Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum

Joseph Smith’s Declaration That the Jaredites Were Led

from the Tower of Babel to Mexico

Copyright © 2010 by Ted Dee Stoddard

Board of Advisors

Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum

www.bmaf.org

Almost hidden among the thirty-four hundred onscreen pages of my converted file for the Times and Seasons is a June 15, 1842, article by Joseph Smith entitled “Traits of the Mosaic History, Found among the Aztaeca Nations.”¹ Joseph took responsibility for the article while he functioned as the editor of the Times and Seasons during the period of March 15, 1842, to October 15, 1842. The first part of the article talks about the flood, and the second part deals with the confounding of languages at the Tower of Babel and the journey of the Jaredites to “a land which is choice above all the earth.”

We know that Joseph wrote, dictated, or, at the very least, approved and accepted the article as his own because of the notation “ED.” at the end of the article. During the lifetime of the Times and Seasons, the official newspaper of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from November 1839 to February 1846, the “chief editor” routinely placed his “signature” (the notations “Ed.” or “ED.”) at the conclusion of any articles for whose content he was responsible. In today’s world, the guidelines for such a practice in an organization are spelled out in the policies and procedures manual of the organization. An examination of all issues of the Times and Seasons will verify the informal, unwritten “signature” policies and procedures that chief editors followed for authorship purposes.

Proponents of the Heartland Model for Book of Mormon geography maintain that Joseph Smith was not responsible for the content of any Times and Seasons articles to which the notations of “Ed.” or “ED.” are attached. They give two reasons for their stance: (1) Joseph was “in hiding” when such articles were published in the Times and Seasons and (2) because the first-person plural pronoun “we” appears in articles attributed to Joseph by the “Ed.” and “ED.” notations, personnel at the Times and Seasons other than Joseph Smith are responsible for the articles.

What evidence do we have, other than the perceived policies and procedures of the Times and Seasons, that Joseph Smith actually wrote, dictated, or, at the very least, approved and accepted as his own any articles with the notations “Ed.” or “ED.” while he functioned as the chief editor?

A careful examination of Joseph’s journal entries, as found in the History of the Church, and of articles in the Times and Seasons—both associated with his role as editor of the Times and Seasons—reveals the following:

On March 2, 1842, Joseph states in his journal, “I read the proof of the Times and Seasons, as editor for the first time, No. 9, Vol. III.”² And in the March 15, 1842, issue of the Times and Seasons, Joseph states, “This paper commences my editorial career, I alone stand for it, and shall do for all papers having my signature henceforward.”³ As noted previously, the “signature” of the editor of the Times and Seasons for any article for which he was responsible was the abbreviation “Ed.” or “ED.” at the end of the article. At the end of the May 15, 1842, issue, Joseph states: “The Times and Seasons, is edited by Joseph Smith. Printed and published about the first and fifteenth of every month, on the corner of Water and Bain Streets, Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, by Joseph Smith.”

As verified via his journal entries in the History of the Church, if Joseph truly was “in hiding” during the period between March 1, 1842, and August 8, 1842, he was merely avoiding “outsiders” to the Nauvoo community, as he obviously went about his normal activities through that time period. As his journal verifies, throughout this time period, he held and attended meetings of various kinds, transacted numerous business dealings, lectured frequently, spent considerable time at home with his family, worked on his farm, rode many places on horseback, received revelation, wrote many letters, participated in city council activities, recuperated from illness, and so forth. And he of course attended to his duties as editor of the Times and Seasons as shown in such journal entries as the following:⁴ “Examining copy for the Times and Seasons (March 9); “Transacted a variety of business at the store, printing office, etc.” (May 10); “In the afternoon at the printing office” (May 16); “At eight in the evening, called at the printing office” (May 28); “At the printing office in the morning” (June 4); “Called at the printing office for some papers” (June 12); “Issued an editorial on the Gift of the Holy Ghost” (June 15); “In the afternoon, at the printing office reading the papers” (July 11).

