COLONIA DIAZ - THE FIRST PERMANENT MORMON COLONY

From the inception of Mormonism its adherents have tended to settled in communities of their own in order to shape their social and religious life in harmony with their own peculiar ideals. There was no exception made to this rule by those who sought homes in Mexico. Though possessing no lands of their own for nearly a year following their advent they adhered as far as possible to the community plan of living. Obviously, however, their settlements had no permanent status assured them so long as the colonists were dependent upon others for the lands they tilled. At any time they were in danger of being uprooted. But with the purchase of lands by the Church, a feeling of security and permanence was born that manifested itself in the founding of colonies that became famed throughout the Republic for their beauty and charm.

Colonia Diaz, established in the early part of 1885, is justly entitled to be known as the first permanent Mormon Colony planted in the Southern Republic, since its founders were among the first groups to enter the country in quest of homes. They had previously settled in temporary camps adjacent to the plat on which Diaz was later built and when that townsite was laid off they rushed in and became permanent residents of the newly founded colony.

Colonia Diaz, as was true of all the Mormon settlements in Chihuahua, was situated on the Casas Grandes River and was located nearly 200 miles southwest from El Paso, Texas, and northwest of the City of Chihuahua about 250 miles. The valley in which it is situated is about 25 by 70 miles in extent and has an elevation of about 5000 ft. above sea level. The soil is fertile and well adapted to the production of beans, corn, potatoes, squash, sugar cane, small grain, and even fruit, common to the temperate

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zone, did well. By the middle of 1890, 2,000 shade trees had been planted on the town site, as well as 15,000 fruit trees and 5,000 grape vines. For the grazing of cattle, the country surrounding was excellent. Wind mills became common with the growth of population and proved to be profitable since there was plenty of wind and an abundance of water of good quality, from eight to ten feet beneath the surface of the ground. The water thus pumped furnished culinary water for the housewife and assisted in keeping the gardens growing. Additional water was added for town and fields in 18 8 8 with the completion of a canal tapping the river four miles south of the colony at a cost of $2,000, and somewhat later, another canal, twenty-five miles in length which conveyed the water from a series of magnificent springs whose water was constant and the size of a "mill stream." But little timber of value grew in the valley and it was to be found only along the banks of the river. This limited supply consisted chiefly of cottonwood and willow. Far to the west could be seen the Sierra Madre range with its majestic peaks piercing the blue gray atmosphere to lofty heights. The only other elevations to be seen could sacrcely be termed mountains. They were little more than hills and even they stood afar off like sentinels guarding the passes that led into the peaceful and fertile valley of the Casas Grandes.

The ground on which the colony stood and the lands adjacent thereto had belonged to two separate tracts as has been previously indicated. One of them, comprising 7,000 acres, was bought by the Church in the early part of 1886, from General Campo while the other one was purchased from John W. Young, a few years later (1890) and consisted of 28,000 acres.

The land was later classified under instructions from President Anthony W. Ivins, into pasture, meadow and farming lands and sold and deeded to the individual members of the community in harmony with their desires and on easy term payments. The pasture land was sold at the

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nominal sum of $2.50 a hectara (2.471 acres) ; the meadow land for $5.00 a hectara and the farming land for from $8.00 to $12.00 per hectara. But the first cost of the farming land was meager compared to the expense of clearing the ground. A large part of it was covered with a heavy growth of mesquite that must be grubbed and cleared away before it could be plowed and planted to crops. And, then, in that semi-arid region where the rainfall was insufficient to mature the crops, dams must be constructed, and canals dug to convey the irrigation water to the thirsty soil. The task in the beginning was truly collossal and a less heroic people would have weakened under the burden, but they manfully toiled on and were, in the course of a few years, rewarded by seeing arise from the plain homes of comfort and beauty.

