About this episode

This episode discusses the historical context and events surrounding the raids on Short Creek due to polygamy in the 1930s and 1940s.

The polygamy of the fundamentalists living at Short Creek was always going to ensure that they were going to run afoul of the law. In the 1930s and 1940s first the state of Arizona, then the U.S. government decided they simply could not abide these scofflaws any longer. Unfortunately, the way they went about it had very mixed results.

People in this episode

Host: David Rookhuyzen

Topics covered

• polygamy
• law enforcement
• fundamentalism
• Arizona history
• government raids
• Short Creek

Keywords

• Short Creek
• polygamy
• Arizona
• government raids
• fundamentalists
• 1930s
• 1940s

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Arizona, Short Creek

More episodes of AZ: The History of Arizona podcast

• Episode 263: The Raid on Short Creek, Part III: A Good Samaritan Police Action · July 20, 2026 · 31 min
• Programming Notice 7 · July 13, 2026 · 3 min
• Episode 261: The Raid on Short Creek, Part I: The Principle · June 15, 2026 · 30 min

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