Omni 1:24 (about 180 B.C.)

There are a few statements on the locations the Lamanites occupied after the righteous Nephites moved north to the land of Zarahemla under the direction of king Mosiah (the first). We know that in “the days of king Benjamin [the son of king Mosiah (the first)], a serious war and much bloodshed between the Nephites and the Lamanites” occurred in the land of Zarahemla (Omni 1:24). This statement indicates that some of the Lamanites were in the vicinity of the land of Zarahemla just a generation later (20-40 years) during king Benjamin's reign. We suspect the route they followed from the land of Nephi in the south would have been the same route king Mosiah (the first) forged, because the Lamanites soon after occupied the coastal locations “on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore” (Alma 22:28). This western coastal route appears to have been easier to traverse than the central and east coast environments and, therefore, became the main travel route for the Lamanites between the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla.