Biographical Summary:

"...Bunker, Edward, founder and Bishop of Bunkerville (St. George Stake), Lincoln county, Nevada, was born August 1, 1822, at Atkinson, Penobscot county, Maine, the son of Silas Bunker and Hannah. He was the youngest of nine children whose names were Nahum, Abigail, Martin, Alfred, Hannah, Kendall, Silas, Saben and Edward. When nineteen years of age he left a comfortable home and in company with his brother-in-law, John Berry, went west, going as far as Kirtland, Ohio, where they met Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon and attended the meetings of the Saints. He soon became a convert to "Mormonism" and was baptized in 1845. Subsequently he made his way to Nauvoo, Ill., where he worked on the Temple and the Nauvoo House. He also joined the famous Nauvoo Legion and as a member of that body did considerable military duty. In 1846 (Feb. 9th) he married Emily Abbott and almost immediately thereafter crossed the Mississippi river with his young wife and traveled as far as Garden Grove, Iowa, where he left his wife in a half-finished log cabin while he enlisted as a member of the famous Mormon Battalion in which he marched to California. He was detailed on that journey as assistant teamster to Hyrum Judd, which released him from carrying his gun and also exempted him from guard duty.

SOURCE: Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia Volume 3

"...After the arrival in California in January, 1847, Edward Bunker spent most of his time doing guard duties at Los Angeles until his discharge July 16, 1847. Starting together with many others of the Battalion boys he traveled to Sutter's Fort..."

Wikipedia Biographical Summary:

"...Edward Bunker (August 1, 1822 – November 17, 1901) was a Mormon pioneer and community founder of Bunkerville, Nevada..."

"...He was born in Atkinson, Maine, the youngest of Silas and Hannah Berry Bunker's nine children..."

"...He then traveled north with other Battalion members to Sutter's Mill, where gold was discovered, and then to Salt Lake City, arriving on October 16, 1847. They stayed only briefly, and then set out for Winter Quarters, Nebraska to rejoin their families..."

"...He bought a team and wagon for his family, and with his mother-in-law and her two small sons, they emigrated in 1849. They settled in Ogden, and he served on the first Weber Stake High Council of the Church and Ogden's first city council..."

"...On the way home from his mission, he led a handcart company to the Salt Lake Valley in 1856, arriving just before the early winter set in that trapped the Martin and Willie handcart companies in Wyoming..."

"...He returned to Ogden, serving as a bishop there for several years. In April 1861, he married a third wife, 14-year-old Scottish immigrant Mary McQuarrie..."

"...He pioneered again in Santa Clara, Utah. This was one of the most difficult settlements because the pioneers were repeatedly washed out by floods of the Virgin River and the Santa Clara River. They also had to deal with extremes of heat and drought. He served as the bishop in Santa Clara for 12 years.

Bunker, on his own initiative but with permission from Brigham Young, moved his large polygamous family 25 miles southwest to Bunkerville after the settlers in Santa Clara had failed to live the communitarian United Order. The residents of Bunkerville, so named by Brigham Young, shared the work and the fruits of their work, with all land being held in common..."

"...In October 1901, at the age of 73, Bunker went to help found the Mormon colony at Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico. He died there on November 17, 1901..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Edward Bunker (Mormon)', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 13 November 2010, 22:26 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Bunker_(Mormon)&oldid=396589119> [accessed 5 June 2011]