AMERICA’S POLYGAMIST TOWN
Tucked away on the remote border between Arizona and Utah lies a pair of towns—Colorado City and Hildale—that for many years felt like a world apart from the rest of America. To outsiders, the towns were known as America’s polygamist community. To those who lived there, especially the children and women, it was simply home—a place of faith, fear, obedience, and quiet suffering.
The people of this town were members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a religious group that believed polygamy was not just a choice, but a sacred duty. While most Americans viewed plural marriage as illegal and outdated, FLDS families were taught that taking multiple wives was essential for salvation. From a young age, children were raised to believe that questioning leaders meant questioning God himself.
Daily life was tightly controlled. Men worked long hours, often in construction or church-run businesses, while women managed large households and raised many children. Mothers were praised for obedience and sacrifice, even as they struggled with exhaustion, poverty, and emotional isolation. Love, marriage, and family were not matters of personal choice. Instead, they were assigned by church leaders, most notably by the group’s prophet, Warren Jeffs.
Jeffs’ authority was absolute. He decided who married whom, who stayed in the community, and who was cast out. Some girls were married as teenagers to much older men, taught that fear and pain were signs of faith. Boys who grew too confident or independent were often expelled from the town and labeled unworthy. These youths, later called the “Lost Boys,” were sent into the outside world with no education, no money, and no family support—confused, traumatized, and alone.
Behind the carefully controlled image of religious devotion lay deep emotional wounds. Many residents lived in constant fear—fear of being reassigned to a different family, fear of losing their children, fear of eternal punishment. Education was limited, healthcare was inadequate, and outside influence was discouraged. For years, victims of abuse remained silent, not because they did not suffer, but because they believed suffering was God’s will.
Change came slowly and painfully. When Warren Jeffs was arrested in 2006 and later sentenced to life in prison for sexual crimes against minors, the foundation of the FLDS began to crack. Former members found the courage to speak out. Mothers escaped with their children. Men who had been cast out began to tell their stories. For the first time, the wider world truly listened.
Today, Colorado City and Hildale are in transition. New families have moved in, public schools are now state-run, and the strict grip of the FLDS has weakened. Yet the past still lingers. Many former members are rebuilding their lives—learning how to make choices, trust others, and heal from years of control. Their journey is not easy, but it is deeply human.
