Henry, Tilden's protagonist, found the prisoner list for Idaho and found these names of men, all from Bingham County, incarcerated for unlawful cohabitation:
William Pratt, John Roberts, George Steward, W.D.Hendricks, C.W. Simpson, Rufus Walker, Joseph Phelps, Arthur Peak, Thomas Clark, Alexander Leatham, Andrew Biorn, Nahum Porter, Samuel Humphrey, Isaac Nash, Jon Ramer, Joseph Lewis Sr., William Garrison, Hezekiah Duffin, Rasmus Peterson, David Jensen, Charles wright, George Whittier, S. R. Parkinson, A.M. Stephens, Elijah Wilson, A.S. Anderson, William Woodward, J.H. Denning, Joshua Hawk, James P. Harrison, H.H. Dalrymple, Joh Coozzens, Jonathan Smith, Martin Jacobsen, Edmund Buckley, Bent J. Erickson, Neils Georgenson, Jeppa George Folkman, Theodor Keller, P. Robert Peters, Lewis Wilson, Jonah Evans, James Mason, William Higgenson, W.C. Martindale, Jacob Meyer.
This was the list from 1895-1990, when officials were trying to eradicate polygamy. In part, the effort was political in nature, as Mormons were voting Democratic as a bloc (how things have changed!) and Republicans didn't appreciate it. Polygamy was hard to prove without family members testifying against each other, so unlawful cohabitation was used to jail those suspected of the practice.
B.B. Stringham's family in the southeasternmost part of Idaho tells of aiding polygamists being chased by law enforcement, but also tells of housing the officials doing the chasing. In a small town, it wasn't hard for locals to spot newcomers entering the area and spread the word that the law was on the lookout, making apprehension difficult.
L.D. Wilson, a somewhat prominent Blackfoot area businessman, achieved somewhat more fame than the other polygamists by joining four others in being shipped to a South Dakota prison. Others were sent to other states, the Idaho Penitentiary overflowing with inmates.
In 1890, President Woodruff issued the Manifesto ending LDS polygamist practice that appeased the U.S. government and the jailings slowed, if not stopping completely. Polygamy continued, though, in secret and to a lesser degree, for decades after the Manifesto was issued, and still hangs on to this day in fundamentalist areas and minds.
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