The angel that Joseph Smith claimed visited him on numerous occasions just south of Palmyra, New York, in 1823. The angel was the guardian of the Golden Plates, which Smith said were buried in a drumlin near his home. The Golden Plates were the source material for the Book of Mormon. Moroni is said to have been a human prophet-warrior who died after a great battle between two pre-Columbian civilizations. According to the Mormons, Moroni still has the plates.