We don’t know if the angel Moroni dedicated the Manti temple site during his mortal ministry. However, based on the current historical record, there isn’t enough evidence to justify the claim. Warren S. Snow asserted that Brigham Young shared the story in a private meeting, but the prophet didn’t trust Snow, and the fourth hand claim never appears in any other contemporary source. In this interview, Latter-day Saint folklorist Christopher Blythe explains what we do and don’t know about the popular myth.
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What is the story most often told about Moroni dedicating the Manti temple site?
The story is that before the prophet Moroni died, he went on a long journey and dedicated temples along the way. I think the image of the journeying Moroni shows up in the classic story of him passing Joseph on his way to Cumorah.
We learn that he stopped in Manti, in a story that Brigham Young had privately explained this fact to Bishop Warren S. Snow in 1877 when the temple site was dedicated.
Similar to Brigham pointing out the right spot for the Salt Lake Temple, he declared:
Here is the spot where the Prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot; and if you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon to-day, we will dedicate this ground.
What sources are most often used to prove that Moroni dedicated the Manti temple?
The standard source for Brigham Young’s statement about Moroni dedicating the Manti temple site comes from Orson F. Whitney’s Life of Heber C. Kimball, a wonderful biography of Whitney’s grandfather published in 1888.
What is Orson F. Whitney’s source for his statement?
Whitney simply cites the writings of “one of the elders laboring in the Manti Temple.” He is referring to a letter drafted by Moses F. Farnsworth, which was included in a record book for the Manti temple. It was also published in the Millennial Star.
My thanks to Ardis Parshall who located the source, which states:
Early on the morning of April 25, 1877, President Brigham Young asked Brother Warren S. Snow to go with him to the Temple hill. Brother Snow says, “We two were alone; President Young took me to the spot where the Temple was to stand; we went to the south-east corner, and President Young said, ‘Here is the spot where the Prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot; and if you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon to-day, we will dedicate this ground.'”
The Latter-Day Saints’ Millennial Star, Monday August 13, 1888, page 521.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Whitney’s statement as a historical source?
It’s a pretty shabby source for telling us what happened in Moroni’s era. It tells us a great deal about 1888 when it was written (or when we can trace it to). In other words, it tells us the sort of things people were saying at the time of the Temple dedication.
The claim is that Brigham Young privately held this belief and shared it with a Church leader.
From the way it is written, this source would clearly be a reminiscence, which in turn cites a statement the author had heard from Warren Snow. We don’t know if this is a direct quote from Snow or a reconstruction by Farnsworth. However, Warren Snow was still alive in Manti and it would have been risky to claim he had said something he didn’t say.
It’s safe to assume the story originated with Bishop Snow.
How does it complicate matters for this source to have been used in official Church publications?
If you assumed publications like the Ensign and Church News gave events from our past extra credibility, I get how this could complicate a discussion of whether the telling of a historical event was accurate. I think we should have a more modest understanding of our official publications. However, this probably does tell us that Moroni dedicating a site for the building of a temple in Manti was uncontroversial.
Are there any official Church statements about Moroni dedicating the Manti temple?
I am not aware of any official statements. However, I was able to find an internal memo written by Don Enders of the Church History Department of 2004 that has never been made public. While the document doesn’t represent a formal position of the department, it does make some interesting historical points.
What did the memo conclude?
Historian Don Enders researched the issue for a church project and recommended not supporting the claim that Moroni dedicated the site of the Manti temple. He produced an internal memo in 2004 that detailed a number of concerns. For example:
- Suspect source. There’s only one source for a statement by Brigham Young. The prophet never told any of his closest friends or other General Authorities what Snow claimed was shared in secret, nor was it made public at the time of the temple dedication. Additionally, it’s a fourth hand source and traces back to someone Brigham Young didn’t trust, namely Warren Snow.
- Warren S. Snow reputation. Brigham Young didn’t think highly of Warren Snow. Two days after Snow reportedly had a secret meeting with Young in which Moroni was discussed, Young “wrote a letter stating that Warren Snow seemed like an untrustworthy character and he didn’t want him to be involved in the temple construction.”
