Joseph Musser has documented Mormon fundamentalism better than nearly any other person. Dr Cristina Rosetti will discuss his post-Manifesto polygamy and his theological innovations. Check out our conversation…
Don’t miss our other conversations with Cristina: https://gospeltangents.com/people/cristina-rosetti/
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Joseph Musser & Post Manifesto Polygamy
Cristina 01:19 Lorin Woolley takes that, and he then continues this process where he ordains other men that are called the Council of Friends. So his dad, John Wickersham Woolley: John W. Wolley, Charles Zitting, J. Lesley Broadbent, John Y. Barlow, Joseph Musser, become the men.
GT 01:37 That’s five?
Cristina 01:38 Yes. And so then, when Joseph Musser is ordained, he talks about, he was like,” I was ordained an apostle to the world.” It’s like a…
GT 01:48 And this is in 1921?
Cristina 01:51 Joseph Musser’s ordination is 1929. Joseph Musser is excommunicated in 1921. He jumped ship to the fundamentalist movement. He starts attending these meetings and starts meeting people. Very early on, I mean, Joseph Musser was smart. He kept a diary, a very thorough diary. Because of that, the early years of the movement are really told through the pen of Joseph Musser. The Woolley story is told through the pen of Joseph Musser, because Musser is keeping the meeting minutes. Musser is writing pamphlets. Very early on, when Musser really struggles financially and to hold down a job in a time when people hate polygamists, he’s losing his job. That ends up being fine in a lot of ways. Because Lorin Woolley ends up telling him, “Well, your calling is to spread the movement.” Because of that, Joseph Musser ends up publishing a monthly periodical, Truth Magazine. He ends up publishing a lot of pamphlets. He ends up really being a figurehead of this movement. Eventually, as members of the council die, he does become the senior member and he’s the president of the priesthood at the end of his life.
GT 03:03 Okay, so 1921 is where the first Council of Friends was ordained, Is that right? Or was it 1929?
Cristina 03:12 The ordinations happen sporadically. They’re not all at one time.
GT 03:18 Which Woolley was 1921?
Cristina 03:20 That’s when Lorin Woolley starts telling the story.
GT 03:22 Lorin Woolley, and so then he ordains his father next?
Cristina 03:25 We don’t know if his dad is the immediate next one. I know the Musser story. (Chuckling) Musser, I think, is actually the last one in 1929.
GT 03:35 Okay, so over the next eight years…
Cristina 03:38 But Musser was also still a member of the LDS Church until 1921, which is very late for a practicing polygamist, an unapologetic polygamist, a polygamist who is still getting married to other people, to be in the church. March 1921 is late to still be going strong.
GT 04:01 Well, because I think last time we talked a little bit about him, and you told the story about how the apostles called him in.
Cristina 04:09 Yeah, in 1909.
GT 04:10 Can you tell that again?
Cristina 04:11 Yeah, he was called into a disciplinary hearing in 1909. It was in the Salt Lake Temple. It’s the longest diary entry he gives. It’s an interesting diary entry because he talks about how he was called into a meeting with–Rudger Clawson was there, and Anthony W. Evans was there, and Francis Lyman was there. All these people were there. He specifically notes all these people were polygamists or have done plural marriages after the Manifesto. The beginning of his diary entry, he’s like, “This is hypocrisy. What’s going on?” He does something really interesting in the meeting. They asked him about plural marriage. He’s unapologetic. He’s not pretending he’s something he’s not. But during the meeting, he starts telling them that this is out of order. None of you are my stake president. They’re all just like [blank stare.] You can imagine them just being like, “Oh, that’s true.” And that’s true. They weren’t a stake president. That is out of order. Like we don’t do it that way. Who’s we? You all, don’t do it that way.
Cristina 05:13 That’s not how we do it! And so he notes that, and they tell him, “Yeah, that’s true. We’ll let your stake president handle it.” The problem is his stake president is a polygamist. On the side, he had a stake president are secretly plotting reviving the United Order. So, that’s not going to happen.
GT 05:34 So, the Stake President wasn’t going to excommunicate him.
Cristina 05:36 Absolutely not.
GT 05:38 Well, that’s hard to believe, given the fact that the stake president gets all his line orders from the apostles, right?