The first dwellings to appear on the town site were usually nothing but tents or wagon boxes supplemented with arbors of cottonwood and willow as a protection against the burning rays of the sun. Later, stockade and adobe houses, with their mud roofs, supplanted the tents and wagon boxes. These were an improvement in some respects but during the rainy season the water trickled through the relatively flat mud roofs for a day or two after the rain had ceased falling without. The first shingled house to be built in Colonia Diaz was the home of Bishop William D. Johnson, completed in the winter of 1886. It is also reputed to be the first shingled house ever to be erected in the state of Chihuahua. I have no evidence to verify or refute the claim but shingled houses in those days in Mexico were certainly a novelty. It must be born in mind that lumber and shingles were difficult to obtain, colonists from Colonia Diaz being compelled to freight them in by team and wagon from Deming New Mexico, a distance of one hundred and eighty miles the round trip, or from saw mills owned and operated by the colonists in the Sierra Madre, a distance of from seventy to one hundred miles from the colony. The duties on these materials

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as on other foreign importations made the goods from the States almost prohibitive. Fortunate were those who could bring them in on a "free list."

The house furnishings in these early days generally were scant and of rude quality, the chairs usually consisting of dry goods boxes, or perchance homemade benches fashioned by the hand of the home owner. The table would likely be a large goods box or it might be constructed of pine boards nailed together and supported by four rough legs. In some instances, the floors would have a covering of rough boards or portions of the mud floor might be adorned with one or more braided rugs, the handiwork of the cultured and art loving wife and mother. The beds usually were of straw or cornhusks within a covering of factory or denim over which were spread a quilt and a counterpane that hinted of better days. Not all the homes were thus rudely furnished, for some of the colonists brought with them their house-furnishings from their former homes in Utah and Arizona, but even these articles showed signs of wear. The food was coarse, consisting mainly of frijoles (beans), cornbread and molasses with an occasional piece of bacon thrown in, but what was lacking in variety of food was made up in appetite. The religious and social life of the people of Colonia Diaz was not neglected because of the grinding toil and unrelenting drudgery required to wring from the elements a meager existence. Though poor in purse the colonists were rich in spirit. Scarcely had they arrived at the town site when the people were united under an ecclesiastical organization known as a ward. The one chosen to be their Bishop was William Derby Johnson, a man not lacking in experience and of pleasing personality, who was ordained by Apostle George Teasdale on November 9, 1886. Martin P. Mortensen and Joseph H. James were chosen to be his counselors. Later Charles Whiting and Peter K. Lemon filled these positions. The Relief Society, Sunday School, Mutual Improvement and Primary Associations were also

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organized with efficient officers to preside over them. At all of the temporary camps, similar organizations had existed since the beginning of Mormon colonization in Mexico except that the chief presiding officer of each camp was merely a "presiding elder" and not an ordained Bishop.

In the matter of recreation the Mormons have always been most liberal and, at the same time, conscientious in furnishing ample entertainment for all, irrespective of age or sex. Extremely orthodox Church people have in some instances criticized them because of their favorable attitude toward certain forms of amusement, as for example, the theatres and the dances. Down through the middle ages and even in modern times many church people have looked upon such forms of recreation as being entirely antagonistic to the true spirit of Christianity and have often placed a ban upon church members who would indulge therein, but the protagonists of Mormonism have, from the beginning, recognized no such conflict when the recreation was conducted in an orderly and chaste manner. If anything, Mormonism is practical. It does not differentiate between the worship of God in the dance and His worship on Sunday. All things that are beautiful and ennobling are to the Latter-day Saint, religious and worthy of acceptation. Before beginning a dance or the presentation of a drama or a concert it has always been customary for the Mormon people to open such entertainment with prayer. Such procedure has usually so clothed the participant with a feeling of social and moral responsibility as to stimulate him to do his best and to act his best toward the social group.

