Hermounts was the part of the wilderness west and north of the Nephite lands, beyond their borders, “infested by wild and ravenous beasts” (Alma 2:37). It is named in the account of the war around 87 B.C. in which the Amlicites, dissenters from the Nephite government, joined a Lamanite army against the Nephites under Alma2. The Amlicites first attacked on the hill Amnihu, east of the river Sidon (Alma 2:15), and after the Nephites prevailed, the Lamanites and Amlicites fled toward the wilderness to the west and north (Alma 2:36).
The Nephites pursued and drove them until they were scattered and had reached the wilderness called Hermounts. Many of the fleeing forces died there of their wounds and were devoured by the beasts and by the vultures of the air; their bones were later found heaped up on the earth (Alma 2:37–38).