The "Hysterical" Case of Arizona's FLDS in El Dorado, Texas

By Randy Garsee KOLD News 13 - Tucson

The word "hysterical" is an unusual one. It can mean "extremely funny" or "excessive fear or panic." After learning an Arizona religious group was building a compound nearby, the residents of El Dorado, Texas found themselves swinging between both definitions. I traveled more than 700 miles to El Dorado to learn why polygamists from Arizona decided to build a home away from home in west Texas. One of the first things you notice, as you drive into El Dorado, Texas, is the small town's sense of humor. It's prevalent in the "hysterical district" where you'll discover "celibacy is not hereditary" and other hand-painted signs scrawled with gems of wisdom. But when residents learned a religious, polygamist group from Arizona was erecting massive buildings on a nearby ranch, their emotions did not include laughter. "Well, it ran the gamut. Shock, anger, fear, complacency, every shade of gray in the spectrum. El Dorado Success newspaper publisher Randy Mankin compares it to having a UFO land in your backyard. "In the beginning it did almost seem like an alien culture had landed here," said Mankin. Mankin and others finally learned the land a few miles north of town was purchased by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or FLDS. The FLDS has thousands of members in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. The church is led by the controversial prophet, Warren Jeff's. From the air is the only way to see the 1300 acre property called the YFZ Ranch. YFZ stands for "Yearning for Zion". "There's a certain section of the community that's upset about it and just wants it to go away." Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says only twenty or thirty people are on the ranch, handling construction, but he knows more are on the way. Mankin says, "They're planning to bring 200. But I see a meeting hall built out there that will clearly hold a thousand, two thousand people." The FLDS have been accused of forcing underage girls into polygamous marriages, child abuse and financial misconduct. The FLDS deny it. Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been filed against Warren Jeff s by his nephew who claims Jeff and two of his brothers sodomized him. The sheriff, however, admits the FLDS have broken no laws in his county. "We have to move on from wanting them to go away to figuring how we're going to work them into our community, Sheriff Doran explained. I mean the dynamics of our community has changed because of this." For now, El Dorado watches and waits for more polygamists to move here as officials hope its "hysterical" sense of humor won't turn in to hysteria.

KOLD.com Originally published October 13, 2004

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