A Church under Siege
The Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882 and subsequent laws severely impacted the LDS Church, leading to asset seizures and the hiding of church leaders. This hiding became organized, moving individuals secretly to avoid arrest.
This period of intense scrutiny and legal pressure culminated in President Wilford Woodruff’s 1890 Manifesto, ending plural marriages and beginning the reconciliation process with the U.S. Government, eventually restoring church properties and securing Utah’s statehood in 1896. This impacted the region as many families were practicing plural marriage.
An Era of Transformation
Upon arriving to the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young knew that he would have to quickly expand settlements throughout the west to establish infrastructure and trade routes for his dream of building a society for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The way this was done was through Settlement Missions where leaders of the church would assign families to leave their homes in the Salt Lake Valley and start new in remote areas. These families had faith that they were called by God to settle these areas and would not leave unless they were released from their calling. The areas we have focused on have been in the Southwest of the United States. In particular, The Indian Mission, Las Vegas Springs Mission, Muddy Mission, and Cotton Missions. These missions allowed settlements to grow naturally with trade increasing through mainly agriculture, mining, ranching and commerce.
Trials were abundant as these small settlements tried to grow with many places reinventing themselves time and time again. During the late nineteenth century, missions closed allowing the freedom of families to decide if they wanted to stay in their communities, or if they wanted to move to areas that were more appealing to them. Moapa Valley was no exception.
Moapa Valley’s Resilience
Not every member of the Muddy Mission left the Moapa Valley. In 1883, eight families remained who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were the Whitmore, McNiel, Crosby, Perkins, Kelsey, Monson, Cox, and Bonelli families.
Between 1871 and 1883 the communities of the Muddy Mission were almost empty of people. Some of the houses left empty were burned to the ground by the local Indians. Other houses became occupied by drifters. Many of them were unsuccessful prospectors from the California gold fields. Some were hiding from the law. They “drifted” into the valley and lived in abandoned homes and harvested the remaining crops the missionaries had left in the field.
Those who came continued to plant crops and raise hogs. A Mr. Logan settled on the site of St. Joseph. From then on, it was called Logandale. Elizabeth Carter Whitmore and her sons purchased the old grist mill from the squatters. She also purchased the original townsite of Overton from a firm called, Wooley, Judd, and Lund.
Near this same time, there were more families moving into Bunkerville. However, all the useable farmland in Bunkerville was already under cultivation. As a result, a population shift of sorts took place. Some original Bunkerville family members moved to the Moapa Vallely. Several children of Edward Bunker Sr’s third wife, Mary McQurarrie Bunker, made this move, as did Isaiah Edward Cox and a few others. Isaiah Edward Cox became the bishop of the reestablished Overton Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by early 1885.