Cristina 05:46 Right. I have this quote, of the end that I was looking for. At the end of this meeting, he walks away vowing to not change. He specifically says, “I had a definite testimony of the sacredness and correctness of the principle of plural marriage. I hope to be prepared to lay down my life for it, if necessary.” He was willing to die for this.
GT 06:09 He was like John Taylor, ride or die.
Cristina 06:11 I mean, the last of the badass prophets. So I mean, there was there was a sense that he didn’t care at all. We know he didn’t care because he kept getting married. I mean, really, the important thing which a lot of people are familiar with now because of so much of the great work that has come out about it. When we talk about him getting married polygamously, after the manifesto, it was Matthias Cowley doing his marriages, who was an apostle. Judson Tolman did one of his sealings. He was a patriarch when patriarchs were allowed to do that. He wasn’t doing this weird back alley sealings with no-name people. They had authority to do it, which really complicates the story, of course, of post-manifesto polygamy.
GT 06:54 Now, Cowley got dropped from the quorum in 1906, though.
Cristina 06:58 With John W. Taylor.
GT 07:00 And so was this sealing after 1906?
Cristina 07:04 Nope, 1902.
Cristina 07:05 He was sealed to Mary Caroline Hill.
GT 07:08 [In 1902, it] was still sort of okay.
Cristina 07:13 Rick, the first manifesto is in 1890.
GT 07:16 Yeah, but there’s the 1904 manifesto.
Cristina 07:19 Right. But he’s also sealed again in 1907.
GT 07:22 By Cowley?
Cristina 07:23 By Judson Tolman, who was a patriarch. But I have the sealing record for that sealing. It lists a group of men whose sealing was authorized by and Matthias Cowley is listed as one of them.
GT 07:37 Maybe we should recap, because I know if you talk to the average Mormon, we’re like, oh, yeah, polygamy ended in 1890. But a lot of people, especially fundamentalists, were like, well, it’s a wink and a nod. Even Woodruff was allowing people to go to Mexico to continue.
Cristina 08:00 And Canada, yes.
GT 08:01 And Canada, ok. It was like, well, this is for the United States only. I mean, that was the understanding between 1890 and 1904 when the Smoot hearings happened and then…
Cristina 08:14 It’s complicated. Right? The government doesn’t like polygamy. I get where Woodruff is coming from right. The government is disincorporating the Church. The government is taking property. The government is threatening is the taking the temples.
GT 08:29 They can’t do anything in Canada or Mexico.
Cristina 08:31 Yeah. I mean, that’s a big deal. They’re going to take the temples. If you believe that the temple is the place where families are sealed for eternity, and now the feds are coming in and taking your building and you know that you can get out of it, if you simply say, “We’re not doing this anymore.” Yeah, of course, you’re going to do that. Now, I feel a little bad for John Taylor who was just willing to die, and then the next guy’s like, that’s fine. That’s a little bit of a bummer. So, I get I get where Woodruff is coming from. The problem, though, is you can’t tell people for years, like Brigham Young, “No one becomes gods or the sons of Gods without entering into the principal plural marriage.” You can’t tell people that and then be like, just kidding. Monogamy is cool, too. So, there is a really difficult tension there. And so of course, I mean, the other problem 1890, they say no more polygamy. Does that mean we all get divorced? Does that mean we have to live separately? What does that actually mean?
GT 09:30 Yeah, how do we wind it down?
Cristina 09:31 It’s one thing to theoretically say no more polygamy. It’s another to say, let’s live this. The problem is in 1904, when Joseph F. Smith says, no more polygamy, it’s the same problem. It hasn’t been that long since 1890. Again, are we doing the mass divorce thing? What are we doing? Again, John Taylor is not that long ago. This memory of this man who was willing to die for it, and now what are we doing? I think in some way, this is a reason why I find the fundamentalist position slightly more tenable. I mean, we were talking about this yesterday. You can say Brigham Young is wrong. Great. But, also, if he’s the Prophet, I mean, what are you going to do? The people who are doing polygamy, Brigham Young said, “You have to do this.” People have sacrificed so much to do it. And now we’re just getting divorced and calling it good?
