2018 Spring Pioneer Magazine - Sons of Utah Pioneers

133.2 MB·English

by  The Sons of Utah Pioneers

2018 volume 65 number 1
(cid:79) (cid:79)
Blending Cultures:
A H I S T O R Y
of the
M O R M O N C O L O N I E S
I N M E X I C O
P u b l i s h e d by t h e S o n s o f U ta h P i o n e e r s
2018 VOLUME 65 NO 1
(cid:79) (cid:79)
pioneer
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE SONS
OF UTAH PIONEERS
PRESIDENT: Keith Van Roosendaal
PRESIDENT-ELECT: Tony Tidwell
PUBLISHER: Dr. William W. Tanner
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF &
MAGAZINE DESIGNER:
Susan Lofgren
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD:
Dr. Thomas G. Alexander
John E. Elggren, Past President
Robert C. Folkman
Dr. F. Charles Graves
Dr. A. Keith Lawrence
Kent V. Lott, Publisher Emeritus
features Francis A. Madsen Jr.
2 The Mormon Colonies in Mexico, NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS:
by Matthew G. Geilman 3301 East Louise Avenue
Salt Lake City, Utah 84109
16 A Troubled Decade: The Mexican Revolution
(801) 484–4441
22 Finding Refuge in El Paso: The 1912 Mormon Email: [email protected]
Exodus from Mexico, by Fred E. Woods
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Pat Cook
29 Junius Romney Email: [email protected]
34 Sarah Ann Lunt 1858–1921, or go to the website. Annual
subscription cost is $25 per year
by Susanne Lunt Peterson
or $45 for two years.
42 A Faithful Mormon Convert: Toribio Ontiveros, by Susan Easton Black
WEBSITE: www.sup1847.com
49 A Source of Church Leadership: The Mexican Colonies,
by Kent V. Lott FINANCIAL: John E. Elggren
50 Juárez Stake Academy: Academia Juárez, MISSION STATEMENT: The Mission of
by LaVon Brown Whetton the National Society of the Sons of Utah
Pioneers is to come to know our fathers
56 The Return from Exile, by LaVon Brown Whetton
and turn our hearts to them; we preserve
64 The Plan of A Smaller Temple: “It was here in Northern Mexico,” the memory and heritage of the early
by Kent V. Lott pioneers of the Utah Territory and the
western U.S.; we honor present-day
departments
pioneers worldwide who exemplify the
pioneer qualities of character; and teach
1 President’s Message: by Keith Van Roosendaal
these same qualities to the youth who will
32 Diary Entry: Reminiscences of Edward Christian Eyring
be tomorrow’s pioneers.
40 Pioneer Vignette: Anthony W. Ivins, by Thomas G. Alexander
THE PIONEER VALUES: We honor the
COVER: “Glimpse of Taxco, Mexico” by Birger Sandzén, courtesy Birger Sandzén pioneers for their faith in God, devotion to
Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas. Sandzén was born in Västra Götaland County, family, loyalty to church and country, hard
Sweden. An acclaimed artist from Sweden, Sandzén accepted a teaching position in 1894 work and service to others, courage in
at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas. He remained on the faculty for fi fty-two years. His adversity, personal integrity, and unyield-
expressionistic artwork has been compared to Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. ing determination.
© 2018 National Society of the Sons
WEBSITE: www.sup1847.com
of Utah Pioneers®
iv
I
President’s Message by Keith Van Roosendaal
The Saints’ the founding of eight major colonies. remain true to their mission of helping
exodus from Colonia Juárez and Colonia establish the Church in their native land.
