Polygamy on the Pedernales

Following Joseph Smith Jr.'s murder in 1844, some of his followers, led by the charismatic and controversial Lyman Wight, chose to establish a separate Mormon group in frontier Texas, defying the main body of the church in Utah. Wight remained committed to Smith's original plans for a Texas settlement, even after Smith's death, and the group played a notable role in the Texas frontier as millers, cowboys, and political actors. Wight's leadership was marked by his distinctive religious practices, personal eccentricities, and struggles with addiction, ultimately ending with his death in 1858 as he led his dwindling followers on one final migration.