EB: My health was very poor so I thought a trip to Arizona would be beneficial, and with the consent of the President of the Stake and President John Taylor, I started south on April 4, 1882. I took my wife Emily with me and sons Silas and George, and daughter Louella. Our outfit consisted of two teams, two wagons and a tent.

They hadn't travelled very far when they stopped one evening for supper. After supper they made preparations to continue their journey for another two hours in the cool of the evening. Everyone was ready, and Emily was sitting on the "high spring seat" of one of the wagons when Edward suddenly announced, "We will not go any further tonight."

"We're all ready. Of course we'll go," said Emily.

"Oh, gosh!" said George, "All this work to get hitched up and then not go."

The others all complained, but Edward said simply, "Emily, we are not going on tonight."

The decision had been made, so the group climbed off the wagons and made preparations for the night's camp. All but Edward questioned the sudden change of plan.

The next morning the camp was cleared and the group proceeded down the trail. After about a two hour ride they approached the site where they would have spent the previous night. They saw smoke rising from burning wagons and when closer, found the body of a freighter who'd been killed by the Indians. Had Edward not listened to the prompting of the "still, small voice", his little group would have suffered the same fate. He knew it was wisest to follow the premonition, even though he knew not why.

EB: We reached Mesa City the 25th of [April] the same month at which place we spent the summer. The Apache Indians were on the war path and it was unsafe to travel further south. After spending a pleasant summer, in the fall I went to San Pedro and stayed a few months, then pushed on to Sulphur Spring Valley where I had relatives.

In Washington D.C. in 1882, Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont introduced a bill which was passed and became the Edmonds Law. It defined polygamy or "unlawful cohabitation" as a crime with the penalty a $500 fine or five years imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the court. It also specifically "excluded from jury service those who had been living in the practice...or who believed it right."

Federal marshals were to be sent into the territory to search out all those in violation of the law. Perhaps this was one reason that Edward decided to make his trip.

Edward and Emily were on the road, Sarah was living near Richfield, Utah and Mary was at Bunkerville, expecting another baby. In October of 1882 she gave birth to her seventh child.

25th child - Robert Esdras Bunker:
Born: 7 Oct. 1882, Bunkerville, Utah
Mother: Mary McQuarrie [7th child]

It is interesting that Edward would leave Mary, in her condition, as well as the town of Bunkerville without a Bishop. Evidently, there was need for a leader in the community. Upon communication with Edward the St. George stake record indicates that he requested a release as bishop in May of 1883. At that time the ward was reorganized with his son Edward Bunker, Jr. as Bishop.

EB: We remained in Sulphur Springs several months and regained our health and visited friends. While at Mesa in company with a few of the brethren, I went into Old Mexico as far as the San Bernardino ranch. Having been gone nearly two years, we decided to return home, which we did, arriving here December 26, 1883.

While I was absent, the settlement of Bunkerville experienced a very heavy flood which nearly broke up the town, but through perseverance and integrity of the people, they were able to repair the damages and save the place from abandonment. From that time on the town has grown and flourished. The Lord has blessed the people and now they are beginning to reap the reward of their labors.

From the time that Edward returned to Bunkerville, after his two year trip until his death, he was no longer in a position of official leadership. This must have been a time of adjustment where he settled into being "Father Bunker", an advisor to any who sought his council.

In 1884 the machinery of enforcement of the Edmonds Act began to swing into motion and by 1885 was in high gear. For the next five years the drive to crush plural marriage was intense. The reaction among the towns of the Virgin River Basin was stubborn defiance, protestations against persecution, and dodging the law.

United States Marshals were sent to the various settlements to hunt and find the violators of the law and bring them to justice. Charles L. Walker wrote:

"This month and part of April I have been obliged to hide from U. S. Deputies who are seeking me night and day to arrest and drag me to prison for obeying the commandments of God, my Eternal Father. They came to my house and threatened to break down the doors if the folks did not open them immediately. They then ransacked the entire house, kicking the carpets and rugs about, trying to discover, as they imagined, some secret passage to a cellar or hiding place. Twice they came and found me not. They summoned my wife and four daughters to Beaver, 120 miles distant, to testify against me, and this in a Christian country where everyone has the right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. Several of the brethren have been arrested and their families subpoenaed as witness against them."

Feeling the weight of the persecution, many of the highest church officials from Salt Lake sought protection by hiding in remote locations. Wilford Woodruff, the highest ranking Apostle and next in line of succession to the presidency of the Church, spent most of 1885 and from August 7, 1886, to July 16, 1887 at or near St. George.

In February of 1885, Wilford Woodruff stayed for about three weeks at the home of Bishop Edward Bunker Jr. in Bunkerville. This was his hideout as he was "underground evading the U.S. officials". He stayed in the bedroom next to the kitchen and had a body guard and sometimes one or two apostles with him. The window shades were drawn and "he settled into the monotonous routine he had followed in exile--reading, writing, and counseling."

One day, to break the monotony, he prevailed on Myron Abbott to take him down to the banks of the Virgin River. There he spent the day, shot two ducks, and read the Deseret News. A scare came as six strange men were spotted, but they passed through the town without stopping on their way to California.

A granddaughter of Edward and daughter of Edward, Jr. wrote in Bunker Family History that:

"[Edward Jr.] hired Indians to help on the farm, one of these was 'old Steve', a fine fellow in whom father placed great trust. He noticed Brother Woodruff was hiding and he said to Mother, 'What's matter all a time white man hide? Three moons all a time dark, burn light?' Mother felt she had to explain to him and cautioned him to say nothing, but that evening, 10 or 12 stalwart bucks and their squaws came to see the 'White Chief'. Each Indian carried a gun under his blanket. When father asked them what they were going to do with their guns, they answered 'Kill Mericats', a name they used for the U.S. officers. They said, 'We see White Chi