In his journal entry for August 8, 1842, Joseph says, “This forenoon I was arrested by the deputy sheriff . . . as ‘being an accessory before the fact, to an assault with intent to kill made by one Orrin P. Rockwell on Lilburn W. Boggs,’ on the night of the sixth of May, AD 1842.” As a result, from August 11 to August 19, Joseph was “in hiding” so he could avoid capture and extradition to Missouri. However, he was in relatively close proximity to Nauvoo, and he had numerous visitors while he hid from his adversaries. In a postscript of an August 14 letter to Wilson Law, he told Wilson, “I want you to communicate all the information to me of all the transactions as they are going on daily, in writing, by the hands of my aides-de-camp.”⁵ And in his August 29 journal entry, he states, “Near the close of Hyrum’s remarks [in the Grove], I went upon the stand. . . . My sudden appearance on the stand, under the circumstances which surrounded us, caused great animation and cheerfulness in the assembly. Some had supposed that I had gone to Washington, and some that I had gone to Europe, while some thought I was in the city. . . . I had been in Nauvoo all the while, and outwitted Bennett’s associates, and attended to my own business in the city all the time.”⁶

Thus, although Joseph was at times “in hiding” to the point that he successfully avoided his enemies, he was in close proximity to Nauvoo throughout his tenure as editor of the Times and Seasons; and, as best we can tell from examining the outcomes of his endeavors, he functioned very well in fulfilling all his responsibilities, including those associated with his role of editor.

As for the Heartlanders’ contention that the content of Joseph’s Times and Seasons articles cannot be attributed to him because of the plural pronoun “we” in the articles, an examination of all articles with the notations “Ed.” or “ED.” reveals some important outcomes.

A search of all thirty-four hundred onscreen pages in my comprehensive files of the Times and Seasons shows that a total of sixty-two articles or other items bear the “signature” of the editors (“Ed.” or “ED.”). Routinely, whether the editor in question was Ebenezer Robinson, Joseph Smith, or John Taylor, the articles use the first-person plural “we” in fifty—or 81 percent—of the articles.

Thus, we can conclude with certainty that Joseph’s use of the plural “we” in his articles merely followed the procedures of the editorial staff in the printing office where issues of the Times and Seasons were planned and printed.

As we think about that convention, we will deduce that the use of “we” in such articles is a natural way of bringing the reader “on board” to share in the content of an article. Except in very formal writing, all good writers routinely follow that convention for that reason.

But something else is probably involved in these instances in the Times and Seasons. If we were to pretend that we were witnesses to the daily activities in the printing office where issues of the Times and Seasons were planned, written, reviewed, and set in type, we would observe something like the following.

Editors (and other writers) don’t commonly write an article in total isolation and then publish it without review by others on the editorial staff. With just a little imagination, we can re-create the scenario at the printing office for one of Joseph’s articles. We know him well enough to know that he often asked other colleagues to write something for him or to help him in composing a written presentation. And he often merely dictated his words while someone wrote them down in anticipation of subsequent review.

Initially, however, Joseph and others in the printing office probably discussed the consequences of Humboldt’s comments about the Aztecs. “What do you think is going on here?” must have been a natural question as they explored Humboldt’s book. In the process, Joseph must have formulated answers to that question—answers that became the content of the article that was eventually prepared. And the article very well went through further revision iterations before it was deemed ready for publication. In other words, reaching the point of the final copy of an article typically was not an overnight process.

As you read Joseph’s article, I draw your attention to these outcomes of his words:

1. In the second part of the article, Joseph speaks of the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel when he says, “In regard to the confusion of languages it is said of the above nations, that there were ‘fifteen heads, or chiefs of families, that were permitted to speak the same language.’” He quotes Humboldt here, who is probably quoting the Spanish historian Ixtlilxochitl, who worked with native documents in writing his history of natives of New Spain (Mesoamerica).⁷

2. When the travelers “at length arrived in the country of Aztalan, of the lake country of America,” they are in the valley of Mexico where Mexico City stands today. I maintain that we cannot comprehend adequately the massiveness of the lakes in the valley of Mexico prior to the conquest of Mexico. Reading the works of such writers as Bernal Diaz or William Prescott⁸ will help anyone comprehend the immensity of the original lake system of the valley of Mexico. The Mexico valley is a logical candidate for the “land which was northward” in the Book of Mormon: “Therefore, Morianton put it into their hearts that they should flee to the land which was northward, which was covered with large bodies of water, and take possession of the land which was northward” (Alma 50:29; emphasis added).⁹

3. At one point in his article, Joseph says, “Here, then, we have two records found upon this continent, that go to support the words of eternal truth.” Later, he says, “These accounts, then, precisely agree, one of which was found in Ontario county, N.Y., and the other in Mexico.” He of course is talking about the Book of Mormon that came from the hill we now call the Hill Cumorah of upstate New York and the Aztec document about which Humboldt wrote. Joseph then points out that the Aztec document “is so like that contained in the Book of Mormon, that the striking analogy must be seen by every superficial observer.” The simplicity of that language is such that Book of Mormon readers and scholars should easily recognize and admit that “something is going on in Mesoamerica in connection with the Book of Mormon.”