Soon following the organization of Diaz into a ward, a home dramatic troop was organized whose duty was to place before the community dramatic productions on a high plane of excellence both in content and presentation. That these theatricals were approved and enjoyed by the masses is attested in the fact that as a usual thing the playhouses would be crowded to the door. Dancing parties were of frequent occurrence especially during the winter

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months. Both old and young would usually participate and it was not an unusual sight to witness the father dancing with the daughter and the mother with her son. Even the mother-in-law would come in for her share of attention. In the early days of Colonia Diaz, as was the case in the other Mormon colonies, no round dancing of any sort was permitted, the Church authorities feeling that close contact of the sexes might induce improper thought and action. Sex irregularities of any sort were looked upon by these pioneers as being deadly in their effects and extreme sex impurity as being second only to the shedding of blood in the category of crimes. Every precaution was taken therefore to guard the chastity of the youth. The dances considered appropriate included cotillions, the lancers, the Virginia reel, the Scotch reel, and the French Four. The ability to call the various changes was not easily attained but he who could master the art was in great demand and was held in high esteem. The music for the dances would not, today, be considered classic, yet there was something in the tone and volume that fairly electrified the nervous system and gave rhythm to every muscle and fibre of one's being. Instruments of most common use were the organ, the fiddle and the flute, though the accordion and even the Jew's harp and harmonica were not uncommon.

Other recreational functions that were also popular and of not infrequent occurrence were the holiday festivities such as the 24th of July, Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Independence Day (16 September), and Christmas. Then occasionally an outing would be arranged for by the Sunday School or some other auxiliary of the Church when old and young would cast aside the irksome toil for a day and hie to some shady grove by the river's brink and spend the succeeding hours in athletic contests and in listening to a program of speech and of song, but most important of all was the feasting to the full on the choicest dainties that could be provided by mothers and sweethearts in their efforts to please.

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A brief report of a characteristic program held in honor of Mexican Independence is herewith presented. "In the early part of the day a great parade was staged, consisting of floats that would have been a credit to a people of greater opulence and wealth. Striking was the float representing the 28 states of Mexico by as many little girls appropriately dressed. Then followed floats representing the various auxiliaries of the Church and finally floats representing the industrial organizations of the community. The program that followed was intensely patriotic both in speech and in song. As an opener the Mexican National air was sung by ten charming young ladies attired in white and wearing the national colors. The struggle to gain Mexican independence was dramatically told in the tongue of the foreigner and of the natives as well. At night a torch light meeting was held in the park. The illumination was made by the pitch pine bonfire, the glare of which lit up the heavy branches of the foreground and obscured in more intense gloom those in the distance, making a picture to remind one of the Druids who were wont to assemble for rites and ceremonies in just such temples of nature."

The educational needs of the people were similarly provided for. Among the first buildings to be constructed were school houses for both grade and high school instruction. The cost of the school buildings was met largely by the several communities, a pro rata tax usually being levied for that purpose with the consent of the tax payers. The maintaining of the schools, aside from a relatively small tuition fee, was in major part assumed by the Church as a whole, made necessary in the first place by the financial limitations of the local inhabitants and, in the second place, by a desire on the part of the people to maintain their own schools entirely independent and apart from the Mexican system of schools. In that event no help could be expected from the local or federal government. In addition to the grade schools a Church Academy was founded in

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Colonia Diaz in something less than a decade after the town was established. Referring to the educational opportunities of Colonia Diaz a reporter of the Deming Headlight, Oct. 18, 1895, said: "At Colonia Diaz is a large commodious schoolhouse which has lately been finished outside and in, at considerable cost by the colonists. It is built of adobes and has a beautiful hard finish on the outside. The inside has nicely painted woodwork and has wainscoting throughout the entire building. * * * It is acknowledged to be the largest and best school house in the state of Chihuahua." At the Diaz Academy, not only were the usual secular subjects taught, but theological and religious subjects as well, the aim being to establish the young men and women firmly in the doctrines of the Church.

Combination church-schoolhouse with Sunday School congregation in Colonia Diaz. Notice opera hall at extreme right.

A steady but not a phenomenal growth in population occurred at Colonia Diaz in the first years of its existence. By 1900 the statistician recorded a total membership of 623. A growth was also noted in the number of splendid homes and in places of business. The colony was given over largely to farming and stock raising but some trade was carried on in flour and some other forms of merchandise.

