Principle Voices

Fundamentalist Mormonism: History, Diversity & Stereotypes

Fundamentalist Mormonism:

Its History, Diversity and Stereotypes

Anne Wilde

Use of the Term “Fundamentalist Mormon”

The term Fundamentalist Mormons is the umbrella term for those who believe in the early (or fundamental) doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as taught by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor. These doctrines were believed in by the general membership of the LDS Church until the latter part of the 19^th century, at which time the mainstream church leaders and members began rejecting and denying them in order to become more accepted by the rest of the world.

One might ask how it is possible for a “fundamental” Gospel doctrine or ordinance to be changed – especially when considering the dictionary definition of the word: “essential, primary, original, chief, most important.” Fundamentalist Mormons are of the opinion that the LDS Church has the right to accept or reject these fundamental Gospel principles as tenets of their organization, but by rejecting them, it does not make these doctrines any less true or eternal.

LDS church President Gordon B. Hinckley has stated that “There is no such thing as a Mormon fundamentalist.”[1] However, it was apparently a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles that was among the first to use the term. Leroy S. Johnson, member of one of the early fundamentalist Priesthood Councils, stated that “I was grateful when I heard that Mark E. Petersen branded us as Fundamentalists.”[2] However, in November 1944, Elder Petersen himself countered with, “The cultists’ use of the name fundamentalists which is regarded by the Church as a misnomer.”[3]

In 1935, Joseph Musser, one of the early fundamentalist Mormon leaders, referred to himself and his fellow polygamists as “Mormon fundamentalists.”[4] Then again in 1942, Musser used the term in a letter to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers when he was identifying the Priesthood Group, applying that term “because of their refusal to accede to certain changes in the fundamentals of the Gospel.”[5]

It is not correct to refer to all Fundamentalist Mormons as polygamists or a polygamist sect, as has been suggested, because fewer than 50% are actually practicing plural marriage, though they profess a belief in the doctrine.

To my knowledge, the LDS Church does not have a patent on the name “Mormon,” which is not registered nor can it be. It was a nickname given by outsiders to those who believed in Mormonism in the early days of the Church. In reality, the term Mormon has been used in a variety of contexts: liberal Mormons, orthodox Mormons, mainstream Mormons, feminist Mormons, non-Mormons, anti-Mormons, jack Mormons, etc. So why can’t there be fundamentalist Mormons? It merely describes what kind of Mormons we are – and distinguishes us from mainstream Mormons, which we readily admit.

For purposes of this essay and whenever we refer to ourselves, we feel perfectly justified and correct in using the term “Fundamentalist Mormons.”

Plural marriage (polygamy) is perhaps the most obvious and well-known belief and practice that distinguishes Fundamentalist Mormons from other Mormons. But in reality, there are many such doctrines, i.e., United Order, Law of Consecration, Adam/God doctrine, understanding of the Kingdom of God, rebaptism, gathering of Israel, Priesthood garment, conferral/ordination of Priesthood, missionaries without purse or scrip, the role and function of various Priesthood offices, etc.[6] But because of lack of space to discuss each of these in detail, our focus will be mainly on plural marriage, its modern-day history, diversity, and stereotypes of those Fundamentalist Mormons who currently believe in or live it.

History

History has recorded that many of our LDS ancestors lived and defended the principle of plual marriage as one necessary to reach the highest degree of the celestial kingdom.[7] For example, Joseph Smith was quoted by William Clayton to have emphasized the importance of living this eternal law:

From him [Joseph Smith] I learned that the doctrine of plural and celestial marriage is the most holy and important doctrine ever revealed to man on the earth and that without obedience to that principle, no man can ever attain to the fullness or exaltation in celestial glory.[8]

Because of their strong belief in this doctrine, many of the LDS General Authorities and members continued to live plural marriage, even taking new wives, after the 1890 Manifesto, which was intended to discontinue polygamy in the LDS Church.[9] In fact, it was not until after the “second manifesto” issued in 1904 by Joseph F. Smith and the “third and final manifesto” issued in 1933 by Heber J. Grant that Mormonism had transformed itself “from a society that idealized polygamy to one that, with equal commitment, exalts the traditional monogamous home.”[10] In 1935 polygamy was declared a felony in the state of Utah, while nearly all other states have listed as a misdemeanor.

Today LDS church members discovered to be living plural marriage are excommunicated from the Church and sometimes disgraced in their LDS neighborhoods. Over the past 100+ years, it has evolved into a situation where the persecuted have become the persecutors. Polygamists are now being persecuted by church and state for obeying the same principle for which the early Saints were persecuted by those outside the LDS church.

John Taylor (third president of the LDS church) is considered by many to be the father of Mormon Fundamentalism. He was insistent that there could be no compromise, and from the underground – where he spent about half of his ten-year presidential term – he wrote to the Saints:

…there never can be any hope of our yielding up, under any circumstances, a principle of conscientious or religious conviction. Were we to make such a surrender, our conduct in that respect would not be in harmony with the guaranties [sic] of the Constitution, which we are in duty bound to uphold.[11]

President Taylor was under tremendous pressure, from both inside and outside the LDS church, to relinquish plural marriage in order to alleviate the increasing U.S. government persecution. In considering signing of a compromise, Taylor took the matter up with the Lord, and reportedly received a revelation in September 1886, wherein the Lord made the course of action very clear:

My son John: You have asked me concerning the New and Everlasting Covenant [of marriage]13 and how far it is binding upon my people. Thus saith the Lord: All commandments that I give must be obeyed by those calling themselves by my name, unless they are revoked by me or by my authority, and how can I revoke an everlasting covenant…men should use their free agency in regards to these matters.[12]

The above excerpt from this 1886 revelation, as well as other revelations received by John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff during the 1880-1890 decade[13], was intended to give strength and direction to those Saints who were uncertain as to what direction to take regarding the living of plural marriage.

At the time this revelation was received, the terms new and everlasting covenant of marriage, patriarchal order of marriage, celestial marriage, and plural marriage were used interchangeably. Today, of course, it is understood in the LDS Church that the first three terms refer only to a monogamous temple marriage.

