Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 51
anyone. No phone calls, no letters, nothing. Completely cut off. Complete isolation.‖ (Jane
Armstrong, Toronto Globe and Mail, Internet, 9/30/05)
Texas Compound Growing
The new Texas compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints (FLDS), established to relieve state authorities‘ investigative pressure on its Utah
and Arizona communities, has grown to a dozen buildings. The group, which recently put up
for sale 1300 acres of its home area along the Utah-Arizona border, is also developing a
parcel of land in Colorado. (Pamela Manson, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 11/10/04)
FLDS Split
Two years ago, when the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
prophet, Rulon Jeffs, died, Winston Blackmore, Jeffs‘ chief lieutenant, was Bishop of the
group‘s Bountiful, BC, Canada settlement. When Warren Jeffs succeeded his father, he
fired Blackmore and replaced him with Jimmy Oler. Now, Bountiful is split between Jeffs and
Blackmore followers, with two schools and two meetinghouses in town. (John Hollenhorst,
KSL TV, Internet, 11/9/04)
There is also a spit between the vast majority of FLDS members, in their Arizona-Utah
towns, who are loyal to Warren Jeffs, and some of the men he has excommunicated
because they rejected his absolute authority. One family reflects this split in a unique way.
Ross Chatwin, who refused the prophet‘s order to leave his home and family, lives with his
wife and children in the finished basement, even though the FLDS owns the house. Ross‘s
brother Steven and his family live above. They were given the home when Ross was
expelled from the FLDS. Ross remains thanks to a court order recognizing that he finished
the basic structure presented to him when he moved in. (Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune,
Internet, 11/14/04)
Leader on the Run
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) leader Warren
Jeffs is on the run from possible prosecution for directing the ―looting‖ of the Colorado City,
AZ, school system, which he, as FLDS leader, controlled. The school district‘s checks are
now bouncing, while Jeffs, followed by hundreds of followers, is thought to have gone
underground at the new FLDS settlement, in Texas.
Jeffs ordered FLDS members to take their children out of the Colorado City schools and send
them to church schools, then reportedly diverted public funds to benefit the church school,
which allegedly provides sinecures and pays teachers only $18,000 a year. Jeffs is said to
hate the teachers and children at the Colorado City public schools because they are
members of a rival polygamist Mormon sect from the nearby town of Centennial Park.
―The time for law enforcement in Arizona and Utah to act has long passed. Issue an arrest
warrant for Warren Jeffs now!‖ (John Dougherty, Phoenix New Times, Internet, 11/25/04)
Response to Criticism
Responding to widespread criticism from outside her community, a woman member of the
polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, writing
anonymously [to the author of this article], says her childhood in the church‘s strongholds in
Hilldale, AZ, and Colorado City, UT, was not as described by her outspoken childhood
companion, and former FLDS member, Flora Jessop. ―We are not brainwashed, abused
housewives forced into loveless marriages at young ages. The truth is we are just a peaceful
people trying to raise our families and live our religion.‖
She said she does not personally know anyone who was married before the age of 16, and
that most wait until they‘re 18. Nor does she know of any women receiving food stamps or
anyone. No phone calls, no letters, nothing. Completely cut off. Complete isolation.‖ (Jane
Armstrong, Toronto Globe and Mail, Internet, 9/30/05)
Texas Compound Growing
The new Texas compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints (FLDS), established to relieve state authorities‘ investigative pressure on its Utah
and Arizona communities, has grown to a dozen buildings. The group, which recently put up
for sale 1300 acres of its home area along the Utah-Arizona border, is also developing a
parcel of land in Colorado. (Pamela Manson, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 11/10/04)
FLDS Split
Two years ago, when the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
prophet, Rulon Jeffs, died, Winston Blackmore, Jeffs‘ chief lieutenant, was Bishop of the
group‘s Bountiful, BC, Canada settlement. When Warren Jeffs succeeded his father, he
fired Blackmore and replaced him with Jimmy Oler. Now, Bountiful is split between Jeffs and
Blackmore followers, with two schools and two meetinghouses in town. (John Hollenhorst,
KSL TV, Internet, 11/9/04)
There is also a spit between the vast majority of FLDS members, in their Arizona-Utah
towns, who are loyal to Warren Jeffs, and some of the men he has excommunicated
because they rejected his absolute authority. One family reflects this split in a unique way.
Ross Chatwin, who refused the prophet‘s order to leave his home and family, lives with his
wife and children in the finished basement, even though the FLDS owns the house. Ross‘s
brother Steven and his family live above. They were given the home when Ross was
expelled from the FLDS. Ross remains thanks to a court order recognizing that he finished
the basic structure presented to him when he moved in. (Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune,
Internet, 11/14/04)
Leader on the Run
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) leader Warren
Jeffs is on the run from possible prosecution for directing the ―looting‖ of the Colorado City,
AZ, school system, which he, as FLDS leader, controlled. The school district‘s checks are
now bouncing, while Jeffs, followed by hundreds of followers, is thought to have gone
underground at the new FLDS settlement, in Texas.
Jeffs ordered FLDS members to take their children out of the Colorado City schools and send
them to church schools, then reportedly diverted public funds to benefit the church school,
which allegedly provides sinecures and pays teachers only $18,000 a year. Jeffs is said to
hate the teachers and children at the Colorado City public schools because they are
members of a rival polygamist Mormon sect from the nearby town of Centennial Park.
―The time for law enforcement in Arizona and Utah to act has long passed. Issue an arrest
warrant for Warren Jeffs now!‖ (John Dougherty, Phoenix New Times, Internet, 11/25/04)
Response to Criticism
Responding to widespread criticism from outside her community, a woman member of the
polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, writing
anonymously [to the author of this article], says her childhood in the church‘s strongholds in
Hilldale, AZ, and Colorado City, UT, was not as described by her outspoken childhood
companion, and former FLDS member, Flora Jessop. ―We are not brainwashed, abused
housewives forced into loveless marriages at young ages. The truth is we are just a peaceful
people trying to raise our families and live our religion.‖
She said she does not personally know anyone who was married before the age of 16, and
that most wait until they‘re 18. Nor does she know of any women receiving food stamps or
