The Book of Mormon Corroborated

THE BOOK OF MORMON CORROBORATED.

On November 26, 1896, we published in the Star an account of the dis­covery of a ruined city situated in the mountains of the State of Guerrero, Mexico. This discovery was made by a Mr. William Niven, an American mineralogist. In perusing another description of the buried city more details are given respecting it, and considerable is quoted from the dis­coverer’s own words. After telling how he came to find the ruins, Mr. Niven proceeds to describe them as follows:

“About noon we camped at a spring in a deep canyon. The guide promised to show us the first sign of ruins at a place called Yerba Buena. We soon saw the first evidences of pre-historic structures, which, however, were little more than foundations. But the surprise at the top of the hill removed all doubts of the Indian’s veracity, for there before us was what was once evidently a great temple, occupying a space of 200 x 300 feet. In the centre was an altar of solid masonry ten feet square and in a good state of preservation. At each corner the foundations and part of the walls of circular towers, six feet thick, were plainly visible. Climbing to the top of one tower I found it covered with charcoal dust to the depth of eighteen inches. Then we mounted our horses and traveled till dusk, nearly ten miles, among the ruins of what was one time a great city. The houses, substantially built of stone and lime, had been from fifty to eighty feet square. The ruins were found only on the ridges of the mountains, while on the sides near the summit were visible many foundations. After descending from the summit 400 or 500 feet there were no signs of ruins of any description.”

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“The ruins which I was fortunate enough to discover in Guerrero are very extensive—much more so than I at first supposed. At a rather rough estimate I should say that territory of over 900 square miles was literally covered, foot by foot, with sections of ruins. Every ridge and hilltop bore the remains of ancient temples, some of them mammoth in proportions. In most instances these pre-historic structures, owing to the wind and rain of centuries, were little more than foundations, beneath which I invariably found some unique and curious objects. Still, many of them stand from three to eight feet high and are substantially built of stone and lime.

“The ruins have the appearance of belonging to one vast city, and subsequent investigations bore out my first impressions, on the matter. During the time I was occupied in excavating I visited the ruins of twenty-two temples, with altars in the centre of all of them from five to twenty feet high and from ten to fifteen feet square.”

Mr. Niven, in giving his opinion about the destruction of the great city says:

“Who were these people and how came they to disapper I cannot answer. My impression is that once upon a time the country was one vast plain. It was probably submerged by a titanic convulsion of nature, and with it disappeared its people and their primitive civilization. Later the land was thrust up again, as we see it now, a barren, desolate waste. As the nearest water supply is several miles distant, and that only a small spring, it is evident that some great transformation in nature has taken place since the land was populated.”

Our object in calling attention to this discovery, and referring to the belief expressed by the gentleman who made it, is to show how modern researches and explorations corroborate the historical narrative of the Book of Mormon. The Third Book of Nephi describes the terrible des­truction that took place upon the American continent at the time of the Savior's crucifixion. The record states:

And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, in the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land:

And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch, that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder;

And there were exceeding sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land.

And the city of Zarahemla did take fire;

And the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned;

And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city thereof, there became a great mountain;

And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward.

But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward: for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest, and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings, and the light­nings, and the exceeding great quaking of the whole earth;

And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough,

And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate;

And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceeding great, and there were many in them who were slain;

And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind and whither they went, no man knoweth, save they know that they were car­ried away;

And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of thee tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth.

How the ruined city visited by Mr. Niven came to be located upon mountain ridges can be understood from what is recorded in the Book of Mormon. The city of Moronihah is mentioned as one which was destroyed by being covered with earth and a mountain being raised in place of it. It is quite probable that this pre-historic city situated in the interior of Mexico met a similar fate to that of Moronihah, and was thrown up into its present position by some mighty upheaval of the earth's crust, for it is not, at all likely that the city was originally built upon a mountain. Mr. Niven’s impression that the country was once a vast plain is consistent with what may be inferred from the account given in the Book of Mormon; and his belief that the remarkable transformation of the country was caused by some great convulsion of nature is also in harmony with the statements made in the sacred book, and goes to confirm the truth of it.

The statement is made that the Indians of the vicinity are very super­stitious in regard to these ruins. It is easy to believe this should be the case when it is understood what an awful event it was that destroyed the mighty city. It is reasonable to suppose that the account of the destruction would be handed down through tradition from father to son, and that the direful narration would inspire terror within the hearts of each succeeding generation. E.F.P.