EVENTS PRECEEDING THE FOUNDING OF COLONIA MORELOS
INITIAL PRESENCE OF MORMONS IN MEXICO

After establishment at Salt Lake City, the Mormons persisted in their expansionist ideas and missionary activities which had earlier won thern converts from England and western Europe. A natural focus for c oloniza-tion was the sparsely settled expanses of northern Mexico.

In the summer of 1874, President Brigham Young directed that sections of the Book of Mormon be translated into Spanish by Daniel W. Jones in preparation for a mission to Mexico. With the a sistance of a recent convert from the Philippines, Meliton G. Trejo, a published translation appeared the following year. In the middle of September, 1875, a group consisting of Jones, Helaman Pratt, James L. Stewart, Anthony W. Ivins, and Wiley C. Jones set out from Kanab, Utah, bound for Mexico. Their purpose was to conduct missionary work among the Mexicans and locate favorable sites for prospective Mormon settlements (Ro mney 1938: 38-39). On Jaruary 7, 1876, they crossed the Rio Grande below El Paso and entered Mexico. Passing though Carrizal and El Cairmen they described the latter as suitably located in a large valley with abundant water and fertile soil. They -+)shed on to the City of Chihuahua where the group received permission from Governor Luis Terrazas to hold th. first Latter-day Saints meeting in Mexico. Five hundred persons attended. The expedition then turned north, proceeding through Guerrero, Casas Grandes and Janos on their return to the United States (Romney 1938: 41-4<').

The Church was given an extraordinary opportunity to send colonists to Mexico in 1880. The previous year Apostle Moses Thatcher, Stewart and Trejo had gone to Mexico City to begin missionary work there. Soon after their arrival, Thatcher became acquainted with Emilio Biebuyck, a Belgian who had influence in Mexico. Biebuyck had been in Utah on three separate occasions and was impressed with the Mormons and their potential as productive colonists to Mexico. Thatcher decided that he would return to Salt Lake City with Biebuyck and together they would present a proposition to President John Taylor and the Council of the Twelve Apostles. Biebuyck explained that his concession with the government granted him permission to establish colonies in any of the Mexican stares, the public land to be given free along with a subsidy of $80.00 for adults and $40.00 for each child. Colonists would be exempted from military service and taxes for 20 years and they could bring with them, free of duty, teams, wagons, agricultural implements, building materials and provisions. However, after: due consideration, the Council determined that "the colonization of Latter-day Saints in Mexico at this time, even under the generous concessions of the contract proposed, would be premature" (Roberts 1965: V: 573).

It was, therefore, after a delay of two years that the first Mormons entered the state of Sonora. Alexander F. Macdonald, David Kimball, and C. I. Robinson of Arizona were in Sonora in 1882 looking for suitable places for settlement. Another party in that same year briefly surveyed the "Four Corners" area of Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora and Chihuahua. This group of 32 abandoned its plans to establish the first colony in Mexico due to a paucity of agricultural land (Romney 1938: 53).

THE EDMUND BILL, 1882

The United States Congress on March 14, 1882, passed the Edmunds Bill which gave new cause and impetus to Mormon interest in Mexico. The bill made illegal the Mormon practice of having more than one wife. The concept of plural marriage was one of the cardinal doctrines of the Mormon Church and its members believed it to be a divine principle as set forth in revelation to the founding prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., in 1843.

In 1884, the United States governmet began active prosecution of the new law. The penalty for polygamy was set at $500,000 or five years imprisonment, or both. Cohabitation was punishable by a fine not to exceed $300.00 and imprisonment not to exceed six months. Federal marshals hunted down violators in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and New Mexico, and many were removed to serve sentences at a far away Detroit prison, known in the fatherless homes as the "American Siberia" (Roberts: 1965: VI: 260). This state of affairs induced Mormon President Taylor and his first Counselor, George Q. Cannon, to send a letter on December 16, 1884, to Christopher Layton, leader of the Mormons in Arizona:

'A general attack is being made upon our liberties throughout all the territories where our people reside. In Utah Territory God-fearing men, whose only offense is that they have obeyed a command of the Almighty, are thrust into prison while appeals are pending in a higher court, being refused bail, a boon which should be granted to every person not guilty of a capital offense. Better for parts of families to remove and go where they can live in peace (to a place of refuge under a foreign government)." (Romney 1938: 51-52).

