Necks, Lines, Passes, Strips and Narrows

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Below we will try and help you understand the various Necks, Lines, Passes, Strips and Narrows of Book of Mormon Geography. Much of the information is from the wonderful book by Jonathan Neville called, Moroni’s America. See our store to purchase this book.

1. NARROW PASS- Land between Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron (St. Clair River), or Land between Lake St Clair and Lake Erie. (Detroit River), or eastern lower side of Lake Michigan along the coast with a mountain pass on the east, or Irving NY to Salamanca, NY on the Cattaraugus Creek, or Line Bountiful near The Triple Divide.
A. Mormon 3:5 “And it came to pass that I did cause my people that they should gather themselves together at the land Desolation, to a city which was in the borders by the narrow pass which led into the land southward.”
B. Alma 50:34 “And it came to pass that they did not head them until they had come to the borders of the land Desolation; and there they did head them, by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea, by the sea, on the west and on the east.”
C. Alma 52:9 “And he also sent orders unto him that he should fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them on every side.”
2. NARROW PASSAGE- Near Buffalo New York “Moroni’s America” Page 249 , or land on the south side of Lake Erie from Irving NY to Salamanca, NY, or by the small neck.
A. Heleman 4:7 “And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.”
B. Mormon 2:29 “And the Lamanites did give unto us the land northward, yea, even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward. And we did give unto the Lamanites all the land southward.”
3. NARROW NECK- Hagoth-Lake Michigan lower east side, or line desolation near Lake Michigan to the Scioto River.
Alma 63:5 “And it came to pass that Hagoth, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward.”
4. NARROW NECK OF LAND- Lake Erie divides the land- see Detroit, Toledo, or Buffalo (The point of land at Toledo to the point of land at Buffalo could be a narrow neck along the coast of Lake Erie on the north or on the south).
Ether 10:20 “And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.”
5. NARROW STRIP OF WILDERNESS- Ohio, Allegheny, Missouri River. This is the main border between the Nephites and Lamanites from east to west.
Alma 22:27 “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, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, 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, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west—and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.”
6. SMALL NECK OF LAND- Allegheny, Susquehanna (Pine Creek flows as a tributary from the West Branch of the Susquehanna), and Genesee head-river gaps (Triple Divide). Only 6 miles between each of these three river heads, because of the Continental Divide. This is the “gate” of the wilderness fence.
Alma 22:32 “And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.”
7. LINE BOUNTIFUL/LINE FORTIFIED- Journey for a Nephite from the southwest corner of Lake Ontario to the tip of Lake Erie near Buffalo is the half day journey. The “day” for a Nephite is from near Buffalo in a straight line to the mouth of the Allegheny River which begins near Raymond, PA. Line Bountiful; Alma 22:32 Line Fortified; Helaman 4:7 Line Between; Alma 50:11
8. LINE DESOLATION/BOUNTIFUL- From the mouth of the Scioto River in Ohio, draw a straight line to the tip of Lake Michigan near Michigan City, Indiana. 3 Nephi 3:23 “And the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the line which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation.”