John Taylor was instructed to call a few of his brethren and appoint them to keep plural marriage alive as a law of the Priesthood, realizing that the LDS Church would shortly give up its practices in order to conform with the laws of the land. This is the origin of Priesthood authority that most, but not all, Fundamentalist Mormons claim today. We believe that God provided a way for the eternal principles and ordinances of the Gospel to be perpetuated, separate from the LDS Church, as laws of the Priesthood or as laws of the Gospel. We believe that Priesthood can exist and has existed separate from the mainstream church (i.e. it was restored about a year before the Church was organized and it can exist separately today as well).

In keeping with the Lord’s instructions, John Taylor called what became known as the “Council of Friends,” consisting of John W. Woolley, Lorin C. Woolley, Samuel Bateman, Charles Wilcken and himself. Other men were soon added to this council: George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, and Wilford Woodruff. Their primary commission was to keep plural marriage alive.

After the death of John W. Woolley in 1928, his son Lorin Woolley was the only living member left on this council. So in 1929 five more men were called by revelation to fill the vacancies: Leslie Broadbent, John Y. Barlow, Joseph Musser, Charles Zitting, LeGrand Woolley. A seventh member, Louis Kelsch, was called to the council in 1933.

Lorin Woolley died in 1934, and Leslie Broadbent (next in seniority) died six months later. John Y. Barlow encouraged the establishment of Short Creek (now Colorado City/Hildale), against the wishes of Joseph Musser, one of the reasons for a split in the council. Barlow called LeRoy Johnson and Marion Hammon to the council, and Musser started a separate council by ordaining Rulon Allred and his brother Owen, who subsequently became leaders of the Allred group, or Apostolic United Brethren. Succeeding LeRoy Johnson in the other council, was Rulon Jeffs, and then his son Warren Jeffs, a name well known today, after his arrest in August 2006.

Diversity

There is a wide diversity among those who refer to themselves as Fundamentalist Mormons. Many belong to an organized group with Priesthood leadership, while others consider themselves to be independent Fundamentalist Mormons where the father is respected as the patriarch and is endowed with Priesthood keys that enable him to perform the necessary ordinances for his family members.

The two major differences between group members and independents are: (1) in their claims of Priesthood authority and (2) in their community organization and leadership. Many of their doctrinal beliefs and practices are very similar.

It is important to understand this diversity among Fundamentalist Mormons so they are not all painted with the same brush. In recent years there has been some public confusion resulting from the fact that the Colorado City/Hildale group has the word “Fundamentalist” in the name of their church: “Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” In reality they comprise only about one-fourth of the total number of Fundamentalist Mormons.

(See the enclosed bar chart.)

These Fundamentalist groups/communities are reprinted below as they appear in the 2003 premier issue of the Mormon Focus magazine. In most cases this information was submitted to the magazine by members of the various groups themselves and is included here with only minor updates.

1. Independent Fundamentalist Mormons

Independent Fundamentalist Mormons are not members of an organized religious group. They usually function as families with their own traditions, and occasionally, or even regularly, they meet together with other families who have similar beliefs. Most Independents recognize the priesthood authority amongst their own or even that authority of leaders in various Fundamentalist groups, even though they are not actually group members themselves. Some Independents maintain their membership and activity in the LDS Church, but keep their beliefs to themselves. They have usually been converted to Fundamentalist beliefs through careful study of the scriptures and LDS Church history…realizing that many eternal doctrines, not just policies and procedures, have been changed within the Church in the past century.

2. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)

The largest organized group of fundamentalist Mormons is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or FLDS church), currently under the leadership of the controversial Warren Jeffs—at present awaiting trial on charges of promoting unlawful sexual relations with underage girls.

The headquarters for the FLDS church has long been the twin communities of Colorado City/Hildale—formally known as Short Creek—which sits astride the Arizona-Utah border in the remote desert region, known as the “Arizona strip” (see FIGURE 3). Warren Johnson, a Mormon resident of Lee’s Ferry in the 1890s, was the first to suggest Short Creek as an ideal refuge for polygamists during the confrontation between the LDS church and U.S. government. The proposal was delayed by Warren’s death in 1900, but in 1928 Warren’s sons LeRoy and Price Johnson led the first fundamentalist families to establish a community at Short Creek.

The LDS church established a branch at Short Creek in 1929, as part of the Zion Park Stake. The fundamentalist families were active members of the branch, and one of their number, Issac Carling, was branch president for its first four years. This branch, however, was dismantled by the LDS church in 1936. Meanwhile, LeRoy and Price Johnson met with John W. Woolley during one of their early trips to Salt Lake City to attend General Conferences of the LDS church. Shortly thereafter, they visited with John Y. Barlow and Joseph W. Musser—both prominent, excommunicated polygamist Mormons—discussing the possibility of uniting together. The men from Arizona became convinced that John Taylor had given Priesthood keys to Lorin C. Woolley (John W. Woolley’s son) who, in turn, had passed them on to Barlow and Musser.

In 1935 John Y. Barlow made a prophetic promise to the small Short Creek community (then comprising less than 100 members) that this area was the “Land of Bountiful”—referred to in the Book of Mormon—promising that it would eventually be rich and have abundant crops. That same year, after several trips to Short Creek, Barlow, Musser and other fundamentalist Mormon leaders first discussed the advisability of organizing a formal trust as a legal means to administer shared property. Seven years later, on 9 November 1942, a religious charitable trust was organized under the name, United Effort Plan (UEP).

The establishment of the Short Creek community and the direct challenge of LDS President Heber J. Grant’s authority by Mormon fundamentalist leaders forced the LDS church to confront the issue of plural marriage directly.

