Nephites in the Heartland of USA - Part 6

 The last day we drove to Big Springs. Big Spring is one of the largest springs in the United States and the world. An enormous first magnitude spring, it rises at the base of a bluff on the west side of the Current River valley in the Missouri Ozarks. Totally beautiful.

 Absolutely clear and clean! We filled up a bottle of water and I drank some.

It was suggested (feels right to me) that this could be the place of the Waters of Mormon.

Mosiah 18: 5 Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees, where he did hide himself in the daytime from the searches of the king.

Mosiah 18:30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

The photo above shows the mouth of the spring.

These are ancient steps (that are original!) that were discovered leading to the springs from the forest.
     After taking this trip and doing additional studying, I truly believe the Nephites lived on this "land of Promise" and this is where the Book of Mormon setting takes place.

Nephites in the Heartland of USA - Part 5

We drove to Cohokia Settlement just east of St. Louis, MO.  We spent time in the museum seeing amazing artifact. The museum is world class but the magnitude of Monks Mound, the largest earthen temple mound structure in North America is awe inspiring.  

 Above is Curtis and I standing in front of the Monks Mound.  It reminded us of Temple of the Sun in Mexico City only built out of mounds and not stone.

 This is what the first set of steps looked like from the first level up.

 Once we were at the top and we looked west, look what we saw! We had no idea we were that close to St. Louis! It was only 6 miles away!! See the Arch?

      We then drove to Stone Fort, an ancient fortified hilltop with stone walls perched atop a bluff.  If you look at the map below you will see the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, etc.  Look where the #23 is located. This is where this Stone Fort is located.  There are 45-47 Forts that go across that green dotted line. From each Fort you can see the next Fort.  They had the Mississippi River and Ohio River on the bottom and these fort strung across the lower portion of the state.

In the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 3:21   But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.

       3 Nephi 4:4    Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might subsist for the space of seven years, in the which time they did hope to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year did pass away.

 As we hiked from the parking lot, it was a narrow bath up hill. You look at the above photo and see the cliffs up on the right.

 These are the stones that are left on this fort wall.  They have excavated 4 or 5 Forts, the rest are under brush and growth.

 You can see how far down to the Bus it is from the very top. Was amazing what they were able to do protect their families.

 As we were discussing what happened in this area, one of the boys was digging along the stones and found this arrowhead. In perfect SHARP condition! Wow!

 Here are some of us looking at what he found. Amazing! What a treasure for him!

Nephites in the Heartland of USA - Part 4

We went to Dickson Mounds Museum. We saw the impressive collection of Hopewell artifacts and displays.  Here is a sample (see photo below) of the pearls, copper axes, jewelry, etc... that was Hopewell and found.

The photo below fits pretty well with the artifact above!

We then headed towards towards Griggsville, IL along the Illinois River to what is known as "Zelph's Mound".  The photo below is of the Illinois River.

When the early Mormons were having difficulty in Missouri, Joseph Smith led a group of men known as Zion's Camp.  Here is the story where they come upon the mound and Joseph then tells them about it:
      " While Zion's camp was marching on the way to Jackson County [Missouri], near the bank of the Illinois River [in Illinois] they came to a mound containing the skeleton of a man. The history of this incident is as follows:

    "The brethren procured a shovel and a hoe, and removing the earth to the depth of about one foot, discovered the skeleton of a man, almost entire, and between his ribs the stone point of a Lamanitish arrow, which evidently produced his death. Elder Burr Riggs retained the arrow. The contemplation of the scenery around us produced peculiar sensations in our bosoms; and subsequently 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, a large, thickset man, and a man of God. His name was Zelph. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky Mountains. The curse was taken from Zelph, or at least, in part—one of his thigh bones was broken by a stone flung from a sling, while in battle, years before his death. He was killed in battle by the arrow found among his ribs, during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites." [History of the Church, by Joseph Smith, Deseret Book, 1976, vol. 2, ch. 5, pp. 79-80]

       
              The picture below shows a middle bump (hill) which is Zelph's Mound.

 Here we are hiking along to the mound. There are actually 5 or 7 mounds in this area.  One known as Zelph's Mound was excavated right through the middle of it. They found 150 skeleton's just piled up in a heap. They ran out of money to excavate the other mounds.

 Below is a group photo of our tour group. I am in blue jacket about 11th from right. Curtis is right behind me.

When the arrow in Zelph at the mound was found, it was taken and is now in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints museum.  Two replicas were allowed to be made for showing.  The one I am holding is one of those exact replicas made from Flint.  Look how large it was!

So another day wrapped up with great info learned!

