Home of Truth, Utah
Encyclopedia
Home of Truth is a ghost town
located in San Juan County
in southeastern Utah
, United States
. The settlement was a short-lived utopia
n religious intentional community
in the 1930s, led by a spiritualist named Marie Ogden. The Home of Truth started in 1933 with an initial population of 22 people, but grew to around 100 at its peak.
During its brief history the town was isolated from the surrounding community socially as well as physically, its residents keeping to themselves in a strict, simple lifestyle. Ogden took over the local newspaper and used it to introduce outsiders to her beliefs. The crisis that led to the downfall of the Home of Truth resulted from her writings about efforts to raise a woman from the dead. The investigations by local authorities and the intense media attention that followed drove most of the members to abandon the group by the end of 1937. A handful of residents continued to occupy Home of Truth until 1977.
Today the empty buildings at Home of Truth, lying on fenced private land, are little-noticed curiosities along Utah State Route 211
, seen mainly by visitors to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park
.
, and some 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Church Rock
. The settlement was spread out along Dry Valley, bounded on the north and south by irregular mountain ridges that come close together at the western end, in a place called Photograph Gap. Utah State Route 211
, the road to Newspaper Rock and the entrance to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park
, passes through the site.
. She was prominent and active in community affairs, working for the welfare of the poor and rising to the presidency of the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs. After the death of her husband, Harry Ogden, in 1929, she sought comfort in spiritualism
, soon forming an occult
group called the School of Truth. She briefly joined the early "League of the Liberators" organization of spiritualist William Dudley Pelley
, whose esoteric spiritual experiences and millennialist
teachings resonated with her. In 1932 she became the largest single financial contributor to Pelley's movement, but she parted ways with him over his developing political extremism. Claiming to receive divine revelation
s through automatic writing
on her typewriter
, Ogden toured the country lecturing and gathering followers.
While on her lecture tour in Boise, Idaho
, Ogden announced a revelation directing her to establish a religious colony dedicated to "the truth". She returned to New Jersey with no idea of a location for the project, but was convinced it must be in a wilderness area far from city life. Through friends she learned of available land in San Juan County, Utah
, and after visiting the area she made up her mind. A group of 21 disciples, mostly from the Boise area, followed her to Dry Valley in southeastern Utah in September 1933. Intending to start a collective farm, the group first tried to buy some irrigated
ranch land on Indian Creek, but they could not pay the asking price. Ogden offered the owner membership in the colony and a guarantee of eternal life, but to no avail. They settled on a tract of barren desert near Church Rock
—the site, according to Ogden, of Christ's Second Coming
—and began to build the Home of Truth.
The Home of Truth was constructed in three sections spread a few miles apart from east to west. The Outer Portal was made up of several buildings, including a communal house and dormitory. The Middle Portal, largest of the three, was planned to include a chapel
made of cobblestone
s, although the foundation was never even finished. The Inner Portal contained barracks and six houses. Marie Ogden taught that the Inner Portal, where she lived with her daughter Roberta, was located on the exact center of the Earth's axis, and that only those who lived here would be spared the coming calamities of the last days. There were at least 23 buildings scattered throughout Home of Truth, most with simple exteriors of unpainted board and batten
or tar paper
shingles.
, communication with the dead, and asceticism
. She claimed to be the reincarnated Virgin Mary, identifying other group members as reincarnations of Brigham Young
and the prophet Nathan
. Ogden also handled the colony's financial matters. In 1934, she purchased the local newspaper, the San Juan Record, made herself editor, and added a column
in which she promoted her metaphysical
ideas.