In March 1935, LDS Apostle Hugh B. Brown proposed legislation to make plural marriage a felony in the state of Utah—a proposal that was subsequently enacted into law by the LDS-dominated legislature. Even though polygamy was not a felony in neighboring Arizona, Utah’s draconian measure provided the impetus for the first of three government raids jointly coordinated by Utah and Arizona state officials against Short Creek in August 1935. The other two raids took place in 1944 and 1953. Although they caused much hardship, the three government raids did nothing to eradicate the practice of plural marriage. In fact, Arizona Governor Howard Pyle, chief instigator of the 1953 raid, suffered a political backlash for it and was defeated for reelection in 1954.

Ecclesiastical censure of fundamentalist Mormons by the LDS church was stepped up in concert with the civil raids. Some of the polygamist leaders were excommunicated from the mainline LDS church, especially when they refused to sign a “loyalty oath” which included the renunciation of fundamentalist Mormon doctrines.

During the 1940s, John Y. Barlow, the senior member of the Priesthood Council, called LeRoy Johnson, Marion Hammon, Rulon Jeffs, Guy Musser, Rich Jessop, Carl Holme, and Alma Timpson to serve with him on the council as apostles. Upon Barlow’s death in 1949, Joseph Musser became the senior member of the council. Musser, in turn, appointed several men to the council prior to his own death in 1954, which left Rulon C. Allred as the senior member.

Rulon remained in the Salt Lake area and his group which became known as the “Allred group” increased under his leadership (see below).

However, within Musser’s lifetime, LeRoy Johnson became the religious leader in the Short Creek area and held that position for nearly forty years (from 1949 to 1987). In 1963 the Short Creek community became known by two separate names—Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona, with the latter community formally incorporated as a city in 1985. Upon the death of LeRoy Johnson in 1987, Rulon Jeffs became the leader of the fundamentalist Mormons in Colorado City/Hildale. As mentioned above, in 1991 this group formally incorporated their organization as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When Rulon died in 2002, he was succeeded by his son,

Warren Jeffs.

Until 2004, when public meetings were discontinued, the center of FLDS church activity in Colorado City was in the 42,000 square foot LeRoy S. Johnson Meeting House. Most FLDS ordinances (e.g., blessings, baptisms) and meeting schedules (e.g., Sacrament, Primary, Young Women’s, Relief Society, and Priesthood meetings20) were similar to those of the mainline LDS church. “We are basically conservative,” explained Dan Barlow, FLDS member and mayor of Colorado City, adding that, “We hold to old-fashioned values.” In keeping with those values, FLDS girls and women still wear long skirts and have long hair.

The 2000 census indicated a population of 3,334 for Colorado City and 1,895 for Hildale, totaling 5,229 for that area. In 2003, Warren Jeffs directed a significant number of FLDS members to begin migrating an area outside of Eldorado, Texas where they established a large community and constructed the church’s first temple—an imposing, multi-storied structure loosely patterned after the original Nauvoo Temple (see FIGURE 4). Other FLDS communities have been established in Pringle, South Dakota; Mancos, Colorado; and Pioche, Nevada.21 In total, the FLDS church boasts a membership of some 10,000. Thus it is evident that government raids and other mainline Mormon actions have failed to eradicate the FLDS church or even to slow its continued growth and its vigorous promotion of Mormon fundamentalist principles.

3. Centennial Park (The Priesthood Work)

The Centennial Park group (also known as “The Priesthood Work”) emerged from a division among the fundamentalist Mormons of Colorado City/Hildale in 1984. LeRoy Johnson, the senior member of the Priesthood Council, began to assert greater personal authority over the community. Two members of the council, Marion Hammon and Alma Adelbert “Del” Tempson, objected that the concept of “one-man-rule” was at odds with the traditional Priesthood Council system. Hammon and Tempson were subsequently dropped from the council and decided to establish a new community for several families. They collected funds from heads of households, and purchased about 1,000 acres of land a few miles southwest of Colorado City. A meeting house was soon built with donated labor. Houses and families followed shortly thereafter.

The new community’s official name of Centennial Park was selected in 1986 in commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of John Taylor’s 1886 revelation. Community members wanted to emphasize that in addition to laying the groundwork for the principle to be lived as a Priesthood law outside the LDS church, the revelation stated that men should use their free agency regarding these things. Marion Hammon died in 1988, leaving Del Timpson as the leader of the community. Timpson called Frank Naylor as an apostle and Ivan Nielsen as a high priest. By December of that year, Ivan Nielsen was sustained as a bishop and two counselors were called to assist him. Soon thereafter, John Timpson, Del Timpson’s son, was also called as an apostle. Because of some disagreements in 1990, Naylor, Nielsen, and most of their families separated from the rest of the group (see Naylor Group below). Upon the death of Del Timpson in 1998, his son John became the new leader of the main Centennial Park council. Today he and five other men on the council direct the affairs of the group.

Centennial Park, now a thriving community of about 1,500 to 2,000 people, has a large modern meeting house and school (kindergarten through 12^th grade) combination, a storehouse, and several small businesses. In addition, the state of Arizona owns and operates a two-year college in Centennial Park. The community holds religious meetings on Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday. A satellite group of fundamentalist Mormons affiliated with Centennial Park live in the Salt Lake area. These members hold a group meeting on one Sunday a month, and separate family meetings with more frequency.

4. The Naylor Group

This group formed in 1990 by Frank Naylor, Ivan Nielsen, and others who separated from the Centennial Park Group. Using donated labor, the Naylor group completed a meeting house in Salt Lake Valley in 2002. Completely paid for, this structure is the center of the group’s activities. Meetings are held every other week, with a church service on Sunday afternoons, a sisters’ meeting on Thursdays, firesides on Fridays, and a priesthood meeting on Saturdays.

In addition to their firm belief in celestial marriage and the law of consecration, this group emphasizes the importance of unity in faith and doctrine. They strive to work towards the good of the group as a whole, while maintaining the principle of individual free agency. Members of the Naylor Group report that they reach beyond their own church members in performing charitable works. An organized group of sisters meets regularly to study, to encourage one another, and to care for new mothers, the sick, the elderly, and the needy. There is also a youth group that strives to keep their young people engaged in worthwhile activities and to further unite families.

