Travel Many Days in the Wilderness--Call the Land Nephi--Did They
Journey Northward?--Location of Land Nephi--River Sidon and
Magdalena--Land of Zarahemla--Twenty-two Days' Travel from Nephi--Did
not Land of Nephi Extend Considerably South?--Zeniff's Return to the
Land of Nephi--Was that the Land Settled by Nephi, the First?--Mosiah,
King of Zarahemla--Reasons for Thinking Nephi to be Distinguishing
Name of an Extensive Region--Nephites Would Spread Over the Country in
Four Hundred Years--Did Nephi and Company Travel as far North as
Ecuador?--Followed by Lamanites--Jacob and Enos Respecting
Lamanites--Nephi's Description of the Land--Bolivia and Peru--Cities
and Settlements Called After Founders--Additional Reasons for Thinking
Nephi and Company did not Settle so far North--Boundaries of Lands
Occupied by Nephites and Lamanites--South America Called Lehi, North
America Called Mulek.
After they separated from Laman and Lemuel, Nephi and his company
traveled for many days in the wilderness and reached a land where they
determined to settle. They selected for it the name of their leader,
and it was called Nephi.
Nephi does not state in what direction he and his company traveled
after separating from his brethren; but it is plain, from the
allusions which are subsequently made to this land of Nephi by other
writers, that they took their journey northward. It appears plain also
that they traveled some distance in that direction. As Nephi was
always careful to seek the guidance of the Lord in his movements, he
was undoubtedly led by Him to the land where they settled. It is
stated by Elder Orson Pratt, in a footnote to the new edition of the
Book of Mormon, that the land of Nephi is supposed to have been in or
near the country now called Ecuador. This supposition is based upon
the general understanding that the river called the Sidon in the Book
of Mormon is that now known as the Magdalena in our geographies. If
this is correct, we can locate the land of Zarahemla with tolerable
accuracy from the references which are made to it in the Book of
Mormon; and as journeys were made between those two lands--Nephi and
Zarahemla--and in one instance the time occupied in the journey is
given--about twenty-two days—-(_Mosiah xxiii. 3, xxiv, 20-25_,) some
idea can be obtained of the distance between these two places.
But there are reasons for thinking that the land called Nephi was an
extensive region, and that it reached much farther south than the
country now known as Ecuador. Nearly four centuries after Nephi and
his company separated from Laman and Lemuel and their companions, a
prophet by the name of Mosiah was warned by the Lord to flee out of
the land of Nephi, and to take with him all the Nephites who would
"hearken unto the voice of the Lord." They were led by the power of
God, through the wilderness, to the land of Zarahemla. Afterwards,
some of the children of those who thus fled had a desire to return to
the old home of their fathers, and expeditions were fitted out for
that purpose. One of them under Zeniff was successful in securing a
foothold in that land, though it had by that time been taken
possession of by the Lamanites. By treaty with the king of the
Lamanites, Zeniff and his people were permitted to occupy the cities
of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom and the contiguous lands. They erected
buildings and repaired the walls of those cities and cultivated the
ground. Zeniff became their king. His son Noah succeeded him. In his
days, Alma, a descendant of Nephi, baptized a number of people and
organized them into a church. Being persecuted by King Noah, they left
that country, and after meeting various adventures, reached Zarahemla.
They numbered, when they started, four hundred and fifty souls, and we
learn that the journey occupied about twenty-two days. This leads to
the conclusion that the city of Lehi-Nephi, from which they started,
could not have been farther south than the country now called Ecuador.
But the inquiry arises, was this the place to which Nephi led his
company when they separated from Laman and Lemuel and their adherents?
The record informs us that when they fled from their wicked brethren
they journeyed for many days, and they pitched their tents, "and,"
Nephi says, "my people would that we should call the name of the place
Nephi; wherefore we did call it Nephi." Nearly four hundred years
after this we find in the book of Omni (_i. 12_):
"Behold, I will speak unto you somewhat concerning Mosiah, who was
made king over the land of Zarahemla: for behold, he being warned of
the Lord that he should flee out of the land of Nephi, and as many as
would hearken unto the voice of the Lord, should also depart out of
the land with him, into the wilderness."
It appears clear that this name of Nephi was a general name for a
large region of country, which comprised within its borders many
smaller divisions known by various names. We infer this from the
record; for Zeniff, upon his return to that which he calls, "the land
of our fathers," had the liberty given him to occupy two places, or
divisions, which he calls, "the land of Lehi-Nephi and the land of
Shilom." Adjoining these was a portion of country known as "the land
of Shemlon," which the Lamanites retained in their possession. In the
borders of the country occupied by Zeniff and his Nephite people, was
a place called Mormon. It was after this place that the great prophet
and general of the Nephite nation, who led the hosts in the last,
great conflict, was called. He himself speaks of it (_III. Nephi v.
12_) as "the land of Mormon." So it appears plain that there were many
local divisions in the region which the Nephites had occupied.
We see that those whom Nephi led away from his wicked brethren, called
the first place where they settled Nephi and themselves Nephites.
