From Bountiful to Texas: the Nolita Collen Blackmore Sect Timeline
By David Miller
The Fundamentalist LDS Church did not operate Bountiful as an isolated satellite. It functioned as an active human reserve. Winston Blackmore had presided over the commune during the 1990s under church president Rulon Jeffs. When Rulon died in 2002 and his son Warren seized absolute power, the relationship between Bountiful and the sect's headquarters in Short Creek, straddling Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, fractured dramatically.
Warren Jeffs demanded absolute submission. He ordered Winston Blackmore to step down and submit to his authority. Blackmore refused, triggering a bitter schism within the Canadian community. Jeffs excommunicated Blackmore and appointed James Oler to lead a loyalist faction. Despite the feud, families with ties to both leaders remained entangled in the strict religious dogma that mandated plural marriage for heavenly exaltation. Mothers and fathers were conditioned to believe that surrendering their daughters to the prophet's decrees was the ultimate test of faith.
The cross-border sect pipeline relied on ordinary passenger vehicles, family road trips, and minimal border documentation. Canadian girls were driven through remote border crossings into Idaho or Montana. They were told they were going on vacation or visiting relatives. Instead, their destinations were patriarchal compounds where marriages were performed in secret ceremonies without civil licenses.
David Miller brings 15 years of experience in global economics, personal finance strategy, and market dynamics. He specializes in turning complex economic trends into actionable insights for everyday readers.
