“A skeleton was dug up [and] Joseph said his name was Zelph a great warrior under the Prophet Omandagus.” –Reuben McBrides1
In June 1834, while traveling through Pike County, Illinois, members of Zion's Camp came across a series of ancient mounds. Wilford Woodruff and other camp members excavated one of the mounds, unearthing the skeletal remains of a large man with an arrow embedded in his ribs. Joseph Smith reportedly received a vision that identified the remains as those of Zelph, a "white" Lamanite warrior who served under the great prophet Onandagus or Omandagus.2
Joseph Smith's vision also revealed Zelph had died from injuries sustained in battle, including a broken thigh bone from a stone slung in an earlier conflict and the arrow found among his ribs. Some camp members, like Wilford Woodruff, preserved and transported some of the bones as they continued their journey. The burial mound where Zelph was found is now known as Naples-Russell Mound #8.2
