Joseph Smith Sees Ancient Mound Builders and Names Their Fallen Leader Zelph While Crossing Illinois

During the march of Zion's Camp in June 1834, while crossing the prairies of Illinois near the Illinois River, the camp encountered a large burial mound. Joseph Smith and several brethren climbed the mound and opened it.

Joseph Smith received a revelation identifying the skeleton as a man named Zelph, a white Lamanite warrior who had been a man of God during the last great battles of the Nephites and Lamanites. Joseph stated that Zelph was known from the Rocky Mountains to the eastern sea and was killed in battle by a stone-tipped arrow found between his ribs.

Wilford Woodruff recorded: "The Lord manifested to him that this person was a white Lamanite... his name was Zelph."

This event confirmed to many members the historical reality of the Book of Mormon civilizations and their geographic presence in North America.