The Heartland and the Great Black Swamp – Part I

It is interesting that most theorists are unaware of who first thought of the model or geographic location that they later, sometimes much later, began to champion. Nor are they often aware of what lies behind their beliefs or opinions. Take the Heartland theory—few know that it was not introduced by Rodney L. Meldrum, which might be a shock to those who have championed Meldrum’s theory over the past few years, possibly because of his wide-spread publicizing of it, and his intensive promotion with tours, books, and lectures. The fact that his material has little agreement with Mormon’s overall descriptions of the Land of Promise he knew so well, doesn’t seem to bother his many followers.

The Heartland theory location, including the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountains

 

Nor was Wayne May the first to champion the Heartland, though he did try to revise and adjust the theory, which was first introduced by a relatively unknown Church researcher, named Edwin G. Goble. Interestingly, Goble served in the Ecuador-Guayaquil Mission for two years, but when he co-authored only the first book in the “This Land” series, he was responsible for all of the geography in the Heartland of that particular book while May was strictly an advocate of artifactual (objects made by human hands) material that are questionable.

In addition, it was inventor, author, and researcher Duane Erickson who came up with the Mississippi River as the River Sidon, since “everyone knows the Sidon ran north to south.” Of this, Goble has stated: “Duane Erickson was the first to recognize the Sidon as the Mississippi. We have built on his pioneering to demonstrate that the place name indeed shows this to be the case” (Edwin Goble and Wayne, May, This Land: Zarahemla and the Nephite Nation, Ancient American Archaeology Foundation Colfax, Wisconsin).

The first Latter-day Saint to publish a Great Lakes model was Delbert Curtis, who in 1988 published the booklet “The Land of the Nephites,” and in 1993 expanded his argument in his book "Christ in North America” (Michael R. Ash, Challenging Issues, Keeping the Faith: Great Lakes Book of Mormon geography, Mormon Times, Deseret News, December 6, 2010).

The Great Lakes theory location, including the Heartland and Rocky Mountains

Since Curtis’ 1988 introduction, others have promoted their version of the Great Lakes model. These include Duane Aston, who was once a supporter of the Mesoamerica model before switching his focus to the Great Lakes, in his "Return to Cumorah" (1998) and "The Other Side of Cumorah" (2003). Also Paul Hedengren, "The Land of Lehi" (1995); Phyllis Olive, "Lost Lands of the Book of Mormon" (2000); Rodney Meldrum, "DNA Evidence for Book of Mormon Geography" (2003) and "Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA" (2009); and Meldrum with Bruce Porter, "Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon & The United States of America" (2009).

Meldrum, obviously, was a late-comer that capitalized on other people’s work and expanded on it until it is his name among theorists that is most often connected to the Heartland theory of North America. However, before considering the Heartland theorists’ Great Black Swamp and their claim it narrowed between Lake Michigan and Lake Erie into a narrow pass, an understanding of Ohio wetlands would be helpful.

 

Northern Ohio Wetlands

 

According to the Ohio Wetlands Association in Columbus, Ohio, “Wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine wate. For regulatory purposes in the United States, under the Clean Water Act, the term wetlands means "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions—these Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas

So of the Great Black Swamp that ran from western Lake Eire, through northern Ohio nearly to Fort Wayne in northeastern Indiana, the Heartland theorists claim it blocked most of the land from south to north, leaving a small pass into what is now Michigan from what is now northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. This swamp is one of the best known wetlands in both the ancient and current eras, though once the Europeans arrived, drainage of the swamp began, especially during and after the War of 1812.

Before going into the location and coverage of the Black Swamp that theorists assert, it helps to understand that geologists and glaciologists claim that some 20,000 years ago Northwest Ohio was covered by glaciers. These glaciers melted and formed the Great Lakes, as well as one of the largest natural wetlands in northern Ohio. Now gone, these wetlands once helped stop erosion and drainage into the lakes. This Black Swamp of Ohio was forested wetlands, swamps and marshes—about the size of Connecticut—forty miles wide and 120 miles long, containing 3,072,000 acres.

The Black Swamp in the wet season

 

While theorists cling to the claim the swamp was impassable, and therefore creating a Narrow Pass between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan, a denominational missionary who traveled the area in 1781 described the Black Swamp (before drainage took place) as being “deep swamps and troublesome marshes…the horses at every step wading in the marsh up to their knees.” In another instance, a soldier who crossed the area during the winter of 1813 wrote that he and his comrades slogged through water six inches deep, underlain by ice. Often the ice broke, dropping them neck-deep in the swamp (“The Great Black Swamp,” Quarterly Newsletter, South Main School, Bowling Green, Ohio).

In another instance, soldiers in the War of 1812, commented about crossing northern Ohio—Robert Lucas, probably the first to write about the Black Swamp by that name, reported in his journal: "Started from the foot of the Maumee Rapids to meet the army, proceeded through the wilderness towards Urbana, traveled about 25 miles a day in heavy rains, and then encamped in what is called the Black Swamp, had a disagreeable night of wet and “Musketoes.” Others complained bitterly of mud that reached their horses’ saddle skirts and that oozed ankle-deep in their tents at night. But they continued their route through the Black Swamp. Obviously, while not a place for family travel, it was penetrable and could be crossed by dedicated men.

The Black Swamp in the dry season

 

These wetlands were once enormous, stretching south of the Maumee River, 30 to 40 miles wide, for 120 miles from the Sandusky River in the east, nearly to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the west. It crossed the area of ten counties, and was poorly drained by four rivers: the Maumee, the Auglaize, the Portage, and the Sandusky. Water stood in it during the wetter seasons, and moisture oozed underfoot in all but the driest periods. Beginning with the Indians, almost everyone avoided its knee-deep mud and ravenous mosquitoes. Indian villages ringed the swamp, and a look at any map shows that later settlements followed their example. Port Clinton, Fremont, Findlay, Delphos, Van Wert, Fort Wayne, Defiance, Napoleon, Maumee, and Toledo fall into a clockwise pattern around the old swampland's edge. Only Bowling Green lies in its heart.

The Black Swamp was shallow as most swamps are in the northern United States

Swamps in the southeastern United States tend to have deeper waters that, in general, are only accessible by boats. Northern swamps, on the other hand any by contrast, are shallower and can largely be traversed with high boots. Heartland theorists can claim that the Black Swamp was an impassable area between the two lakes (Michigan and Erie), and that only a narrow pass existed between the swamp and ancient lands—their Land Southward (Ohio, Indiana, and the rest of the Heartland) and Land Northward (Michigan northward to the upper peninsula and the Straits of Mackinac). Which is, by any standard, a rather small area for the entire Land Northward.

(See the next post for a continuation of the Great Black Swamp, and the Heartland theorists misunderstanding of it and misplacement of the Narrow Pass described by Mormon as “the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea, by the sea, on the west and on the east” (Alma 50:34, emphasis added)