GT 10:29 Well, I mean, nobody was saying that at the time. The idea was, in 1890, hey, don’t do this again. You can continue to live with your polygamous wives, but don’t get any new ones, wink wink, except in Mexico and Canada.
Cristina 10:47 Or if Matthias Cowley or John W. Taylor do it and then it’s fine.
GT 10:51 And so then the Reed Smoot hearings come. They want to kick him out of Congress.
Cristina 10:57 We also have this really difficult thing, which I think is the interesting thing about the fundamentalist movement is there is no fundamentalist movement in 1904. There are people who are sympathetic to polygamy. That is what they are. Today, of course, today, we have the very sharp distinction of who is a Mormon fundamentalist. I mean, it’s not that sharp of a distinction. There are people who want to be both at the same time. That’s fair. But we are able to differentiate what makes someone one versus the other. But the reason why the 1910s, 20s are so interesting, is it’s just people who are invested in polygamy. This is why people are always shocked and scandalized that Hugh B. Brown’s daughter marries Rulon Jeffs. Why is Hugh B. Brown’s dad ordaining or giving patriarchal blessings to early fundamentalist women. Like, what’s going on? It’s not that he was a fundamentalist. It’s not that Zola Brown was a fundamentalist, it’s that this is a weird time.
GT 11:57 Yeah.
Cristina 11:58 These weren’t, I mean, we call it the proto-fundamentalist movement. But these sharp lines, between 1890 and until 1933, 1933 is a hard cut off. But until 1933, it’s just a weird moment.
GT 12:14 We’re in transition.
Cristina 12:15 I hope people understand that when people talk about these really strange marriages and interactions between people who we associate with fundamentalism, it’s not that these people were fundamentalist. It’s that this is a rough period. Everyone is just trying to figure out, where do we go?
GT 12:33 Yeah. And so Joseph F. Smith, in 1904 gets hauled into Congress. “Are you doing polygamy?” I mean, this is where the temple ceremonies become part of the congressional record.
Cristina 12:45 And the answer is, yes. The answer is yes. Because a plural wife is having his kid. The answer is yes.
GT 12:49 But that’s why he…
Cristina 12:50 But Reed Smoot’s not.
GT 12:52 Correct. Reed Smoot is a monogamist. He’s an apostle. Is he the only one monogamist apostle at the time? I think he is.
Cristina 12:58 I don’t know if he’s the only one, but he is a monogamist.
GT 13:01 Yeah, and so Apostle/Senator Reid Smoot, because Joseph F. Smith issues the second manifesto in 1904 and says, okay. We mean business this time. And so, when Matthias Cowley and John W. Taylor, son of John Taylor are apostles performing polygamous marriages, they get dropped. One of them gets disfellowshipped. The other one gets kicked out, excommunicated. 1906 is where we set the example. Okay, we mean business this time. We’re kicking apostles out for doing it.
Cristina 13:48 This is true. But at the same time, we’re calling in Joseph Musser in 1909. He’s in one of the [quorums.] He’s in like the 105th Quorum of the Seventy. I mean, he’s not like a big deal. But we’re calling him in in 1909 and doing nothing about it, and just being like, alright. I guess go about your day. In 1909, he’s continuing to preach polygamy over the pulpit. He’s writing down. I mean, he’s keeping a detailed journal noting that a lot of people are doing that. He’s not the only one. Granted he’s in an area with a stake president who is a polygamist. He’s a known polygamist. He’s not hiding it. He happens to be in the area of Salt Lake where that was happening.
GT 14:27 But at least in 1904, well, this is still kind of a fuzzy area. But the idea is, don’t take any more new ones. But there’s still some new ones happening. John W. Taylor’s doing sealings, so is…
Cristina 14:40 I also still think, though, that when we look at the diaries of these people, I think it’s really easy to look back and say, in 1904, we now note… But when you read, and I know Musser ends up being a unique situation. But when he’s writing his diary in 1904, he doesn’t know he’s going to become a fundamentalist. I mean, he doesn’t know that. And so, when we look at his diary, his 1904 Our General Conference diary entries, he writes the day of those and he’s like, “President Joseph F. Smith spoke over the pulpit at conference. He issued the second manifesto. Then I went to a meeting, and we talked about we’re going to make new statues about for Brigham Young and Joseph Smith to celebrate the anniversary of the Restoration of the Church.” I went home and saw Rose.
