Colorado City

I know there are probuly alot more. But this is the one that I heard about first. I want to stop this community first so I can show the other polygamy communities a message. I am not gonna sit here while this thing keeps going on. I'll handle the rest of the communities after Colorado City. I'm still young and I have a lot of time on my hands.

Russ,

If you want to make it a mission to liberate the naive people of Colorado City from their oppressive lifestyle, I'm all for it.

First, we would need to ignore extremists like lolacollins that posted earlier, because this is a very skewed view of how it really is. I'm an Arizona native, and still live here (just outside of Phoenix). And though I've never been to Colorado City, I have probably done my homework on this a little more than a lot of people.

Back in the 1950s, then Governor Howard Pyle had hired detectives to investigate Colorado City (called Short Creek at the time). These detectives ultimately ordered a raid that resulted in the arrest of many polygamist men. The problem here is the media at this point is showing footage of broken families, children seperate from their parents, etc., which generated so much negative publicity for the governor that made it difficult for future administrations to take any action.

So as it sits now, law enforcement will not simply go into Colorado City without a complaint being filed, or unless they are witness to a crime, any more than they will investigate the break-in of your house without either them seeing it or you telling them about it. Frivolous lawsuit attorneys won't go after it because there's no money to be made. So the only ones left are people with good morals and ethics that usually don't have the means to even begin something like this.

My problem is not with polygamy as a concept. If a group of consenting adults all want to get married to each other, and they're not hurting anyone, then that's their business. The keywords here are "consenting" and "adults", neither of which applies to Colorado City. Very young girls (not adults) are coerced (not consenting) into a particular situation. This is where the problem is, and it's what needs to be attacked.

Some people are for allowing polygamist relationships, and some are against it; just as some are for gay relationships, and others are against it. So trying to get support to make a change based on that method alone is not going to happen. Someone needs to propose a change based on the fact that child abuse is occuring, because a vast majority of people (substantially more, anyway) would support something like this. It might be good to go in there with a team from children protective services and send a shockwave through their community.

I don't know much about the polygamy or wut polygamy is. All i know is that there are innocent little girls who are being forced to marry old ass men. I mean these girls are 15 years old, if thats not abuse then i don't know what is. We need to stop this abuse thats going on and we need to stop it now. These girls are suffering and they don't know of a better life. Thats where I and whoever else wants to step in comes in. I wanna stop this abuse right now and I don't care who is there who wants 2 stop me.

Russ,

I don't know much about the polygamy or wut polygamy is.

Polygamy is where you have multiple husbands or wives. Monogamy, what we're all familiar with, is when you have one husband or one wife.

I wanna stop this abuse right now and I don't care who is there who wants 2 stop me.

Sounds great! What's your plan?

Nick, Ok maybe I don't have a problem with polygamy. If its part of what they believe in then Its ok. But whats not ok is the abuse that's going on in Colorado City. My plan is to let these girls, who are being forced to wed and bare children at a very young age, know that they have a choice. They don't have to do this if they don't want to. They have the right to say "no" if they don't want to wed or have sex with an older man. If any girl wants to escape from Colorado City then I will help them. And i won't stop until everyone is safe. I'm sure there are some people in Colorado City who are against all of the abuse that is going on, but maybe they are afraid of what might happen to them if they voice there opinion. I'm gonna stand by those people who are against the abuse and fight along there side. I'll let them know that they are not alone and I will always be there to see that this stops.

Russ,

But whats not ok is the abuse that's going on in Colorado City.

I agree with you.

My plan is to let these girls, who are being forced to wed and bare children at a very young age, know that they have a choice.

That sounds great, but it's a goal, not a plan. A plan has steps to it, like this:

1) Visit Colorado City to learn in-depth why what's happening is happening so you can determine an approach.

2) Contact key people in the media to inform them of the situation and ask them to cooperate in getting the word out.

3) Contact Mohave County authorities (Colorado City is in Mohave County, and the county has jurisdiction over child abuse issues) and find out what they are doing, and give them any suggestions or information you have.

...or something like that. So when I ask you what your plan is, I'm asking you if you have an idea of specific actions that you are going to take.

I'm sure there are some people in Colorado City who are against all of the abuse that is going on, but maybe they are afraid of what might happen to them if they voice there opinion. I'm gonna stand by those people who are against the abuse and fight along there side.

There are people who are residents of the city, and some have spoken out against what's going on. If you want to support someone, look for someone named Ross Chatwin. He lives in Colorado City, and is actively opposing the oppressive conditions. He would be a good person to support.

I personally think the plan you made is perfect. That takes care of just about everything that we need to do to stop this whole thing. So I say lets use the plan that you set up to stop the abusive in Colorado City. The only thing we gotta do now is to set up a date to start this plan.

I personally think the plan you made is perfect. That takes care of just about everything that we need to do to stop this whole thing.

Whoa.. hold on a minute. I think the example plan that I laid out was fairly generic. It needs to be more detailed.

If this is something that you really want to do, then you need to learn quite a bit more about the situation first. I would recommend trying to get ahold of Ross Chatwin and learning what you can from him. Find out if we we've seen on TV about Colorado City is true, is abuse like this really commonplace. Then find out what his goals area, and what his obstacles are. Ask him, why is it so difficult to get the authorities to act?

Once you talked with him a bit, your next step will be determined by what he says. But if the gist of it is, "yes, it's that bad, it needs to be stopped, but the authorities are reluctant," then the next call would probably be to child protective services in Mohave County asking them if they are aware of the situation (of course they are, but it's a good way to start the conversation), and then ask them what it will take for them to take some action, and why they haven't been able to do so in the past.

Then move from there based on the information you gather.

im from ohio i want to know why this colorado city thing isnt being taken care of theres really no reason the state or even the feds arent in there. Is this some cover up or is it just no one wants to get involved. this towns polygamist group has violated constitutional rights by denying education above 7th grd to girls and more things than i can list. whoever has info about this topic plz email me at

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