Thomas Stuart Ferguson (May 21, 1915 – March 16, 1983) was an American lawyer, a Mormon and an amateur archaeologist who dedicated his life to finding archeological evidence of the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica. He was instrumental in the foundation of the New World Archaeological Foundation. He initially believed that the history of Mesoamerican cultures provided support to the historicity of the Book of Mormon, but towards the end of his life came to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon was a work of fiction rather than a historical book.
Early life Ferguson was born in Pocatello, Idaho, and attended the University of California, Berkeley. He studied under M. Wells Jakeman and became interested in Mesoamerican history as it was believed at the time that it would prove the historicity of the Book of Mormon. However, he did not continue studies in history but obtained a political science degree in 1937 followed by a LL.B. in 1942. Ferguson began to work on the idea that the Book of Mormon could be examined for evidence. The dominant theory within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) at the time was that the Book of Mormon took place over the entire Western Hemisphere. Ferguson became convinced that the geography was limited to Central America. In 1946 he visited Mexico with J. Willard Marriott, saw a wheeled pottery toy at the Museo Nacional de Mexico and wrote a paper on The Wheel in Ancient America with implications of support to mentions of chariots in the Book of Mormon. Ferguson approached church apostles John A. Widtsoe and Ezra Taft Benson with his investigations and received encouraging support. In 1947 he wrote his first book, Cumorah—Where? arguing strongly for the Central American setting of the Book of Mormon. The LDS Church-owned Deseret Book would not sell his book, as Book of Mormon geography was considered too controversial. In January 1948 Ferguson made his second trip to Mexico. On his return he showed film of his trip to Benson, and then to general authorities and their wives at the annual Lion House party, following up later with a request that the LDS Church intensify missionary work in Latin America, and fund archaeological expeditions to Mesoamerica and Peru. In 1950 he published a book Ancient America and the Book of Mormon, presenting the first English translation of 17th-century historical account of Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, highlighting similarities between the text and the Book of Mormon. The book was popular within the LDS Church, but was not well received by scholars, and even LDS Church leader J. Reuben Clark wrote Ferguson, "be most careful to see that these traditions of the Indians are not the result of the early teachings of the Catholic priests." In 1954 apostle Joseph Fielding Smith attacked the new "modernist theory" confining the Book of Mormon to a limited geography. In February 1952 Ferguson published Great Message of Peace and Happiness, as a way to encourage non-members of the LDS Church to gain interest in the Book of Mormon as a historical record. Apostle LeGrand Richards wrote to Ferguson, "you are laying away many treasures in heaven in the efforts you are putting forth to establish in the minds of men the divinity of the Book of Mormon."
New World Archaeological Foundation In 1951 Ferguson reached out to leading archaeologist Alfred V. Kidder about doing archaeological work in Mesoamerica in order to prove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Kidder encouraged Ferguson but emphasized that he must distinguish between scientific findings, and religious interpretations in his work. Ferguson wrote, "let the evidence from the ground speak for itself and let the chips fall where they may." Kidder and Ferguson wrote a twelve page proposal to the general authorities of the LDS Church, seeking $150,000 in funding for archaeological investigations, but were rejected. Ferguson traveled throughout California, Utah, and Idaho raising $22,000. In October 1952 Ferguson founded the New World Archaeological Foundation (NWAF) with himself as president, and Kidder as vice president, and included professional archaeologists with a wide variety of theories on Native American origin. Kidder wrote, "All shades of opinion are represented!" NWAF was the largest archeological project funded by a religious institution. Ferguson, along with master's student John L. Sorenson, spent the next several years traveling throughout Mesoamerica documenting a large number of artifacts and formative period sites. In April 1953 Ferguson met with the First Presidency and other leaders of the LDS Church to ask for $15,000 for the current year and $120,000 for the next for years funding NWAF. Church president David O. McKay replied, "Brother Ferguson, you are a hard man to stop." A week later the LDS Church agreed to donate $15,000 on the condition that no publicity be attached to the donation in any way or any time. Ferguson spent the remainder of the year in Tabasco and Chiapas, believing it to be the location of a Book of Mormon city Zarahemla. In August 1953 Ferguson asked for additional funding from the LDS Church but only received $1,000; he effectively shut down NWAF in 1954.
In January 1955 Ferguson wrote to the First Presidency asking again for funding, "To confirm Book of Mormon history through archaeological discoveries is to confirm revelation to the modern world. ... I know, and I know it without doubt and without wavering, that we are standing at the doorway of a great Book of Mormon era." This time, the LDS Church donated $200,000 to fund NWAF for four seasons. In 1958 Ferguson published One Fold and One Shepherd presenting his excavated evidence to the broader Latter Day Saint community. It included a Izapa Stela 5 which he argued represented the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi's dream. Replicas of this tree-of-life stone are subsequently found in many Latter-day Saint homes. He wrote in 1958:
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