Where Did Columbus Actually Visit and Land in the Americas? And Where Was Lehi’s Isle of Promise? – Part I

Many North American theorists, specifically those involved in the Heartland and Great Lakes theories, place a great emphasis on the visit of Columbus to the New World as a fulfillment of a prophecy found in the Book of Mormon. In this instance, Nephi, son of Lehi, was granted a vision like the one his father had seen, in which he saw: “And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren…I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land” (1 Nephi 13:10,12).
    From this we learn:
1. There were many waters dividing the European land of the Gentiles (non-Jew, non-Israelite) from the Land of Promise;
2. A man among the Gentiles who dwelt across the “many waters” (Atlantic Ocean) from the Land of Promise;
3. Was directed by the Spirit of God, to set sail across those waters;
4. To sail to the land of the Lamanites who were in the promised land.

The First voyage of Columbus, landing in the Bahamas and Dominican Republic; Yellow dots show the two landings in Central America and the one in South America

The Hebrew מָיִם mâyîm (Genesis 1:2), means “waters,” with “many waters” referencing great, large, or all-inclusive waters. Anciently, the phrase “many waters” was a euphemism for today’s “ocean,” which was also called in the scriptures the “great deep”--a body of water that extended into several other waters or multiple "oceans." Since the “gentile” mentioned in Nephi’s vision was separated by many waters from the Land of Promise, it is evident that this would have been the Atlantic Ocean. This ocean obviously separated the Land of Promise (in the Americas) from the Gentiles (in Europe); and one Gentile (Columbus) was prompted by the Spirit to sail from Europe (Spain) across those waters (Atlantic Ocean) to reach the promised land (Americas), where the seed of Nephi’s brethren (Lamanites) were located.
    As simple as this is, theorists seem to have such great difficulty in understanding what is being written by Nephi that he saw in his vision. Heartland and Great Lakes theorists want to claim that this shows that Columbus saw, visited or landed in North America, specifically in what is now the United States, as verification for their Land of Promise location in the heartland or Great Lakes areas of the U.S.
    It always seems to come as a great shock to them in claiming and defending their North American Land of Promise, therefore is patently dismissed by them, that Columbus never visited North America, never set foot in, saw, or sailed to what is now the United States. The interesting thing is that Columbus sailed across the Atlantic and first saw the islands of the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean, where he landed on one he called San Salvador (Watling Island) and the natives called Guanahani. From there he sailed to an island the Taino inhabitants called Ayti (modern Haiti/Dominican Republic), which Columbus renamed La Isla Española, or Hispaniola, an island situated between Cuba and Puerto Rico, which north shore is on the Atlantic and south shore faces the Caribbean Sea. After building a stockade and leaving 39 of his crews there until his return, Columbus sailed northeast into the Atlantic and picked up the westerlies that took him back to Portugal and then to Spain. Never at any time did Columbus see or set foot on what is now the United States or North America.

Columbus’ other voyages far from North America

Nor did Columbus land or even come close to North America on his subsequent three voyages, though he did land in South America on his third voyage, and in Central America on his fourth and last voyage. But never in North America!
    Thus, based on the scriptural reference alone, the Heartland and Great Lakes models in North America are simply not tenable locations for Lehi’s Land of Promise.
    In addition, the inhabitants of the land that the Gentile sailed to Nephi said contained “the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land” (1 Nephi 13:12). “Seed,” of course refers to descendants or forward lineage, and “my brethren” refers to Nephi’s brothers, in this case, Laman and Lemuel, known as the Lamanites. Thus, Columbus visited the “seed” of Laman and Lemuel, or the Lamanites that occupied either the Bahama and Caribbean islands, the area of Central America, or those of South America, or two of these areas, or all three. He did not visit any seed of his brethren located in Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala or Honduras that Mesoamericanists claim being their Land of Promise.
    On the other hand, on his third voyage, Columbus did land on Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago), a large island off the coast of Venezuela and then on the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela, explored the Gulf of Paria, and the island of Grenada on his way to Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic). On his fourth voyage, Columbus stopped along the Cuba peninsula bordering the Gulf of Guacanayabo, and along the islands outside the Gulf, and just north of Cuba on the cayos de San Felipe, after exploring the east coast of Central America, from Panama to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua and a small part of northeastern Honduras. Again, at no time did he sail near, let alone land, in Mesoamerica or in North America. 

Columbus’ (red) third voyage, and (blue) fourth voyage. His second voyage was around the coasts of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and the northern Lesser Antilles (Caribees) islands. Note that no voyage was within the (yellow box) Mesoamerican area, nor North America

We are also told that this man was followed by others: “I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters...I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise…and they were scattered before the gentiles and were smitten” (1 Nephi 13:13-14).
    That is, the Spanish were upon the Land of Promise and scattered the Lamanites and were smitten—a word in 1828 that meant “struck, killed,” which is from the word “smite” which meant “to kill; to destroy the life of by beating or by weapons of any kind; as to smite one with the sword.” In fact, Webster went on to say of smite: “This word, like slay, usually or always signification, that of beating, striking, the primitive mode of killing and is never applied to the destruction of life by poison, by accident or by legal execution.”
    Thus, we see that this is what the Spanish did, especially in South America in the destruction and killing of a gigantic Inca Empire that stretched for 3,400 miles north to south, and from the Pacific Ocean to the Amazon jungle. Within the Inca Empire, modern estimates suggest that at least half of the 12-million of the Inca Empire were killed in the wars and as a result of the Spanish conquest, including brutality, coerced labor, slavery, malnutrition and starvation. 
    As for North America, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census in 1894: "The Indian wars under the government of the United States have been more than 40 in number, and have cost the lives of about 30,000 Indians. However, the actual number of killed and wounded Indians is believed to be about 50% higher, or about 45,000. Of course, it wasn’t until 200 years later than initial contact with the Europeans that diseases, like smallpox, worked their course through the native populations of North America, and a hundred years after that when malaria hit in the Northwest. 
    Today it is estimated that some 8 million natives were killed by epidemics from diseases, such as smallpox and malaria, brought to the Western Hemisphere by Europeans.
(See the next post, “Where Did Columbus Actually Visit and Land in the Americas? And Where Was Lehi’s Isle of Promise? – Part II,” for a better understanding of what Nephi wrote regarding these events)