Get a Grip: More on Colorado City
 
Column by Abbie Gripman
Kingman Daily Miner Copy Editor
 
I recently wrote a three-part piece on Colorado City, Mohave County's northernmost town. When I first decided to do the story I talked to a few people in town who had been to the remote community and all of them told me that in order to understand the infamous polygamous town, I'd have to visit. So I did. But my visit, and subsequent research, left me with more questions than ever. Since it wouldn't be right to include my personal thoughts and observations in a news article, I'm going indulge myself by using this space to fill some gaps in the story.

Most of the residents of Colorado City live in polygamous families. The town has been a haven for the members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose founders were excommunicated by the Mormon Church in the late 1890s after the church gave up polygamy as a condition to Utah statehood.

Polygamy is illegal in the United States. It is specifically forbidden in Arizona's constitution. However, most attempts over the years to prosecute practitioners have met with resounding defeat.

The few men who were charged after the infamous 1953 raid of Short Creek (now called Colorado City) were charged with "notorious cohabitation." Such a charge would be ridiculous today when vast numbers of the county's residents cohabitate but are not married.

In the FLDS church, men are assigned wives by their prophet, Rulon Jeffs. The first marriage is legally recorded. Subsequent marriages to "celestial wives" are done privately and are not recorded publicly. Without a legal record of a marriage, it is difficult for prosecutors to prove that the six women living with a man and his legal wife are other wives.

Utah prosecutors recently got around this hurdle by proving that convicted polygamist Tom Green had five common-law wives. Green faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later this month.

But Green was caught because he advertised his lifestyle on national television making the rounds of talk shows to discuss his huge family. News reports also showed his Utah family compound, a few dilapidated trailers on a barren plot of land.

I expected a similar scene when I went to Colorado City but found a very different place. The first thing I noticed was, compared to Kingman ,the place is practically lush with greenery. Just about every huge home had an equally huge and bountiful garden attached. In addition, a beautifully maintained common garden was positioned in the center of the community. I saw several women working in the garden as we drove by.

The "business district" consists of a couple of blocks that include a small grocery store, hardware store, restaurant and city hall (a single-wide trailer). All of the women we saw wore long cotton dresses with long sleeves and a high neck. They also wore leggings that peeked out from under the dresses, as well as socks and shoes. Some wore pioneer-style sunbonnets. The men's attire was less foreign. They all wore clean, pressed and belted jeans, long-sleeved Western style shirts and tennis shoes. We felt very conspicuous in our pants and T-shirts.

Since we (husband, daughter and I) had been on the road for hours, we decided to stop in at the grocery store for provisions for a picnic lunch. Inside we found a wide variety of food items with many staples available in bulk. The store also had a small fabric shop. The women all averted their eyes away from us. I tried to smile at a few of the women but none would look at me, much less smile back. In line we tried to chat with the checkout lady but she didn't want to talk. As we waited in line I noticed that all the women (there were no men shopping) were paying with food stamps. The only person in the store who would talk to us was the bag boy (also the only male in the place). When asked, he directed us to a park for our picnic. The picnic was lovely and the park gorgeous but again, all the women we encountered averted their eyes and the men just stared.

I recalled that more than one person I talked to prior to the visit had described the town as Mayberry-like. Looking around the small town I saw where that perception could arise. The town is clean, the surrounding desert is gorgeous, there are kids playing in the streets, no cars driving by with thumping bass. It seems pretty nice. But the women averting their eyes really bothered me.

When we got back to Kingman I made more phone calls and talked to many more people about Colorado City. But many tries to reach the town's mayor were unsuccessful. When I would call and identify myself, the man answering the phone would tell me the mayor was out. Numerous messages were not returned. Suspecting the man was the mayor I had a male colleague call and, without identifying himself, ask for mayor. Sure enough, the answer was, "this is the mayor." I grabbed the phone and started talking. He talked to me but neither he, nor the mayor of neighboring Hildale, Utah, nor anyone else I asked, could direct me to a female Colorado City resident to talk to for my story.

I did, however, talk to two women who used to live in Colorado City. They have left the town with horrific allegations of abuse.

Again, however, law enforcement faces a challenge and is unwilling to go into the town Gestapo-like and search for possible crimes.

What to do? Supervisor Buster Johnson said he is trying to convince the FBI to investigate allegations. If they find nothing, the rumors of abuse can be put to rest. If not, those who are violating the law will have to answer for their choices.
 
KingmanDailyMiner.com
Originally published Wednesday, August 15, 2001
 
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