TWIN FALLS,
Idaho — The dedication of a new Mormon temple in this southern Idaho city
in August may be just another sign the 180-year-old religion has arrived in
southern Idaho, but local historians say there was an era when disciples
couldn't vote, when grazing disputes were evidence of a bitter rift and when
people marched the streets with signs urging church members to get out of
town."There was a lot of fear about the political power of the LDS and
that was part of the reason for the Test Oath Act," College of Southern Idaho
history professor Jim Gentry told the Times-News. He was referring to an
anti-Mormon law dating back to 1884 in the Idaho Territory that precluded
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from
voting.Though Mormons abandoned polygamy in 1890, it took at least
another two years before their voting franchise in Idaho was
restored.The new structure, with a 159-foot spire, will be the LDS
church's 126th operating temple when it's dedicated Aug. 24 along the Snake
River canyon rim. Church members and observers say the contrast between past and
present illustrates how far the church's image has evolved since its adherents
first arrived in south-central Idaho's Oakley seeking good, flat farming ground
and reasonably priced water.Like a lot of things, Gentry said, a lot of
the early animosity was political."Part of the reason for the hesitation
to give the LDS the vote was that the LDS had been historically Democrats," he
said. "If you were LDS you weren't very likely to be excited about becoming a
Republican. That's interesting given that today, stereotypically, LDS people are
Republican, so it just shows you how times change."After the Twin Falls
temple is dedicated, only Mormons in good standing with local church leaders
will be allowed inside for baptism and marriage rituals. Before then, some
150,000 people are expected to visit during the traditional open house that
begins in July.A similar open house at the new temple in Rexburg,
dedicated in February, attracted roughly as many people.Not all of
Idaho's past is particularly flattering.There's evidence, for instance,
that the development of Twin Falls may have been launched in part to attract
non-church members to the area. A 1969 Times-News article paraphrases an early
member of the Twin Falls stake: "One member says during a parade in those days
someone carried a sign saying 'We want no Mormons or Chinese in our
town.'"And there were violent disputes over grazing land between
Mormons, who at the turn of the last century were commonly sheepherders, and
non-Mormon cattle ranchers. The rift escalated in 1897 when a man named Jackson
Lee "Diamondfield Jack" Davis was tried and convicted of killing two Mormon
sheepherders on the orders of cattle ranchers.Two other ranchers
eventually confessed to the crime and Davis was released in 1902.Frances
Egbert, 88, a church member and amateur historian from Twin Falls, says that
although some resentments remain, sentiment toward Mormons in Idaho and in Twin
Falls has changed dramatically as the population has grown. Terry McCurdy,
spokesman for the church near Twin Falls, estimated the LDS population in the
eight counties of Magic Valley in 2007 was about 42,000, with statewide members
approaching about 300,000. Catholics, the next largest religious group, number
about 140,000."People began to know us better," Egbert said. "A lot of
animosity is there because of ignorance. We may believe a little different, but
we're just like everybody else."