All group members were expected to work in common for the settlement. The women did domestic chores, while the men worked the farm and did some prospecting
for gold
, on a small scale and without much success. Water was scarce, but they installed a windmill
-driven water pump and concrete cistern
s for irrigating their fields. Members constructed the buildings themselves. There was no electricity or indoor plumbing, consistent with their belief in material simplicity. They also made their own furniture and household goods by hand, supplemented by Ogden's occasional shopping trips to Monticello. Despite this spartan existence, the colony continually added new members, the population growing to around 100 at its height in 1934–5.
neighbors took little notice of the newcomers, generally tolerant of their unorthodox beliefs. Then on February 11, 1935 a member of the group named Edith Peshak died of cancer. She and her husband had joined in search of a promised spiritual cure for her disease. Marie Ogden claimed that Peshak was in a state of purification and could soon be brought back to life. On April 4, 1935, her newspaper column included a section entitled "The Rebirth of a Soul", which detailed Ogden's conversations with the dead woman and her beliefs about raising her from the dead. Ogden still had the corpse, which was being washed three times a day in a salt solution and "fed" milk and eggs by injection
. Rumors spread through the Monticello area, and at last the county sheriff
came to Home of Truth in June 1935 to investigate the stories. The authorities found Peshak's body well preserved. They decided to allow the colony to keep it, as they determined it was no health threat, and since a number of people in the area had old Indian mummies
found in dry caves.
, more than half of the colonists left, disillusioned. In February 1937, Marie Ogden made another announcement that Edith Peshak was about to be restored to life. The investigators returned, insisting that a death certificate
must be signed. Ogden continued to claim the woman was not actually dead. After being arrested, Ogden consented to sign the certificate on May 4, 1937, but the authorities still could not find the body. Finally, a former member came forward and confessed to having helped her cremate
the corpse shortly after the original investigation, in August 1935. All but seven of Ogden's remaining followers abandoned Home of Truth.
, where she died in 1975. The Home of Truth property was privately sold in the 1970s to prevent the government from seizing it to pay for Ogden's care. Her personal papers and guest register were destroyed just before the sale. A few of her followers continued to live at Home of Truth until September 30, 1977, when the new owners sold the remaining contents of the Inner Portal at auction
. All three Portals still held locked, dusty buildings, maintained by a caretaker and surrounded by "No Trespassing" signs.
As of 2008 there is nothing left of the Outer Portal, but buildings still stand at the other two. The property owner has worked to preserve the Inner Portal, and has announced plans to allow public tours once the site is restored. Both remaining Portals are fenced off from the road, and a sign reading "Marie's Place" hangs over the gate to the Inner Portal, on a ridge just north of State Route 211. A small cemetery holds five graves.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
located in San Juan County
San Juan County, Utah
As of the current census of 2010, there were 14,746 people and 4,505 households. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 50.4% Native American, 45.8% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% African American and 2.3% reporting two or more races...
in southeastern Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The settlement was a short-lived utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n religious intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
in the 1930s, led by a spiritualist named Marie Ogden. The Home of Truth started in 1933 with an initial population of 22 people, but grew to around 100 at its peak.
During its brief history the town was isolated from the surrounding community socially as well as physically, its residents keeping to themselves in a strict, simple lifestyle. Ogden took over the local newspaper and used it to introduce outsiders to her beliefs. The crisis that led to the downfall of the Home of Truth resulted from her writings about efforts to raise a woman from the dead. The investigations by local authorities and the intense media attention that followed drove most of the members to abandon the group by the end of 1937. A handful of residents continued to occupy Home of Truth until 1977.
Today the empty buildings at Home of Truth, lying on fenced private land, are little-noticed curiosities along Utah State Route 211
Utah State Route 211
State Route 211 is a state route in Utah that is an access road for Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument and the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. The entire length of the highway has been designated the Indian Creek Corridor Scenic Byway....
, seen mainly by visitors to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is a U.S. National Park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab and preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. The park is divided into four districts:...
.
Location
The site of Home of Truth lies about 15 miles (24.1 km) north of Monticello, UtahMonticello, Utah
Monticello is a city located in San Juan County, Utah, and is the county seat. It is the second most populous city in San Juan County, with a population of 1,958 at the 2000 census. The Monticello area was settled in July 1887 by pioneers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, and some 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Church Rock
Church Rock (Utah)
Church Rock is a solitary column of sandstone in southern Utah along the eastern side of U.S. Route 191, near the entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park....
. The settlement was spread out along Dry Valley, bounded on the north and south by irregular mountain ridges that come close together at the western end, in a place called Photograph Gap. Utah State Route 211
Utah State Route 211
State Route 211 is a state route in Utah that is an access road for Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument and the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. The entire length of the highway has been designated the Indian Creek Corridor Scenic Byway....
