Adam-ondi-Ahman

I'm on my drive to Tennessee from Utah. On my way out... I took a detour.



To visit Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman in Daviess County. Very sacred places and both are in the middle of NOWHERE(dirt/crappy roads to Far West)! Which tells me one thing -- these places are being preserved for the future, because these places are in beautiful areas. Even in the winter time with snow and trees without leafs.



As I was out at Adam-ondi-Ahman, I was checking out Spring Hill and Tower Hill. Both are cool places because of the history in itself. But what really intrigues me is... Joseph Smith pointed out an old Nephite altar on Tower Hill. Not only that, but there are remains of an altar from Adam when he was expelled from the Garden of Eden.



My question is... Does anyone know where these are? The place was covered in snow, so I couldn't locate what I wanted. I believe I located one but can't say for certain.

You're lucky you went in the winter and not in the summer when the Missouri state bird - the mosquito - was out in full force.

The mosquitos are part of God's preservation strategy.



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I was there in the summer time and we certainly didn't take a guided tour, but those kinds of things seem like they would be purposefully lost in Mormon lore, like the location of the Cumorah Stone box and where is the sword of Laban... (woah, i smell a MAJOR thread hijack coming on....)

totally agree with cougarclaw. I head the same legends when I was at Adam-ondi-ahman. I'd bet the exact knowledge concerning those sites (the alters etc) died with the man who was killed by a mob over 150 years ago.

declocoug wrote:
totally agree with cougarclaw. I head the same legends when I was at Adam-ondi-ahman. I'd bet the exact knowledge concerning those sites (the alters etc) died with the man who was killed by a mob over 150 years ago.

I would agree with you, but we do know Lyman Wight built his home right next to one altar. Huge. A massive one. Something like 19 feet long. He's the one who worked or owned the ferry at the river.



Not only that, but the 1200 settlers knew about the alters too.



We know about the whereabouts, but I don't know if the actual structures remain. Which is... There is a huge possibility that some of the 1200 settlers wanted a "souvenir" and slowly picked away at the altars.



I do know of one, but the structure no longer exists.



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BigCougsFan wrote:

totally agree with cougarclaw. I head the same legends when I was at Adam-ondi-ahman. I'd bet the exact knowledge concerning those sites (the alters etc) died with the man who was killed by a mob over 150 years ago.

I would agree with you, but we do know Lyman Wight built his home right next to one altar. Huge. A massive one. Something like 19 feet long. He's the one who worked or owned the ferry at the river.



Not only that, but the 1200 settlers knew about the alters too.



We know about the whereabouts, but I don't know if the actual structures remain. Which is... There is a huge possibility that some of the 1200 settlers wanted a "souvenir" and slowly picked away at the altars.



I do know of one, but the structure no longer exists.



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Again, basically just a lot of legends. Unless I see a map that Joseph Smith produced, I'd be very skeptical as to where these locations might be. Although I find it as fascinating as anyone, I just don't put too much worth into the second hand accounts. They very well could be true, but could be misleading as well.



Good thing our testimonies aren't based on where the alters were at AOA. ;)

No doubt.



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BigCougsFan wrote:

totally agree with cougarclaw. I head the same legends when I was at Adam-ondi-ahman. I'd bet the exact knowledge concerning those sites (the alters etc) died with the man who was killed by a mob over 150 years ago.

I would agree with you, but we do know Lyman Wight built his home right next to one altar. Huge. A massive one. Something like 19 feet long. He's the one who worked or owned the ferry at the river.



Not only that, but the 1200 settlers knew about the alters too.



We know about the whereabouts, but I don't know if the actual structures remain. Which is... There is a huge possibility that some of the 1200 settlers wanted a "souvenir" and slowly picked away at the altars.



I do know of one, but the structure no longer exists.



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We went to Ahman on a family trip back in 1995, and we found the foundation of the Lyman home. We each took a stone a souvenir (mine in in my office on a shelf), so I think there's a pretty good chance anything remaining has been picked apart by people like me.