- Warren S. Snow motives. Warren Snow was trying to obtain a contract to build the Manti temple at the time he shared his story. Enders reports that “it was to Brother Snow’s advantage to have his family and neighbors believe they had a strong claim for the temple in Manti.”
Is there anything else of note in the memo?
Yes! The memo references another source about Moroni dedicating temple sites, and provides a summary conclusion of why Enders recommended not endorsing the claim that Moroni dedicated the Manti temple site.
Enders found evidence that Latter-day Saints in the nineteenth century were speculating about Moroni’s role in dedicating temple sites. In particular, the diary of Charles Walker includes a lengthy talk given by Patriarch William McBride in the St. George temple in which he taught that Moroni dedicated the temple sites for St. George, Nauvoo, Jackson County, and Kirtland, in addition to “others we know not of as yet” (Manti wasn’t mentioned).
This additional source shows how early Latter-day Saints were already discussing folklore about Moroni. However, Enders points out that “it is clear in Walker’s journal that McBride was teaching based upon his own research and speculation and not citing information given him by a higher authority.”
Taken together with the questionable nature of Snow as a source, Enders concluded:
In summary, we have a journal entry that suggests nineteenth century Latter-day Saints were talking about Moroni’s role in dedicating various temple sites and we have a fourth hand statement coming from a suspicious source that Brigham Young identified the Manti temple site as one dedicated by Moroni. On the other hand, President Young’s closest friends and other General Authorities never recorded a similar statement and nothing was said at the temple dedication suggesting such a statement was made. Unless additional information comes to light confirming the claim that Moroni dedicated the Manti temple site we’re on a more sure foundation if we do not support the claim for the time being.
Don Enders, “Memorandum: The Prophet Moroni’s Purported Visit to Manti, Utah,” February 23, 2004.
Does the story of Moroni dedicating the Manti temple site appear in the Journal of Discourses?
It does not. However, there is a very memorable sermon delivered by the Apostle Orson Hyde on Moroni, in which he speaks of Moroni’s various appearances preparing the Americas for the restoration of the Gospel.
Hyde refers to Moroni as the “Prince of the Americas.” I love that.
What’s the best source we have from a historical perspective in favor of Moroni dedicating the Manti temple site?
If historical means accurate—then I’ll leave individual readers to decide what they think. What we can reasonably show is that one of the most important figures in Manti remembered—10 years removed from the incident—that he had had a private conversation with Brigham Young that held that Moroni dedicated the site.
So, you have to decide:
- Whether you accept this is actually a statement from Snow
- Whether Brigham Young actually said what he is reported to have said
- Whether Moroni actually dedicated the site.
What did Ardis Parshall learn about Moroni and the Manti temple in the Church History Archives?
I hold Ardis Parshall in very high regard. She is a historian of the first order and more importantly a tireless researcher. That’s where the real work comes in. Your readers will likely know that they can find discussions of Ardis’s research on her continuing blog Keepapitchinin.
She wrote a short essay entitled, “Moroni’s Reported Rambles” (November 18, 2010) on the Manti Moroni legend. What I find most revealing in her essay is that the surviving contemporary documents about the Manti temple dedication do not include any reference to Moroni.
Of course, Snow’s claim is not that Brigham made a public announcement but that the two of them had spoken about this privately.
Tell us about the map that describes Moroni visiting the Manti temple grounds. How do historians judge its credibility?
I love this map. It shows Moroni’s alleged travels where he had traveled to various sites the Saints had lived: “Cumorah,” Kirtland, Nauvoo, Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Independence, Salt Lake City, “Sand Hills in the Southern part of Arizona,” and then the land Bountiful that the map writer believed was in Central America.
It’s also helpful to note that the source of information of Moroni’s map also originated with Patriarch William McBride. (I mentioned him earlier as someone speaking on his own authority about Moroni’s role dedicating temple sites.)
So, in short, it tells us nothing about Moroni visiting Manti, but it does say he was traveling through the region. More interesting to me is that it represents a larger set of stories surrounding ancient Nephites and Moroni, in particular, throughout the area.