, the road to Newspaper Rock and the entrance to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is a U.S. National Park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab and preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. The park is divided into four districts:...
, passes through the site.
Foundation
Marie Ogden (May 31, 1883 – March 4, 1975) was a wealthy, well-educated widow from Newark, New JerseyNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
. She was prominent and active in community affairs, working for the welfare of the poor and rising to the presidency of the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs. After the death of her husband, Harry Ogden, in 1929, she sought comfort in spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
, soon forming an occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
group called the School of Truth. She briefly joined the early "League of the Liberators" organization of spiritualist William Dudley Pelley
William Dudley Pelley
William Dudley Pelley was an American extremist and spiritualist who founded the Silver Legion in 1933, and ran for President in 1936 for the Christian Party.-Family:...
, whose esoteric spiritual experiences and millennialist
Millennialism
Millennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
teachings resonated with her. In 1932 she became the largest single financial contributor to Pelley's movement, but she parted ways with him over his developing political extremism. Claiming to receive divine revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
s through automatic writing
Automatic writing
Automatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
on her typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
, Ogden toured the country lecturing and gathering followers.
While on her lecture tour in Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
, Ogden announced a revelation directing her to establish a religious colony dedicated to "the truth". She returned to New Jersey with no idea of a location for the project, but was convinced it must be in a wilderness area far from city life. Through friends she learned of available land in San Juan County, Utah
San Juan County, Utah
As of the current census of 2010, there were 14,746 people and 4,505 households. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 50.4% Native American, 45.8% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% African American and 2.3% reporting two or more races...
, and after visiting the area she made up her mind. A group of 21 disciples, mostly from the Boise area, followed her to Dry Valley in southeastern Utah in September 1933. Intending to start a collective farm, the group first tried to buy some irrigated
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
ranch land on Indian Creek, but they could not pay the asking price. Ogden offered the owner membership in the colony and a guarantee of eternal life, but to no avail. They settled on a tract of barren desert near Church Rock
Church Rock (Utah)
Church Rock is a solitary column of sandstone in southern Utah along the eastern side of U.S. Route 191, near the entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park....
—the site, according to Ogden, of Christ's Second Coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
—and began to build the Home of Truth.
The Home of Truth was constructed in three sections spread a few miles apart from east to west. The Outer Portal was made up of several buildings, including a communal house and dormitory. The Middle Portal, largest of the three, was planned to include a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
made of cobblestone
Cobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
s, although the foundation was never even finished. The Inner Portal contained barracks and six houses. Marie Ogden taught that the Inner Portal, where she lived with her daughter Roberta, was located on the exact center of the Earth's axis, and that only those who lived here would be spared the coming calamities of the last days. There were at least 23 buildings scattered throughout Home of Truth, most with simple exteriors of unpainted board and batten
Batten
A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...
or tar paper
Tar paper
Tar paper is a heavy-duty paper used in construction. Tar paper is made by impregnating paper with tar, producing a waterproof material useful for roof construction. It can be distinguished from Roofing felt:Asphalt-saturated felt. Roofing felt has been in use for over a hundred years...
shingles.
Colony life
Residents agreed to a strict code of conduct. They surrendered all personal possessions to the group, which provided food, clothing, and shelter. The rules also forbade consumption of alcohol and tobacco. Although the colony raised chickens in the beginning, eating any meat except fish was later prohibited. Ogden even said they must stop planting gardens, but they were still permitted to hire out as laborers to local farmers. Ogden received instructions for the settlement through her typewriter as well as in revelatory trips to the top of nearby Shay Mountain. She taught from the Aquarian Gospel and other theosophical works. Her doctrines included reincarnationReincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
, communication with the dead, and asceticism
Asceticism
Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
. She claimed to be the reincarnated Virgin Mary, identifying other group members as reincarnations of Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
and the prophet Nathan
Nathan (Prophet)
Nathan the Prophet was a court prophet who lived in the time of King David and Queen Bathsheba. He came to David to reprimand him over his committing adultery with Bathsheba while she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite whose death the King had also arranged to hide his previous transgression.His...