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SUBSEQUENT PREPARATION

Several weeks prior to the writing of the above letter, but prompted no doubt by the polygamy problem, a party of 24 Arizonans led by Macdonald, Brigham Young, Jr., and Heber J. Grant traveled by train from Nogales to Hermosillo, Sonora. They intended to travel on to southwest Sonora to make a treaty with the Yaqui Indians, who were then warring with Mexico, to allow Mormon settlement on their lands. However, in meetings with the Sonora governor and the secretary of state the party was warned against visiting the Indians. They were advised to consider settling instead along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Mountains of northwestern Chihuahua. But the Mormons insisted. Traveling on to Guaymas, they went by boat and foot to the village of the chief where they received a cordial welcome. Little progress was made partly because of the absence of Cajeme, the Yaqui chief. After Young and Grant returned to Salt Lake City, ailing from yellow fever, the American press picked up the story of their attempted treaty. They reported that the Mormons had been stirring up the Yaqui Indians to make war on the United States (Johnson 1972: 17-20).

FOUNDING OF CHIHUAHUA COLONIES

The Taylor and Cannon letter to Arizona Stake President Layton initiated the actual settlement of Mormons in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Scouting parties from St. David, Arizona, had located suitable land in January, 1885, along the Casas Grandes River 40 miles below the international border. By February and early March, settlers from Snowflake and St. David arrived to set up a tent encampment of 122 persons. An arbitrary expulsion order from the acting-governor of Chihuahua, Carlos Fuero, was received on April 10, but was countermanded the following month by the president of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz. The Saints were in Mexico to stay (Johnson 1972: 41-45).

The Mormons' meeting with Diaz in Mexico City to plead for the counterorder offered the Mexican president an opportunity to meet the people he had welcomed and admired. Thus began the cordial relations and patronizing interest he had with them until his exile a quarter-century later. The Mormons responded by naming their first colony in his honor. Succeeding colonies were named for his home state and Mexican patriots and officials. Despite some initial setbacks in land title negotiations the colonizing efforts in Chihuahua saw steady growth and expansion; Colonia Diaz and Colonia Juárez began in 1885; Colonia Pacheco was founded in 1887; Colonia Dublán, in 1888; Colonia Garcia and Colonia Chuhuichupa, in 1894.

ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIA OAXACA

It was not until 1892 that the state of Sonora saw s first permanent Mormon settlers. On February 5 f that year, George Calvin "Parson" Williams and John Conrad Naegle finished negotiations to buy some 200 square miles along the Rio Bavispe in northeastern Sonora. The land was owned by Colonels Emilio Kosterlitzsky and Juan Fenochio who were given the tract

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by the Mexican government for their services in the Sonoran Rurales, a branch of the army. The agreement signed by Kosterlitzky, Williams and seven other Mormons that day set forth a price of $35,000; one-third due January 1, 1893, another third due January 1, 1894, and the final amount on January 1, 1895 (Hay more n.d.: 345-346; Romney 1938: 115).

Two days later, Williams and Naegle journeyed to look over the new lands. On February 15, a group set out from Williams' Ranch in Cave Valley, Chihuahua, bound for Sonora. The party consisted primarily of families recruited from the mountain country around Colonia Pacheco. Fourteen wagons and over 100 persons made that initial trek across the Llanos de Carretas and into Sonora by way of the Pulpit Pass. The heavy lumber wagons had to climb to over 6,000 feet on a trail that had known no previous vehicles. Considerable road building had to be undertaken - rocks and trees cleared and dugways excavated. The wagons were pulled up the steep slopes by ropes and pulleys and eased down the inclines with trunks of trees dragging behind. On March 15, the group emerged from the Pulpit Canyon into the valley of the Rio Bavispe (Romney 1938: 116).

Here, at an elevation of 3,000 feet above sea level, the Bavispe follows a winding course between sandstone ledges and slopes of alluvium. At intervals the valley widens into a rincón of arable floodplain called a "flat" by the Mormons The colony lands stretched for some 20 miles along the river and in that distance were 13 "flats," none of which contained more than 300 acres.

Problems arose as to where to locate the townsite. The first half-year was spent in a tent encampment on what became known as the "Haymore Flat." A tentative townsite on the terrace above the flat was discussed but this plan was abandoned because water had to be pumped too high (Langford 315/72). There was considerable indecision and waiting as the people were unsure as to what the Church authorities would advise.

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The Mormons tried to raise a crop of corn but this largely failed and in the fall of 1892 the settlers broke the encampment and located individually along the river at flats they desired to secure.

A townsite was finally selected on Christmas Day, 1893, immediately above the mouth of Pulpit Wash, five miles downstream from the site of the original tent camp. The following day, John U. Rancher began surveying thé site into blocks of five acres, each block divided into four lots (Haymore n.d.: 349).