Nauvoo to Dublán were established on the Casas They are determined that they and their
the western US Grandes River. By the early 1900s, communities will endure as bastions of
began in Febru- Colonia Juárez was a prosperous town peace, safety, and goodness.
ary 1846, and, of nearly 750 inhabitants where fruit This issue of Pioneer explores
under the direc- orchards, cattle ranches, a tannery, a the several purposes for establishing
tion of Brigham Young, the coloniza- shoe factory, and a leather-goods shop Mormon colonies in the northern
tion of Deseret Territory began almost thrived. Colonia Dublán was located states of Mexico and discusses the
immediately upon their arrival in the eighteen miles northeast of Colonia challenges the early Saints faced as
Salt Lake Valley in 1847. At Brigham’s Juárez on a rich tableland whose fertile they purchased land, settled it, and
death in 1877, there were more than soil made this area an agricultural prepared it for planting before that
350 Mormon settlements across the center producing alfalfa, wheat, corn, fi rst winter set in. The hardy colonists
American West, and by 1900 this num- and beans; dairies fl ourished here and had to surmount many challenges
ber was approaching 500. grist mills were built. Sixty miles north over the years including drought and
In September 1875 the fi rst mis- of Dublán was Colonia Diaz; Colonia forest fi res, depredations from bandits
sionaries assigned to Mexico were Oaxaca and Colonia Morelos were sev- and revolutionaries, and an unstable
charged with preaching the gospel enty miles west of Diaz in the state of national government. The following
and locating suitable places for colo- Sonora. Colonias Pacheco, Garcia and articles portray the resilience and faith
nization in southern Arizona and New Chuichupa were scattered southwest of the early settlers, together with the
Mexico and northern Mexico. Over of Juárez and Dublán in the Sierra optimistic, enduring commitment of
the next ten years, between 1875 and Madre Mountains. their descendants.
1885, several groups of explorers were During the Mexican Revolution,
Sources: Lavon B. Whetten, “Colonia
sent into Mexico to locate settlement Diaz, Oaxaca, and Morelos were perma-
Juárez: Commemorating 125 Years of the
sites and to negotiate with Mexican nently abandoned. Pacheco, Garcia and
Mormon Colonies in Mexico,” privately
offi cials for land. Chuichupa died out over time because
printed (2017). Lavon B. Whetten and Don
The passage of the Edmunds of prolonged drought, fi re, poor road
L. Searle, “Las Colonias: Once a Haven, Still
Act in 1882 intensifi ed federal eff orts systems, and a lack of schools. Only
a Home,” Ensign (August 1985).
to incarcerate polygamous Mormon Colonia Juárez and Colonia Dublán
males and to end the practice of plural survive today, bolstered by better roads
William Rufus Rogers Stowell’s wheat mill in
marriage. The ensuing persecution and transportation enabling the export
Colonia Juárez, 1889 .
prompted a regional conference in of fruit, berries, and veg-
St. David, Arizona, on January 1, 1885. etables north to the US
Convened by Elder Moses Thatcher un- and south to other
der the direction of the First Presiden- states in Mexico.
cy, the conference had the purpose of Today, the
designating and fi nancing colonization threats of Pancho
sites in northern Chihuahua, Mexico, Villa and roaming
as a safe refuge. Beleaguered Saints banditos have been
were soon departing for the valley of supplanted by the new
the Casas Grandes River in Chihuahua, dangers of the illicit
Mexico. Eventually, land would be drug trade. However,
procured, and migrations to northern the faithful Saints in
Chihuahua and Sonora would result in northern Mexico
PIONEER 2018 VOLUME 65 NO 1 1
(cid:79) (cid:79) (cid:79)
THE MORMON COLONIES IN
2 2018 VOLUME 65 NO 1 PIONEER BACKGROUND ART BY JOSÉ MARÍA VELASCO GÓMEZ
(cid:79) (cid:79) (cid:79)
by Matthew G. Geilman
Church History Department
T
he Mormon colonies in northern Mexico, like
contemporaneous Mormon settlements in
Canada, mark a unique moment in Latter-day
Saint history when nineteenth-century Saints took the
pioneering and colonizing spirit beyond the borders of the
United States and established footholds that have blessed
the Church for more than a century. Mexico’s Mormon
colonies,1 founded near the northern Sierra Madre
mountains in 1885, manifest an enduring legacy of faith,
sacrifi ce, self-reliance, and contribution to the kingdom
of God. Many members of the Church have ties to the
colonies, descended from ancestors who lived there or
claiming friends who call the colonies home.
