The author has received a warning for exposing the community. The FBI is now involved. What some of the people have been forced to endure in Colorado City is little different from living in a third world country. Ten-year-old Benjamin Bistline moved with his parents to Short Creek (Colorado City), Arizona, in 1945 to join with a group of excommunicated Mormons who believed in honoring the law of polygamy as revealed by the Prophet Joseph Smith and instituted by Brigham Young. Mr. Bistline has compiled A DETAILED HISTORY of the significant events that shaped and sustained this community from the beginning. He tells of the shifts in power, changes in leadership philosophies, persecution from outside forces —and from within. Mr. Bistline's goal in writing this history is to reveal that the original leadership structure of a Council of men holding common and balancing power has slowly descended into a ONE-MAN TYRANNICAL RULE over the people. Bistline has observed: 1) Older men being taught to take CHILD BRIDES before the girls are attracted to boys their own age. 2) BOYS DRIVEN OUT of the community for competing with older men for wives. 3) Plural wives expected to apply for WELFARE as single mothers. 4) Men out of favor are "EVICTED" from their homes with their wives and children reassigned to a more compliant man. 5) Community members AFRAID TO DISOBEY the "Prophet" out of fear for their eternal salvation. RESIDENT HISTORIAN Ben Bistline is recognized as the most credible and knowledgeable source of information about Colorado City. He knows more about the people, their motives, their family connections, their religion, their strengths and their weaknesses than any other pundit. Mr. Bistline is contacted by media and the press from all across the country, and has appeared on CNN and Dateline NBC.

Bistline, resident historian of Colorado City, Arizona, has compiled a detailed history of the shifts in power, changes in leadership and philosophies, and the persecution from outside and within this polygamist community.

Benjamin G. Bistline, the sixth of ten children, was born in Logan, Utah, on April 21, 1935, the son of John Anthony Bistline and Jennie Johnson Bistline. His parents were active members of the Mormon Church but became involved with polygamist families in Millville, Utah, and were excommunicated by LDS Church in 1937. The family moved to Short Creek, Arizona, in 1945 to join a united order movement, also known as The United Effort Plan. His father soon became discouraged by John Barlow's ineptness in governing his Order, and by 1948 he had repented of his decision to join with Barlows' group at Short Creek. He then decided to rejoin the Mormon Church, but his wife refused to leave, taking a firm stand. Ben's father died in April of 1949, before rejoining the LDS Church because of their policy of a one year repentance probation period after being excommunicated. Ben's mother had always wanted to live polygamy and this gave her the opportunity to do so. She married Richard Jessop as his fifth wife and they moved into his large household of four wives and about thirty children. Ben lived in this polygamous household for the next three years until the raid on Short Creek in 1953. While living with his stepfather, he became romantically involved with one of the daughters, but the Raid interrupted the courtship. Ben was eighteen and Annie was fifteen. All minor children in the community were declared wards of the state of Arizona, and were transported with their mothers to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953. They were released and allowed to return to Short Creek in 1955 Annie and Ben were married June 24, 1955, and remained in the society where they parented and raised sixteen children. He was never allowed to marry any other wives, after being deemed unworthy of the privilege by polygamist leaders because of his "rebelliousness." His refused to take what he was told at face value, he refused to join one of the leadership cliques, and he refused to live in blind obedience Thus he was never a polygamist. He and his wife would have accepted plural marriage. In the early 1980s Ben became discouraged with the polygamists due to their changes in religious doctrine. He now lives on his own property in an area called Cane Beds, about two miles south of Colorado City. He and his wife are still very much involved with the polygamists due to extended family relationships. Ben and his wife Annie joined the LDS Church in 1992. They believe the same doctrine as the LDS Church in regards to polygamy. They are members of the Kaibab Moccasin Ward where they have served in several church callings. Ben presently serves on the high council of the Kanab, Utah Kaibab stake.

Dedication Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Short Creek Notes To Chapter One The United "Effort" Plan Notes To Chapter Two The Infamous Short Creek Raid Joseph Musser Charles Fredrick Zitting Notes To Chapter Three The United Effort Plan Revitalized Notes To Chapter Four Colorado City &Hildale Sam Barlow Bountiful, Canada Notes To Chapter Five The Barlow Conspiracy Notes To Chapter Six Evicting the Faithful Notes To Chapter Seven The Priesthood Split Notes To Chapter Eight The United Effort Plan Lawsuit Notes To Chapter Nine Each Side Speaks Out The UEP Crisis Ben Bistline's Rebuttal Priesthood Shenanigans Rulon's Godhead Sermon Notes for Chapter Eleven Final Judgment In The UEP Lawsuit Dramatic Changes Blood Atonement End of World Warnings &Preparations Warren Jeffs Takes Over Eviction Lost Rodney Holm First Ward Split Begins False Gods Disappearances &Wives Reassigned The Barlow's Fight Back Threats of Violence in 2004 Ross Chatwin Conclusion About the Author Bibliography Index