5. The Bountiful (Creston, Canada) Groups

These groups date from 1947, when a small number of polygamists left Cardston, Alberta, and established a settlement in an isolated part of southeast British Columbia, a few miles south of Creston. Now know as Bountiful, the settlement soon established social and family ties with fundamentalist Mormons in Short Creek and elsewhere. The affiliation of Bountiful fundamentalists with the FLDS church was tested in 2002. Shortly after his own succession to the FLDS presidency, Warren Jeffs asserted his right to appoint Jimmy Oler as the bishop of Bountiful. Approximately half the Bountiful group recognized the leadership of Oler (and Jeffs). The rest of the community chose instead to sustain Winston Blackmore as their priesthood leader, causing the emergence of a separate group.

Both Bountiful groups hold Sunday meetings, but individual families usually have their own Sunday School gatherings. Many Saturdays begin with a prayer meeting followed by well-organized projects to help members of the community with donated work, such as roofing a house, laying carpet, or mending a fence. Members report that they make every effort to take care of each other. A recent statement issued by several Bountiful women boasts that their society is free of substance abuse and runaways, teaches good family values, and makes sure that every child is loved. Group members assert that life in Bountiful is wholesome compared to life outside the community.

Although polygamy is illegal in Canada, the government, in general, has adopted a “hands-off” approach, feeling that freedom of religion should protect these people in their beliefs and practices. Canadian officials have allowed this status quo to continue on “humanitarian and compassionate” grounds. On 28 June 2002, controversial changes were made to the rules for the Canadian family reunification program, making it easier for prospective plural wives to obtain immigration papers. One of the changes allows a common-law partner, sixteen years or older, to be sponsored by a Canadian citizen who is already in Canada.

Under the new regulations, permanent residency is not granted because of a conjugal relationship; rather, it falls under the heading of a “humanitarian and compassionate” program.

Most of the non-Mormon residents of nearby Creston have adopted a “live and let live” attitude toward the Bountiful polygamists. On the whole, the people of Creston are grateful for the economic support that fundamentalists provide the Creston community, through operating businesses and purchasing supplies, equipment and services. One Creston resident stated, “You are going to have a hard time finding anybody in this valley who knows [the fundamentalist Mormons] that will say anything derogatory about them, because they’re good people.”

Today, Bountiful is a community of some 800 inhabitants, with large, modest homes, a supermarket, a medical care center, a private school, a mattress factory, a lumber mill, and hundreds of acres of hay fields. Most of Bountiful’s residents are believing and/or practicing polygamists; some of the men having very large families of wives and children. However, in recent years many of the marriages between the younger fundamentalist Mormon men and women have been monogamous. Even though the population of Bountiful has increased significantly over the past decade, visiting the community still gives one the impression of going back in time. Many women wear long dresses, have clean, long hair, use little or no make-up, and a significant number are pregnant with toddlers in tow.

6. The Allred Group (Apostolic United Brethren)

The Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) or “Allred group,” as it is generally known, emerged as the result of a division that occurred in the 1950s among the original fundamentalist Mormons who claimed their priesthood authority from John Taylor and then Lorin C. Woolley. For a variety of reasons, Joseph Musser, a member of the Priesthood Council, set up another council that was also commissioned to keep plural marriage alive. Among those who chose to follow Musser were Dr. Rulon C. Allred, M. Bautista of Mexico, John Butchereit, Eslie Jenson, Owen and Marvin Allred, Lyman Jessop and Joseph Thompson. On one occasion when Joseph Musser was asked what he considered to be his greatest responsibility, he answered, “To be an example of the perpetuation of the fullness of the Gospel and by example and precept to help the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stop its divergent path away from the truths of God’s full Gospel.” To accomplish this, Musser published Truth magazine for seventeen years, despite extreme poverty and self-sacrifice. He also wrote two books, Michael Adam and The New and Everlasting Covenant of Plural Marriage. Before Joseph Musser died in 1954, he chose Dr. Rulon C. Allred to lead his followers.

AUB church meetings were initially held in individual homes. In 1954, Owen Allred built a home and a large garage in Murray, Utah. The garage served as a meeting place for the AUB until 1970. When developers acquired this site for a large mall, the group bought land in Bluffdale—a small community located in the southwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley. Here they built a large facility, later known as the “Brown House,” which served as a residence, school and church.

Rulon was the leader of the Allred group until his murder on 10 May 1977, at the hands of two assassins acting on behalf of a rival Mormon fundamentalist faction based in Mexico (see the Church of the Firstborn below). Rulon’s life had been previously threatened by these religious extremists, demanding that he honor their religious leadership and that he give them the power to collect money and property in Mexico and Utah. His violent death represented a loss not just for the AUB but also for the larger Salt Lake community. As a medical doctor, Rulon had delivered over 6,000 babies in his lifetime and always demonstrated a love for his fellow beings everywhere. As a religious leader, he especially encouraged his followers to teach truth and defend the freedoms of Constitutional Law. The men and women who followed him believed strongly that every person should be free to choose in all areas of life. Even today members of the group believe that girls of legal age should be able to freely choose whom they should marry.

In accordance with Rulon’s wishes, his younger brother Owen succeeded him as priesthood leader. Owen Allred continued in this position until his own death in February of 2005 when he was succeeded in the leadership by J. LaMoine Jenson.

Today, the center of AUB religious activities is the Rulon C. Allred Building (RCA Building) in Buffdale. It was built several years ago to accommodate the increasing numbers of AUB members. A variety of functions are held in this spacious facility, including Relief Society, Primary, Young Women’s, and Priesthood meetings, in addition to Sunday meetings that fill the building to capacity every Sunday. Members of the Allred group take pride in raising righteous children, at the same time granting them their free agency to choose their individual lifestyle as adults. They report that their membership includes many outstanding youth who have received high scholastic honors and have been recognized for their talents and athletic abilities.

The Allred group is the second largest fundamentalist Mormon organization, with some 7,500 members living mostly in Utah, Montana and Mexico. In the latter nation, more than 700 group members have established a united order colony in Ozumba, Mexico—a community southwest of Mexico City.22 Among the noteworthy AUB satellites outside the Salt Lake valley are the following three: (1) The Montana Group; (2) Rocky Ridge Community; and (3) The Cedar City Community.

