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Under the administration of Porfirio Diaz . foreign interests were welcomed into Mexico in order to ass ist in developing the country. In the northern states of Chihuahua and Sonora, Mormons from the western United States were welcomed and in 1885 their first colonies were founded. Following several years of extreme hardship, the colonists succeeded in developing a thriving commonwealth, but the Madero revolution, which began in 1910, and the entire revolutionary period which followed so disrupted the normal pursuits of the Mormon colonists and placed their lives and property in jeopardy to such an extent that virtually all of the colonists fled to the United States during the summer of 1912 . This exodus was preceded by months of pressure from the revolutionaries who demanded supplies from the colonists and threatened their safety. The Mormons relinquished their property when compelled by the revolutionary soldiers to do so. They also adopted a policy of neutrality in an attempt to isolate themselves from the warfare. And in order to be prepared to defend themselves if it became necessary, the colonists smuggled in guns from the United States. During the spring of 1912, the United States placed an embargo on the shipment of guns to Mexico. This embargo forced the revolutionary armies to obtain weapons within Mexico, and one of their potential sources of supply was the Mormon colonists. Late in July, 1912, the revolutionary leaders demanded that the colonists deliver their rifles and ammunition to them. This demand, together with the increasing confiscation of supplies by the revolutionaries, convinced the colonists that their safety required a temporary evacuation of their women and children from Mexico. Beginning on July 27, 1912, and continuing until August 3, the women and children from the settlements in the State of Chihuahua traveled to the United States. During this phase of the exodus, most of the men from the Chihuahua colonies remained in Mexico and all of the colonists in Sonora remained in their homes. But, beginning on August 1 and continuing until August 13, the men from the Chihuahua colonies also left Mexico for sanctuary in the United States. Both the exodus of the women and children and that of the men were under the general direction of the leadership of the Mormon Church in Mexico, but the wide geographical dispersion of the settlements meant that each of the colonies pursued its individual course at least to some extent. The men from Chihuahua left Mexico in three main groups. The men from Colonia Diaz traveled in their own group. The men from Chuichupa, who were farthest from the international border, also traveled alone 0 The main group of men gathered west of Colonia Juarez and traveled together to the United States 0 The evacuation of the colonists from the State of Chihuahua still left the colonies in Sonora occupied by the Mormons. This is because the revolutionary forces had not yet moved into that area. But on August 15, as the revolutionary armies approached 'and on the advice of the church leaders, some of the Sonora colonists left for the United States so that by August 18, about one-third of them were in Arizona. The remaining two-thirds fled during the last few days of August so that by September 5, 1912, the Sonora colonies were completely clear of Mormons. All of the colonists thought that their evacuation was only temporary, but most of them never returned to their homes in Mexico. At the time the Sonora colonies were being evacuated, some of the colonists returned to their homes in Chihuahua, but most of the refugees were, by then, scattering throughout the United States where they would eventually establish new homes. |