In the winter of 1887-88 a candy factory was established by Bishop Johnson and several thousand pounds of candy were made from Mexican sugar. By 1894, a prosperous candy business was reported.

The first grist mill to be built in Diaz (1891) was owned by John Rowley. The burrs were home-made and the mill was run by wind power. In the following year, Charles E. Richardson built a small mill run by water power. In 1893, Joseph James and William D. Hendricks constructed a burr mill, having a turbine wheel. The machinery was shipped from Cache Valley, Utah. Later, French burrs, a cleaner, elevator and other up-to-date fixtures were added. A broom factory was also put into operation.

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For the purpose of advertising and consolidating the farming, stock and trade interests of the community an Agricultural and Manufacturing Association was organized. In the fall of 1896, a fair was held at Colonia Diaz, to which President Porfirio Diaz and Governor Miguel Ahumada of Chihuahua were invited to be present. At the same time those two distinguished officials were made honorary members of the Association. Replying to the letter of Bishop Johnson, conferring the honor, President Diaz replied, "Esteemed Sir: I am very thankful as well for the distinction which you have conferred upon me in making me an honorary member of the Agricultural and Manufacturing Association of which you are the honored president, as well as for the invitation which you are pleased to make me, which although I am not able to accept, because of a multiplicity of official duties, I esteem highly, and I will send at once to Governor Miguel Ahumada asking him to represent me in the ceremony of the inauguration of the fair."

The Governor and a party of distinguished state officials [See photo above] arrived in Diaz in the forenoon of the 23rd of October, 1896, and found the Sunday School children lining the Main Street on one side and on the opposite side were the adults. He was much impressed with this exhibition of hospitality and deference as well as with the various exhibits at the fair, such as grains, fruits, and vegetables and the handiwork of the colonists. In his public address he stated that he had long heard of the thrift of the Mormon people and he felt they would be a great asset to the country. "I shall give an account to President Diaz of what I see and hear that he may also form more extended ideas of your condition and prospects. * * * The sight before me is a very pleasing and interesting one, of so many bright and healthy children born on the soil of Mexico. It promises well for your future growth and development in the country of your adoption." In conclusion he promised to do all he could to promote the material and intellectual development of the colonists. These fairs became quite a

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regular feature in the economic life of the colony and did much to stimulate prosperity and trade.

Retarding factors in the growth of population and in material and social prosperity of Colonia Diaz as well as of the other colonies were the frequent outbreaks of malignant diseases such as typhoid, malarial fever, diphtheria, and smallpox. Lack of skilled medical help and serums and sanitary devices resulted in widespread mortality, and otherwise unnecessary suffering. I recall that a promising son of Bishop Johnson of Diaz was bitten by a mad coyote upon the plains of Mexico. It occurred just after he and his youthful companions had retired for the night, their beds having been spread upon the ground. A few days later the youth was writhing in agony, a victim of hydrophobia, while his family and friends with blanched and tear-stained faces stood nervously about the room waiting the tragic but certain end. A few years later another youth was bitten by a mad dog; he was rushed immediately to the City of Mexico for treatment and returned home little worse for his experience. Such are the marvels of science, unknown to the first Mormon colonists of Mexico.

Life was not only rendered unsafe from diseases but assassinations took their toll of human life. One example for the present will suffice. Young Wesley Norton of Colonia Diaz, a sewing machine agent, bade goodbye to his parents for a trip up the Casas Grandes River hoping to dispose of some sewing machines to improve his financial condition. About two days later, a colonist beheld a team still hitched to a light wagon, without a driver, wandering aimlessly about. Suspicion of foul play was aroused. A search was begun, resulting in the finding of young Norton's body (March 4,1894) in an old building at Barrancas, four miles south of Corralitos and forty-one miles from Colonia Diaz. The evidence favored the theory that he had entered a room of the building, had built a fire and was in the act of warming himself when he was struck a blow on the head that resulted in his death. The murderers then

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took his money and escaped. This was the first of a series of assassinations suffered by the Latter-day Saints, extending over a series of years.

