Skip to main content

The Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah, was founded about 35 years ago; it includes 100 people living there in about 15 families, some polygamous

Open this photo in gallery:

Enoch Foster, a fundamentalist Mormon who practices polygamy, along with his first wife Catrina Foster and several of his 13 children from his two wives, enters the Charity House at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah, “The Rock,” as it is referred to by the approximately 100 people living there in about 15 families, was founded about 35 years ago on a sandstone formation near Canyonlands National Park.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

1 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Polygamy was a part of the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was brought to Utah by faithful Mormons in the late 1840s. The mainstream Mormon church abandoned the practice in 1890, but an estimated 37,000 Mormon fundamentalists continue to follow it today.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

2 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Abel Morrison, a fundamentalist Mormon practicing polygamy, tends to a community garden with several of his children at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

3 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Anna Knecht, a fundamentalist Mormon who is monogamous, tends to her newborn daughter, Evahny Knecht, at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

4 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Fundamentalist Mormons, some of whom are monogamous and others who are practicing polygamy, harvest the community garden along with their children at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

5 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Suzanne Morrison, a fundamentalist Mormon practicing polygamy, sorts potatoes from the community garden with her daughter Eve, 2, at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

6 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Cary Knecht, left, a fundamentalist Mormon who is monogamous, harvests potatoes with Enoch Foster, a fundamentalist Mormon practicing polygamy, at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

7 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Enoch Foster walks with his first wife Catrina Foster and several of his 13 children from his two wives at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

8 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Girls play on a trampoline near a home blasted from a from a rock wall at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

9 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Bradee Barlow, a fundamentalist Mormon practicing polygamy, holds her newborn daughter Lucy while she shops at the store room at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

10 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Enoch Foster, a fundamentalist Mormon practicing polygamy, prepares dinner with his first wife Catrina Foster and their daughter Evangelina, 1, the youngest of several of his 13 children from his two wives, in their home blasted from a rock wall at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

11 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Evangelina Foster, whose parents are fundamentalist Mormons practicing polygamy, eats dinner at her home blasted from a rock wall at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

12 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Enoch Foster visits with several of his 13 children from two wives in their home blasted from a rock wall at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

13 of 14
Open this photo in gallery:

Enoch Foster prays before a meal with his first wife Catrina Foster, second from left, and several of his 13 children from two wives in their home blasted from a rock wall at the Rockland Ranch community outside Moab, Utah.Jim Urquhart/Reuters

14 of 14

Interact with The Globe