If today you were to cross the border into Mexico
from El Paso, Texas—or from Columbus, New Mexico—
and then drive southwest about three and a half hours
through long rural areas of the state of Chihuahua, you
would come upon the fi rst of the still-functioning Mor-
mon colonies, Colonia Dublán. Having passed through
a handful of small towns representative of Mexican
culture and architecture—with central plazas and arch-
ways, bright colors, picturesque shops, signs in Spanish,
tortillerías, and ethnic foods and music all around—you
would tell yourself that you were several hours into Mex-
ico. Yet as you entered Dublán, you undoubtedly would
be surprised by some of its features—the wide streets in
3
a grid confi guration; the beautiful red-brick houses these tracks once held for many faithful people.
dotting the community. Typical of many American As you departed Dublán you would almost im-
homes of the late nineteenth century, the brick houses mediately drive through Nuevo Casas Grandes, a city
might appear to have been plucked from historic of about 100,000 residents; next would come a much
Utah towns and hidden away in northern Mexico, smaller and older community called Casas Grandes,
preserved from time. You would pause before the home to the ancient ruins known as Paquimé. And if
beautifully restored Relief Society building (the Culto you left Casas Grandes traveling the rural road head-
Verde), a cemetery with the sign “La Iglesia de Jesu- ing southwest, you would be on your way to Colonia
cristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días”(Th e Church Juárez. Th e country feeling of being surrounded by
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and a number valley farms with mountains in the distance might
of large structures, including an old adobe mill—no cause you once again to question whether you were
longer in use but a symbol of past industry and deter- in Mexico.
mination. You would see a modern white-brick LDS Th en, as you leave valley farms behind and
meetinghouse and, behind it, an elementary school climb further into hills now seemingly covered with
that was once operated by the Church but that now orchards, you might draw in your breath as, round-
belongs to the community. You would also notice, on ing a bend, you watch a new valley suddenly come
the outskirts of town, the thriving peach, apple, and into view. Nestled into the foothills is a thriving,
pecan orchards in neatly cultivated rows, evidence of cultivated community of gridded streets, red-brick
an ongoing labor over several generations. You might homes, and mature trees. Your attention is immedi-
traverse old abandoned train tracks leading back to ately drawn to the majestic Colonia Juárez Chihua-
the United States, and you might sense the meaning hua Mexico Temple on a slight rise overlooking the
Anthony W. Ivins home in Colonia Juárez,
with Mexican offi cials and colonists in
foreground.
4
small community. Just below the temple you see a cluster
of school buildings forming part of the Juárez Academy, a
Church school in operation since 1897 and still teeming
with students from Colonia Juárez and surrounding towns.
You might correctly surmise that the natural valley
surrounding Colonia Juárez has helped preserve the com-
munity as an even more isolated and protected site than
Dublán. Again, as in Dublán, you feel you have stepped
back in time. You see the old scout lodge (what is left of the
fi rst meeting house in Juárez), the swinging bridge, and the
tithing house. And high on the hill outside town, you see
the original aqueduct used to divert water to the orchards.
It still rests on train rails raised upright, and it continues to be self-reliant, hardworking, and independent, possess-
bring water across the gulley so that trees on both sides of ing dry wit and down-to-earth approaches to life. You
town get needed runoff from the mountains. would undoubtedly recognize that they are well-educated,
If someone were with you in both Dublán and Juárez capable people who have learned to live with one foot in
to attach old homes to families, you might even start to each of two worlds. Indeed, many have dual citizenship in
recognize such names as the Whettens, Romneys, Joneses, Mexico and the United States. In one moment, a colonist
Calls, Eyrings, and Johnsons. Most of today’s colonists are might be speaking to you in English, sounding as if she
descendants of original settlers; the others, through mar- were from an average Utah community. In the next, she
riage, have joined their lives to the legacy of the colonies. might be addressing a friend in Spanish, clearly under-
Although generalizations about contemporary colonists scoring her linguistic and cultural identity as Mexican.
are insuffi cient and unfair, you might fi nd the colonists to Th ese colonial descendants of Mormon pioneers have
a rich and beautiful history. What one observes today in
the Mormon colonies remaining in Mexico is the fruit
mo n
of seeds planted more than 130 years ago. Th e history
also includes the exodus of colonists to the United States
during the Mexican Revolution, the return of colonists
following the “exodus,” and the eventual building of the
temple in Colonia Juárez.
