Answering a Reader’s Eastern U.S. Model – Part IV: The Map Without Error – Part IV

Continuing with David McKane’s many comments left on this blog, and specifically below the continuation of the errors on his “errorless maps.”
    Looking at more errors on McKane’s map of his Land of Promise in the Heartland, Eastern U.S. and Great Lakes area:
    Mormon writes in his insert: “And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west…” (Alma 22:27, emphasis added).

White Arrows show the extent of McKane’s (yellow circle) Land of Nephi, though it is hard to know from McKane’s various maps what the northern extent of his land of Nephi is—here it is shown in New England, but on other maps the area above West Virginia is called the East Wilderness, which is supposed to be in the Nephite lands

    As can be seen from his map, while his Land of Nephi borders on the Atlantic Ocean, it is not his West Sea or Sea West, which is far to the north. And the scriptural record suggests no other “sea” to the east, let alone such a major one as the Atlantic Ocean. However, none of his Land of Nephi borders on his West Sea or Sea West, but along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, the latter being his border between the Land of Zarahemla and the Land of Nephi, instead of the narrow strip of wilderness Mormon describes: “which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west” (Alma 22:27)—and a river is not considered a wilderness. Both of his placements are still more errors on his map according to Mormon’s descriptions.
    In addition, he shows on the map below that where Mormon says: “and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla” (Alma 22:27), he shows a line from the West Sea to the middle of Iowa.

White Arrows: the length of the narrow strip of wilderness running “round about” (curving) from the Sea East even to the Sea West, which McKane shows running across the land from his West Sea to a point in the middle of Iowa; White Circle: McKane’s “all the regions round about which was bordering even to the sea on the east and on the west”

    Another problem, is the area within the white circle above, showing “all the regions round about,” shows McKane obviously does not understand that Mormon is describing the Land of Nephi, where all the king’s people were “in the regions round about,” meaning within the Land of Nephi—this was the Lamanite king’s land, where all his Lamanite people were located. They were not scattered willy-nilly around all of the Land Southward, north of the Nephites, and surrounding them except for the Land Northward, which McKane’s map shows. In addition, wilderness does not surround Zarahemla, but is south of there and round about (curving up) on the west and east seashores. In vs.28, Mormon reiterates that the Lamanties were camped on the west and on the east of Zarahemla, not north of Zarahemla.
    Plus, McKane seems to feel he knows more than Mormon, who wrote about Manti saying: “was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west -- and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided” (Alma 22:27) for McKane writes: “I do not think the city of Manti was close to the head of the waters of Sidon for a couple of reasons one is it states the border of Manti not the actual city).
    In addition, at no time is Mormon describing the Lamanites near the land of Bountiful, yet on the map below, McKane place the Lamanites on the west seashore of the Sea West which is west of the Land of Bountiful:

McKane’s yellow line is his placement of Lamanites to the west of the Sea West

    Mormon writes: “Now, 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 seashore…” (Alma 22:28, emphasis added). The problems are:
1. His yellow line is on the “east” of the land, though the “west” of the sea, which, using Moron’s wordage, “on the west of the Land of Nephi” and “on the west of the Land of Zarahemla,” he has them on the “east.” On the west in his map would place them living on the sea, not the seashore.
2. He has these Lamanites living to the west of the Land of Bountiful where Lamanites never were until 350 A.D. when they chased Mormon and his armies into the Land Northward (Mormon 2:28).
    In another instance, McKane’s map is meant to show Mormon’s comment: “And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea” (Alma 22:32)—yet, McKane has this are north of the Sea East and south of the Sea West, and east of the Land of Bountiful, with this area to the west of the Land of Desolation, or southwest if you step back and take a bigger view. To pass through here you would be moving to the east and slightly north, none of which is the description of the narrow neck of land that Mormon describes.

White arrow points to McKane’s narrow neck of land that Mormon describes in Alma 22:32)

    Nor does this narrow neck keep the Land of Nephie and the Land of Zarahemla from nearly being surrounded by water as Mormon describes, when he said, “and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the Land Northward and the Land Southward” (Alma 22:32).
    Another problem with McKane’s map is that Mormon tell us “Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful”
(Alma 22:31), but in McKane’s map, they are east and west if each other.

McKane quotes Mormon with the map below:
    “Therefore the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about. Now this was wisdom in the Nephites—as the Lamanites were an enemy to them, they would not suffer their afflictions on every hand, and also that they might have a country whither they might flee, according to their desires” (Alma 22:34). However, as the Nephites escape into the Land Northward….they are simply not protected by the topography in McKane's map:

Now in McKane’s map, what is there to keep the Lamanites from flanking both the east and the west and coming in from behind to attack the retreating Nephites? Certainly nothing in McKane’s map scenario.

There just isn’t anything about McKane’s several maps that incite any confidence in his model since so very little matches Mormon’s numerous descriptions, yet he seems oblivious to the fact that his map simply does not match the scriptural record. 
(See the next post, ”Answering a Reader’s Eastern U.S. Model –  Part V: Muntains Whose Height is Great - Part I,” for more information on David Mckane’s model around the Great Lakes-Heartland of his Land of Promise and our responses to his comments on our blog, and taking a look the lack of mountains in the eastern U.S. to match Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy)