Zelph the Lamanite

Who is Zelph the Lamanite?

Joseph Smith[BIO] attributed the name Zelph[BIO] to a skeleton found by a group of men[1] during Zion's Camp.[2] The bones were discovered[3] in a burial mound.[4] The details are fuzzy across conflicting accounts, but two accounts mention Joseph having a vision about Zelph.[5] Though there are conflicting accounts, Zelph was apparently identified as a "white Lamanite"[6] and a warrior[7] who was killed in a battle.[8]

How reliable is the story about Zelph?

Reasonably reliable. There are enough early first-hand accounts[9] to be confident Joseph and the others found skeletal remains,[10] referred to the remains as Zelph,[11] identified them as being from a "white Lamanite,"[12] and recovered an arrowhead.[13]

After that, early reports start to conflict with one another. Most records mention battles,[14] but only one firsthand source talks about a "last battle."[15] A few accounts also mention an individual named Onandagus (or Omandagus) with some saying Onandagus was a prophet[16] and another saying he was a king.[17]

Did the Church ever make an official account of the episode?

Yes. The Manuscript History of the Church pulled from several of the firsthand records to synthesize a more official story of Zelph.[18] In it, there are several redactions related to Zelph being associated with the last battle of the Nephites and Lamanites in the Book of Mormon.[19] For unknown reasons, a Times and Seasons article printed in 1846 (after Joseph's death) ignored these redactions and printed them anyway.[20]

Doesn’t this story make it seem like Joseph Smith was just making things up?

Maybe. Joseph Smith likely considered all Native Americans "Lamanites,"[21] so finding ancient skeletal remains in a mound and putting them in a Book of Mormon context would be natural.[22]

E. D. Howe,[BIO] an early anti-Mormon author, said that Joseph was just trying to inspire his "troops," so he told a story[23] about Zelph the warrior.[24]

Read More Difficult Questions

40 Primary Sources

Footnotes

BIOJoseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith (1805–1844) organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born in Sharon, Vermont, he began to experience visions of deity and angels at a young age. One vision featured the Angel Moroni, who revealed the location of gold plates with an account of ancient Americans. He translated this record and published it as The Book of Mormon. He continued to receive revelations throughout his life which serve as the foundation for the Church's doctrine today. He led the Latter-day Saints across the country from New York to Illinois. In 1844, he was martyred while awaiting trial in Carthage, Illinois.
BIOZelph
Zelph was a white Lamanite who fought under the prophet and military general Onandagus. His bones were found on Naples-Russell Mound 8 and Joseph Smith identifed him. While the time period in which he lived is unknown, it is likely after the dispersion of the Nephites and Lamanites.
BIOE. D. Howe
Eber Dudley Howe (1798–1885) was an Ohio newspaper editor and journalist who authored an early influential anti-Mormon book: Mormonism Unvailed [sic]. Howe was a vocal opponent of the Latter-day Saints in the pages of his newspaper the Painesville Telegraph. Along with Doctor Philastus Hurlbut (1809–1883), he formulated the Solomon Spaulding theory of the origin of the Book of Mormon.
[1]↩︎
At least Reuben McBride, Moses Martin, and probably Milton Holmes were there when the bones were initially found.
There were likely others like Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and Joseph Smith, but it's unclear who was actually there when the bones were first discovered.
[2]↩︎
Zion's Camp was also known as the Camp of Israel. It started around May 4, 1834, and lasted until about July 25, 1834, when the group broke up after a cholera outbreak.
- JS recalls the start of Zion's Camp.
- Heber C. Kimball recalls the cholera outbreak that accompanied the end of Zion's Camp.
[3]↩︎
The group found the skeletal remains on June 2 or June 3, 1834, in Pike County, Illinois.
- Lands on Zion's Camp associated with Book of Mormon lands.
- RM recalls JS remarks about Z, including arrow in ribs, white Lamanite, and "Omandagus."
[4]↩︎
Three or so men dug into the top of the mound and made it one or two feet down before finding Zelph.
Wilford Woodruff, Levi Hancock, George A. Smith, and Jesse J. Smith probably visited after the excavation of the bones.
[5]↩︎
Wilford Woodruff and Moses Martin both mention Joseph's vision, and it is detailed in the Manuscript History of the Church.
[6]↩︎
Three of the early firsthand accounts mention that Zelph was a "white Lamanite" or that somehow the curse was "partly" taken from him.
[7]↩︎
Most of the accounts agree he was a Lamanite and a warrior. From there, they differ on whether he was a great warrior, an officer under the prophet Onandagus, or a prophet himself. Most agree he was a good man and a man of God.
[8]↩︎
While most accounts agree Zelph was killed in battle, they disagree on which battle he was killed in.
The manuscript history of the Church says Zelph was involved in the final wars between the Lamanites and the Nephites, though the words "final" and "Nephites" have been crossed out of the original manuscript.
Another account says Zelph was at the destruction of the Lamanites. Other accounts say he was just involved in battles.
[9]↩︎
Both Reuben McBride and Moses Martin, who both witnessed the discovery, recorded the event in their personal journals within days of the event. Other accounts were recorded soon after.
[10]↩︎
There were many witnesses to the skeletal remains.
Reuben McBride and Heber C. Kimball record discovering a "skeleton."
Moses Martin recorded, "We came to the bones of an extraordinary large person or human being. . ." He is the only one that refers to the skeleton being of unusual size.
Levi Hancock wasn't there for the initial excavation, but said he "saw some bones that was brought. . ."
[11]↩︎
Reuben Mcbride identified the remains as "Zelph a warior under the Prophet Omandagus."
Levi Hancock recorded that he overheard Joseph Smith telling Sylvester Smith that "the last man buried was Zelf. . ."
Heber C. Kimball's journal (which was recorded a little later) notes:
It was made known to Joseph that he had been an officer who fell in battle, in the last destruction among the Lamanites, and his name was Zelph.
While not all records spelled the name the same way, the Manuscript History of the Church retains the most common spelling of Zelph.
[12]↩︎
Reuben McBride and Levi Hancock both list Zelph as a white Lamanite."
McBride later clarified:
He was a man of God and the curse was taken off or in part he was a white Lamanite. . . .
Wilford Woodruff's later journal entry recorded:
Brother Joseph had a vission respecting the person he said he was a white Lamanite, the curse was taken from him or at least in part. . . .
[13]↩︎
Reuben McBride and Heber C. Kimball record finding the "arrow" in Zelph's ribs.
Moses Martin's journal is a bit more descriptive:
In the trunk of this skeleton near the vitals we found a large stone arrow which I suppose brought him to his end.
Levi Hancock recorded that Joseph Smith told Sylvester Smith:
When the Lord said he had done enough and suffered him to be killed by that arrow you took from his brest.
[14]↩︎
Nearly all of them mention battle in one way or another.
Levi Hancock even reported Joseph Smith describing the circumstances of Zelph's death as follows:
He fought after it got strength untill he lost every tooth in his head save one when the Lord said he had done enough and suffered him to be killed by that arrow you took from his brest.
[15]↩︎
Heber C. Kimball referred to Zelph as "an officer who fell in battle, in the last destruction among the Lamanites."
- HCK recalls when they found Z's remains.
[16]↩︎
Reuben Mcbride calls Onandagus a prophet, which ended up making it into the Manuscript History of the Church.
Wilford Woodruff later recalled that Zelph "fought under the great prophet who was known from the hill Cumorah to the rocky mountains."
[17]↩︎
Levi Hancock reported Joseph Smith calling Onandagus a king.
- LH records JS telling Sylvester Smith the story of Z personally.
[18]↩︎
Willard Richards was the scribe for the Manuscript History of the Church. Joseph Smith oversaw the project.
- MH "official" account about Zelph discovery.
[19]↩︎
The redactions are in the handwriting of Wilmer Benson, who also copied the record to make a backup account.
He was killed in battle, by the arrow found among his ribs, during a ~~last~~ great struggle with the Lamanites. ~~and Nephites.~~
Additionally, there is an edit related to the Hill Cumorah which may indicate that there was some apprehension to associate Zelph with the direct narrative from the Book of Mormon.
- MH "official" account about Zelph discovery.
[20]↩︎
Joseph Smith died in 1844, so he was not consulted on leaving the redacted portions in the Times and Seasons article.
- JS recalls the discovery of Z's remains and the visions accompanying it.
[21]↩︎
During Zion's Camp, Joseph sent Emma a letter, recording "wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionaly the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity."
Ezra Booth, an early member who became a critic, mocked this attitude among the Saints in the Ohio Star:
The grand enterprise of introducing this new dispensation, or the fulness of the Gospel, among the Indian tribes, who have recently received the appellation of Lamanites, was committed in charge to Oliver Cowdery. . . .
- Ezra Booth identifies Native Americans as Lamanites.
- JS refers to the plains of the Nephites, bones as proof of BOM.
[22]↩︎
Joseph saw evidence of the Book of Mormon's authenticity in everything. The day after the Zelph discovery, he wrote a letter to Emma mentioning their travels across the "plains of the Nephites" and how all they saw stood as evidence of the Book of Mormon.
- T&S links Central American ruins to the BoM.
- JS refers to the plains of the Nephites, bones as proof of BOM.
[23]↩︎
E.D. Howe said, "[The Zelph Story was told] to encourage the troops to deeds of daring, when they should meet the Missourians in battle array."
- EDH on JS's reasoning behind Z story.
[24]↩︎
E. D. Howe also mistakenly referred to Zelph as a Nephite in his book Mormonism Unvailed.
- EDH on JS's reasoning behind Z story.
[25]↩︎
The University of Illinois determined the Napoleon Hollow district mound cluster in Pike County was from the "Middle Woodland" period.
The Naples Russell group of mounds is part of the Napoleon Hollow district, and the site of the Zelph discovery is on Naples-Russell Mound #8.
- AIS identifies Zelph location as Naples-Russell Mound #8.
- IAS dates Zelph mound to 50 BC - 250 AD.
[26]↩︎
The mound is called Naples-Russell Mound Number 8.
[27]↩︎
For example, Orson Pratt reportedly believed that Lehi landed in South America.
Joseph Smith referred to the plains of the mid-west as the "plains of the Nephites." However, he also cited ruins in Guatemala as evidence for the Book of Mormon people.
In modern times, John L. Sorenson published a book supporting the idea that the Book of Mormon took place primarily in Central America, and Bruce Porter and Rod Meldrum published a book supporting the idea that the Book of Mormon took place primarily in North America.
[28]↩︎
The Church's Gospel Topics Essay on "Book of Mormon Geography" stated:
The Church does not take a position on the specific geographic locations of Book of Mormon events in the ancient Americas. Speculation on the geography of the Book of Mormon may mislead instead of enlighten; such a study can be a distraction from its divine purpose.
- Gospel Topics essay stating the Church has no official position on BoM geography.
[29]↩︎
E.D. Howe said, "[The Zelph Story was told] to encourage the troops to deeds of daring, when they should meet the Missourians in battle array."
- EDH on JS's reasoning behind Z story.
[30]↩︎
Heber C. Kimball said:
This caused us to rejoice much, to think that God was so mindful of us as to show these things to his servant.
- Kenneth W. Godfrey reprints Heber C. Kimball's autobiography entry concerning discovery of Zelph that was later reprinted in the Times and Seasons.