Questions I Would Like to Ask – Part X

Using strictly the scriptures, I would like to ask the following questions of those many Theorists who claim their pet theories about the location of the Land of Promise are consistent with the scriptural record. 
   This tenth question is directed to Joseph Warren Grammer and his Great Lakes Model for the Land of Promise found on his Book of Mormon Evidences website, showing his fourteen chapters regarding Lehi’s Land of Promise location. An entire 14 chapters written on a model that, using his descriptions, the location simply would not have been possible for Lehi to reach in 600 B.C.

Grammer uses two maps to show how easily he believes it would have been for Lehi to sail from Arabia to the St. Lawrence River and up it to Lake Erie—which shows one of the serious problems when people start looking at maps and not following the scriptural account described by Nephi of his voyage—A small amount of research would show that the St. Lawrence River was not navigable by ship until the 19the century when channels were dug around the Lachine Rapids
    The question to ask is quite simple, given the circumstances of the St. Lawrence River prior to 1850.
    10. “How did Lehi sail up the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario when the St. Lawrence has always been a shallow series of rapids around the island of Montreal that required a 10 mile portage around the area, and unpassable by boat or ship of any kind until a channel (Canal de Lachine) was dug around Montreal in the 19^th century?”

The Lachine Rapids were impassable anciently as they are today. Brave souls in jet-powered boats conduct tours of the rapids today, and others in kayaks, canoes, and special rubberized boats brave the rapids, but no ship of any kind has ever made it through them
    First, as early as 1689, attempts were made by the French Colonial government and several other groups to build a canal that would allow ships to bypass the treacherous Lachine Rapids. After more than 130 years of failure, a consortium that included young Scottish immigrant John Redpath was successful. Work on the canal began on July 17, 1821, that extended over 9 miles, had seven locks, each 100 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 5 feet deep. Its inaugural sailing was in 1824 and opened to traffic in 1825. In 1840, the canal was deepened to allow heavier ships to pass through and hydraulic power was introduced to the industries located on its banks.
    Second, through the enlargement of the canal in 1850, its use changed from solely a means of avoiding the Lachine rapids to that of an industrial region within Montreal and made the city a major port and industry.

Top: this 1700 map of Montreal, the Island of Montreal is surrounded by lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and impassable rapids; Bottom: The Lachine canal in 1920, passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, running from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, Lasalle and Sud-Quest. On this land before the canel was a lake named Lac St Pierre. The canal allowed shipping for the first time all the way from the Atlantic to Lake Ontario

Top View of the Lachine canal (painting) 25 years after completion in 1850; Bottom: View of the canal at its height in 1956
    In 1959, the Lachine Canal was replaced by the St. Lawrence Seaway, which was constructed to facilitate large quantities of ships.
    Of course, a follow-up question would have to be:
    10a. “And just how did Lehi get his ship up the Niagara River, over the Falls, and into Lake Erie which they claim was the West Sea where Mormon tells us Lehi’s ship landed?”
    Third, any sailing between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie would involve a ship climbing 326 feet in elevation and negotiating the Horsehoe Falls, and fighting a strong counter current of three feet per second river flow.

The Niagara River flows from Lake Erie, down the Niagara Falls and into Lake Ontario, a drop of 326 feet. The Red Arrow points to the Niagara Falls, an immediate change in elevation of about 180 feet. Further north, or toward the top lies Lake Erie
    Fourth, since it was impossible for any ship to sail from Lake Ontario into Lake Erie, the Welland Canal was dug in the early 19^th century—a twenty-seven mile long canal with eight locks, allowing a ship to not only rise the 326 feet elevation to Lake Erie, but also to bypass the numerous Falls and Rapids all along the Niagara River.

In Order to get ships from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie today, the 27-mile long Welland Canal was dug in 1824-1830, (red arrow, top map) with 8 locks, and extended in 1833, and restored in 1932, from Port Weller in Lake Ontario to Port Colborne in Lake Erie
    So, the question is “How did Lehi sail up the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario when the St. Lawrence has always been a shallow series of rapids around the island of Montreal that required a 10 mile portage around the area, and unpassable by ship of any kind until a channel (Canal de Lachine) was dug around Montreal in the 19^th century?” and the follow-up question “And just how did Lehi get his ship up the Niagara River, over the Falls, and into Lake Erie which they claim was the West Sea where Mormon tells us Lehi’s ship landed?"