rosenvall who promotes the Baja California model.

Tool 5 of 6 is the text itself. The Book of Mormon is our primary source for information about its geography because it was written by inspired eye-witnesses. The Yale 2009 is our preferred text. Different interpretations of the same passage in the text are inevitable. We need assumptions, an apparatus for interpreting the text consistently. Royal Skousen coined the term "systematic phraseology" which means we can find patterns in Nephite language usage. 

There are at least 500 passages in the text with geographic implications. Some come from chronology - how long it took to travel from point A to point B. Some come from politics - The Nephite nation was a very different entity in Alma 22 that it was one generation later in Alma 50. The situation changed forever with the debacle in Helaman 4. 

We shared a jigsaw puzzle analogy. We have about 500 pieces of a 1,000 piece puzzle. There is no reference picture on the box. There are enough pieces that with great effort we can construct a viable internal map and then fit it to the real world. 

We enjoy advantages that previous generations of Book of Mormon geography students did not have such as geographic information systems (Google Earth), the Yale 2009 text, and fast computerized word and phrase searches.

Tool 6 of 6 is credible science. Many scientific results are largely incontrovertible meaning the vast majority of scientists accept them. Relevant examples are aerial photography, satellite remote sensing, topographic terrain mapping, shoreline configurations, and river courses. Dating is quite accurate because we can triangulate between speliology, dendrochronology, stratigraphy, thermoluminescence, carbon 14 radiometry, sediment cores, and written history. Yes, we do have some written history in the Americas that dates to Book of Mormon times. LIDAR is another source of generally accepted data. 

Spoiler alert. There is at least a 98% probability that the core Book of Mormon area was in Mesoamerica. Over time, Jaredite, Mulekite, and Lehite influence could have spread far beyond the core area. 

We are not peddling anything. Our motive is altruistic. We want to help fulfill President Ezra Taft Benson's 1988 plea to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon, and that is much more likely to happen if a plausible geography becomes widely accepted. 

We alluded to the purpose behind the Discover the Book of Mormon initiative within Ancient America Foundation.