Alma 22:28 states:
Now the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore.
In an article analyzing Book of Mormon geography through internal reasoning, John Clark notes that "The area of first inheritance was south of the land of Nephi. (emphasis added) Given Nephi's many days' journey to the land of Nephi, [that land] was probably mostly northward [of the land of inheritance]." Clark also states that "the western wilderness stretched from the Nephite lands southward to the place of the Nephite's landing on the western coast, a place south of the land of Nephi" (Alma 22:28). (emphasis added) [John Clark, "A Key for Evaluating Nephite Geographies," in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, 1989, pp. 55, 59]
Note* A different location for "the place of their fathers' first inheritance" might be proposed because of the following logic. Lehi landed in the promised land (1 Nephi 18:23). Nephi fled from that landing place to the land of Nephi (2 Nephi 5:6-7). Eventually, Mosiah1 led some Nephites to the land of Zarahemla (Omni 1:12-13) and the land of Nephi was taken over by the Lamanites. After some years, the sons of Mosiah2, embarked on a mission back to the land of Nephi. Alma 22:28-29 describes the dimensions of Lamanite occupation at the time of the missionary journeys of the sons of Mosiah and mentions the Lamanite "land of first inheritance." According to Mosiah 10:12-13 and Alma 22:28, the place of the Lamanites' first inheritance was apparently where Lehi originally landed, which was along the seashore west and in what by then (over 400 years after Lehi's landing) was considered the general land of Nephi by the Nephite recordkeepers:
". . . they [the Lamanites] were . . . a blood-thirsty people, believing . . . that they were wronged in the wilderness by their brethren, and they were also wronged while crossing the sea; And again, that they were wronged while in the land of their first inheritance, after they had crossed the sea . . ." (Mosiah 10:12-13)
"Now, the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness [A] on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and [B] also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and [C] on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore." [D] And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites . . . " (Alma 22:28-29)
Alma 22:28 involves a series of locations "A-B-C-D," all apparently associated with idle Lamanites who lived in the wilderness. Locations "A-B-C" are apparently all by the western seashore. Clark declares that the solution to the order of these locations is "B-A-C" (from north to south). His reasoning is "based upon the logical progression of the narrative." The same order of reasoning is apparently assumed in Sorenson's Setting (pp. 138-139), and his Source Book (p. 367). On page 139 (Setting), Sorenson says the following: "The only geographical alignment that will accommodate both 2 Nephi 5 and Alma 22 is something close to what is shown on map 5" (which shows the same order that Clark has come up with--the land of first inheritance being south of the local land of Nephi).
Let me first deal directly with their reasoning. Perhaps these verses become clearer by imagining the wilderness areas as mountain ranges which parallel the west coast. Imagine also that there is a ridge line running parallel to the coast and right along the highest peaks. On the west side of this ridge line lies the seashore, and on the east side of this ridge line lie the lands of Zarahemla and Nephi. Statement (A) only mentions the area on the west in the land of Nephi. I interpret that to mean the areas on the east of the ridge line. Statement (B) mentions the area "on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore." Thus, this area would be on the west of the ridge line (the area on the east being occupied by Nephites). Statement (C) describes the area on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore." This area would be on the west of the ridge line, along by the seashore; however, there is a distinction being made here. The western borders of the general land of Nephi go all the way to the west coast. The western borders of the land of Zarahemla do not. The textual flow is towards the coast and not from north to south.
Let us examine this concept in more detail. In Alma 17 we find an account of the missionary journeys of the sons of Mosiah from the land of Zarahemla to the land of Nephi:
And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites. And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness . . . And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another . . . And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land being called after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites." (Alma 17: 8, 9, 13, 19--emphasis mine)
Alma 17:19 tells us that the land of Ishmael was called "after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites" (Alma 17:19). While some of the daughters of Ishmael married Nephi, Sam, and Zoram (1 Nephi 16:7), there is no definite record of any sons of Ishmael leaving the land of first inheritance when Nephi fled to the land of Nephi (2 Nephi 5:5-6):
"And it came to pass that the Lord did warn me, that I, Nephi, should depart from them and flee into the wilderness, and all those who would go with me. Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words.
The idea that the "sisters" mentioned as accompanying Nephi were married to some sons of Ishmael seems doubtful in view of not only the previous rebellion of the sons of Ishmael (see 1 Nephi 7:6), but the wording in Alma 17:19, "the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites." This is significant, because in Jacob 1:13 we find the following:
"Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.
According to Nephite custom, they called their lands and cities "after the name of him who first possessed them" (Alma 8:7). Thus, because what we are reading in Alma 17:19 comes from Nephite record keepers, the land of Ishmael was apparently first occupied by the sons of Ishmael. Somehow, the sons of Ishmael must have spread outward from the Lamanite land of first inheritance which was located "on the west in the land of Nephi" . . . "bordering along by the seashore" (see Alma 22:28). Nephi, after having fled to the local land of Nephi, states the following: "And it sufficeth me to say that forty years had passed away and we had already had wars and contentions with our brethren." Thus, the spread of the Lamanites (including the sons of Ishmael) somehow encroached on the Nephite interests. From this we might surmise that the land of Ishmael was located somewhere in the general area between the Lamanite land of first inheritance (on the west coast) and the local land of Nephi (somewhat inland).
After traveling "many days" from the land of Zarahemla (Alma 17:9) and arriving in the "borders of the land of the Lamanites" (Alma 17:13) the sons of Mosiah separated and Ammon entered the land of Ishmael:
"And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and bound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure." (Alma 17:20). (emphasis added)
This might imply a fairly definite boundary with fairly definite political power. It might also imply that the sons of Mosiah could not have traveled an extensive distance into Lamanite territory without encountering trouble (the first time Ammon saw his brethren again they were in prison--Alma 20:2). Thus, the land of Ishmael where Ammon traveled to was probably near to the land of Jerusalem, the land where Aaron and his brethren first traveled to from the point of separation "in the borders of the land of the Lamanites" (Alma 21:1--Alma 21:1 also says that Jerusalem "was away joining the borders of Mormon." Alma 5:3 says that Alma the elder "began to establish a church in the land which was in the borders of Nephi; yea, the land which was called the land of Mormon).
In later travels, after Aaron and his brethren were freed from prison, and after the king over all the Lamanites had given permission to Ammon that "thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom" (Alma 20:27), Aaron was able to reach the local land of Nephi where the king resided. Thus, we can assume that the land of Ishmael was located somewhere between the northern "borders of the general land of Nephi" (Alma 17:9,13) first reached by the sons of Mosiah in the journey from Zarahemla, and the local land of Nephi on the south where the king "over all the land save it were the land of Ishmael" resided (Alma 22:1).
Merging both lines of reasoning (west--east, north--south), we can place the land of Ishmael somewhat to the west and north of the local land of Nephi, on a general path between the local land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla. We would not expect the sons of Ishmael, who apparently stayed behind when Nephi fled (see reasoning above), to occupy land beyond the site and in the direction of where Nephi fled to from the first landing site. Thus, we might assume, with reasonable textual justification, that the Lamanite land of first inheritance was by the seashore in the northwestern part of the general land of Nephi. Textually, we find this assumption backed up by the lack of mention of any lands "south" of the local land of Nephi.
Assuming a Mesoamerican setting and in accordance with the geographical theories of Allen and Hauck, the archaeological ruins of Izapa near Tapachula, Mexico might correspond to this orientation for "the place of their father's first inheritance." [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 18:23; Mosiah 10:12; and Alma 17:19] [See Geographical Theory Maps]
Geographical [Theory Map]: Alma 22:28 Lamanites Were Spread Through the Wilderness (4th Year)