With all the claims of our American people, none, so far as I know, had up to that time imagined for our country the honor of being the home of our first parents, but since then it has become a favorite theory with many. A few years after Joseph had proclaimed that the great Mississippi Valley was the first home of man, the learned antiquarian, Samuel L. Mitchell of New York, with other gentlemen eminent for their knowledge of natural history, advanced the theory that America was the land where Adam dwelt. He supported his theory by tracing the progress of colonies westward from America over the Pacific Ocean to new settlements in Europe and Africa. (Juvenile Instructor, vol. 9: 278). Other scientists have reasoned elaborately from the relics found in different parts of North and South America, and have proven that the Western Continent was inhabited before the flood. Now, if Adam dwelt in America, Noah also dwelt here and must have built his ark on this continent. Without entering into a detailed argument to prove this, I will simply read the following from an able and lengthy article entitled "Old America," written by G. M. O., and published in the ninth volume of the Juvenile Instructor:
"Modern science has given us very accurately drawn charts of the course of the wind through the atmosphere surrounding us. We have no reason to believe these wind currents have changed since the creation. Now the prevailing current of wind over the central part of North America is from the west, and possibly this was the course followed by the tornado during the deluge. Now if the ark had been built in Armenia, where the mountain Ararat is situated, and it is found that the wind and currents have general eastern direction, the ark would, during the one hundred and fifty days or five months of the deluge (that is from the commencement until the waters gained their greatest depth), have gone in an eastern course, say at the rate of about forty miles a day, some six thousand miles, or beyond China; or if it floated faster, it would have left the ark somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. This would be an unreasonable theory to adopt, being entirely inconsistent. But the ark being built in America, somewhere, we may imagine in the latitude of Missouri, when taken up by the eastern-borne current, and wafted by the hurricane following the same course, it is not out of the way to suppose it to have progressed as far as Ararat, some six or seven thousand miles from America, even had it traveled at a more rapid rate than forty or fifty miles a day. Over sixteen hundred years had passed from the creation until the ark was finished. In this time mankind had increased and multiplied and spread out far beyond the country around Eden (the Mississippi Valley), as signs of an antediluvian population indicate, and we may suppose the ark was built some distance east of the Garden, between the States of New York and Missouri. Couple this supposition with the circumstances connected with the flood, the current flowing from America, with the fact of the ark's resting in an easterly direction from this country, and we can form no other reasonable conclusion than that here the miraculous vessel was constructed and freighted with its treasure of animal life, and the progenitors designated and set apart to renew the human race. That the ancient Americans knew of the deluge is beyond dispute, as we have several versions of the story of the flood that have been handed down as tradition by different nations, and in one instance we have a picture-written description of it, an old Toltec record, fortunately preserved from the wholesale destruction that followed the conquest."
Suffice it to say that it is no longer considered an absurd theory that America was the cradle of man, and the home of Adam, Noah and the other antediluvian patriarchs, but it has taken many years of patient study and thorough investigation of scientific problems for men of learning to come to the same conclusion that Joseph Smith did by revelation between fifty and sixty years ago. The following was published in the DESERET NEWS of Sept. 18, 1888:
"A CORROBORATIVE DISCOVERY.
"A short time ago the Washington Post made a remarkable statement regarding the location of the Garden of Eden. It announced that Dr. Campbell of Versailles had lately discovered that it was on this continent, and near where St. Louis now stands. That gentleman, according to the Post, asserted that the Mississippi River is the Euphrates of Scripture, and that the Bible furnishes evidence of the correctness of his conclusions.
"It is probable that Dr. Campbell is not aware of the fact that he is not the discoverer of what he now announces, the Prophet Joseph Smith having many years ago stated that the Garden of Eden was located in what is now known as the State of Missouri. The Prophet also pointed out the precise spot where Adam offered sacrifice to the Lord, and where, as the great patriarchal head of the race, he blessed his children previous to his departure from the earth. That sacred spot in Missouri was designated by the Prophet as Adam-ondi-Aham, the meaning of which is—the land where Adam dwelt."
My conclusion is this: If scientific men, by the evidences produceable at this late day can indicate that the Garden of Eden was at or near the place where St. Louis, Mo., now stands, the Lord, who originally planted the garden himself, could designate the exact spot and tell His prophet that that first garden, the original paradise of man, was located in Jackson County, Mo., just 150 miles northwest of St. Louis.
In connection with this, I desire to relate a little experience of my own. About two years ago, in company with Elders Edward Stevenson and Joseph S. Black, I visited Adam-ondi-Ahman, in Missouri, and as we stood upon the site of the altar that I have referred to and looked over the beautiful valley lying south and east of us, I said to myself, "Can it be possible that these stones—fragments of which I held in my hand—were once parts of the altar upon which our first parent offered sacrifice to God?"
I had previously listened to the testimony of Presidents Wilford Woodruff, A. O. Smoot and other men of prominence and unimpeachable character, to the effect that they were present with the Prophet Joseph in 1838 when the glorious facts relating to that particular tract of country were revealed. But I desired a direct testimony from the Lord concerning the matter, and consequently made it a subject of prayer. And I desire, on this occasion, to bear my testimony that I received an answer to my prayer sufficient to convince me that these things are true.
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE PREDICTED.
On the 31st of October, 1838, Joseph and a number of his brethren, all prominent men in the Church, were betrayed by Col. George M. Hinkle into the hands of the mob militia who had surrounded Far West, Mo., determined to sack the town. Although Joseph had only been in Missouri a few months and had not done the least harm to a single soul there, nearly the whole population of that State, including its highest officers, both civil and military, had become so exasperated, through the stream of lies which had been circulated through the country concerning the Saints and their motives, that they had fully determined to kill the leaders of the Church; and there were scores in that mob militia camp to which Joseph and his brethren were brought that memorable day who would have considered it a great honor to put to death Joseph and his fellow-prisoners. They knew also that there would be no danger of them being brought to justice for such a deed, even if they should assassinate them without orders from any commander. It was on this occasion that the mobbers cursed and shouted like mad-men and swore that Joseph and those with him should never see their friends or families again alive; and to prove that this was not the boast and threat of the common soldier only, I will refer you to what John Clark, the head general and commander of the whole militia, said in his notorious speech which he delivered before the brethren at Far West, after he had made them prisoners of war. Referring to Joseph and his fellow prisoners, who then were on the road to Jackson County in the hands of Gen. Lucas and his army, General Clark said:
"As for your leaders, do not once think—do not imagine for a moment—do not let it enter your minds, that they will be delivered, or that you will see their faces again, for their fate is fixed, THEIR DIE IS CAST, THEIR DOOM IS SEALED."