One man's rock is his castle
A glint of sunlight at the base of a mountainous red rock drew my eyes. Was that it?
Yep, another curve or two and Rockland Ranch came into view. I had never seen anything like it. Disneyland came to mind.
From a distance, tiny house fronts seemed superglued to the base of the sandstone slab.
Up close, it was just as astonishing. The Rock was just as fantastical as I'd been told.
For nearly 30 years, Bob Foster, his sons and others have labored to turn this section of Utah desert into a refuge for when things get, as Bob puts it, ''hectic and bad.''
Bob is an independent fundamentalist Mormon and one of Utah's most colorful characters. His apocalyptic views make him as interesting as his belief in plural marriage.
He spent 20 days in jail back in 1974 after being convicted of bigamy (he has three wives). Back then, Utah apparently had no qualms about prosecuting consenting adults for polygamy.
As he talks about his life, Bob often sounds bemused. When the judge ordered him to jail, ''I about flipped,'' he said.
After his jail stint, Bob went south and began to build his desert refuge in earnest. His wives are all accomplished women, several with excellent jobs. They have lived at The Rock on and off over the years. In the past few years, the community has seen a resurgence in interest in people who like the self-sufficient idealism Bob promotes.
If the country goes to hell, he's ready.
Shortly before our visit, Bob had a close call when a blast went off a little too quickly, leaving his fingers scorched and his face pocked and eyes coated with black powder.
Just another miracle, he said, that he wasn't hurt badly.
One interesting thing happened when Trent and I visited Rockland Ranch. A young kid in a red pickup truck began following us as soon as we pulled off the paved road and headed toward Rockland Ranch.
He kept some distance behind us, but nonetheless was clearly tracking our route. Who was he? We had no clue and were kind of bugged about it.
Minutes after we pulled in at the ranch, the red truck pulled up. The kid jumped out and joined us as we chatted with Bob outside the charity house, which was then under construction.
The young man didn’t say much, he just tagged along as though he was part of the tour. Bob didn't ask who he was either. We figured Bob thought he was with us.
I think at some point I asked Bob if he knew him. He didn't, but told me people were always just showing up like that.
Bob spent some time talking to the kid, who turned out to be a Utah State University student who'd been hiking around the Moab area.
After a few hours, the young man left. ''He'll be back,'' Bob said. God is sending people here regularly to hear how things are.''
Yep, another curve or two and Rockland Ranch came into view. I had never seen anything like it. Disneyland came to mind.
From a distance, tiny house fronts seemed superglued to the base of the sandstone slab.
Up close, it was just as astonishing. The Rock was just as fantastical as I'd been told.
For nearly 30 years, Bob Foster, his sons and others have labored to turn this section of Utah desert into a refuge for when things get, as Bob puts it, ''hectic and bad.''
Bob is an independent fundamentalist Mormon and one of Utah's most colorful characters. His apocalyptic views make him as interesting as his belief in plural marriage.
He spent 20 days in jail back in 1974 after being convicted of bigamy (he has three wives). Back then, Utah apparently had no qualms about prosecuting consenting adults for polygamy.
As he talks about his life, Bob often sounds bemused. When the judge ordered him to jail, ''I about flipped,'' he said.
After his jail stint, Bob went south and began to build his desert refuge in earnest. His wives are all accomplished women, several with excellent jobs. They have lived at The Rock on and off over the years. In the past few years, the community has seen a resurgence in interest in people who like the self-sufficient idealism Bob promotes.
If the country goes to hell, he's ready.
Shortly before our visit, Bob had a close call when a blast went off a little too quickly, leaving his fingers scorched and his face pocked and eyes coated with black powder.
Just another miracle, he said, that he wasn't hurt badly.
One interesting thing happened when Trent and I visited Rockland Ranch. A young kid in a red pickup truck began following us as soon as we pulled off the paved road and headed toward Rockland Ranch.
He kept some distance behind us, but nonetheless was clearly tracking our route. Who was he? We had no clue and were kind of bugged about it.
Minutes after we pulled in at the ranch, the red truck pulled up. The kid jumped out and joined us as we chatted with Bob outside the charity house, which was then under construction.
The young man didn’t say much, he just tagged along as though he was part of the tour. Bob didn't ask who he was either. We figured Bob thought he was with us.
I think at some point I asked Bob if he knew him. He didn't, but told me people were always just showing up like that.
Bob spent some time talking to the kid, who turned out to be a Utah State University student who'd been hiking around the Moab area.
After a few hours, the young man left. ''He'll be back,'' Bob said. God is sending people here regularly to hear how things are.''
Labels: Bob Foster, polygamy
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home