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Book of Mormon geography enthusiasts have ignored what David said about the angel heading for "Cumorah" there in Palmyra, to justify their models in S. America, Mesoamerica, Baja, Malay, Mexico, Africa, etc.
When I was returning to Fayette, with Joseph and Oliver, all of us riding in the wagon, Oliver and I on an old-fashioned, wooden, spring seat and Joseph behind us; while traveling along in a clear open place, a very pleasant, nice-looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of our wagon and saluted us with, "Good morning, it is very warm," at the same time wiping his face or forehead with his hand.
We returned the salutation, and, by a sign from Joseph, I invited him to ride if he was going our way.
But he said very pleasantly, "No, I am going to Cumorah." This name was something new to me, I did not know what Cumorah meant.
We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked around inquiringly of Joseph, the old man instantly disappeared, so that I did not see him again.
J. F. S. Did you notice his appearance?
D. I should think I did.
He was, I should think, about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches tall and heavy set, about such a man as James Vancleave there, but heavier; his face was as large, he was dressed in a suit of brown woolen clothes, his hair and beard were white, like Brother Pratt's, but his beard was not so heavy. I also remember that he had on his back a sort of knapsack with something in it, shaped like a book.
It was the messenger who had the plates, who had taken them from Joseph just prior to our starting from Harmony. Soon after our arrival home, I saw something which led me to the belief that the plates were placed or consealed in my father's barn.
I frankly asked Joseph if my supposition was right, he told me it was.
Some time after this, my mother was going to milk the cows, when she was met out near the yard by the same old man (judging by her description of him) who said to her:
"You have been very faithful and diligent in your labors, but you are tired because of the increase in your toil; it is proper therefore that you should receive a witness that your faith may be strengthened."
Thereupon he showed her the plates. (Interview with David Whitmer by Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, September 1878 Source: "Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith," Millennial Star 40, 9 Dec 1878, 771-7 )
In an interview, David referrred to the hill where the plates were retrieved from as the "hill cumorah."
One night Joseph Smith awoke from deep sleep to find his humble room ablaze with glorious effulgence. In the midst of this supernatural radiance stood an angelic figure robed in white, who, in seraphic tones, said to him that in a stone casket buried near the summit of the hill Cumorah were the priceless and sacred records of the Nephites, one of the lost tribes. (Chicago Times, August 7, 1875, 1)
David said that the plates were returned to a different hill in the same area:
I - Where are the plates now?
He - In a cave, where the angel has hidden them up till the time arrives when the plates, which are sealed, shall be translated. God will yet raise up a mighty one, who shall do his work till it is finished and Jesus comes again.
I - Where is that cave?
He - In the State of New York.
I - In the Hill of Cumorah?
He - No, but not far from that place. (P. Willhelm Poulson letter of August 13, 1878 to Editor of Deseret Evening News, August 16, 1878)
This is problematic for Book of Mormon geography enthusiasts who believe in a "two Cumorah" theory, with one in Mesoamerica (or wherever their distant model originates) and the other in Palmyra, NY. According to David, both depositories are in Palmyra, the place referred to by the angel as "Cumorah. (Cumorah's Cave)
Any geographical models with a secondary Cumorah outside of Western New York are in error.
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Cumorah
