Colorado City's holiday event draws thousands of exiles

COLORADO CITY As the crowd paid familiar tribute to the American flag Saturday morning at Colorado City's Cottonwood Elementary School, a color guard detail fired off a short cannon burst to greet what many area residents hoped would be the dawn of not merely a new day, but a new era in the stateliness polygamous community.

"To me, it's just a good old Short Creek Fourth of July," Colorado City resident Carl Broadbent said. "We used to have these (when I was) growing up as a teenager. I remember really good Fourth of July celebrations. I think everybody is so hungry for it, and thirsty for that old time way."

A banner over the entrance to Cottonwood Park, bedecked with the flags of the United States and the State of Arizona, declared, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – Everyone Welcome" to the Independence Day festivities.

But many of those who joined the celebration, representing the factions sprung from the area's dominate polygamous religion, said it was understood that only those people who have been exiled from The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or who have voluntarily left it would be at the gathering.

The FLDS church, which has grown increasingly insular during the past 15 years – expelling many "apostate" husbands and reassigning their wives and children to faithful "family caretakers" while attempting to shut out undesirable influences – would discipline any member caught associating with the gathering, the attendees said.

Two chairs – one for Hildale Mayor Philip Barlow and another for Colorado City Mayor Joseph Allred – remained empty at the 6:30 a.m. flag ceremony at the nearby Cottonwood Elementary School, but emcee Bill Knudson said it was important to the group to invite the officials in case they might choose to come.

City officials in the twin stateline communities known collectively as Short Creek have been accused of using their governmental authority to enforce FLDS church leaders' wills, and the federal government is currently investigating alleged inequities by religious law enforcement officers.

A block away from the July 4th celebrations, the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House used for FLDS church services is now surrounded by a high block wall hastily erected during the past few days – symbolic, residents say, of the walls that literally and figuratively divide residents in the once-unified community.

But for those people who did attend the community celebration, it was a time to forgive old grievances – it also served for many as a homecoming. The organizers estimated at least 3,000 people had lined up for breakfast before 10 a.m.

"It's like going back 50 years in our relationships," Colorado City resident Ross Chatwin said.

Community healing

"They're kind of willing, now, to forgive. It's pretty much come to the point where, 'If you forgive me, I'll forgive you,'" Broadbent said. "We're all human beings. We're all children of God. Let's just acknowledge it."

Dan Barlow, who spearheaded Colorado City's incorporation in 1985 and served as the city's first mayor until he was ousted from the FLDS church among the first group of exiles in January 2004, hugged friends and relatives following a speech that followed the flag ceremony.

Barlow said he struggled to remember the names of some of the people he hasn't seen in more than a decade, but no one seemed bothered by it, telling him simply it was good to see him back.

"Basically, it's the first time I've communicated with the people. … But it's time. It's time now," he said, adding he had no intention of criticizing any of those who have succeeded him in leading Short Creek society but that there seems to be a new spirit among the exiles.

That was evident in the flag ceremony and Pledge of Allegiance, something FLDS exiles say is prohibited by the church. Former FLDS member Willie Jessop said he and his family similarly wanted to make a statement when his son graduated from the new Water Canyon public school in May and incorporated not only the Pledge of Allegiance but the song "God Bless The U.S.A."

"I do know that we've got to stand up for the freedoms of America, which include the freedom of religion and the freedom to gather," Barlow said. "The truths that were established by the Prophet Joseph Smith and our pioneer fathers are still valid. … (But) freedom is only one generation from being lost. All we have to do is not teach our children to honor the things that we stood for, and it will be lost."

'Good Old Days'

The fundamentalist church and its splinter exile communities arose from polygamists who separated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was organized by Smith nearly two centuries ago. The parent LDS Church embraced polygamy in the mid-1800s but then renounced it in 1890 amid heavy-handed criminal enforcement by federal marshals and judges intent on upholding a national prohibition against it.

The Short Creek community became a safe haven for some who continued to practice polygamy despite the law and rejection by LDS Church leaders who committed to uphold the law. Some FLDS exiles, such as Nephi Barlow, spoke Saturday of Christian principles they have learned from the Book of Mormon, sounding much like members of the parent LDS Church.

But under the fundamentalist church's current leadership, families and society itself fractured. Many of those at the park have crossed the country and established their own groups since leaving the church.

"In the good old days of Short Creek, everybody was the same culture. They basically dressed the same and we kind of went to the same church. … But when you look around here, you've got all kinds of different dress types, all kinds of religious beliefs styles," Broadbent said. "Almost all these people were at some time a part of Short Creek. And they grew up and went away, got sent away."

American homecoming

Winston Blackmore, the bishop of an FLDS congregation in British Columbia, Canada who also was ousted from the church about a decade ago but continues to lead those who remained faithful to him, was among the attendees Saturday. The Canadian group had planned its own Fourth of July celebration but opted it to cancel it in favor of coming to Colorado City's event.

"It's nice to be here for something other than a funeral," Blackmore said.

As people chatted and ate breakfast in the park, children played on a tire swing, rode a slide or declared themselves "King of the Mountain" after climbing a rock structure. The sound system played neoclassical country music hits such as The Judds' "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout The Good Old Days)," Aaron Tippins' "You've Got To Stand for Something," and even Collin Raye's "One Boy, One Girl," which might have elicited a few unintended chuckles among visitors.

George Jessop, one of the primary organizers of the celebration, said he wanted to keep things positive even though he is reminded that it has been 62 years this month since Arizona's governor organized a raid on Short Creek polygamists, dividing his forebear's families in a manner similar to the current rifts.

"The most important thing here is that people are learning to love one another," he said. "I was in the FLDS and I have (lived with) those hate feelings and those shunning feelings. But I quit doing it."

Jessop said he was organizing a time capsule that would include a guest roster of those in attendance.

"People have been scattered far and wide," he said. "It's 13 years since we've done this. … There's every culture you can imagine here."

Jessop said the cooks prepared 800 pounds of Dutch oven potatoes for the meals. An hour after the start, there were four buckets of potatoes left but they had to scramble to get more bacon.

A fireworks show planned Saturday night was expected to last about 45 minutes with 1,500 mortars ranging from 3 inches to 8 inches.

Follow Kevin Jenkins, @SpectrumJenkins. Call him at 435-674-6253.

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