Nephites in the Heartland of USA - Part 3

Day 4 was Fort Ancient is located in Lebanon, Ohio. This another hilltop fortress with miles of embankments and trenches.  This Fort was started by the Adena (or Jaredite people) about 1000 BC. [See photo below, the purple bottom half] Apparently the Hopewells (or Nephite people) found the structure and added the connecting link and expanded the Fort [see photo below, top half].  Once again these had huge ditches around the entire Fort with stone walls very, very high.  Interestingly is there were no long term settlements found here. It was used for a very short time as a Fort and not a city.

           Alma 48:8 Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land.

 In the upper portion of the Fort (according to photo above) is where the "place of Entrance" was. There was only one way in and one way out and through several barricades.

So the picture above: Brown lines show fort "place of entrance", Red lines are the enemy entering, Blue Lines or Blue Dots would be those defending their Fort.
      Alma 49: 20 Thus they were prepared, yea, a body of their strongest men, with their swords and their slings, to smite down all who should attempt to come into their place of security by the place of entrance; and thus were they prepared to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

              The photo below is the open field in this Fort. There they introduced us to the Atlatl weapon. Wow! I love this weapon. We took turns throwing it, and each time I got better and could throw it farther than before. Two young 18 year old's on our tour work at a Boy Scout camp and teach scouts how to throw these and they were able to throw them the length of a football field with accuracy!

 So the photo above is me with my Atlatl. The photo below shows how this works.  The actual arrow/spear is about 5' long. The wooden stick that attaches to the end of the spear is about 18" long. With the flick of the wrist you propel the arrow/spear farther than with a bow and arrow. You can add weights to the spear and it will even go farther.  They found a woolly-mammoth with a 6" arrowhead in its chest. They figure the animal could only have been taken down with an Atlatl.

 The photo below are a few of the artifact they found at the fort.  Amazingly they have copper bracelets, shells, etc.. for jewlery.

 We then drove to Miamisburg Mound in Montgomery County, Ohio.  This is a burial mound that dates back between 1000 BC and 400 AD. which would have been the Jaredite time period. See sign below.

 Here is the actual mound.  The stairs are a modern addition so people can get to the top. There are a lot of steps!

What an amazing day it was!

Nephites in the Heartland of USA - Part 2

Continuing... we went to Fort Hill, a Hopewell hilltop fortress with its ancient stone walls still visible. We hiked up a narrow trail to the very top.  It was amazing. When up on top you could see straight down the sides 75 feet for more below.  There was no way an enemy could get up to you without you attacking them from the top.  

Here I am on the trail hiking up to the top.  (Side note - this is where I got the Tick that crawled up my jeans and attached itself just above my right knee which I didn't know until that evening when I was getting in the shower. Curtis poured after shave on it and it backed right out!)

 Up on top there were several natural springs for fresh water.  This is the remain of one.

 Wayne May had rods that could tell where wooden posts had been and we were able to figure out the size of each "watch tower". Totally amazing. These towers were along the ridge and fairly close to each other with pickets in between.   In the Book of Mormon in  Alma 50: 3 & 4 it says:

And he caused that upon those works of timbers there should be a frame of pickets built upon the timbers round about; and they were strong and high.

And he caused towers to be erected that overlooked those works of pickets, and he caused places of security to be built upon those towers, that the stones and the arrows of the Lamanites could not hurt them.

We then traveled to Mound City in Chillicothe, Ohio. This restored Hopewell site features displays of artifacts of copper, silver, and stone that may have been made by Book of Mormon people.

 Here is a copper head plate that was found.  Once again in the Book of Mormon in Alma 49:24 There were about fifty who were wounded, who had been exposed to the arrows of the Lamanites through the pass, but they were shielded by their shields, and their breastplates, and their head-plates, insomuch that their wounds were upon their legs, many of which were very severe.

 Sandi, Wayne May and Curtis sitting a top one of the huge mounds.  This was a burial place. There were about 20 mounds in this one location.

 The photo above is a drawing done by Squire and Davis of Seip Mound back in 1846.  The only structure left today is the center oval which you can see in the photo below.

 This is what Seip Mound looks like today.  A very high mound.

 Well when I got up to the top of this Seip Mound, I couldn't resist! I loved rolling down grassy hills as a kid and had not done it in decades! So I rolled down. You can see how high the mound is by how small the people look at the top. It took me a good 2 min to roll to the bottom. I did it twice!

We then drove on to Serpent Mound located in Adams County, Ohio.  This structure was built about 1,000 BC by the Adena people (Jaradites). It lines up with the phases of the moon as well as the sun. It is similar to the constellation of Draco. Totally amazing. They have built a huge tower (a lot like a fire lookout tower) for one to climb so you can see the entire mound shape.  That is where we took this photo from.