4. Joseph’s choice of words supports the definitions of “America” and “continent” as found in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, American Dictionary of the English Language. At issue here is what the words America and continent meant in nineteenth-century America at the time of Joseph Smith.

First, Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines America as follows: “One of the great continents, first discovered by Sebastian Cabot, June 11, O.S. 1498, and by Columbus, or Christoval Colon, Aug. 1, the same year. It extends from the eightieth degree of North, to the fifty-fourth degree of South Latitude; and from the thirty-fifth to the one hundred and fifty-sixth degree of Longitude West from Greenwich, being about nine thousand miles in length. Its breadth at Darien [Panama] is narrowed to about forty-five miles, but at the northern extremity is nearly four thousand miles. From Darien to the North, the continent is called North America, and to the South, it is called South America.”¹⁰ Thus, to Joseph Smith, “America” consisted of one continent, referenced by the singular pronoun it. That continent, in today’s jargon, was indeed “hemispheric” because “it” included all the territory north and south of the Isthmus of Darien (Panama).

Second, Webster defines continent as follows: “In geography a great extent of land, not disjoined or interrupted by a sea; a connected tract of land of great extent; as the Eastern and Western continent. It differs from an isle only in extent.”¹¹ Thus, Webster again consistently uses hemispheric language in using “Western continent” in the singular to refer to all the territory commonly referred to today as North America, Central America, and South America.

Clearly, proponents of the Heartland Model are confused when they interpret “America” and “continent” to mean territory that is exclusively found in the continental United States.

5. Via the article, Joseph Smith alleges that the Jaredites were brought from the Tower of Babel to Mexico—as supported by the traditions of the Aztecs and Ether’s account in the Book of Mormon. According to Joseph, the “land which is choice above all the land of the earth” is “the land of America,” which, for purposes of Joseph’s article, encompassed both Mexico and the United States—but not exclusively the continental United States as advocated by the Heartland Model.

6. At the conclusion of the article, Joseph says, “The Book of Mormon says, that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, that he would give them another land; the Lord heard him, and told him to go to a certain place, ‘and there I will meet thee and go before thee into a land which is choice above all the land of the earth.’ This it further speaks is the land of America. The coincidence is so striking that further comment is unnecessary.” We would do well to apply that language and tone to the controversy today between the Heartlanders, who believe that all New World events of the Book of Mormon took place in the continental United States, and the Mesoamericanists, who believe that all New world events of the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica. If Joseph Smith is correct in his article in telling us that the Lord led the Jaredites from the Tower of Babel to Mexico, the controversy should be resolved and “further comment is unnecessary.” That is, all New World lands and events of the Book of Mormon should be associated with Mesoamerica rather than with the continental United States.

Below is Joseph Smith’s June 15, 1842, article from the Times and Seasons. The article as formatted is copied and pasted from the Times and Seasons files that were prepared by the Community of Christ. I have highlighted appropriate content in the article. The bracketed materials are manuscript corrections suggested by Community of Christ personnel, and page numbers in parentheses refer to material preceding the numbers. Other than slight changes in the formatting of some punctuation marks and the correction of a few typos, the article reads exactly as it appeared originally in the Times and Seasons. Again, the first part of the article deals with Noah and the flood, and the second part deals with the travels of the Jaredites from the Tower of Babel to Mexico.

Traits of the Mosaic History,

Found Among the Aztaeca Nations.

The tradition commences with an account of the deluge, as they had preserved it in books made from the buffalo and deer skin, in which account there is more certainty than if it had been preserved by mere oral tradition, handed down from father to son.

They begin by painting, or as we would say by telling us that Noah, whom they call Tezpi, saved himself with his wife, whom they call Xochiquetzal, on a raft or canoe. Is not this the ark? The raft or canoe rested on or at the foot of a mountain, which they call Colhuacan. Is not this Ararat? The men born after this deluge were born dumb. Is not this the confusion of language at Babel? A dove from the top of a tree destributes [distributes] languages to them in the form of an olive leaf. Is not this the dove of Noah, which returned with that leaf in her mouth, as related in Genisis [Genesis]? They say that on this raft, besides Tezpi and his wife, were several children, and animals, with grain, the preservation of which was of importance to mankind. Is not this in almost exact accordance with what was saved in the ark with Noah, as stated in Genisis [Genesis]?

