Woodburn is an Oregon farm town just north of Salem and, in the book, the site of a polygamist colony led by John W. Bryant. Its brief appearance marks a turning point in Ron Lafferty’s movements after the breakdown of his marriage: he went there seeking a place among polygamists, encountered a community whose practices startled him, and returned to Utah.

Setting and Community

Before establishing the colony near Woodburn, John W. Bryant had founded polygamist settlements in Utah, California, and Nevada. Like other renegade prophets, he had at times claimed to be the “one mighty and strong.” His community nevertheless differed from other fundamentalist groups in its unusually permissive teachings and practices.

Ron Lafferty’s Visit

In autumn 1983, Ron’s divorce from Dianna Lafferty was finalized. Around Thanksgiving, Dianna moved with the children to Florida, and Ron, distressed at the prospect of Christmas without them, decided to spend the holidays away from Utah. He traveled to the polygamist colony near Woodburn, placing the town in the path of his search for a new religious community after his family’s departure.

Encounter and Significance

During his extended stay, Ron encountered Bryant’s emphasis on drugs and group sex, including same-sex as well as heterosexual relations—practices unfamiliar to him and rarely acknowledged by other Mormon fundamentalists. When one of Bryant’s wives indicated that she was attracted to him, Ron felt tempted to pursue the invitation but worried that doing so might provoke Bryant’s anger. He left the colony and returned to Utah. Woodburn’s importance in the narrative lies in this contrast: Ron was drawn into a world of competing religious authorities, yet this particular community’s conduct proved unsettling enough that he did not remain.