“And it came to pass that many of the Lamanites did go into the land northward.” —Helaman 6:6

The Know

While marching with Zion’s Camp in June 1834, Joseph Smith and the brethren “visited many of the mounds” which Wilford Woodruff speculated were “flung up . . . probably by the Nephites & Lamanites.” In a letter to Emma, Joseph Smith said they had been “wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon.” Joseph even said they were “picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity.”

On one such occasion, several of the brethren remembered Joseph having identified the bones of a Lamanite warrior named Zelph, who had died in battle. Archaeologists today recognize this event as the first documented archaeological excavation in the Illinois River Valley.

Exactly who Zelph was or how his story relates to Book of Mormon events, however, remains uncertain. In an account published as part of the “History of Joseph Smith” in 1846, after Joseph Smith’s death, Zelph was directly linked to the final battles fought between the Nephites and Lamanites in the fourth century AD:

The visions of the past being opened to my understanding by the spirit of the Almighty I discovered that the person whose skeleton was before us, was a white Lamanite . . . He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Omandagus, who was known from the hill Cumorah, or Eastern sea, to the Rocky Mountains. His name was Zelph. . . . He was killed in battle, by the arrow found among his ribs, during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites.

Image from Joseph Smith Papers in History, 1838–1856, vol. 1–A, p. 483. Handwriting of Willard Richards

Despite this being written in the first person, Joseph Smith himself left behind no direct statements about Zelph. Because this account mentions Cumorah and a “last great struggle” between “Lamanites and Nephites,” some have taken this as a prophetic statement about Book of Mormon geography.

However, when this account is compared against the manuscript history of the Church and the earlier sources on Zelph, the explicit connections to Book of Mormon places and events become tenuous. There are three crucial details which need to be carefully examined:

1. “And Nephites”

None of the early accounts about Zelph, written by people in Zion’s Camp, mentions the Nephites. Furthermore, in the pre-publication manuscript, written in 1842–1843, under Joseph Smith’s guidance and direction, “and Nephites” is crossed out.

Image from Joseph Smith Papers, showing ‘and Nephites’ crossed out in History, 1838–1856, vol. 1–A, p. 483. Handwriting of Willard Richards.

While some of the early accounts say Zelph died in battle, most do not specify which groups the battle was between. Heber C. Kimball said Zelph “fell in battle . . . among the Lamanites,” perhaps meaning it was a battle between warring Lamanite factions.

2. “The Last Great Struggle”

As with “and Nephites,” the word “last” is actually crossed out in the pre-publication manuscript prepared under Joseph Smith’s direction. Thus, when reading the pre-publication manuscript without the crossed-out phrases, we only find that Zelph, himself a Lamanite, “was killed . . . during a great struggle with the Lamanites.” This suggests that, like in the Kimball account, this was an inter-Lamanite battle.

Image from Joseph Smith Papers, showing ‘last’ crossed out in History, 1838–1856, vol. 1–A, p. 483. Handwriting of Willard Richards.

Among the early sources, only Heber C. Kimball, in an account published in 1845, after Joseph Smith’s death, associated Zelph with “the last destruction.” However, as already mentioned, Kimball only described “the last destruction among the Lamanites,” with no mention of Nephite involvement. It is thus unclear whether he had the final Book of Mormon battles in mind or not.

3. “Hill Cumorah”

Once again, in the pre-publication manuscript, “hill Cumorah” is crossed out, and thus Onandagus is only said to be “known from the eastern sea to the Rocky Mountains.”

Image from Joseph Smith Papers, showing ‘hill cumorah’ crossed out in History, 1838–1856, vol. 1–A, p. 483. Handwriting of Willard Richards.

Among the six early accounts, only Wilford Woodruff mentioned the Hill Cumorah, stating that “the great prophet . . . was known from the hill Cumorah to the Rocky mountains.” In the earlier account written by Rueben McBride, it was Zelph himself who was “known from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains,” with no mention of the Hill Cumorah.

In sum, all the details connecting Zelph to specific Book of Mormon places or events in the “History of the Church” article are crossed out in the pre-publication manuscript and are poorly supported by the early primary sources (see table).

The Why

After reviewing all the sources, historian Kenneth Godfrey concluded, “Most sources agree that Zelph was a white Lamanite who fought under a leader named Onandagus (variously spelled). Beyond that, what Joseph said to his men is not entirely clear, judging by the variations in the available sources.”

Joseph Smith and Zion's Camp discovering Zelph. Image by Jody Livingtston

Based on the pre-publication manuscript of the “History of the Church” and the most consistent details found in the early primary sources, it appears that Zelph was a righteous Lamanite warrior who died in battle, possibly an inter-Lamanite conflict (see table). This makes Zelph difficult to situate in terms of Book of Mormon history. One possibility, put forward by apostle John A. Widtsoe, is that “Zelph probably dated from a later time when Nephites and Lamanites had been somewhat dispersed and had wandered over the country.”

Historian Donald Q. Cannon concluded that these accounts “indicate that [Joseph Smith] believed that Book of Mormon history, or at least a part of it, transpired in North America.” While this may be true, we cannot be certain how Zelph relates to any specific Book of Mormon places or events, and therefore his story cannot be used as proof in support of any particular geography. Cannon himself did not feel that Joseph Smith’s statement pinned Book of Mormon geography down in North America, but rather “raises the feasibility of a connection between Central America and North America.”

A historical connection between peoples in Central and North America is supported by current evidence from anthropology, and the Book of Mormon records that in the mid-first century BC many Nephites and Lamanites migrated northward (Alma 63:4–9; Helaman 3:3–8; 6:6). These northward travelers “were never heard of more” (Alma 63:8). Perhaps, as suggested by Mark Wright, Zelph and Onandagus lived among colonies of Lamanites in the land northward which fell outside the scope of Book of Mormon history.

Ultimately, exactly who Zelph was remains a mystery today, and solid conclusions about the location of Book of Mormon places and events simply cannot be reached using his story. Yet like Kenneth Godfrey, we can “hope that someday we will understand more fully just how Zelph, Onandagus, and others not mentioned in the Book of Mormon fit into the divine scheme of things on this, the American continent.”

Book of Mormon Central is hosting a chiasmus conference on August 16. Find more details from the flyers below:

Further Reading

Kenneth W. Godfrey, “What Is the Significance of Zelph in the Study of Book of Mormon Geography?” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8, no. 2 (1999): 70–79, 88.

Donald Q. Cannon, “Zelph Revisited,” in Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: Illinois, ed. H. Dean Garrett (Provo, UT: Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1995), 97–111.

Kenneth W. Godfrey, “The Zelph Story,” BYU Studies 29, no. 2 (1989): 31–56.