Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Jacob Gates (c. March 1851) appealing to Stephens and Catherwood to Support the Thesis the Book of Mormon Took Place, in Part, in Central America

  

In the first place it is a fact that needs no proof that such a people do and have existed since the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492. It is also evident that they are an ancient people living long before the discovery of the American continent by Columbus and as an evidence in favor of such an idea I will refer you to the history of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Catherwood published in 1841, giving an account of their travels in Central America. They give us an account of large cities which have long since moldered into ruin, one in particular, the size of which is thirty-two mils in length and twelve in breadth, more than three times the size of the largest cities now in America. These ancient ruins are found in dense forests, with trees of the largest size growing upon their moldering walls. Now, when we take into consideration the length of time which it must take to build a city of such vast dimensions and the time it would naturally take to grow a tree of the largest size upon its ruins, it will at once be admitted by all reasonable minds that America must have been inhabited as early at least as the beginning of our Christian Era. We find that they are not only an ancient people but were an enlightened and highly cultivated people, understanding the arts and sciences, probably to as high as the people of the United States do at the present time. The reasons why I draw such a conclusion is because I find an abundance of evidence to favor and prove the position which I take—not only in Central America but throughout the United States—evidences which could not have been produced from any other than an enlightened and a civilized people. (Tract: “The Origin of the American Indians and the Coming Forth of their History,” c. 8 March, 1851, in The Journals of Jacob Gates, ed. KC Kern, 382)