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Exchange Exemplar: how the Bundy family got to their way of thinking

Cliven Bundy and his anti-government family may be a modern American phenomenon, but the roots of the family and its beliefs are deep in the American West and the Mormon religion.

The elder Bundy rose to national prominence in the "Bunkerville standoff," in which armed supporters of the Bundy family held off federal agents intent on removing Bundy's cattle from federal land where he had failed to pay grazing fees. Bundy's sons led the six-week standoff at Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Writer Betsy Gaines Quammen visited with the family and dug deep in the history for her book American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West.

The author's 2020 visit is replayed here.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Natalie Golay is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Mike Green hosts the show.