North Idaho has long been home to those seeking to escape the looming collapse of America. This is a region doused in frontier spirit; a land where people openly carry guns, and where bounty hunters still operate, tracking down fugitives hoping to bolt into Canada. It is here, on rugged fringes stalked by mountain lions, bears and wolves, that the American Redoubt was born.
The Redoubt is both a prophecy and a movement: a pre-emptive response to the anarchy on the horizon. Economic meltdown, nuclear war, the lawlessness that will follow the total defunding of the police — all, its followers warn, could bring an end to American civilisation. And so they have started to prepare. First, by relocating to easily defensible ranches in the wilderness; and second, by stocking up on food, firearms and fuel. While their country teeters on the brink of bedlam, they are building a fortress.
If the Redoubt has a Messiah, it is James Wesley, Rawles. (The comma is an affectation.) A former US Army intelligence officer, Rawles has spent decades preaching about America’s imminent implosion to […]
Although you may be disturbed by the religious focus and end times philosophy of the founder and members of this movement the positives listed here should not be lost. As the articles states:
“For the most part, though, Redoubter ranches are more modest affairs. Drive a mile down the private roads that disappear into Idaho’s forests, past the “NO ENTRY” signs, and you’re more likely to find a homestead flanked by giant solar panels. There, in its 20 acres of land, you’ll spot an off-grid generator, a purpose-built well, a few animals and a vegetable garden; inside, you’ll find a storage room lined with tins and a giant freezer filled to the brim. Everything, from the curved driveway to the sightlines through the trees, is designed with security in mind. “It’s best to bury your propane tanks underground,” Eric advises, so that an intruder can’t shoot them.”
This venue documents the coming trends social, and environmental, headed our way. If the trends documented here play out, and I think they will, the ability to feed and care for your family when supply is disrupted will be invaluable. They don’t expect the government to be there to help them, neither should you. This community organizes itself around its religious principles, so be it; however, they are mastering skill sets not valued by mainstream society but valuable in and of themselves: growing your own food (hopefully organic), canning and storing it, hunting small game, securing your power supply, locating your water supply, understanding first aid, and medical care, etc….These things are the basics of life. The more of us able to master these skills the better off we will all be in the long run. Old fashioned values still important today: make your bed, pay your bills, settle your debts.
Stephan,
Have you explored the Mormon prepper counterpart to this movement, also located in this area? The LDS church has a cultural, religious history of prophets up to the present. There is also a hard right component that began in the extreme with Prophet Ezra Taft Benson(who, the John Birch Society wanted to run for president) and continues to this day in the form of splinter groups of end time preppers with their own self described Prophets leading them into the “wilderness.” They tend to be purist fundamentalists, who believe the mainstream LDS church has lost its way, having become a moribund corporation led by out of touch, ninety year olds. The prepper movement itself has made good use of social media to influence, market supplies, and in some cases, line the pockets of unscrupulous leaders who have created their own cults. Mormons have been primed to accept authoritarian leadership. The concept of a modern day prophet, fulfilling historic prophesy, is a familiar one. Obedience and fear are big tools here. I think boredom in the mainstream LDS church is also a factor. The Church has talked about the end times being immanent, with promises in Patriarchal Blessings telling members they will experience them in their lifetime. The book, “Visions of Glory” is one source of ideas for this movement.
There is a large population of Mormons in this area. There is a deep cultural historic imprint giving context to this kind of activity.
Here are a couple of YouTube videos;
John Dehlin’s Mormon Stories channel, produces very long interviews, but worth it to those interested in detangling their relationship with the LDS church.
Here, “A Mormon Prepper Life” shows a dynamic of This.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM4sWKuNhhc
The second video, “Ezra Taft Benson, The Making of the Mormon Right”, shows something that may be of interest, explaining the mystery of the conservative hard right leaning of members who were willing to vote for Trump. I’m still mystified though, how a people priding themselves on holding the moral high ground could do that. This video is well worth the time for the information and light it sheds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ9MNpmwpZY
Thank You for what you do Stephan,
Theresa Zelazny