What does the folklore about Moroni and the Manti temple tell us about Latter-day Saints who believe it?
So, this is what is most interesting to me. I consider this story a part of a whole series of stories originating in Brigham Young’s presidency about how the early pioneers arrived in Utah to discover they had immigrated to Book of Mormon lands. Some identified petroglyphs as Reformed Egyptian. Some communities discovered they were in the realm of the Gadianton Robbers, whose presence was made known in demonic possession and supernatural assault, as well as environmental problems. Others reported hearing the singing of ancient Nephites.
This is partly the story of why the Sanpete Valley was a sacred location for the Saints to gather and make their new home. Whether it was their conflicts with Native peoples, dealing with local serpents, or a sense that they were far removed from their homes and even from the Church leadership in Salt Lake, this sort of story was crucial for them to take courage and fulfill God’s commands.
Let me offer a completely speculative possibility for why someone might tell this story. Brigham Young was constantly criticized for not issuing revelations to build temples by dissenters, including those of the RLDS Church. If someone asked when the revelation came for the Manti temple to be constructed, one could simply point to this story. Other stories seem to be about just how difficult this location was to build on—the story tells us there was no other choice. The decision had been made in antiquity.
What are the implications if Moroni did or didn’t dedicate the Manti temple site?
If it turns out this story is historically accurate, it is fun to know something about a prophet that we adore. As people who like to imagine the sacred past, we like to think of ourselves visiting places where the ancient prophets walked.
If Moroni didn’t dedicate the Manti temple site, then this is a story that developed like so many others about Book of Mormon peoples in American settings. It certainly doesn’t discount anything about the sacred place Manti has in my heart or the great significance of the Manti temple.
In fact, I’m not sure for me and you it really matters whether this happened one way or another. But it would be cool if Moroni once trekked the region stopping to dedicate future sites. It sounds like a thing I imagine Moroni would do.
Is the story a myth or a fact?
The story of Moroni dedicating the Manti temple site is certainly a myth—at least in the way I use the term, namely a sacred narrative that explains something about the past. It set apart a special place and encouraged people to gather there.
If you are like me, I am open to all sorts of possibilities, but I don’t necessarily place my faith in any given story. I don’t know if Moroni visited Manti. If I ever meet Moroni in a vision, I’ll ask him about this and then I’ll have a really strong opinion, but I’ll probably keep it to myself.
In the meantime, I’m going to respect those who do place a lot of faith in Moroni’s visit. It is not a dangerous belief.
When I first visited Manti—I would have been about 20—an acquaintance took me to a hill near the temple and showed me a series of petroglyphs. She told me that the glyphs meant something along the lines of “sacred valley.” For a Latter-day Saint convert of a handful of years, this was very exciting. Later, I would learn that some people believed Moroni had carved the images himself. I remember that night going for a short walk and looking at the brilliant glowing temple with its “Mortal Moroni” nearby.
There was no question I was on sacred ground. God had prepared it and now I had the opportunity to visit there and commune with him and be among his people.
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About the Interview Participant
Christopher Blythe is an Assistant Professor of English at Brigham Young University. He holds a PhD in American Religious History from Florida State University, and specializes in Latter-day Saint history and folklore. His work has been widely published in venues such as Oxford University Press, BYU Studies, and the Journal of Religion. He is currently working on an academic assessment of the beliefs of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow, and a cultural history of the Book of Mormon.
Further Reading
- Was Moroni a Fallen Angel?
- What Are Latter-day Saint Myths?
- Did the Kinderhook Plates Fool Joseph Smith?
- What Do Latter-day Saints Believe About the Apocalypse?
- How Did Christopher Blythe Find a New Brigham Young Revelation?
Did Moroni Dedicate the Manti Temple Site Resources
- Moroni’s Purported Rambles (Keepapitchinin)
- Life of Heber C. Kimball An Apostle; the Father and Founder of the British Mission (Orson F. Whitney)
- Almanac: Manti Utah Temple (Church News)
- History of the Manti Utah Temple (Deseret News)
- Moroni, the Last of the Nephite Prophets (BYU Religious Studies Center)