Founding the Colonies: A Dual Purpose
Th e beginnings of the Mormon colonies in Mexico
suggest a paradigm for their entire history, a paradigm
emphasizing the purpose and meaning of the original
colonies as well as of the colonies’ legacy today. During
the 1880s the Saints’ collective need for places of refuge
from the federal crusade against polygamy was clearly
a motivating factor for colonizing areas of Mexico and
Canada. Th is factor contributed signifi cantly to the
founding and growth of the colonies, especially early on.
Mormon homes in Mexico, courtesy Library of Congress. But from the beginning there were other motivations for
PIONEER 2018 VOLUME 65 NO 1 5
(cid:79) (cid:79) (cid:79)
settling in Mexico, such as missionary work and
expanding the reach of Zion. Long term, these
were the enduring principles guiding the history
and legacy of the Mexican colonies through the
present day.
As early as the Nauvoo period, there were
indications that the Church eventually would
expand south beyond US borders. Brigham Young
once stated, “I look forward to the time when
the settlements of Th e Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints will extend right through to the
City of Old Mexico, and from thence on through
Central America to the land where the Nephites EXPEDITIONS
fl ourished in the golden era of their history, and
this great backbone of the American Continent be
fi lled, north and south, with the cities and temples of the country, and met with political offi cials, includ-
the people of God.”2 ing the governor of Chihuahua, to discuss purchas-
As the fi rst missionary party into Mexico was ing land in the territory.10
organized in 1874, the dual purposes of proselytiz- Th e missionaries carefully fulfi lled the respon-
ing and of establishing colonies became apparent. sibility to take note of the places they were travel-
Brigham told the departing elders “that the time had ing through. As one example, when they traveled
come to prepare for the introduction of the gospel through the Casas Grandes area on their return trip
into Mexico; that there were millions of the descen- to Salt Lake—the area where colonies later would
dants of Nephi in the land, and that we were under be established—one of the missionaries noted, “Th e
obligations to visit them.”3 In addition Brigham ad- town derives its name (Big Houses) from some
vised the missionaries “to keep a record of their travels prehistoric ruins which are near the present village.
and labors and to report to him any places which . . . Some of these ancient buildings must have been
they thought suitable to establish settlements, giving large and several stories in height.”11 Wrote another,
a careful description of each, and the advantages they “Everything points to the fact that at some time in
off ered.”4 Prior to their departure the missionaries by-gone generations, quite a prosperous community
were instructed by Orson Pratt to “look out for places dwelt here.”12 Th e leader of the missionaries, Daniel
where our brethren could go and be safe from harm W. Jones, recorded that because “the district of coun-
in the event that persecution should make it necessary try we had been passing through [Casas Grandes]
for them to get out of the way for a season.”5 appeared to be the most desirable for colonizing,
In preparation for the mission, portions of the . . . we made diligent inquiries about lands, titles,
Book of Mormon were translated into Spanish,6 and [and] confl icting water interests.” With notes in hand
in 1875 the group of eight missionaries7 began their about what they had learned, the party promptly
journey by horseback from Salt Lake to El Paso and “reported to Pres. Young on our arrival home.”13
on into Chihuahua.8 Soon they had convened the As Jones had earlier explained to one Mexican
fi rst public meeting of the Church in Mexico, mailed offi cial, “Our duty was to travel through the country
copies of Trozos Selectos del Libro de Mormón (Short and visit with and explain to the people our principles
Selections from the Book of Mormon)9 throughout and make friends with them, in anticipation that some
6 2018 VOLUME 65 NO 1 PIONEER
(cid:79) (cid:79) (cid:79)
Moses Thatcher
of our people would, in time, come into his to spread through that land, colonies needed
country and make homes.”14 Jones later ob- to be established there.
