Editing Voree plates (section)

==Discovery==
[[Image:James Strang daguerreotype (1856).jpg|thumb|200px|1856 [[daguerreotype]] of James Strang, taken on [[Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)|Beaver Island]], [[Lake Michigan]], by J. Atkyn, itinerant photographer and later one of Strang's assassins.]]
[[File:OldVoree.jpg|thumb|left|A map of old Voree, engraved on a monument at the townsite.]]
According to Latter Day Saint beliefs, many ancient inhabitants of the Americas engraved records on metal plates. [[Joseph Smith]], the movement's founding prophet, claimed that he translated the [[Book of Mormon]] from a set of [[golden plates]] which he was shown the location of by an angel named [[Angel Moroni|Moroni]].

Following [[Killing of Joseph Smith|Smith's murder]] in 1844, a [[Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)|number of claimants]] came forward to lead his nascent church, including Strang. As a recent convert to [[Mormonism]], Strang did not possess the name recognition among rank-and-file Latter Day Saints enjoyed by [[Brigham Young]] and [[Sidney Rigdon]], the two principal contenders for church leadership. Hence, Strang faced an uphill battle in his quest to be recognized as the heir to Smith's prophetic mantle.

To advance his cause, Strang asserted that unlike Rigdon and Young, he had hard evidence of his prophetic calling. One of Smith's titles had been [[Prophet, seer, and revelator|"Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator]]", and Strang wished to substantiate his claim to succession by following in Smith's footsteps. So, while Young and Rigdon never offered their followers any newly revealed ancient records, Strang announced on January 17, 1845, that God had promised to lead him to a hitherto-undiscovered chronicle of a long-lost American people.<ref>Revelation of 17 January 1845, quoted from http://www.strangite.org/Plates.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120917103244/http://www.strangite.org/Plates.htm |date=2012-09-17 }}. Contains a reproduction of the plates.</ref> This, said Strang, would prove that he was Smith's true successor.

Strang next testified that on September 1, 1845, an angel of God appeared to him and showed him the location of "the record of my people in whose possession thou dwellest."<ref>''Gospel Herald'', May 4, 1848. Quoted from http://www.strangite.org/Plates.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120917103244/http://www.strangite.org/Plates.htm |date=2012-09-17 }}.</ref> Accordingly, he went on September 13 to the indicated site, located in [[Voree, Wisconsin|Voree]], [[Wisconsin]], south of the White River on what is now referred to as the "Hill of Promise." Strang led four witnesses to a large oak on the hillside, inviting them to examine the ground around the tree carefully before digging for the plates. All four later testified that they could discern no evidence of digging or other disturbance of the ground.

After removing the tree, Strang's companions dug down approximately three feet, where they discovered three small [[brass]] plates in a case of baked clay. Strang subsequently claimed to have deciphered this record, which he said was authored by an ancient [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] named "Rajah Manchou of Vorito."<ref>Some spell this "Manchore" instead of "Manchou".</ref>