6A. The Pinesdale, Montana AUB Community

The community of present-day Pinesdale, Montana (known as the Montana group) was among the first of the AUB united order colonies established outside of the Salt Lake Valley. In 1961 Rulon C. Allred purchased 640 acres of ranchland in the Bitterroot Mountains, not far from Hamilton and Missoula, Montana. Allred looked to this location as a place of legal refuge for fundamentalist Mormons who felt compelled to flee possible prosecution in Utah for their religious beliefs and practices. He also saw this area as an ideal place to practice the united order.

Initially three families moved into existing, dilapidated buildings on the property and struggled to survive the first harsh winter. Soon other houses were built to accommodate additional polygamous families who wanted to raise their children in a rural area. As the region continued to grow, it was incorporated as the city of Pinesdale in 1983. Pinesdale was originally governed by a mayor and then by a “Three-Man Board” of elected officials, with other board members working under their direction. Today the self-contained community includes a large meeting house, a park, a cemetery, a city hall, a grocery store, a library, a baseball diamond, about a dozen small businesses, a neatly maintained trailer court, and several dozen large, two-story homes.

The centrally-located meeting house serves as a chapel on Sundays. Religious activities are similar to those found in the LDS church, including Relief Society, Primary, Sunday meetings, Boy Scouts, firesides and priesthood lessons. On weekdays, the meeting house functions as a private school for kindergarten 22 Hales, Mormon Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism, 360.

though sixth grade and in the evening serves as a community center. Many of the AUB youth attend public school to complete their education, graduating from the nearby high school. As the second and third generations have grown up, most young people move away from the community to attend college or find better job opportunities. But over time, many of these individuals have returned—hungry for a rural setting and the strong family ties developed in their youth.

Most of Pinesdale’s adult males have found employment either locally or in nearby areas. Given that the average number of plural wives per male is about three, one or two of the wives often work outside the home. In addition, both men and women have been assigned economic and social stewardships, such as administering the bishop’s storehouse, collecting and distributing goods, and teaching in the local schools.

Members of the Montana group have always looked to the AUB leadership in the Salt Lake Valley for guidance. However, within their own community, local priesthood leaders supervise day-to-day matters. Although the Montana group is definitely patriarchal in its orientation, women seem to be influential players. After conducting interviews with over a dozen Pinesdale women, one outside observer reported that the overwhelming majority “said that polygyny was the best thing that ever happened to them, that it saved their souls, and, further, that it gave them something to live for.” These women also reported that plural marriage provided “a wonderful environment for raising children and exalted women to the status of queens and priestesses.” A few Pinedale women, however, made less favorable comments. All agreed that association with each other was essential for companionship and support. During the summer of 2000, the relationship between the fundamentalist Mormon residents of Pinesdale and the non-Mormon residents of nearby Montana communities improved greatly. This came as the unintended result of forest fires threatening Pinesdale, necessitating the evacuation of its residents. Nearby citizens opened their doors, providing aid and support to the displaced fundamentalists. The local Red Cross provided daily meals; hotels offered discounted rooms; and a furniture store provided rocking chairs for mothers

with babies. Adverse feelings dissipated and were replaced with gratitude and acceptance. A deep sense of social networking and valley-wide cooperation has continued to the present.

Pinesdale today has a population of about 800 people, 65 percent of whom are children. About one-third of Pinesdale’s families are living plural marriage.

6B. Rocky Ridge AUB Community

A second significant AUB satellite community is Rocky Ridge, located in northern Juab County, Utah, just south of Provo. Marvin Allred, the younger brother of Rulon and Owen Allred and a member of the Priesthood Council appointed by Joseph Musser in 1952, received a “specific calling…to establish a successful united order.” In response, he organized a family group, where each member pledged to donate a specific amount to be used for the good of all. As this fund grew, Marvin began looking for a suitable piece of ground for their communitarian settlement. In September 1971 he purchased 225 acres of unimproved land. Excavation of the land for improvements proved both challenging and difficult. As homes were built, a road was graded, and a well was dug for the new settlement, it soon became evident why local residents called this area “Rocky Ridge.” In the end, the settlers decided to keep this appropriate name for their hillside community. Among the settlers were skilled carpenters and craftsmen, willing to donate their labor. Every Saturday a specific project was predetermined and approximately thirty volunteers would regularly participate in the hard work.

In spite of high hopes and willing spirits and bodies, the pioneering years were full of numerous adversities, challenges and setbacks. Residents experienced harsh winters, water shortages, pump shut-downs, excessive mud, isolation, destructive worms and grasshoppers, swarms of gnats, financial problems, gardening difficulties, and lack of modern conveniences. Fires devastated surrounding acreage and totally destroyed their cabinet shop and other buildings. Nevertheless, the people faithfully and steadfastly plodded along, keeping in mind their main objective—that Rocky Ridge would eventually become a successful and happy community for all the Order members.

Despite adversities the Rocky Ridge community has continued to grow. In September 1989, 800 additional acres were purchased, 520 of which were irrigated farmland—making it possible for even more people to move to Rocky Ridge. The people of Rocky Ridge were especially grateful when the county paved the road leading to and from their community in 1991. At present some fifty families are part of the organization. There is a row of mobile homes that can be used for families as temporary lodging while more permanent homes are under construction further up the hill. By the time each new home is occupied, it is paid for, as all members are expected to be debt free.

Many people in Rocky Ridge are employed by a community-run lumber company and cabinet business, which—after a shaky and troubled past—is today very successful. The wealth of the company is used for the benefit of the entire community. Many other residents are employed outside the community, in places like Nephi, Provo, and even as far away as Salt Lake City.

Soon after their arrival, Rocky Ridge residents organized a local Primary, Relief Society, young women, and Priesthood to meet their spiritual needs. Local sisters at Rocky Ridge funded the community’s first store and started a collection for their first chapel. Even though it was not quite finished, members held their first meeting in this chapel in May 1990. The original building has

been greatly expanded. In 2003 a beautiful meeting house accommodating up

to 750 people was completed.

