Where in the world is Pringle, South Dakota? It's what we asked ourselves as we came out here to report on yet another polygamist compound.
Right here in Pringle, with Mt. Rushmore as a backdrop, we found another one of the "chosen places," a "Zion," where followers of Warren Jeffs are told they must be to attain salvation when the world ends. To his followers, Jeffs is a prophet. But to the FBI, he's a wanted polygamist and pedophile.
The town's residents tell us they're certain Jeffs has been in Pringle. That's why we're here. What we've seen is a polygamist village in the making.
As in Eldorado, Texas, another Jeffs stronghold we visited recently, his followers hide from us. But we were able to get within a stone's throw of his newest Zion, or at least the newest compound we know about. There could be as many as four others, and maybe more, scattered across the United States.
As we arrive, we see backhoes, heavy equipment, silos, a water pump, trailers. Nestled among them are three-story residences for men, women and children. Some residents of Pringle fear another Waco or Jonestown scenario. Local authorities seem confused by the presence of Jeffs' followers in their midst. Why here?
Tonight, we'll take you along for a ride to the polygamist compound and show you what makes these 100 remote acres amid the Black Hills of South Dakota the perfect setting for the fulfillment of Warren Jeffs' frightening prophecies about the end of the world.