When the Great Spirit, Tezcatlipoca, ordered the waters to withdraw, Tezpi sent out from his raft a vulture, which never returned, on account of the great quantities of dead carcases [carcasses] which it found to feed upon. Is not this the raven of Noah, which did not return when it was sent out the second time, for the very reason here assigned by the Mexicans? Tezpi sent other birds one of which was the humming bird; this bird alone returned, holding in its beak a branch covered with leaves. Is not this the dove?— Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure now clothed the earth, quitted his raft near the mountain of Colhuacan. Is not this an allusion to Ararat of Asia? They say the tongues which the dove gave to mankind, were infinitely varied; which when received, they immediately dispersed.— But among them were 15 heads or chiefs of families, which were permitted to speak the same language, and these were the Taltecs, the Aculhucans and Azteca nations who embodied themselves together, which was very natural, and traveled they knew not where, but at length arrived in the country of Aztalan, of the lake country of America.

The plates or engraving presented here is a surprising representation of the deluge of Noah; and of the confusion of the ancient language at the building of the Tower of Babel, as related in the Book of Genisis [Genesis]. (see chap. vii and xi.)

We have derived the subject of this plate from Baron Humbolt's volume of Researches in Mexico, who found it painted on a manuscript book, made of the leaves of some kind of tree, suitable for the purpose, after the manner of ancient nations of the sultry parts of Asia around the Mediterranean.

The plate, however here presented shows no more than a picture of the flood, with Noah afloat on a raft, or as the traditions of some of the nations say on a tree, a canoe, and some say in a vessel of huge dimensions. Italso [It also] shows by the group of men approaching the bird, a somewhat obscure history of the confusion of the ancient language at the building of Babel, by representing them as being born dumb, who receive the gift of speech from a dove, which flutters in the branches of the tree, while she presents the languages to the mute throng, by bestowing upon each individual a leaf of the tree, which is shown in the form of small commas suspended from its beak.

Among the different nations, according to Humboldt,¹² who inhabited Mexico, were found paintings which represented the deluge, orflood [or flood] of Tezpi.

The painting of which the plate is the representation, shows Tezpi, or Noah, in the midst of the waters laying on his back. The mountain, the summit of which is crowned by a tree and rises above the waters is the peak of Colhucan, the Ararat of the Mexicans. At the foot of the mountain on each side appear the heads of Noah and his wife. The woman is known by the two points extending up from her forehead, which is the universal designation of the female sex among the Mexicans. The horn at the left hand of the tree with a human hand pointing to it, is the character representing a mountain and the head of a bird placed above the head of Tezpi or Noah, shows the vulture which the Mexicans say Tezpi sent out of his acalli or boat to see if the waters had subsided.

In the figure of the bird with the leaves of a tree in his beak, is shown the circumstance of the dove’s return to the ark, when it had been sent out the second time bringing a branch of the olive in its mouth; but in their tradition it had become misplaced, and is made the author of the languages. That birds have a language was believed by the nations of the old world. Some of those nations retain a surprising traditional account of the deluge; who say that Noah embarked in a spacious acalli or boat, with his wife, his children, several animals, and grain, the preservation of which was of great importance to mankind. When the Great Spirit, Tezcatlipoca, ordered the waters to withdraw, Tezpi or Noah sent out from his boat a vulture. But the bird's natural food was that of dead carcases [carcasses], it did not return on account of the great number of dead carcasses with which the earth now dried in some places abounded.

Tezpi sent out other birds one of which was humming bird; this bird alone returned again to the boat, holding in his beak a branch covered with leaves. Tezpi now knowing that the earth was dry, being clothed with fresh verdure, quitted his bark near the mountain Colhucan or Ararat. A tradition of the same fact, the deluge, is also found among the Indians of the Northwest. I received, says a late traveller [traveler], the following account from a Chief of one of the tribes in his own words, in the English. “An old man live great while ago, he wery [very] good man, he have three sons. The great spirit tell him go make a raft-build wigwam on top; for he make it rain wery [very] much.— When this done, Great spirit say, put into of all the creatures, then take sun moon—all the stars, put them in—get in himself with his Equa (wife) children, shut door, all dark outside.— Then it rain much, hard many days. When they stay there long time—Great Spirit say, old man go out. So he take, diving [living] animal. sao [say] gy [go] see if find the earth; so he went, come back, not find any thing. Then he wait few days—send out mushquash see what he find. When he come back, brought some mud in he paw; old man wery [very] glad; he tell mushquash he wery [very] good, long this world stand be plenty mush-quash, no man ever kill you all. Then few days more he take wary [very] pretty bird send him out see what it find; that bird no come back; so he sent out one white bird that come back, have grass in he mouth. So old know water going down. The great Spirit say, old man, let sun, moon, stars go out, old man too. He go out, raft on much big mountain when he see pretty bird he sent out first, eating dead things—he say, bird you do no right, when me send you out no come back, you must be black, you no prety [pretty] bird any more—you always eat bad things. So it was black.”

