The Short Creek Refuge Wallace Stegner described Short Creek, Arizona, of 1935 as the “capitol of the world.” This paper offers a personal account of how that remote desert hamlet rose as a haven for fundamentalist Mormons who felt called to continue the practice of polygamy even after the Manifesto. Told primarily through the eyes of Joseph Lyman Jessop, a polygamist sent to Short Creek to help build “a branch of the Kingdom of God,” this story explores behind-the-scenes reasons this “refuge” so quickly, within three months’ time, became such a focal point for Church, state, and national scrutiny. Original Mormonism, a fundamentalist’s Understanding of the truths of Mormonism After years of researching various Mormon belief systems, Stan Shepp has combined the truths of all of these teachings into a synthesis he calls “Original Mormonism.” His vision ties together doctrines of the pre-existence, agency, government, priesthood, authority, plural celestial marriage, sealing power, the kingdom of God, the plan of salvation (including Adam-God), and our own personal eternal progression.

Marianne Watson