ELDORADO, Texas: Until the raid on their compound last week, the women and girls of the Yearning for Zion Ranch spent their days caring for its many children, tilling gardens, and quilting, dressed in pioneer-style dresses sewn by their own hands.

But it was no idyllic recreation of 19th-century prairie life, authorities say. Since last week, they have interviewed members of the polygamist sect looking for evidence that girls younger than 16 were forced into marriages with older men.

Eight kilometers off the highway, beyond a double gate, the group's members live lives that are isolated even for the scruffy West Texas prairie. Their 690-hectare ranch is like its own city, with a gleaming temple, doctor's office, school and even factories.