served that those called to Mexico had gone So strongly did Thatcher and his
among the Mexican people “with the spirit of companions feel about the rightness of this
true friends and as colonizing missionaries.”15 course that Thatcher was sent back to Salt
One of Jones’s companions declared, “I felt a Lake to propose to the First Presidency and
desire also on our return to have my family with Quorum of the Twelve that the Church pursue
me and remain among them [the Mexican people], colonization efforts in Mexico. Perhaps to Thatch-
as it seemed as though a work of a lifetime was before us.”16 er’s surprise, Church leaders determined that while
Just a few years later, in 1879, as a direct result of the Mormon settlements might eventually be established in
first mission into Mexico, correspondence had opened Mexico, the time for such action had not yet arrived.
between John Taylor and a man who had received a copy Knowing that the news would be difficult for his
of the Book of Mormon sent by the original missionaries.17 companions to hear, Elder Thatcher wrote a letter express-
The decision was made to send Elder Moses Thatcher, a ing his feelings about why their proposal had been rejected.
new member of the Quorum of the Twelve, to dedicate His words provide a great lesson for anyone who has had
Mexico for the preaching of the gospel and to officially a spiritual confirmation that subsequently seems uncon-
open the nation to missionary work. Elder Thatcher and firmed or unfulfilled. “Regarding this matter,” he wrote,
his companions, James Stewart and Melitón Trejo, traveled “I have reflected much since my return. And came to the
to Mexico City and, on November 15, 1879, met in a room final conclusion that the Spirit of God prompted us while
of the Hotel Iturbide to offer the dedicatory prayer. In it, he expressing our views before I left you. But I now understand
expressed his desire for the Saints to establish colonies in . . . that when the Elders are inspired to have even a peep
Mexico so that, through their influence, “salvation [might] into the future, the Holy Ghost[,] by a partial removal of
come to many of the inhabitants of the republic, and espe- the veil, makes things that may actually, in a natural way, be
cially to the remnants of Israel.”18 Like the earlier mission- distant seem very, very close to us. . . . We were only a little
aries to Mexico, Thatcher believed that if the Church were overanxious as to time.”19
THE PAQUIME RUINS NEAR CASAS GRANDES, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
7
Elder Th atcher returned to Mexico City, and there were only two courses for us to choose between
he and his companions met for another prayer, this and be safe. One was to go to Mexico where all the
time on Mount Popocatepetl, to re-dedicate Mexico family could go, but where the prospects fi nancially
for the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Th is time, were not very good, or go to Canada where a man
colonization was not part of the prayer.20 With the could go and live in peace the principle which we
benefi t of hindsight, both dedications of Mexico now had entered at so great a sacrifi ce together.”23 Of her
seem relevant. family’s transition to Mexico, Amy Th eressa Rich-
By the end of 1884 anti-polygamist persecu- ardson wrote, “Very soon we set out for Snowfl ake
tion in the United States had become so intense that to prepare for our fl ight, not into Egypt, but to Old
many plural families in the Church found themselves Mexico. I tell you the road was not strewn with roses,
in desperate need of relief. Families seemed at con- neither was it all thorns. Going into a strange land
stant risk of being torn apart; removed from wives among a diff erent people and a new government was
and children, family heads were being sent to prison. not a sweet dream. But there was a jolly crew of us
In December 1884 Church leaders in Arizona were and we had many good evenings of entertainment
assigned via a letter from Presidents John Taylor and on the way.”24
George Q. Cannon to look in Sonora or Chihuahua As LaVon Whetten has pointed out, “Th e trek
for “a place of refuge . . . to which our people can to Mexico was certainly not easy. To help put it into
fl ee.”21 By February 1885 the fi rst groups of LDS set- perspective, the distance from Salt Lake City, Utah, to
tlers began to enter Mexico, and within a few months Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, was greater than
hundreds more had crossed the border in search of that covered by the Saints when they traveled from
relief and freedom.22 Council Bluff s, Iowa, to the Salt Lake Valley.”25 Even
Eunice Steward Harris recorded, “It seemed for those who, like the Richardsons, traveled from
MOUNT POPOCATÉPETL
8 2018 VOLUME 65 NO 1 PIONEER ART BY AUGUST LOHR
(cid:79) (cid:79) (cid:79)