GT 15:22 These are all unrelated.
Cristina 15:24 He’s just like telling how mundane the second manifesto is to him, that for us, we look at it, and we’re like, 1904, this is the hard end. It’s going to end. The second manifesto is going to go into the canon of LDS. They’re going to read it in Come Follow Me. But for the people who lived it, for a lot of people who lived it, it was like, “Well, General Conference happened. And hey, they once again said we’re not doing polygamy. So I mean, I guess we’re…”
GT 15:46 Repeat of 1890.
Cristina 15:48 Got to go to that meeting for statues. Like, it’s just so mundane. I mean, I think the mundane reality of it, I mentioned this at a Benchmark event I did. But when I got to the day of his excommunication in his diary, I was so interested. What’s he going to say? Like, what’s he going to say? This is the moment that changes his life. This is the moment that he loses everything. This is the moment that he’s separated from the priesthood and from everything. And I get to the day, and there’s a little Deseret News clipping of his excommunication notice, because it was back when they would publish it in the Deseret News.
GT 16:24 He put it in the diary?
Cristina 16:25 He taped it in and it he just said, “Routine day at the office.” Because it just didn’t matter. It just didn’t matter.
GT 16:36 Is this because he had a second anointing, because it doesn’t matter?
Cristina 16:40 He did have his second anointing. He was married in the Logan temple. This period of his life around his marriage is interesting. It’s after the manifesto. But he gets married young. He serves in the southern states. He has a very average mission. His mission president, J. Golden Kimball. They remained good friends even after his excommunication. He goes to Kimball’s funeral. They write letters to each other. They remain friends. J. Golden Kimball’s just like, whatever. I don’t know what’s going on with this guy. Because he’s this past elder, but he has a great mission. He comes home and gets married to Rose S. Borgquist in the Logan temple. Then he gets his second anointing. In his diary, he writes, “special temple blessings.” He doesn’t write second anointing.
GT 17:30 What year is this, approximately?
Cristina 17:36 November 30, 1899 in the Logan Temple. The interesting part, I think, about his second anointing, not only the fact that he noted in his diary, which I guess people would. I don’t know. At the time, I talk a little bit about in the book, how, second anointings have a sharp decline after the third manifesto in 1933. This is probably a little bit of why. He was 27.
GT 18:04 Wow, that’s really young.
Cristina 18:07 Like, the highest ordinance, the highest blessings available in the LDS Church is given to a child. It’s just, I mean, I know 27-year-olds are adults, and a lot of people get married at 27, whatever. But that’s pretty young to receive the fullness of everything. So, he and his wife receive it. It really means a lot to him. It’s a big deal.
GT 18:30 That’s why the excommunication doesn’t matter.
Cristina 18:32 It means nothing. But the problem, especially, is the next month, in his later recollections, in his next month, he notes that a “Special messenger came to him and told him that he has been selected to keep polygamy alive.” Now, this is an interesting situation, because the special messenger is never named. There’s some kind of speculation of who it might have been. This is a retroactive reflection on his life. It doesn’t note this in his diaries or anything. He does note in his later recollection of his life, that he was torn by this, because he recognized that this is an eternal principle. He also recognized that this is against the Church. He’s at a crossroads. Do I go with the eternal principles of God, or do I go with the temporal church? We know what way he goes, ultimately.
GT 19:19 So it’s a man, it’s not an angel.
Cristina 19:21 It’s a person. Yeah. And so we think it’s Brigham, Jr. I mean, that’s the impression that he’s given. But that ends up being the catalyst for–he goes to his wife, Rose. They talk about it. She struggles, initially. She goes and prays about it. She determined that this is correct.
GT 19:44 So, he’s a monogamist at this time.
Cristina 19:46 Yes.
GT 19:46 So, he was a 27-year-old monogamist., okay.
Cristina 19:51 Then he marries Maryline C. Hill a few years later, under Mathias Cowley. They get married in his house.
GT 19:57 In Cowley’s house?
Cristina 19:59 In Musser’s house.
GT 20:00 Musser’s house, okay. This is funny, because these are supposed to happen at a temple. Right?
