Maybe someone else with a stock 97+ hose setup could look at theirs as well, as I'm curious about that explanation. On my 97, the larger hose connects the thermostat housing and the core, and the smaller hose is the return to the water pump. It was setup this way when I bought it in '02, and the Gates hoses I have now fit exactly the same as the Mopar hoses they replaced.
A couple of older pics to illustrate; my HDD bricked and I lost everything recent.
http://s266.photobucket.com/user/AHhub/media/forum stuff/DSCF5589.jpg.html
http://s266.photobucket.com/user/AHhub/media/forum stuff/DSCF5590.jpg.html
I know we touched on this in another thread, and there was an odd illustration in the FSM regarding the hose layout, but my hoses only went on one way, and that's as shown. Thermostat housing to upper core fitting, lower core fitting to water pump. I'm under the impression the water flows from thermostat housing to core to water pump. Is it actually the other way around?