Qualla: YFZ Ranch

YFZ Ranch: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Charles Weitfle, Public domain. They called it R17 -- a code name whispered among the faithful, a place so secret that its true purpose was disguised as a corporate hunting retreat. In 2003, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints purchased 1,691 acres of scrubby ranchland near Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, for $700,000. Within two years, a limestone temple rose from the dust, surrounded by log homes, gardens, a grain silo, and a stone quarry. The Yearning for Zion Ranch -- the YFZ Ranch -- became home to roughly 500 people who had relocated from FLDS communities in Arizona and Utah. What authorities would eventually find behind the compound's fences would trigger the largest child custody operation in Texas history.

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Image: Charles Weitfle | Public domain

YFZ Ranch: A Prophet's Refuge

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Warren Jeffs, president of the FLDS Church, declared in August 2003 that the blessings of the priesthood had been removed from the community of Short Creek -- the twin border towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. He suspended religious meetings while continuing to c...

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YFZ Ranch: The Call That Changed Everything

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. On March 29, 2008, a domestic violence hotline received a call from someone claiming to be "Sarah," a 16-year-old girl suffering physical and sexual abuse at the ranch. Investigators would later trace the calls to Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs, a 33-year-old unmarried woman ...

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YFZ Ranch: Courts and Consequences

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The legal aftermath stretched across years and multiple states. On May 22, 2008, a Texas appeals court ruled that Judge Barbara Walther had abused her discretion, finding insufficient evidence that all the children were in immediate danger. The Texas Supreme Court upheld the ruli...

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YFZ Ranch: What the Investigation Revealed

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services issued its final report in December 2008. The findings were stark: 12 girls had been placed in "spiritual marriages" at ages ranging from 12 to 15, and seven of them had already given birth. Among the 43 girls removed from th...

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Image: Public domain

YFZ Ranch: The Ranch's Final Chapter

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. In November 2012, the Texas Attorney General's Office moved to seize the property, arguing in a 91-page affidavit that Jeffs had authorized its purchase as "a rural location where the systemic sexual assault of children would be tolerated without interference from law enforcement...

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Image: Public domain