Cristina 20:09 But at the time, this is still the time where people have home altars. This is still the time where people are doing prayer circles at home. So, there’s still a lot of–it’s also against the rules. Matthias Cowley was doing sealings. We have Cowley sealing records. They’re happening everywhere. If you look at one of them, if you look at Matthias Cowley’s records, it says, “In car.”
GT 20:36 Oh, wow. I knew they did them on trains, anywhere. Because it’s a secret practice.
Cristina 20:42 There’s on in an ice chest, like a walk-in freezer, basically. Some of the times the patriarchs are wearing masks. I don’t know, it’s a very…
GT 20:54 It’s a secret thing.
Cristina 20:55 You going to get excommunicated. So, of course, you’re going to do it in a weird freezer with a mask on. I don’t know. There are probably better ways than that. He ends up then getting married later to Ellis R. Shipp, Jr.
GT 21:06 So this is number three.
Cristina 21:07 Number three.
Heber J Grant Gets Tough on Polygamy
Cristina 21:08 The problem then, what ends up doing it for him, with the excommunication is there starts to be rumor that he was thinking about taking a fourth wife. He never did. This is an important point. He never did. What’s interesting about that is he didn’t do anything against the Church. But he thought about it. At this point in 1920, by that time, having incorrect belief in Mormonism starts to be handled. Because it’s, again, it’s very easy to get rid of someone who’s being sealed again. But what if they just believe in it?
GT 21:51 Right.
Cristina 21:52 Then what do we do with them? But yeah, I mean, he’s excommunicated in 1921. But like you said, there’s this big problem of he has had his calling and election made sure. How do you excommunicate someone who has had their calling and election made sure. That’s a very hard thing to do. Another reason I think Musser was so compelling to people in a way that other fundamentalist leaders might not have been, is we do not have any evidence contrary. I have long standing disagreement with Lindsay Hansen Park on this. We would both agree, we don’t know. But she tends to believe that maybe other people had theirs. I don’t. But he had a second anointing, and that’s interesting. If nothing else, he knows what that ritual is. He knows how it’s short. It’s a short ritual. He can replicate it. Now a big question, does he replicate it? I would argue, yes. I think there’s certainly evidence he gave it to his wife, Lucy, a woman he marries significantly later. We know that just from the way that he talks about a ritual she’s performing. And so that makes it compelling, I’ll just say. So, by 1920, when they’re meeting in Nathaniel Baldwin’s home, and they’re talking about this interesting new way of doing priesthood, he’s someone that has a very particular priesthood and a particular scale of priesthood that is exciting.
GT 23:22 Okay, and so this is Musser. We’ve still got Woolley. Is he’s leading the charge?
Cristina 23:35 Early on, it’s fairly unified. Things start to unravel in the unification of the movement, I don’t want to say pretty quickly. But there are issues early on. The notable issues are: going to prison is a big one, and death. Those are the difficult things. The imprisonment is a really significant factor of Musser’s life, not only because he eventually does go to prison. He actually serves the same sentence for the same crime as his dad, who was church historian, Amos Milton Musser. And so, in 1920s, things are fine. [In] the 1930s, things stopped being fine, because Heber J. Grant becomes the president of the LDS Church. Heber J. Grant, the polygamist, hates polygamy. What an irony.
GT 24:27 He’s the one, I mean, I know Woodruff gets some crap from fundamentalists, but Grant’s the guy. He’s the enemy.
Cristina 24:34 Grant’s–I don’t want to say the word apostate, because I this is not a belief I hold. But Grant’s an apostate. {chuckles} I don’t know. Heber J. Grant is deeply hated by the fundamentalist movement. And this is fair. This is a good. There’s good reason, I would say. Heber J. Grant was a polygamist, so he’s kind of like a–
GT 24:55 Turncoat.
Cristina 24:55 He’s a traitor. He’s a traitor because he has enough wives to go to heaven. Now he’s saying other men don’t get to do that. Like what? What a move. What a move.
GT 25:08 Because three is the minimum. Right?
