Moroni and Temple Sites

Moroni is an important figure in Latter-day Saint lore. For example, I’ve written previously about how some authors have taken any mention of angels and the Book of Mormon in the same story as a reference to Moroni, whether that conclusion is warranted or not. But another area in which Moroni plays a role is in stories about the dedication of early temple sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One prominent example is a story of the dedication of the Manti Temple site. In a recent interview at the Latter-day Saint history blog From the Desk, Christopher Blythe discussed the story of Moroni and the Manti Temple. What follows here is a copost to the full interview.

Did Moroni Dedicate the Manti Temple Site?

To start, Christopher Blythe shared a general summary of the story of 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.

This is a story that has been a part of the mythology of the Manti Temple for well over a century now. It was popularized when Orson F. Whitney published a biography of Heber C. Kimball in 1888, where he drew on a reminiscence by Moses F. Farnsworth. For better or worse, however, this source doesn’t hold a lot of water from a historical perspective:

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.

The popularity and persistence of the story has led a few different historians to examine and evaluate the story over the years. For example,

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.

And prior to that time,

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.” …

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.”

Both of these historians recommended against treating the story as truth, pointing out why the sources behind it are suspect. I would also add that Richard O. Cowan and Clinton D. Christensen had similar conclusions in their research on temples in Utah: “Diligent research by the Church History Department has not turned up any contemporary reference to Moroni by any Church leaders who spoke at the groundbreaking, cornerstone ceremony, or dedication. On the contrary, their remarks point to President Young as the one who chose the site” (Temples in the Tops of the Mountains: Sacred Houses of the Lord in Utah (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2023), 56).

There are similar stories of Brigham Young claiming that the St. George Temple site was dedicated by Nephites that mirrors the story of the Manti Temple. According to one recollection, when he faced opposition to the chosen site on account of difficulties, President Young responded: “We cannot move the foundation. This spot was dedicated by the Nephites” (cited in Temples in the Tops of the Mountains: Sacred Houses of the Lord in Utah (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2023), 29). In relation to that, Blythe had some observations about the nature of the story of the Manti Temple site:

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.

These stories were important parts of sacralizing the landscape of Utah through connections to the Book of Mormon.

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For more on Moroni and the Manti Temple, head on over to the Latter-day Saint history blog From the Desk to read the full interview with Christopher Blythe.