. Ogden also handled the colony's financial matters. In 1934, she purchased the local newspaper, the San Juan Record, made herself editor, and added a column
Column (newspaper)
A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Columns are written by columnists.What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it meets each of the following criteria:...
in which she promoted her metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
ideas.
All group members were expected to work in common for the settlement. The women did domestic chores, while the men worked the farm and did some prospecting
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
for gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, on a small scale and without much success. Water was scarce, but they installed a windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
-driven water pump and concrete cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
s for irrigating their fields. Members constructed the buildings themselves. There was no electricity or indoor plumbing, consistent with their belief in material simplicity. They also made their own furniture and household goods by hand, supplemented by Ogden's occasional shopping trips to Monticello. Despite this spartan existence, the colony continually added new members, the population growing to around 100 at its height in 1934–5.
Raising the dead
In the beginning, the sect's mostly MormonMormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
neighbors took little notice of the newcomers, generally tolerant of their unorthodox beliefs. Then on February 11, 1935 a member of the group named Edith Peshak died of cancer. She and her husband had joined in search of a promised spiritual cure for her disease. Marie Ogden claimed that Peshak was in a state of purification and could soon be brought back to life. On April 4, 1935, her newspaper column included a section entitled "The Rebirth of a Soul", which detailed Ogden's conversations with the dead woman and her beliefs about raising her from the dead. Ogden still had the corpse, which was being washed three times a day in a salt solution and "fed" milk and eggs by injection
Injection (medicine)
An injection is an infusion method of putting fluid into the body, usually with a hollow needle and a syringe which is pierced through the skin to a sufficient depth for the material to be forced into the body...
. Rumors spread through the Monticello area, and at last the county sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
came to Home of Truth in June 1935 to investigate the stories. The authorities found Peshak's body well preserved. They decided to allow the colony to keep it, as they determined it was no health threat, and since a number of people in the area had old Indian mummies
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
found in dry caves.
Decline and closure
Over the next two years, as the press continued to publish sensationalized accounts of the events depicting the Home of Truth as a dangerous cultCult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
, more than half of the colonists left, disillusioned. In February 1937, Marie Ogden made another announcement that Edith Peshak was about to be restored to life. The investigators returned, insisting that a death certificate
Death certificate
The phrase death certificate can describe either a document issued by a medical practitioner certifying the deceased state of a person or popularly to a document issued by a person such as a registrar of vital statistics that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death as later...
must be signed. Ogden continued to claim the woman was not actually dead. After being arrested, Ogden consented to sign the certificate on May 4, 1937, but the authorities still could not find the body. Finally, a former member came forward and confessed to having helped her cremate
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
the corpse shortly after the original investigation, in August 1935. All but seven of Ogden's remaining followers abandoned Home of Truth.
Aftermath
Left nearly alone, Marie Ogden continued to support herself by publishing the newspaper and by teaching piano lessons to the children of Monticello. She eventually moved into the San Juan Nursing Home in BlandingBlanding, Utah
Blanding is a city in San Juan County, Utah, United States. The population was 3,162 at the 2000 census, making it the most populated city in San Juan County. It was settled in the late 19th century by Mormon settlers, predominantly from the famed Hole-In-The-Rock expedition...
, where she died in 1975. The Home of Truth property was privately sold in the 1970s to prevent the government from seizing it to pay for Ogden's care. Her personal papers and guest register were destroyed just before the sale. A few of her followers continued to live at Home of Truth until September 30, 1977, when the new owners sold the remaining contents of the Inner Portal at auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
. All three Portals still held locked, dusty buildings, maintained by a caretaker and surrounded by "No Trespassing" signs.
As of 2008 there is nothing left of the Outer Portal, but buildings still stand at the other two. The property owner has worked to preserve the Inner Portal, and has announced plans to allow public tours once the site is restored. Both remaining Portals are fenced off from the road, and a sign reading "Marie's Place" hangs over the gate to the Inner Portal, on a ridge just north of State Route 211. A small cemetery holds five graves.