Cristina 25:10 Woolley taught three. Three, five seven are the degrees of glory in heaven, according to Woolley. But, yeah, he got in. Heber J. Grant slid in. So, that’s annoying, but then suddenly he, like, hates polygamy. The reason he hates polygamy, I think, from his comments about it, are twofold. The first is he just straight up thinks it’s embarrassing. He thinks it’s embarrassing. He thinks it’s an embarrassment. He talks about this. He also, one of the really interesting things about him, in 1931, at April General Conference, Heber J. Grant gets up and he talks about polygamy. He talks about how there are some people maligning the good name of the Church. There are some people saying there’s still polygamy. At this point…
GT 26:00 So, you think he’s specifically talking about Joseph Musser.
Cristina 26:03 I do, but the Council of Friends, because at this point, Lorin Woolley is I mean, again, I mentioned Lorin was not a reliable narrator. One of the things Lorin Woolley does is Lorin Woolley starts spreading rumors that all the apostles and are still living polygamy secretly.
GT 26:19 Like adding new wives?
Cristina 26:20 Yeah, like actually fully living [it,] which is not true. But Lorin Woolley is starting to say this, and many people are starting to wonder. That would be an embarrassment for the Church. And so Grant is annoyed.
Priesthood is Independent of Church
Cristina 26:30 The other thing Grant’s annoyed by is Joseph Musser, by this point, had started to promulgate a very particular idea of the priesthood, which is interesting. He starts to really make a compelling case that the priesthood and the Church can function separately. He’s able to make a compelling case for this exact reason. Rick, what came first, the restoration of the priesthood or the establishment of the Church?
GT 26:58 Oh, this is where that argument comes from. It was the establishment of the priesthood.
Cristina 27:02 It was. Joseph Musser was the first to do this.
GT 27:06 Okay. So that argument can be traced directly to Joseph Musser.
Cristina 27:11 And so this is what I think is his biggest intellectual contribution to the development of fundamentalism. It’s true that the priesthood is restored.
GT 27:20 In 1829.
Cristina 27:22 Then a church is founded, the church is established. The priesthood in an LDS context of being the power of God, that is chaotic. That the power of God is on the earth. That’s a chaotic idea. You need something to rein that in. And so, a church makes sense. If you think that this is how priesthood works, you should have something that makes sure it doesn’t run amok. It makes sense to have it in that order. And so, the conclusion that Musser is able to make is, if that’s true, why can’t the priesthood still exist outside of the church?
GT 28:00 Right.
Cristina 28:01 Not a bad argument. And so he says this, and he writes this really great pamphlet, A Priesthood Issue on this exact thing. What’s interesting is, in 1931, Heber J. Grant takes to General Conference and says, “There are some who would suggest…” There are some who would suggest. And so because of this, I think that there is a case to be made, that what I mention that the fundamentalist movement was always watching, carefully, what the LDS Church was doing. They still watch carefully what the LDS Church does.
GT 28:34 Do they?
Cristina 28:35 I mean, they’re interested.
GT 28:37 They don’t pay attention to General Conference, not like the ex-Mormons.
Cristina 28:40 I’m in the Facebook groups and when that Kirtland Temple sold—
GT 28:45 Well, yeah, the historic temples, I would say, mean a lot to fundamentalist Mormons. But they don’t pay attention to General Conference. Do they?
Cristina 28:54 Some of them do, when the endowment changes.
GT 28:58 But they don’t announce that in General Conference. They just change it.
Cristina 29:00 But there is never a more boisterous moment in fundamentalist Facebook groups than when there’s endowment changes, because that’s such a big part of the claim. “They’ve changed the endowment.” Some do. Some certainly do. They’ll follow the hashtag or most fundamentalists have family that are LDS and so they’ll hear about it. They’re in the family group chat. They see their sister’s Facebook post, so they pay attention. But also, because so many fundamentalists have LDS family, they’re going to pay attention to what religion their family is. It just happens. Musser watches closer than most. Musser is tuning in, aggressively. He’s writing line by line commentary and circulating it around the intermountain west. He’s really aggressively attuned in a way that might be a little unhealthy. But he’s very interested in what his former religion is doing. But in the same way, Heber J. Grant is watching what his weird excommunicated former people are doing. I think there’s something to be said that you can’t be a fundamentalist, if you’re not opposing something, if you’re not opposing modernism. You can’t be modern, if you’re not opposing fundamentalism. And so, these two traditions, under Grant, really start to use each other to create a distinct identity of what it is that they’re going to be moving forward.