Marvin L. Allred died 9 January 2003, but the residents of Rocky Ridge remain committed to his original purpose—to establish and maintain a place where the members of his family and circle of associates can live and work together in close proximity and in a successful united order.

6C. The Cedar City AUB Community

This community was organized under the leadership of Rulon C. Allred in 1973. Like the earlier-established Rocky Ridge community a primary purpose was to establish a United Order. The establishment of this community was, moreover, in conformity with a basic belief in “the need for outlying areas to be established where people unite together to live all of God’s laws and build communities with the goals of unity and self-sufficiency…places of refuge from the coming crises.”23

Two members from the Allred group donated an initial 38 acres of land and soon four families had located in the valley. Construction immediately began on a school and meetinghouse. Several members worked together to pay for the drilling of a well. In 1976 one member provided the down payment for an additional 40 acres of land. Additional one-acre lots have been obtained through trade. In 1996 a facility for a home school was completed, accommodating a total of 85 students and teachers.

Today, most of the younger men in the community work of construction, while some of the others are involved in auto repair, electrical work, and accounting. In religious matters AUB leadership in the Salt Lake valley is recognized as the general presiding authority, but the community is presided over by a local bishop and his two counselors. Sacrament, Priesthood and Primary meetings are held on Sunday, with Relief Society and youth activities scheduled during the week.

At present, the Cedar City community is still growing. New families continue to move to the community. Although some of the original members have moved away, a few of the grown children remain and have started families of their own. In all, some twenty-two families make up the total membership of this community.

7. Davis County Cooperative Society (Kingston Group)

The fundamentalist Mormons who are members of the Davis County Cooperative Society do not consider it a religious organization per se. The society was originally formed in 1935 by Charles Elden Kingston. It was result of a handful of fundamentalist Mormon families coming together to help each other be self-sufficient during the depths of the Great Depression. At a time when jobs were scarce and hunger was not uncommon, these families believed they would be better off working together. Members of the society report that their forbearers came together with common ideas of integrity, honesty and living the Golden Rule. While emphasizing group cohesion, each person was encouraged to be self-sustaining by means of his or her labors. Today the Davis County Cooperative Society has grown to include approximately 1,500 members. Over the years their cooperative economic efforts have born fruit and developed an extensive and successful network of business enterprises.

8. The Church of the Firstborn (Joel LeBaron Group)

Members of the Church of the Firstborn (or the Joel LeBaron group) reportedly trace their origin to Benjamin F. Johnson—a contemporary and confidant of Joseph Smith, Jr. From Smith, Johnson gained initial knowledge of the principle of plural marriage. Johnson, in turn, inspired and instructed his grandson, A. Dayer LeBaron in the practice. Johnson is said to have told Dayer that an important work would transpire in the south, instructing him to take up residence in Mexico. In 1924, twenty years after LDS President Joseph F. Smith issued the Second Manifesto, Dayer moved to the Mormon settlement of Colonia Juarez in Chihuahua, bringing a plural wife along with his first wife and several small children. Because of the LeBaron family’s practice of plural marriage, mainstream LDS church members were forbidden to associate with the LeBarons, except for business dealings. The resulting prolonged ostracism was among the causes of the unstable behavior and mental breakdowns which two of Dayer’s sons suffered. In another setback, Dayer’s plural wife left Mexico and her husband, taking the couple’s six children with her.

In 1944 Dayer left Colonia Juarez and moved to the Galeana area, some fifty miles to the southeast. Here his sons, Joel and Ervil, began a colony which became known as Colonia LeBaron. At the same time, Joel began to challenge mainline LDS priesthood authority, claiming that he held a priesthood office that came down from Joseph Smith through Benjamin F. Johnson and Joel’s father Dayer. The LeBarons organized their group under the name “the Church of the First Born.” Although LDS leaders countered Joel’s claims by sending directives to their branches and stakes, a number of members were persuaded to leave the LDS church and join the Church of the Firstborn. Among the converts who gathered to Colonia LeBaron were a group of LDS missionaries who had been laboring in France. Over time, Joel was able to establish a second church colony called Los Molinos in Baja California.

Unfortunately, as Joel’s Church of the Firstborn began to grow, so did Ervil’s desire for power—an obsession that would culminate in a modern Cain and Able story. In 1972, Ervil’s main supporter, former Church of the Firstborn Apostle Daniel Jordan, murdered Joel. Joel’s death left Verlan, the youngest LeBaron brother, to head the church. A series of killings followed. A raid by Ervil’s supporters on Los Molinos left two dead, many more injured, and a number of homes fire-bombed and burned. This raid was followed by the 1977 murder of Dr. Rulon C. Allred, leader of a rival fundamentalist group. Eventually, Ervil LeBaron was convicted of this crime and later died in a federal prison in Utah. Although he had been a prime target, Verlan survived the attacks, living nine years in semi-seclusion. However, shortly after his Ervil’s death, Verlan himself died in an automobile accident near Mexico City, leaving the Church of the Firstborn without a leader.

Despite the violence committed by Ervil’s followers, the other members of the Church of the Firstborn have remained peaceful, never retaliating. Today, most of the men work in the construction industry. Living plural marriage and intermarrying with the Mexican people, members of this church are now spread across fifteen Mexican states from Colonia LeBaron and Los Molinos to the Cancun area. Some members live in the U.S., including some as far away as

Alaska.

Members of the Church of the Firstborn still recall Dayer’s panoramic vision of 1910—in which he saw Mexico one-hundred years in the future, with the Saints gathered under that nation’s protective wing as a wave of destruction spread across the United States. In the few years that remain before that envisioned moment, will members yet rally, unite, and provide help, refuge, and safety at a time of some great distress for the United States? Only time will tell.