 Below shows two of the signs that show the phases of the sun-rise and moon-rise.  There were lots of them!

All of the above was just day two on this most amazing journey.

Nephites in the Heartland of USA - Part 1

This summer we were fortunate to take an amazing trip with Rod Meldrum to the heartland of America, meaning the middle of the United States of America - not mesoamerica!  We flew into Columbus, Ohio and started our tour there.  We flew home a week later from St. Louis, Missouri.  Here are some of the photos of what we saw and experienced. I will post photos in groups (by the day) for what we saw:

 The picture above is of an ancient indian throwing what is called Atl-atl.  The writing is a little blurry, but it is a spear or arrow about 5' long. At the end of the spear is a hole where a wooden point off the 2nd paddel he is holding is inserted. With a whip action of the wrist one can launch it about 300 yards with perfect accuracy! They added weights to it allow further force.  These are deadly.  I got to practice throwing one for about 20 minutes - I loved it.  I got better each time!

 We went to Flint Ridge. This is the area where most the of the indians got their Flint for their arrowheads. When you put heat to it they turned beautiful colors. Here is a photo of one of the arrows that a man was able to replicate. Beautiful!

 The above photo is of a survey that Squires and Davis did back in mid 1800's of all the mounds they found throughout Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, etc... and mapped each one. Today most of them are missing.  We got to see the Circle on the bottom right and the circle and square on the upper left.  This distance between the two circles is about 6 miles.  A subdivision and city sits in the middle of this now.  The circle and square (called the Great Octagon) in the upper left has a golf course through it all - so that is how it is being preserved.  These type of mounds are considered religious. In fact more like Temple grounds.  The designs were mounds of dirt 3 times taller than man and were massive!

 Here we are walking on the top of the ring of the circle. You can see the embankments on each side.

 Here we are standing on one of the shapes.  This is where they feel the Bountiful Temple could have been. You can really sense a strong spirit there.

 Here is where the University of  Cincinnati took the great octagon and mapped it with the moon. They knew astronomical alignments, etc...

Here are some religious artifacts found at the religious mounds. The stone in the middle is called the Decalogue Stone. It has block Hebrew around the outer edge on the back. It translates to the 10 Commandments. It was found in the case (on either side of it) in perfect condition.  The front left stone is a "key stone" they found. Once again writing on each side was in Hebrew and translates to :The Holy of Holies", "King of the Earth", "The Word of the Lord", and "The Laws of Jehovah".  These stones date back to 100 - 400 AD.

Naval Special Warfare - BUDS (Seals)

While in San Diego earlier this month, I had a awesome privilege of touring the Navy Seal Base!  Growing up in the military, reading "No Easy Day", and just loving all that our military does for our country and "me", it was so cool to be there.  Some of you will just have to take my word for it, it was GREAT!

 This was our itinery for the U.S. Navy SEALs visit.  SEALs stand for Sea, Air, Land.

 The bus dropped us off in front of this building. As we walked inside it had a small lobby which we walked through to inner open compound.  You can see below the frog footprint. That is where each soldier stands in formation.  The blue table you see across the compound had lots of weaponry on it. At the end of the tour we ended up at that table and because we all had undergone extensive background checks to just be on this tour, anyone who wanted to could hold up these weapons and have a picture of them taken (with their own camera).  The guys in the love all did this!!!  Macho men???

They had just completed class 300 with hell week.  That was the weeding out process of who was going to become a SEAL.  All the guys were sleeping (they had been kept up pretty much from Sunday to Friday am).

 Every graduating class presents a trophy or plaque of some kind to the school. The frogman above was from class 63 (not year 1963).  They apparently got it from Hollywood, it was used in a film! It has now become a symbol of the SEALs.

 We were taken into a big instruction room and given an overview of what the SEALs do. What kind of missions they do, where are they based, how does one get in, etc....  This is the final slide that shows the general command of what each area covers.  It didn't turn out real great, but you can see - there are lots of divisions.

 As a soldier goes through BUDs (Basic Underwater Demolition) and their SEAL program, if at any time they want to quit, the soldier goes to a bell and rings it and then takes off his green helmet and places it along the side of the compound.  This is just some of the ones that quit in class 300.  There is no shame in quitting, they just get reassigned to somewhere else within the Navy.  If an enlisted man quits, he has two years to reapply and try again (but competition is really stiff).  If an officer quits, he gets no further chance at being a SEAL.

 This is inside one of the classrooms where they receive knowledge and training on diving and other instruction.

As we were leaving, I turned around and looked up.  This amazing plaque (from class 243) was above the door.  I think this could be applied to each and every one of us.  I have applied that concept in my life (probably grilled into me by my Air Force dad) but the words made it crystal clear!