The 1830 typesetter added the auxiliary verb do, undoubtedly because of the extensive use of the paraphrastic do earlier in the verse (“we did again take our journey … and we did travel ... and we did travel”). The original bare is, of course, perfectly acceptable. There are, for instance, other well-supported instances of the simple past-tense bare in the Book of Mormon text, including the following three involving quotations from Isaiah:
There are other examples in the transmission of the text where the auxiliary verb do has been accidentally added; in the following two instances, Oliver Cowdery added the do as he copied from 𝓞 into 𝓟:
(See the discussion under these two passages.) Here in 1 Nephi 17:1, there is no reason why the original bare should not be restored.
Summary: Replace did bear in 1 Nephi 17:1 with bare, the reading of the two manuscripts.