Joseph Smith – Witnesses of Book of Mormon events occurring in North America

Inspiring Stories

Zelph Mound

There are many reported accounts of the Zelph Mound experience.

One morning, many went to see a big mound about a mile below the crossing. I did not go on it, but saw some bones that were brought back with a broken arrow. They were laid down by our camp. Joseph Smith said, “This land was called the land of desolation, and Onedagus was the king, and a good man was he. There in that mound did he bury his dead, and did not dig holes as the people do now, but they brought their dirt and covered them until you see they have raised it to be about one hundred feet high. The last man buried was Zelf. He was a white Lamanite who fought with the people of Onedagus for freedom. When he was young, he was a great warrior and had his thigh broken, and it never was set. It knitted together as you see on the side. He fought after it got strength, until 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 breast.” ¹

1. Levi Hancock, “Life story of Levi W. Hancock,” Brigham Young University Library, pp. 47-49, 73-82; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], p. 20