This is kind of an interesting take, continuing with the search for the 2-Hill Cumorah theory. This book was written in 1959 by Riley L. Dixon. Dixon then died soon after because in this copy of the book, a program of his funeral was glued to the inner cover.
While not an archeologist, or presumably any precious letters behind his name, Dixon obviously thought it important enough to present this case on the heels of Jospeh Fielding Smith’s forgotten declaration in the Doctrines of Salvation where he spent a number of pages exclaiming why the Cumorah in New York IS the Cumorah where the battles happened and the plates were originally buried.
It was obviously a point of discussion enough at the time to the point that a prophet of God had to clarify. In this book, almost the whole final chapter is word for word Smiths claims from the Doctrines of Salvation.
As a writer, I did notice that the bulk of the book was slow moving while it almost gave a play-by-play of every event in the Book of Mormon, when it could have taken fewer pages to get to the point of “there is only one Hill Cumorah and here’s why”.
Dixon’s thesis leans on the idea that Lehi could have landed in South America, most of the action is in Central America, and then the battles started north all the way up to New York. I personally struggle with this idea for obvious reasons, but what mostly intrigues me is the evolution of the 2-Hill Cumorah theory.
Probably the best part of purchasing this book was a letter that was left in the book. It seemed to have been written by Jerry Ainsworth, who might be someone who is important in the Book of Mormon archeology world. It continued to show the snobbery of the “experts” who continue to ignore the voices of those who challenge this point of view or put them down as not “scholared”.
The 2-Hill Cumorah argument is almost the same as arguing Clark Kent is not the same as Superman simply because one wears glasses and the other doesn’t. (Also refer to Captain Amazing in the movie “Mystery Men”).
Kels Goodman 