9. The Missouri Community

Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ’s second coming would be in Independence, Missouri. Early Mormons gathered to Missouri to build a city of Zion in the 1830s, only to be driven out of the state in 1838-9. However, the desire to “redeem Zion” has remained strong in the hearts of the many Latter Day Saint tradition churches which look to Smith as their founding prophet. In keeping with these beliefs, a number of fundamentalist Mormons have gathered in several small communities in the southwest part of Missouri in a 30-mile radius between Independence and Springfield. These individuals are diverse—some coming from specific fundamentalist groups and others consider themselves to be independents.

One fundamentalist Mormon in Missouri has observed that the people there consider themselves to be in “more of a community than a religious group.” Residents in this community follow a concept of “freedom of religion,” where everyone respects the right of each individual to believe as he or she pleases.

For example, some people observe Saturday as their Sabbath while others consider the Sabbath to be on Sunday. And still others observe the Sabbath on both days. Residents claim to “have no formal religious organization strong enough to deprive” anyone of his or her “free agency.”

Some children in the Missouri community are home-schooled and others go to public school. The youth get together often for social activities, such as roller skating, movies, birthday parties, lake parties, and even trips to Branson and Silver Dollar City. Each week religious classes are held for young men and women in the community.

The first fundamentalist Mormons began migrating to this region of Missouri in the mid-1980s. At present they number a little over 200 individuals. Some were prompted to gather by strong sense of millenarianism—that is “the feeling that the time is getting close…to be where God first appointed the gathering of the Saints for the last days.” Others were attracted by the community’s “freedom of religion” concept. Still others were dissatisfied with the particular religious leadership they had been following. Finally, some fundamentalist Mormons migrated to Missouri because of family living in the area. Included are a few individuals from outside the Mormon tradition who have felt “prompted” to join the Missouri community.

10. The Confederate Nations of Israel (Alex Joseph group)

Alex Joseph was among the most colorful and controversial fundamentalist Mormon leaders. Intelligent, charismatic, and eclectic, Joseph was born in 1936 and raised in the Greek Orthodox Church. Over the years, he engaged in a variety of occupations, serving as a U.S. Marine, police officer, horse trainer, firefighter, mailman, car salesman, accountant, health food producer, manager for a famous musician, mayor, and flotilla commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. In 1965, at the age of 29, Joseph joined the mainline LDS church.

Ten years later, he joined Rulon C. Allred’s group, where he remained for about three years.

In 1978, Joseph organized a group he called the “Confederate Nations of Israel” in what is now known as Big Water, Utah. Joseph’s stated goal was to provide a stable environment in which to raise his children by creating a culture that would be free from the oppression of what he described as the “Roman system”—democracy, monogamy, an eight-to-five job, a family with 2.8 children, a three bedroom/two bathroom house in the suburbs, and commercialized holidays.

While founding the communities of Big Water and BAC-Bone, Joseph engaged the federal government in a legal conflict to exercise the homestead laws as he saw fit. He also published a local newspaper, the Big Water Times, and authored numerous books. Much of Joseph’s energy during his later years was devoted to the research and writing of Dry Bones: A Resurrection of Ancient Understanding—a faith-based study of Egyptian hieroglyphics and their connection with the Bible. Joseph died in 1998 at age 61, leaving behind seven wives, 21 children, and 23 grandchildren.

The Confederate Nations of Israel (also known as the “Confederacy”) does not claim to be a religious organization. Rather, it styles itself as “a system of self-government”—a political organization comprised of separate and sovereign patriarchies in quorums of Judges, Senators, and Counselors. Membership is open to people of all faiths or no faith at all. Long Haul, Utah, where Joseph made his home, is the cultural center of the Confederacy. The focal point of Long Haul is two-story meeting room called Ordinary Hall that has a Masonicstyle tile floor surrounded by booths to seat 144 people. In addition to providing a place for Confederacy meetings, Ordinary Hall also serves as a community center for educational, political and social gatherings. The Confederacy meets there bi-annually for business meetings—on the spring and autumn equinoxes.

Resolutions are adopted only by unanimous consent of the membership in the Confederacy. Long Haul also includes offices, apartments for the Joseph family, a genealogy library, a boys’ lounge, a shaded courtyard, and an unfinished dining hall.

Although attendance at Confederacy meetings has declined since Joseph’s passing, the unique holidays that he instituted continue to be among his lasting legacies. Many people outside the Confederacy come to participate. Winter Solstice is celebrated with a night of singing, poetry, drama, dance, and good food. Another favorite holiday is Bird Day, which was originally mandated by the Utah State Legislature in 1917 to honor seagulls for their place in Utah pioneer history. The state ultimately switched from celebrating birds to trees with the observance of the federal holiday Arbor Day, but birds are still honored by members of the Confederacy with a day filled with lighthearted contests and activities.

Alex Joseph and the Confederacy clearly had fundamentalist Mormon roots. Today, however, a spokesperson for the group has stated that members no longer consider themselves to be fundamentalist Mormons. The group appears to have evolved beyond its roots and into new territory.

11. The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days (TLC)24

The origin of the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days (or TLC) is quite distinct from that of other fundamentalist Mormon groups. The church’s founder James D. Harmston broke directly from the mainline LDS church in the mid-1980s. In May 1994, he organized the TLC with himself at its head as “prophet, seer and revelator.” Based in Manti, Utah, the new church has attracted between 75 to 200 followers at any one time.

More than half of the church’s male membership took additional wives and Harmston, himself, accumulated at least eight wives which he drew partly “from other [Mormon] fundamentalist groups.”

The TLC also has doctrines which are unique in the Latter Day Saint movement. For example, members of the TLC believe in “multiple mortal probations” or MMPs—a doctrine similar in some ways to Buddhist and Hindustyle reincarnation. The TLC is also strongly millenarian, with Harmston, on at least two occasions, setting a precise (but innaccurate) date for the Second Coming. Such disappointments notwithstanding, the TLC has survived and claims an organizational structure that includes a Quorum of Twelve Apostles and First Presidency.

The many doctrinal changes and innovations promoted by Harmston put the TLC far enough out of step with most other fundamentalist Mormons. As the TLC continues to evolve, it may qualify as a branch of Mormonism separate from fundamentalism altogether.

