Confederated States of the Exiled Nation of Israel

The Confederated States of the Exiled Nation of Israel appears in the account as a Utah compound associated with Alex Joseph, a prominent polygamist. Its narrative significance lies less in any description of its organization than in its role as a meeting point in the Lafferty brothers’ travels: there, Ron Lafferty disclosed a violent plan, and Joseph tried to talk him out of it.

Identity and Setting

The book identifies the Confederated States of the Exiled Nation of Israel as the Utah compound of Alex Joseph, situated in Big Water, a desert settlement near the southwestern end of Lake Powell. Joseph lived there with six or seven wives and many children. The account supplies no constitution, membership rules, or formal administrative structure for the Confederated States; it presents the place through its association with Joseph and the people living at the compound.

Big Water also lay not far from Colorado City, a major stronghold of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That geography places Joseph’s compound within a landscape of polygamist communities, but the account does not identify the Confederated States as part of that church or equate the two communities.

A Stop on the Search for Support

After being expelled from the School of the Prophets and failing to take control of the Dream Mine, Ron Lafferty and Dan Lafferty continued to pursue their proposed City of Refuge. During a road trip through the West, they sought backing from prominent polygamists. They arranged to meet at the Confederated States of the Exiled Nation of Israel, making Joseph’s compound one stop in that search for allies.

Dan Lafferty and Laurene Grant arrived first. After about a week of marriage, Grant asked Dan for a writ of divorcement; he granted it and hitchhiked back to Utah County, leaving her at Joseph’s compound to await Ron and her two older children. This brief domestic rupture preceded the arrival of Ron’s party and shaped who was present at the compound when the brothers’ paths crossed there.

Ron Lafferty’s Disclosure

Ron Lafferty arrived shortly after Dan had left, traveling with Ricky Knapp, Chip Carnes, and Grant’s two older sons. The group stayed at the compound for one night. During that visit, Ron shared his removal revelation with Alex Joseph. Carnes, who overheard their conversation, recalled that they discussed Ron returning to Utah, collecting his guns, and going on a shooting spree. Joseph tried to dissuade him.

The scene gives the compound a precise but limited place in the account: it is where Ron’s intention was disclosed to another religious leader and met with resistance. The episode does not say that Joseph joined the plan or supported it; the reported response is an attempt to talk Ron out of violence.

Narrative Role and Limits

The Confederated States of the Exiled Nation of Israel is not developed as a fully described institution. Its significance is episodic and relational: the compound links the Laffertys’ westward search for support to the increasingly dangerous plans Ron carried with him. The contrast between the brothers’ aim of building a City of Refuge and the shooting spree discussed during the visit gives the stop its narrative weight, while the sparse description of the group itself leaves its internal life largely outside the account.