Ann Randak

Ann Randak appears in the narrative through her connection to Dan Lafferty: first as the woman he married after deciding to practice plural marriage, and later as someone he visited shortly before the events of July 24. The account identifies her as a Romanian immigrant and records her work caring for Robert Redford’s horses, but offers little independent detail about her life or perspective. Her characterization therefore rests largely on what Dan said about their courtship and marriage.

Identity and Meeting

Ann cared for horses on a ranch in Spanish Fork Canyon, in the mountains east of Dream Mine. She and Dan met when he borrowed a horse from her to ride in a local parade. The episode gives their courtship an ordinary point of contact—an animal and a community event—before Dan’s religious commitments changed the meaning of their relationship.

Marriage and Dan’s Account

After reading The Peace Maker and resolving to live according to plural marriage, Dan told his first wife, Matilda Lafferty, that he intended to marry her oldest daughter. He abandoned that plan at the last minute and instead married Ann. Dan said that Ann was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but was open to new experiences, and that becoming his plural wife had been her idea. The narrative thus presents her willingness through Dan’s report, while also making clear that the decision arose within his newly adopted religious practice.

A Brief Place in Dan’s Family Life

Ann became Dan’s second wife. The account does not describe the arrangements of their marriage or her daily life with him; it records instead a later visit that marks the limits of what is known about their relationship. After spending a day and a night with Ann, Dan kissed her goodbye on July 23 and went to see Matilda and their children. The next day was the youngest child’s first birthday, and Dan would never see that son again. Ann’s place in the narrative is consequently brief but distinct: she is both the woman Dan chose in place of his proposed marriage to his stepdaughter and one of the last people he visited before returning to his first family.