3rd Manifesto
Cristina 30:19 And so in the 1930s, I mean, fast forward two years, polygamy still doesn’t go away. And so, Heber J. Grant has to actually do something. So, in 1933, he gets up at General Conference, and he says, Alright, this is it. You have to stop polygamy. If you’re a stake president or a bishop, it’s over. He writes a letter to bishops and stake presidents saying the excommunications have to start. He sends out loyalty oaths. People have to sign these. If they don’t sign them, they’re out. And then he calls on law enforcement to start cracking down. That’s when the arrests start. That’s when people start getting fired. Kids have to withdraw from school. That’s when this group of Mormons who believe in polygamy start realizing, we need to get out of the Salt Lake Valley. Well, let’s go down to Southern Utah.
GT 31:09 Okay, so the first raids are in about 1933. Is that right?
Cristina 31:14 [They’re in] 1935. It’s not so much a raid. But in 1935, when they go down, they start building houses. It’s just a media circus. All of the news goes down there to see all of a sudden this flock of polygamists. People already lived in southern Utah who weren’t polygamist. There was a branch. There was a little stake. The Zion Park stake was there. It was just a normal town, and then all of a sudden it was a polygamist town. And so that was concerning. At the time Charles Zitting gets arrested, one of the Council Friends, the council members. People start getting arrested at this point, and charged for polygamy. Sorry, [it was] for unlawful cohabitation, because that is the crime. We start to see early instances of government interference. At the time, in 1935–well, from that point forward, when we look at comments from governors, attorney generals in Arizona, all of them note that the LDS Church was, at least, participating.
GT 32:21 In the raids?
Cristina 32:22 Yeah.
GT 32:23 Okay. And so…
Cristina 32:25 I don’t want to say–participating might be a little too strong, but they were supportive.
GT 32:28 Right. And so the third manifesto, is that 1933-34?
Cristina 32:34 [It’s in} 1933, hard cut off.
GT 32:37 Grant comes in. Does he come in in 1933?
Cristina 32:41 That’s when that happens, April 1933.
GT 32:43 But when did he become prophet?[1]
Cristina 32:44 I don’t know.
GT 32:46 Okay, but anyway, in 1933 Grant is, like, “We mean business. We’re going to start excommunicating you.”
Cristina 32:53 And he actually ends polygamy.
GT 32:54 Even for just belief in polygamy.
Cristina 32:54 Because a loyalty oath is a belief. And the loyalty oath, I mean, in the book, I publish what the loyalty oaths were, one of them. People can see them. They really go out strong in the Zion Park Stake, especially, because that’s where the polygamists are. There was a there was a lot of debate to be had. Do we sign these? And do we lie, like wink and nod, like I’m loyal to President Heber J. Grant and whatever it is that he’s doing. Or do we not? Because of just how chaotic things were, eventually, it is the case that the Zion Park stake has to be reorganized. The Rockville branch is dissolved. They LDS Church removes itself from that area. There is no LDS Church.
GT 33:37 Which is now kind of the Short Creek area.
Cristina 33:38 Which is now Short Creek, except there is not LDS Church.
GT 33:41 Its not really Short Creek anymore. It got changed to Hilldale and Colorado City.
Cristina 33:48 It was always Hilldale. It is colloquially called Short Creek. It’s the Twin Cities, but there is no LDS meetinghouse in Short Creek.[2] If you were the LDS Church, you would have taken your building out, too, because what’s going to happen? Like, who’s in there? Like, what are they doing in that at church? So yeah, 1935 is really when we start to see loyalty oaths, arrests, bad news. It’s not until 1944 that we see the first raid.
GT 34:20 Okay.
Cristina 34:21 And that’s when Musser goes to prison.
GT 34:23 Oh, he was part of the 1944 raid.
Cristina 34:26 Yeah.
GT 34:26 Oh, I didn’t realize that.
Cristina 34:27 He goes to prison.
{End of Part 2}
[1] Heber J Grant served as LDS president from 1918-1945.
[2] In December 2024, I went on a trip to the Short Creek area and the LDS Church has a new church under construction there. See https://gospeltangents.com/2025/01/flds-most-wanted-field-trip/
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