BigCougsFan wrote:
No doubt.

No diggity.

There are service missionaries there. They should know. We have a returned couple I can ask at stake conference.

scott715 wrote:
There are service missionaries there. They should know. We have a returned couple I can ask at stake conference.

Yes please do. I will be driving my family out to Tennessee within the next couple months. I will pass through again if I can get more info.



If the place wasn't covered with snow. I probably would have found the foundation like Sno and be looking at my souvenir at this moment.



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BigCougsFan wrote:

There are service missionaries there. They should know. We have a returned couple I can ask at stake conference.

Yes please do. I will be driving my family out to Tennessee within the next couple months. I will pass through again if I can get more info.



If the place wasn't covered with snow. I probably would have found the foundation like Sno and be looking at my souvenir at this moment.



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If I remember correctly, there is a plaque on the hilltop that points you in the right direction "The foundation of the Lyman house still lies due West of this marker" or something to that effect.

snoscythe wrote:

scott715 wrote:
There are service missionaries there. They should know. We have a returned couple I can ask at stake conference.

Yes please do. I will be driving my family out to Tennessee within the next couple months. I will pass through again if I can get more info.



If the place wasn't covered with snow. I probably would have found the foundation like Sno and be looking at my souvenir at this moment.



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If I remember correctly, there is a plaque on the hilltop that points you in the right direction "The foundation of the Lyman house still lies due West of this marker" or something to that effect.

Yes there is. Everything is covered in snow. So when I went down there, I couldn't see a thing, other than the landscape. There looked to be a clearing where I thought it was, but can't say for certain.



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BigCougsFan wrote:

BigCougsFan wrote:

There are service missionaries there. They should know. We have a returned couple I can ask at stake conference.

Yes please do. I will be driving my family out to Tennessee within the next couple months. I will pass through again if I can get more info.



If the place wasn't covered with snow. I probably would have found the foundation like Sno and be looking at my souvenir at this moment.



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If I remember correctly, there is a plaque on the hilltop that points you in the right direction "The foundation of the Lyman house still lies due West of this marker" or something to that effect.

Yes there is. Everything is covered in snow. So when I went down there, I couldn't see a thing, other than the landscape. There looked to be a clearing where I thought it was, but can't say for certain.



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It's not in a clearing....no where near it. There was an 8" diameter tree growing in the middle of the foundation. You really have to look for it. You could walk within 5 feet of it and not notice unless you were looking close. We went in the spring, and it was nearly buried in leaves from the previous Fall.

There is a road at the bottom. Do you remember if you passed that or not? On the other side of the road, the Church posted no trespassing signs.



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Don't recall one way or another whether we crossed a road or not--it was 15ish years ago. It does seem to me that it was on the side of the same hill as the plaque.

My sister-in-law and husband were there on a mission. We went to visit and got a personal tour. We talked a lot about such legends and rumors. You might want to not worry too much about them. Anything resembling an original rock from an alter has long been part of Sno's souvenier collection. Anything you might find there now has been planted. Don't put too much stock in the other rumors you have heard either. :roll:

bigbluepuma wrote:
My sister-in-law and husband were there on a mission. We went to visit and got a personal tour. We talked a lot about such legends and rumors. You might want to not worry too much about them. Anything resembling an original rock from an alter has long been part of Sno's souvenier collection. Anything you might find there now has been planted. Don't put too much stock in the other rumors you have heard either. :roll:

I take it that you didn't see the altar either ;)



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BigCougsFan wrote:

My sister-in-law and husband were there on a mission. We went to visit and got a personal tour. We talked a lot about such legends and rumors. You might want to not worry too much about them. Anything resembling an original rock from an alter has long been part of Sno's souvenier collection. Anything you might find there now has been planted. Don't put too much stock in the other rumors you have heard either. :roll:

I take it that you didn't see the altar either ;)



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nor the Unicorn of Fire? What about the goblet of fire? The one ring?