Colorado City

"This Mormon community had its beginnings in 1909 when "Old Man" Colvin joined the Lauritzen family already in the area. The Mormon polygamous colony was on Short Creek, so named because it is a short creek, but the colony was called Millennial City at the outset because it was viewed as "First City of the Millenium", in a paper called Truth, which advocated plural marriage. When the Federal Government attempted to enforce laws against polygamy, several Lee's Ferry polygamist moved to Short Creek, the name the colony had by the time the post office was established in 1913. Because of notoriety following a raid by Arizona state forces which netted two hundred women and children (which the state had to let go as the case fizzled), the community elected to change its name to Colorado City in 1958. P.O. Est as Short Creek July 15, 1913, J.W. Lauritzen, P.m.: name chnaged to Colorado City, December 31, 1960.

Barnes, Will C.; Granger, Byrd (ed.) Arizona's names : X marks the place Falconer Pub. Co. : distributed by Treasure Chest Publications, c1983. P.164

Websites

Arizona Department of Commerce Community Profiles: Colorado City, Arizona
http://www.commerce.state.az.us/pdf/commasst/comm/colocity.pdf

Arizonan.com: Colorado City, Arizona
http://www.arizonan.com/ColoradoCity/

Colorado City Public Library.
P.O. Box 1709 Colorado City, AZ 86021
Phone: 928-875-8015

Governor John Howard Pyle (briefly mentions his involvement with Colorado City)

A brief history of the polygamists in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah April 5, 2002 By Rick Ross
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy4.html

Polygamists: A Special Report By Tom Zoellner The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, June 28, 1998
http://www.polygamy.com/Mormon/Polygamists-A-Special-Report.htm

Child Bride of Short Creek (Movie)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0082169
 

Books/Manuscripts

Kidnapped from that land : the government raids on the Short Creek polygamists / Martha Sonntag Bradley
BX8680 .M534 C63 1993

Howard Pyle collection, 1883-1987 (bulk 1935-1987)
MS CM MSS 97

Short Creek-Colorado City on the Arizona strip / by Roman Malach
F819 .C63 M38x

Colorado-City
CE EPH DTO-COLORADOCITY


Back to Main
Back to Mohave County

Last Updated: July 15, 2002
If you would like to know more about the author of this site, Jeffrey Scott, feel free to visit his homepage.
In addition, if you have any questions about this site or Arizona History, feel free to e-mail Jeffrey