Would not the same reasons prompt the nation as it increased and
spread over the land, to call the whole region which it occupied,
embracing all its local divisions, Nephi, or the land of Nephi, as its
great distinguishing name? From the point where Nephi first settled,
it is quite likely his people extended to the northward; for in that
direction they had room to spread, without coming in contact with the
Lamanites. In this way the limits of "the land of Nephi" would be
enlarged. Our own history in these mountains shows how this would be
done. The Latter-day Saints came to the land we now call Utah
thirty-four years ago. Salt Lake City was then settled. Since 1847 we
have spread over a large extent of country. But this is a brief space,
compared with the centuries which elapsed from the time that Nephi and
his company fled from his brethren, to the departure of Mosiah and his
company into the wilderness, when they found Zarahemla. Though in the
beginning the Nephites were but few in number, it is easy to
understand that, in the space of nearly four hundred years, they would
become quite numerous. We are told, that when two hundred years had
elapsed they "had waxed strong in the land," as were also the
Lamanites. Were not the cities of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom, and the lands
bearing those names, some of the most northern of the Nephite
settlements? There was a country, stretching to the south of those
cities and lands, known by the general name of Nephi, which they had
occupied, and from which they, doubtless, receded, through the
pressure of the Lamanites upon them from the south, during the long
period of time concerning which we have such brief mention. We know
that the place where Lehi and his people landed on the continent was
in the 30° of south latitude. Between this point and the southern
boundary of Ecuador is a space of 26° of latitude, and includes the
choice and desirable countries now known as the northern part of
Chili, and Bolivia, and Peru--countries admirably adapted for the
settlement and defense of a people like the Nephites. The question
arises: Did Nephi and his people traverse this great distance when he
separated himself from his brethren?
When Nephi and his people fled, they were followed, before long, by
the Lamanites; for it appears that it was but a short period until
Nephi manufactured swords, after the fashion of the sword of Laban,
for his people to use in defending themselves against the attacks of
the Lamanites. When forty years had elapsed, Nephi informs us there
had been wars and contentions between the two peoples; and Jacob, in
speaking of his brother Nephi, and that which he had done for his
people and their love for him, says that he had "wielded the sword of
Laban in their defense." Jacob, and Enos, his son, speak of the
Lamanites in such a manner as to leave no doubt that they and the
whole Nephite people were familiar with them and their modes of life,
and that they tried to teach them (_Jacob ii. 35; iii. 5-9; Enos i.
13, 14, 20_). Whatever the distance, therefore, may have been that
Nephi and his company fled, the Lamanites must have made the same
journey not long after. Nephi informs us that they journeyed in the
wilderness "for the space of many days" before they reached the place
they called after his own name. His description of it leaves no doubt
as to its fertility, its advantage for grazing, its abundance of
timber, and its great mineral wealth. Besides the common metals, he
speaks of gold and silver, and other precious ores, as being in great
abundance. Traveling as they did, a company of men, women and
children, with tents and other baggage, it would have required a
journey of very "many days" from their place of landing to get beyond
the confines of what is now called Chili and into Bolivia. In the
lands now known as Bolivia and Peru, places can be found, which
correspond exactly with the description of the place of settlement
given in the record, particularly in the abundance of the precious
metals. Those countries have not been excelled, even in our day, in
the yield of these ores by any country in the world. Some of their
mines are world-renowned; and within their borders places of great
natural strength, which could be easily fortified against the
incursions of a savage foe, are very numerous. Commencing their
settlements here, and calling the land Nephi and themselves Nephites,
they whom Nephi led could spread to the northward as they increased
and necessity required still applying the general name of Nephi to the
whole country, but distinguishing their cities and settlements and
sub-divisions by the names of their founders, as was their custom
(_Alma viii. 7_), or by other names that circumstances might suggest,
until they reached, in the days of Mosiah, as far north as what is now
known as Ecuador, and had cities there, near the wilderness on the
north, known as Nephi or Lehi-Nephi, Shilom, Shemlon, etc.
Another reason also causes this view to appear probable; Nephi and his
company could scarcely have settled at a point twenty-two days'
journey from Zarahemla without their descendants--scattered as they
were upon the face of the land--coming in contact with the
Zarahemlaites at an earlier date than the days of Mosiah, even though
the people of Zarahemla may not have long resided at the point where
he found them. It does not appear probable that, if the city of Nephi,
or Lehi-Nephi as it is sometimes called, had been the city founded by
the first Nephi, there would have been a wilderness so close to it on
the north, as there appears from the record to have been, after four
hundred years had elapsed.
In the description of the boundaries of the lands occupied by the
Nephites and the Lamanites (_Alma xxii., 27-32_) it is stated that,
"the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and
dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness, on the
west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of
Zarahemla, in the borders by the sea-shore, and on the west, in the
land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and
thus bordering along by the sea-shore."
Here our two allusions to the land of Nephi, and without desiring to
favor any particular theory or to strain the language to sustain any
special views, it conveys to us the idea, when taken in connection
with other facts contained in the record, that the land of Nephi was,
as we have said, an extensive region, embracing at least the west side
of the continent with the Pacific shore for some distance to the
south, and perhaps embracing within its boundaries the whole of the
south continent outside of the limits of Zarahemla. In the same
chapter (_verse 34_) the same idea is clearly expressed in the
language that "the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in
the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about," and this, too, at
a time when the whole continent, south of the line of the land of
Zarahemla, was either in possession of the Lamanites, or open to them.
It must not be forgotten, however, that what is now known in geography
as South America was called Lehi, and North America was called Mulek
by the Nephites. (_Helaman vi. 10_).