There are many things contained in the above that go to support the testimony of the Book of Mormon, as well as that of the Mosaic history. The Mexican records agree so well with the word of the book of Ether (found by the people of Limhi, which is contained in the Book of Mormon) in relation to the confounding of languages, that we insert the following:

* * * Which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swear in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of this earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered. And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and being a man highly favored of the Lord; for Jared his brother said unto him, cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded. Then Jared said unto his brother, cry again unto the Lord, and it maybe that he will turn away his anger

from them who are our friends, that he confound not their language. And it came pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded. And it came to pass that Jared spoke again unto his brother, saying, go and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go.— And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth. And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance.

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord according to that which had been spoken by the mouth of Jared. And it came to pass that the Lord did hear the brother of Jared, and had compassion upon him and said unto him, go to and gather together thy flocks, both make and female of every kind; and also of the seed of the earth of every kind, and thy families; and also Jared thy brother and his family; and also thy friends and their families, and the friends of Jared and their families. And when thou hast done this, thou shalt go at the head of them down into the valley that is northward. And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the land of the earth. And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the earth. And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation.— And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed; upon all the face of the earth. And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me.

Here, then, we have two records found upon this continent, that go to support the words of eternal truth—the Bible; and whilst these records, both of them, sanction the testimony of the scriptures in regard to the flood, the tower of Babel, and the confusion of languages; the tradition and hyeroglyphics [hieroglyphics] of the Zaltees, the Colhuacans, and the Azteca nations, in regard to the confusion of languages and their travels to this land, is so like that contained in the Book of Mormon, that the striking analogy must be seen by every superficial observer.

In regard to the confusion of languages it is said of the above nations, that there were “fifteen heads, or chiefs of families, that were permitted to speak the same language.” The Book of Mormon, concerning the same event, says: “And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord; and the Lord had compassion on Jared, therefore he did not confound the language of Jared”—and it further states that Jared’s brother’s language was not confounded; and they then prayed for their families and friends also, and the Lord heard them in their behalf; and their language was not confounded. These accounts, then, precisely agree, one of which was found in Ontario county, N.Y., and the other in Mexico.

Again, those nations, of families, embodied themselves together and traveled they know not where, but at length arrived in the country of Aztalan, of the lake country of America. The Book of Mormon says, that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, that he would give them another land; the Lord heard him, and told him to go to a certain place, “and there I will meet thee and go before thee into a land which is choice above all the land of the earth.” This it further speaks is the land of America. The coincidence is so striking that further comment is unnecessary.-ED.

1. Joseph Smith, “Traits of the Mosaic History, Found among the Aztaeca Nations,” Times and Seasons 3, no. 16, June 15, 1842, 818–20.

2. Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1980), 4:542.

3. Joseph Smith, “To Subscribers,” Times and Seasons 3, no. 9, March 1, 1842, 710; emphasis added.

4. See Smith, History of the Church, vols. 4 and 5 for the dates indicated.

5. Smith, History of the Church, 5:94–95, August 14, 1842.

6. Smith, History of the Church, 5:137, August 29, 1842; emphasis added.

7. To read the words of Ixtlilxochitl in English, see the translation in chapter 11, “Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl,” of Joseph Lovell Allen and Blake Joseph Allen, Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon, 2nd ed. (Orem, UT: Book of Mormon Tours and Research Institute, 2008).

8. See, for example, Bernal Diaz, The Conquest of New Spain, trans. J. M. Cohen (London: Penguin Books, 1963) and William H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico (New York: Modern Library, 2001). Such books are available via the Internet.

9. For further information about the “land which was northward,” see Allen and Allen, Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon.

10. Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (New York: S. Converse, 1828), s.v. “America”; emphasis added.

11. Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, s.v. “continent.”

12. Joseph probably is referring to one of the volumes in the eight-volume set of Alexander Humboldt, Researches, Concerning the Institutions and Monuments of the Ancient Inhabitants of America, with Descriptions and Views of Some of the Most Striking Scenes in the Cordilleras! (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1814). Helen Maria Williams translated these volumes of Humboldt into English.