American Polygamy: A History of Fundamentalist Mormon Faith

by Craig L. Foster, Marianne T. Watson

Overview

Today's Fundamentalist Mormons in the American West resist assimilation like their forefathers. Centered on faith, they survive despite efforts to permanently end their cherished plural family arrangements. While some Fundamentalists like Warren Jeffs go rogue and corrupt their beliefs in heinous crimes, most hold steadfastly to a religion they say is biblical and restored by the first Latter-day Saint prophet, Joseph Smith, in the early 1800s. Mormon historians Craig Foster and Marianne Watson present more than two hundred photos and exclusive insights to explain how an estimated thirty thousand Fundamentalist Mormons still venerate a much-debated legacy—despite its difficult challenges—and persist in living plural marriage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467137522
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	06/03/2019
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	667,738
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

A research specialist at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Craig L. Foster is the author/coauthor of three books and is the coeditor of the three-volume Persistence of Polygamy series. A graduate of the University of Utah history department and raised as a member of the Apostolic United Brethren, Marianne T. Watson has been widely published and presented at conferences, including the Mormon History Association, the Western History Association and the first Mormon history conference in Brazil in 2010.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Acknowledgements 11

1 A Matter of Faith 13

2 A Changing Mormon World 35

3 Early Development of Fundamentalist Mormonism 53

4 The Turbulent 1930s 77

5 The 1944 Raid and the Priesthood Split 95

6 The 1953 Short Creek Raid 111

7 A Time of Change, Conflict and Growth 129

8 Short Creek Changes: Centennial Park and the Making and Breaking of the FLDS 159

9 Twenty-First-Century Fundamentalism: Coming Out of the Shadows 193

10 Still a Matter of Faith 227

Notes 241

Bibliography 265

Index 277

About the Authors 285