Moroni gave particular attention to his eastern border, a potentially weak area that had caused concern during the Zoramite episode. Alma 31:3 had described this eastern wilderness as “full of the Lamanites,” although it apparently did not have any significant Lamanite cities. When Corianton visited the harlot Isabel, he did not go to a city but to the “land of Siron” (Alma 39:3).
This area does not seem to have been a threat to the land of Zarahemla in the past, except for the Zoramite defection and subsequent Lamanite attack. However, that experience had shown the area’s vulnerability. Moroni not only fortified the cities but evacuated the Lamanites from the eastern wilderness. Although they had not been particularly belligerent, they were probably at least sympathetic to the Lamanites and therefore a source of food and weapons for them. By removing them, Moroni strengthened the land of Zarahemla’s geographic integrity.