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KSL Newsradio's Sheryl Worsley and Randall Jeppeson reporting A national paper reports most of the residents in Eagle Mountain are polygamists. The Chicago Tribune piece relies on two residents in town, and does not refute their claims.
The first quote in the article reads "pretty much everyone who lives here is polygamous." The two people who spoke to the Tribune were polygamous wives to the same man, who refused to give their last name. The article does not quote city or state officials about the size of the polygamist population.
State tourism and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officials have complained about how polygamy stories have been reported in the press. The LDS Church has not endorsed polygamy in more than 100 years.
In Eagle Mountain, most people just laugh and shake their head after hearing about the article.
"I personally don't know anyone who is a polygamist in Eagle Mountain," said one Eagle Mountain resident."
"My husband wouldn't be alive today if he had two wives like me," said another resident."
"I think it's kind of funny," said city spokesperson Linda Peterson. She's called the paper but hasn't received a response.
"It kind of made me a little upset, because a newspaper the caliber of the Chicago Tribune should get their facts straight," she said.
Peterson says there is a group of polygamists living on the outskirts of town, but of 14,000 residents in Eagle Mountain that's less than one-percent of the population.
Calls to the Chicago Tribune by KSL Newsradio have not been returned.
