What is in a Scriptural Description? The West Sea – Part I

Mormon gives us a very clear picture of the domain of the Lamanite king, and the location and size of both the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla. To make sure we understand this completely, Mormon states in Alma 22:27: 

1. “And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land”
    The Lamanite king controlled an area of considerable size, called the Land of Nephi.
2. “…who were in all the regions round about”
    Within the Land of Nephi were several divisions of land, such as the Land of Ishmael, Land of Jerusalem, Land of Lehi-Nephi, Land of Shilom, Land of Shemlon, etc., all making up the overall area of the Land of Nephi, which the king controlled.
3. “…which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west”
    The Land of Nephi ran from the Sea East to the Sea West
4. “…and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness”
    The Land of Nephi was to the south and the Land of Zarahemla was to the north of this narrow strip of wilderness, which ran between them.
5. “…which ran from the sea east even to the sea west”
    This narrow strip of wilderness ran from the Sea East to the Sea West, on a parallel line with, and between, the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla.
6. “and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla”
    Roundabout means not in a straight line—a roundabout course. Thus, the narrow strip of wilderness, which ran straight from sea to sea curved upward (northward) along both seacoasts encroaching into the Land of Zarahemla along the coastal area.

According to Mormon’s description, the Land of Zarahemla was to the north, the Land of Nephi to the south, with a narrow strip of wilderness running in a straight line between them, and curved upward (roundabout) on both coasts, creating a west wilderness and an east wilderness where “the more idle part of the Lamanites dwelt in tents”
7. “…and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided”
    This narrow strip of wilderness divided the two lands and the two peoples. Whether it was a mountainous region, a canyon, or a series of cliffs, is not stated. The “wilderness” merely means “a tract of land or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings,” it is also defined as, “a wild and natural area in which few people live,” and “an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community.”
    It was through this narrow strip of wilderness, which separated the higher elevation of the Land of Nephi from the lower elevation of the Land of Zarahemla, that the Lamanties continued to “come down” to do battle with the Nephites as shown in “when the men who were called king-men had heard that the Lamanites were coming down to battle against them, they were glad in their hearts; and they refused to take up arms” (Alma 51:13), and “In this year that there were some dissenters who had gone forth unto the Lamanites; and they were stirred up again to anger against the Nephites. And also in this same year they came down with a numerous army to war against the people of Moronihah, or against the army of Moronihah, in the which they were beaten and driven back again to their own lands, suffering great loss” (Alma 63:14-15). 
    Obviously, Zarahemla was also at a lower elevation from the eastern area of the Land Southward as shown in Alma 62:7, and it is also obvious that Mormon is referring to elevation when he speaks of “coming down” and “going up,” as seen in “when Amalickiah found that he could not get Lehonti to come down off from the mount, he went up into the mount, nearly to Lehonti's camp; and he sent again the fourth time his message unto Lehonti, desiring that he would come down, and that he would bring his guards with him” (Alma 47:12).
    Now, since we have established Mormon’s description of the southern portion of the Land Southward, including the lands of Zarahemla and Nephi, let’s take another look at the West Sea, and what Mormon had to say about the land where Lehi landed—which was along the West Sea toward the south in the Land of Nephi. In describing the layout of the Land of Promise for his future reader, and where the Lamanites were located along the west coast of the land, Mormon states in his insert, “Now, the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore” (Alma 22:28).
    To make sure we understand this location of their “first inheritance,” that is the land they first occupied and the spot where Lehi entered that land, we need to keep in mind that Mormon is placing the Lamanites:

Mormon tells us that Lehi landed on the west coast of the Land of Nephi, and settled that area along the seashore, which was the place of their first inheritance; later, after Nephi left, the City  and Land of Nephi became the land of the Nephite first inheritance (Mosiah 9:1) and Lehi’s landing site became the land of first inheritance of the Lamanites (Alma 22:28)
1. “and they were spread through the wilderness on the west in the land of Nephi”
    This is in the west of the Land of Nephi.
2. “…yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore”
    This is along that west coast of Zarahemla where the narrow strip of wilderness curves up “roundabout” along the seashore.
3. “…and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance”
    Their fathers’ first inheritance means, in this case, the Lamanite fathers, which would be Lehi, Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael.
4. “…and thus bordering along by the seashore”
    That is, the Lamanites (meaning Lehi and his colony) first landed along the seashore of the West Sea in the southern portion of the Land of Nephi.

Olive’s map showing (white arrow) her location for Lehi’s landing site along her West Sea, which is today’s Lake Erie
    However, Phyllis Carol Olive takes all that very clear information and misplaces it in an unbelievable manner, choosing the “land-locked” area of Lake Erie in the Great Lakes, as though she had looked on a map and seen a path up the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario and then on to Lake Erie, as the location of where Lehi landed.
(See the next post, “What is in a Scriptural Description? The West Sea – Part II,” for the rest of this article on how clearly Mormon describes Lehi’s landing site, and how far afield Olive has gone in placing that landing on the east coast of Lake Erie and how impossible it would have been for Nephi’s ship to have reached that spot)