Stereotypes of Fundamentalist Mormons

Through the years many stereotypes have been incorrectly applied to fundamentalist Mormons in general. Many of these stem from actions and dictates within the FLDS community—currently under the leadership of Warren Jeffs—who have incorporated practices and beliefs that are very different from other fundamentalists. Eight of the most obvious stereotypes are briefly mentioned here:

1. Plural wives have little education.

As a result of a recent informal survey of independents and four of the larger polygamous communities (not including FLDS), we found that, generally speaking, young women are encouraged to get an education , and many of them have college degrees. About 85 to 90 % of the women in polygamous communities received at least a high school diploma. By comparison, the latest U.S. census indicates that 85 % — so they are a little higher than the national average.[14]

2. Plural wives are all child brides.

The survey showed that young people are encouraged to be at least the legal age of 18 before marrying. Group leaders strongly recommend that their members not get married until age 18.[15]

3. Young women are forced into marriages with someone not of their choosing.

The four community leaders reported that none of their young people are coerced into marriage. Each person is free to choose his or her marriage partner(s).[16]

4. Fundamentalist Mormons abuse government welfare.

The survey in our book Voices in Harmony reported that fewer than 20% had ever been on welfare, and then only for a brief period of time. We strongly believe that each family should support themselves financially.

5. Polygamists have very little contact with the “outside world.”

This is apparently true only in the FLDS community, because of Warren Jeffs’ instructions. Other group members and independents can and do mingle with the “outside world,” even those who live in designated polygamous communities.

6. All polygamist men have large numbers of wives and children.

The average number of wives in a plural family is two or three. Probably fewer than 50 percent of fundamentalist Mormon men actually live plural marriage. The community leaders usually have more than the average number of wives. [17]

7. All plural wives can be recognized by similar hair and dress styles.

In reality, most fundamentalist women (except for FLDS) appear no different from other women who dress modestly.

8. Child abuse is more common among polygamists.

We are concerned and deeply saddened when we hear of cases of child abuse or neglect, homeless teenagers, and divided families. After all, we have felt that plural marriage should be all about building families; and when we hear about these unfortunate situations, it makes all those living the principle appear to be in the same box. But even though there are no facts and figures to prove one way or the other, from my personal experience and after talking to many social workers and medical professionals, I seriously doubt that these situations occur in our culture as a whole at a higher rate than in the monogamous society.

Polygamy itself does not cause abuse any more than the Catholic Church causes the sexual abuse of its priests or young boys, or the LDS church causes murders of innocent people such as those committed by Ron and Dan Lafferty, Mark Hofmann, Ted Bundy, and Mark Hacking. It is individuals themselves that cause abuse.

Contemporary “Voices in Harmony”

Up until the turn of the 21^st century, the only public voices that had been heard for decades on the subject of Mormon plural marriage were mostly those from anti-polygamy people. Therefore, it was not necessarily the fault of the government or the media for forming negative opinions based on the only information available to them.

In the spring of 2000, three of us Fundamentalist Mormon ladies felt it was time to take the risk, speak out publicly, and portray the more positive and realistic side of polygamy. We were tired of listening to all the negative press about this lifestyle that we hold sacred. In December 2000, our book, Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage, was published, containing a compilation of testimonies and positive experiences from 100 anonymous plural wives. The media seemed to be thirsty for first-hand information from inside actual plural families.

In February 2001, some of us plural wives lobbied against an anti-polygamy bill at the Utah State Capitol.[18] This was followed by the publication of the premier issue of a Fundamentalist Mormon magazine called, Mormon Focus—labeled by one journalist as “the New Yorker for Fundamentalist Mormons.” About this time, four of us—Mary Batchelor, Marianne Watson, Linda Kelsch, and this author—organized Principle Voices, an advocacy organization which assumes the position that plural marriage should be a matter of choice among consenting adults. As Principle Voices, we have worked closely with the Utah Attorney General’s office and many social service agencies, as well as people in our own culture, to build bridges of understanding and education. During the past couple of years, representatives from various Fundamentalist communities have served on the A.G. Safety Net Committee – just one of the ways we carry out our motto, “Do nothing about us without us.”

Most Fundamentalist Mormons would like to see polygamy decriminalized, meaning to remove the criminal penalty from it. This would benefit both the law enforcement officers by making it easier to investigate crimes (if and when they do exist within the culture), as well as benefit polygamists themselves by providing better job and housing security.

We feel that in the past nine years, great strides have been made in building bridges of understanding and cooperation, and in helping to secure equal access to justice, safety and services for deserving Fundamentalist Mormons.

Conclusion

Whatever society’s perceptions may be, plural marriage among fundamentalist Mormons is here to stay. As University of Utah psychology professor, Irwin Altman stated:

They [fundamentalist Mormons] are growing in numbers through internal birth rates and conversions, and they adhere to a way of life and underlying religious principles that seem to sustain them in the face of societal antipathy to their lifestyle… The practice of plural marriage in the context of religious values is one more of the diverse forms of family structures in modern America.[19]

One plural wife stated, “I’ve often said that if polygamy didn’t exist, the modern American career woman would have invented it. Because, despite its reputation, polygamy is the one lifestyle that offers an independent woman a real chance to have it all.”

The plural marriage system of the Bible and of Joseph Smith still endures among a growing minority—fundamentalist Mormons who cherish and preserve these marriage ideals. Despite scorn and rejection from the mainstream Mormon community and the rest of America, and despite government proceedings against them, fundamentalists continue to display a tenacity and deep commitment to their beliefs in the face of tremendous opposition, as did their nineteenth-century counterparts. Over the long haul, actions against fundamentalist Mormons seem to have invigorated the community and vindicated their conviction that God’s chosen people will always be persecuted.

Patterns of history suggest that fundamentalist Mormon polygamy is here to stay, whatever the cost.

Irvin Altman, “Psychological Study Suggests Polygamous Relationship Same as others,” Salt

Lake Tribune, op-ed column, 30 May 2000.