What Was Meant by the Narrow Strip of Wilderness? – Part II

Continued from the previous post, regarding where the narrow strip of wilderness was located, what purpose it served, and how the Nephites used it as a line of defense, as well as how Heartland and Great Lakes theorists misuse the strip and misunderstand its location and purpose. 
    In the last post, we listed the first three points of the narrow strip—below are the rest of the list:4. Seas and Oceans. In describing “the east sea to the west sea” (Alma 22:27), the word “sea” in 1828 meant “an Ocean; a proper branch of the ocean, and upon the same level.” Seas, therefore, in the Book of Mormon are not rivers or lakes, but oceans, called “seas” by Mormon.5. Lakes. The word sea in 1828 cannot be translated as a large lake as Heartland and Great Lakes theorists do, since in 1828, “large bodies of water inland, and situated above the level of the ocean, are lakes.” In addition, it was stated in 1828 that “North America contains some of the largest lakes on the globe, particularly the lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior.” Therefore, the word “sea” in the translation does not mean “lake.”

The meaning of the word “roundabout,” which Mormon uses to describe the “straight course” of the narrow strip as it reached the coast and then ran along the coast 

6. Curving along the coast. “and roundabout on the borders of the seashore” (Alma 22:27). The term “roundabout” in 1828 meant “indirect; going round,” and used to describe something that changed direction. Thus, when the borders of the narrow strip of wilderness reached the seashores, they curved and ran up each seashore for some distance, which led to Mormon’s comment that “the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites” (Alma 22:29).
7. Higher Elevation. The Land of Zarahemla was at a lower elevation than the Land of Nephi: “Let us go down to the land of Zarahemla” (Alma 27:5). Going down to Zarahemla from the Land of Nephi is commonly stated in the scriptural record (Omni 1:13; Alma 27:7; 51:11,13; 57:15-16,28,30; Helaman 1:14-15,17; 4:5; 6:4). And “to go up to the land of Nephi” (Alma 17:8) is also commonly stated (Mosiah 7:2,4; 9:2; 20:7; 28:1,5; 29:3; Alma 20:2; 24:20; 26:23; 29:14). In addition, the narrow strip of wilderness, not only between Zarahemla and Nephi was high than the Land of Zarahemla, but it was also higher along the eastern seashore as pointed out when the Ammonites, camping near Manti, received word they would be going eastward down to Jershon: “Behold, we will give up the land of Jershon, which is on the east by the sea…and it came to pass that it did cause great joy among them. And they went down into the land of Jershon” (Alma 27: 22, 26).
8. Mountainous. There were mountains directly north of the Land of Nephi. When Ammon left Jerusalem they wandered for forty days and finally came to an area north of Shilom and the city of Nephi. “And Ammon took three of his brethren…and they went down into the land of Nephi” (Mosiah 7:6). Thus, when Ammon left Zarahemla, “they started to go up” to the Land of Nephi, and then went down into the city of Nephi form the elevation that overlooked the lands of Nephi and Shilom. This is also borne out in the fact that king Noah “caused many buildings to be built in the land Shilom; and he caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom (Mosiah 11:13). Thus, the area in between the cities of Zarahemla and Nephi would also have been higher in elevation, i.e., the narrow strip of wilderness.

The “source” or “head” of the Mississippi is at Lake Itasca in Minneapolis, 590 miles to the north of Nauvoo, Illinois, and the vicinity of where Meldrum places his “source” for the Mississippi (his River Sidon)—Obviously, the Mississippi runs from the far north southward to the Gulf of Mexico 

9. Head of Sidon in the Mountains. The “narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west…and the borders of the wilderness which 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” (Alma 22:27), thus the bead or source of the River Sidon was to the south of the Land of Zarahemla, within the narrow strip of wilderness. In 1828, in relation to a river, the word “head” meant “to originate; to spring; to have its source, as a river.” The word “source” meant: “the spring or fountain from which a stream of water proceeds, or any collection of water within the earth or upon its surface, in which a stream originates,” and also “a large river has is source in a lake.”
10. Sidon Flows North. With the head of the River Sidon in the narrow strip of wilderness that divided the Lamanites and Nephites (Alma 22:27), which was south of the Land of Zarahemla, and the River Sidon flowed past the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 2:15), that means the river flowed from the south toward the north. In addition, Alma told Captain Zoram where to find the Nephite captives taken from the city of Noah: “Alma returned and said unto them: Behold the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness away up beyond the borders of the land of Manti...and there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon.” Thus, the place where they crossed the Sidon was south and higher than Manti. Since the “south wilderness” was that southern portion of the narrow strip of wilderness along the border with the Land of Nephi, the head of the River Sidon was high in the mountains that separated the Land of Zarahemla from the Land of Nephi. And since that wilderness was the narrow strip of wilderness, the head of the River Sidon was much higher in elevation than the Land of Zarahemla, thus it flowed northward, down past the Land of Zarahemla on its northward course.
11. Gaddianton Robbers Hideouts. Around 12 BC, Nephite and Lamanite dissenters joined the Gadianton robbers: “And they did commit murder and plunder; and then they would retreat back into the mountains, and into the wilderness and secret places, hiding themselves that they could not be discovered, receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them” (Helaman 11:25), and also that there was peace “save it were for the Gadianton robbers, who dwelt upon the mountains, who did infest the land; for so strong were their holds and their secret places that the people could not overpower them; therefore they did commit many murders, and did do much slaughter among the people” (3 Nephi 1:27). Thus, we see that the “wilderness” and “mountains” the Gadianton Robbers infested, were located in close proximity to the population areas of both the Nephites and the Lamanites.

The “secret hideouts” of the Gadianton Robbers within the mountains of the Narrow Strip of Wilderness 

Since the narrow strip of wilderness between the two population areas of the Nephites and Lamanites were wilderness and mountainous, it would seem likely that the hideouts of the Gadianton Robbers were in this narrow strip. In addition, we find that “the robbers did still increase and wax strong, insomuch that they did defy the whole armies of the Nephites and also of the Lamanites, and they did cause great fear to come unto the people upon all the face of the land” (Helaman 11:32). Obviously, these dissident Nephite and Lamanite robbers were hiding within the narrow strip of wilderness because they were attacking the people regularly and proselytizing among both the Lamanites and the Nephites.
12. Straight course. The narrow strip ran “in a straight course from the east sea to the west” (Alma 50:8). This did not mean in as singular straight line, but that it ran from one sea to the other in an unbroken course, or that the wilderness strip itself was more directed from sea to sea than in any other direction.
    Sometimes people ask us what difference does it make what different theorists claim. While there are numerous reasons why it matters when reading the scriptural record, one example is in the story that occurred in 64 BC, when the Lamanites captured Manti, south and up in the mountains from the city of Zarahemla. While deciding which city to attack next (Alma 56:21-22), the Lamanites debated their next move, for: “Neither durst they march down against the city of Zarahemla; neither durst they cross the head of Sidon, over to the city of Nephihah” (Alma 56:25), which route would have taken them eastward through the mountains around the head (source) of the River Sidon in the narrow neck of land and then down to the city of Nephihah, which was near the city of Moroni, along by the seashore (Alma 50:13,14).
(See the next post, “What Was Meant by the Narrow Strip of Wilderness? – Part II,” regarding where it was located, what purpose it served, and how the Nephites used it as a line of defense)