Bishop Johnson presided over Colonia Diaz from its founding until July 11,1911, when he was succeeded by Ernest Romney as bishop with Alma Fredrickson and Junior Rallinson as his counsellors. Romney presided until the time of the Exodus in 1912. Soon after the Mormons lef t, the town was entirely destroyed by fire and up to the present has never been rebuilt.

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COLONIA DÍAZ

                                                        Chihuahua, Mexico

Date First Settled: 1885 -1888	By Whom: Charles Julius Rohwer January 1st, 1890 until 1897	Notes: First and Oldest Colony Located north of La Ascencion, Chihuahua, Mexico
Land Purchased From: Ignacio Gómez del Campo		See Juárez Stake Appendix
Located: south of U.S. border on Rio Casas Grandes		Disputed as the first Colonia settled by the Mormons in Mexico
Name sake: Mexican President Porfirio Díaz		August 24, 1886 Wm. D. Johnson commenced to survey a townsite
First Bishopric: William Derby Johnson 1st coun. Martin P. Mortensen 2nd coun. Joseph H. James	Date: 9 November 1886 "In Colonia Diaz, Charles W. Richins served as second counselor to Bishop William D. Johnson from 1895 to 1900. In May 1901 he was ordained a patriarch by John Henry Smith, which position he held a little over two years until his death." C. W. Richins Bio	November 1886 the Saints who had been encamped on the Casas Grandes River near Ascension, moved to the new Diaz townsite.
Bishopric: Ernest Van Romney 1st coun. Alma Fredrickson 2nd coun. Junior Rallinson	Date: 11 July 1911 or September 17, 1911 (A.J.)	Notes: till Exodus in 1912
Firsts: Built an elementary school and an academy	Date: Both completed by 1895	Notes: reported to be the best and largest school house in the state of Chihuahua
Economy: farming and stock raising; candy factory, broom factory, lime kiln, molasses mill, flour mill.
Event: First Annual Exposition at Colonia Diaz	Date: 1893
Event:	Date: July 6, 1894	Elder George M. Brown died at Colonia Diaz.
Events:	Date: 1896 April 13	Patriarch William Derby Johnson died at Colonia Diaz.
	Date: October 23, 1896 Event: Third Annual Exposition at Colonia Diaz.	Miguel Ahumada, governor of Chihuahua, and his Secretary of State, Joaquin Cortezar, arrived at Colonia Diaz, accompanied by other leading officials, to attend the Exposition. See above for story of this event.
	Date: 1906 May 5	Ann Matilda Little, wife of the late James A. Little died at Colonia Diaz.
Population: 623	Date: 1900, turn of century
Events: Bishop E.V. Romney and others had remained in Diaz to try to care for the town. They had several visits of revolutionists, the stores had been raided and ransacked, and two of their number taken for ransom. They were able to escape their captors and left Diaz in the night. They abandoned the town to Salazar's Red Flaggers.	Date: 5 August 1912   Joined their families in Hachita, N.M.
Events: Fire in Colonia Díaz burns church and schoolhouse and most of town.	Date: c.1913 during Exodus	Antonio Rojas, a genuine agrarian radical, totally destroyed the mountain colony of Colonia Diaz, probably because of its name. Never rebuilt.
Events: One and a half months before the mass departure of Mormons from Mexico, Ivins purchased 7,500 acres of land near Colonia Diaz.	Date: 1912 June 17	See Ivins Journal, 17 June 1912.
Early Settlers: Frederick G. Williams Winslow Farr Martin Sanders		Charles Wager Richins and his 3 wives, Louisa Shill Richins, Esther Stowe Ovard Richins, and Agnes Mary Willmott Richins. Charles served as bishop here and, at the time of his death, had been serving as Patriarch In Colonia Diaz, Charles served as second counselor to Bishop William D. Johnson from 1895 to 1900. In May 1901 he was ordained a patriarch by John Henry Smith, which position he held a little over two years until his death.(C.W. Richins bio.)

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