Land of Promise Features that Cannot Be Ignored—Where are they in Mesoamerica or the Heartland/Great Lakes? Part IX

Continuing with comparing the scriptural record descriptions and consider where these points are in either of the more northern theories claimed by theorists.
• Cure for killing fevers 
Much has been assumed and many opinions written about the climate of the Land of Promise. Some claim that because the Lammanites wore breechclouts (loin cloths) that the weather was warm and tropical, especially determined by the Mesoamerican theorists since their area is in the tropics and includes a humid tropical climate, though other parts of the area have dry deserts, humid forests, mountainous terrain, and low coastal plains.
    In fact, the humid and fertile lowlands of southern Veracruz and Tabasco in southern Mexico combine much of the climate in the areas most often touted by theorists and representing their Nephite climate.
    However, there are only two references to the climate and its heat in the entire scriptural record, with one having to do with labor and the other fevers: 1) “sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was caused by the labors and heat of the day” (Alma 51:33); and “There were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land” (Alma 46:40).
    The fact of the matter is simply that there is nothing in the scriptural record that isolates an understanding of the overall climate of the Land of Promise. Almost anywhere has a “heat of the day” period. The term merely means “the hottest part of the day,” and is found on almost any day not embroiled in rain or snow. This heat period is usually found around noon to mid-afternoon in most areas and on most days. It certainly cannot be used as an indication that the Nephites were in the tropics as Mesoamerican theorists claim.

At certain times of the year almost anywhere can be hot. Look at these normally cold areas but that experienced high sustained temperatures at certain times of the year

In the second indication, the purpose of stressing the climate is that at certain times of the year, the deadly fevers were most pronounced among the Nephites. “There were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate” (Alma 46:40, emphasis added).
    The “nature of the climate” does not suggest a specific climate, only a condition where the cause of deadly fevers would be prevalent. And obviously, the purpose of this passage by Mormon was not to indicate climate but to show that a cure for deadly fevers was provided by the Lord for the benefit of the Nephites.

World map showing the areas where malaria has been known to exist and still doers (especially in the brown areas)

This deadly fever would have to be malaria, which has been throughout history the deadly fever that has killed more people than any other malady and has been the scourge of nations and civilizations since the beginning of time. It was so out of control in Rome in B.C. times, they drained all their swamps to kill off the source of the disease since malaria is the result of a bite by an infected female Anopheles mosquito.
    The only treatment for malaria that has been discovered is quinine (k’why-nine), an alkaloid (natural chemical) found only in the bark of the Cinchona tree, a large shrub or small tree and genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. The curative properties have been well documented for hundreds of years and were known at a very early date. The history of the plants, their identification, extracts, and the cures are disputed; however, it existence, place or origin and healing properties are not. Suggestions that the plant went by the native name of Quina Quina which yielded Quina bark, after the arrival of the Spanish, were known as Jesuit’s Bark and Jesuit’s Powder.

The cinchona tree, from whose bark quinine is made—these trees for thousands of yeas only grew in one location

Of course, to know where the Land of Promise is located, all we need to do is locate where quinine was available to cure the killing fevers of Malaria and where the Cinchona tree grew naturally—and that is in South America. Indigenous to the native forests of Western South America, and more specific grew only in the Andean area of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador until transplanted by the Dutch in the 17^th century in Indonesia.
    First discovered ancient by the Quechua Indians of the Andes, it was later taken to Europe after the Spanish conquest of South America. It was learned that the bark of the tree contains quinine, which when peeled from the tree, dried in the sun, produces quinine which is then used as a cure for the killing fever of Malaria
    Because the existence of the Cinchona trees and, therefore, the world’s supply of quinine was indigenous to, and the property of the Andean States of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, in the mid-1850s, seeds were stolen from South America by German botanist Justus Karl Hasskari who smuggled out some delicate seeds as well as 200 seedlings that were carefully planted in Java. Europe, who had become heavily dependent upon quinine, awarded Hasskari with a Dutch knighthood in the Order of the Lion for his criminal act. As a result, Cinchona trees grow today in various areas of the world, particularly in Indonesia, Ceylon, India, Africa and the United States.
    Thus, in the time of the Nephites, the killing fevers of Malaria were the scourge of the Earth and only in the Land of Promise had the Lord prepared a plant that could treat and cure the disease.
• Ore of Every Kind

Upon landing, Nephite tells us that around their settlement area. As he states: “we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness…all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper” (1 Nephi 18:25). Since Nephi says they found these ores while journeying around the settlement which means it had to be native ore, either laying on the ground in outcroppings, or in rocks where the veins could be easily seen and recognized.

    We also learn that these ores were throughout the Land of Promise: “They did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron, and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth; wherefore they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of fine work” (Ether 10:230; and also
    “There was all manner of gold in both these lands, and of silver, and of precious ore of every kind; and there were also curious workmen, who did work all kinds of ore and did refine it; and thus they did become rich” (Helaman 6:11).

Ancient artifacts found in Peruvian temples and pyramids

Thus, both the Jaredites and Nephites had all manner of ore and metals in order to make tools, as in the case of Nephi, when told to make a ship, replied, “Whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?” (1 Nephi 17:9); and in making jewelry (Alma 31:28); and precious things (1 Nephi 2:4; Alma 15:16).
    In fact, Nephi’s nephew, Jarom, who was Jacob’s son and Lehi’s grandson, tells us that the Nephites almost immediately became “exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war—yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war” (Jarom 1:8).
    We also learn that these ores were their downfall: “They made these by their own industry, and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel” (Alma 4:6).
    It is apparent that there was so much gold and silver and copper in the Land of Promise that both the Jaredites and he Nephites had it in abundance. King Mosiah decorated his palace and spacious buildings with gold, silver and all manner of precious things (Mosiah 11:8), and Nephi obviously used a lot of gold in his temple he built like

Solomon’s temple. For that temple had inner walls ltht were all paneled with sheets of hammered gold.

The inside of Solomon’s Temple was paneled in sheets of gold, including the walls roof and floors

Consequently, any Land of Promise would have to have great quantities of gold, silver, copper and iron. While the Great Lakes area has large deposits of copper, they had almost no gold or silver, and little iron. In Mesoamerica, outside of southern Mexico, there are very few ores of any kind available. It should be noted that gold as an ore is mentioned 52 times, silver 48 times, and copper 9 times in the Book of Mormon As a result, we should find the Land of Promise to have large gold and silver reserves as well as that of copper. In fact, the following shows the country rank in the Western Hemisphere and the world rank in parenthesis (United States is not included because most of the ore and mineral deposits are in Alaska and the western states—not where the Land of Promise is claimed to have been by North American theorists:
Gold ore Production:
Peru       2      (5)      
Mexico  4       (8)
Silver ore Production:
Mexico  1       (1)
Peru       2       (3)
Copper ore Production:
Chile.. .  1       (1)
Peru    ..  3      (3)
Mexico ..5      (12)
Iron ore Production:
Chile   ..  4      (13)
Mexico . 5      (14)
Peru    ..  7      (18)
Tin Production:
Peru    … 1      (3)
Bolivia …2       (4)
Zinc Production:
Peru     … 1      (2)
Bolivia … 4     (8)
    Obviously, Peru and Chile are among the world's top producers of these ores, mentioned in the scriptural record. The Heartland and Great Lakes are nowhere to be found in these listings, and if one eliminates Mexico except for that part of the country within Mesoamerica and, therefore, within the proposed Land of Promise, then Peru and Chile rank highest among Western Hemisphere countries.