At the time of the purchase the land had been known as "Los Horcones" (the forks) and for several months following its acquisition by the Mormons it was called "Fenochio" in honor of one of its previous owners. Andrew Jensen in his history of Colonia Oaxaca says the name Oaxaca was adopted after a trip by Colonel Kosterlitzsky to Mexico City in August 1892 (Haymore n.d.: 346-347). Kosterlitzky is reported to have brought word from President Diaz that he desired the colony to be named after the state that had produced the most illustrious men of the Mexican Republic (Benito Juarez and Porfirio Diaz).

By the end of 1895, Williams and Naegle had paid only about half of the $35,000 due on the land. Expected contributions from other settlers had not been forthcoming and the colony faced repossession. Learning of this, President Anthony Woodward Ivins of the Juirez Stake, highest ranking Mormon official in Mexico, acquired authority from the Church to secure the lands for the colony. In a meeting in Hermosillo, Sonora, on May 11, 1896, Ivins acted on behalf of the Church-sponsored Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company and contracted anew on the balance of the debt owed Fenochio and Kosterlitzky (Haymore n.d.: 356). To compensate the company, Ivins then sold colony lands to individual settlers (Romney 1938: 119).

PROSPERITY AND DESTRUCTION OF COLONIA OAXACA

The Oaxaca Ward of the Juárez Stake was organized in 1894 and the colony grew steadily. Brick homes, stores, and church-schoolhouse were constructed. By 1905, the colony numbered some 650 persons. In November of that year, as prophesied by Apostle John W. Taylor, Colonia Oaxaca was devastated by a flood in the Rio Bavispe (Young 1968: 19). This was caused by the rapid melting of unseasonable snows in Chihuahua by heavy rains. Floating trees lodged in the narrows below town, partially damming the current and backing the water up 40 feet and into the colony. All but the church-schoolhouse and several of the higher lying homes were destroyed. Miraculously, no lives were lost in the deluge but the loss to homes and property was total in some families. More than 80% of the inhabitants abandoned the colony and returned to the United States or, in the case of many families, moved 25 miles down river to begin again at the newest Mormon colony of Morelos (Katie Huish 2/4173; Langford 3/5/72, 10/22/72).

CREATION AND EARLY GROWTH OF COLONIA MORELOS

PHYSICAL SETTING

The town of Colonia Morelos, the last true colony established by the Mormons in Mexico, lies at the extreme top of the great bend of the Rio Bavispe. Here the river turns 180 degrees on its northward course from headwaters in Chihuahua and pivots around the north end of the El Tigre Mountains, to head south toward its meeting with the Rio Aros where together they form the Rio Yaqui. At Colonia Morelos the hills and canyons enclosing the river give way to allow the shifting channel of the Rio Batepito to join the Bavispe from the north. The Batepito rises between the Chiricahuas and Peloncillos of southeastern Arizona and is known as the San Bernardino until it enters Mexico.

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The elevation at the confluence of the two streams is 2,700 feet above sea level and the vegetation is a mixture of Chihuahuan and Sonoran desert plants. Mesquite, catclaw and creosote are the dominant species on the bajada (alluvial slope) and terraces, while willow and cottonwood grow along the rivers. Immediately to the south of the confluence lie the El Tigre Mountains, a complex granitic and basalt range running for 40 miles and reaching elevations of 8,000 feet. Oak, juniper, pine and Douglas fir are found here. Some 20 miles northeast of Colonia Morelos is the Sierra de Guadalupe, an outlier of the main ridge of the Sierra Madre which forms the continental divide and marks the Chihuahua-Sonora boundary. The Sierra de Guadalupe rises to 7,600 feet and supports pine at its upper elevations.

No meteorological records are available for Colonia Morelos but the average annual rainfall is about 12 inches with over half of it coming during July, August and September. Freezing temperatures can occur as early as October and as late as April but frosts are usually confined to the 120-day period between mid-November and mid-March.

PURCHASE AND INITIAL SETTLEMENT

The portion of Sonora that was south of the United States border and west of Colonia Oaxaca was virtually uninhabited prior to 1890. This vast wilderness was only occasionally broken by a few scattered Mexican haciendas or cattle ranches. Members of the Mormon Battalion and the small groups of Mormon explorers mentioned earlier had crossed the area on several occasions after 1846, but none of these people attempted to settle in the area. President Anthony W. Ivins of the Juárez Stake, after visiting this extremely isolated area in the late 1890s, wrote to the Deseret News of Salt Lake City in the spring of 1898 that the area around the Batepito Ranch offered "fine opportunities for colonization." The Batepito Ranch was the headquarters of a typical 'Mexican cattle ranch and was located along the Batepito River just north of where that stream joined the larger Rio Bavispe. The Batepito River at this point was a small, sandy watercourse more aptly referred to as an intermittent stream than a river. It meandered back and forth between wide expanses of carrizo (cane) and sacaton grass. More water was transported in the sandy bed than in the actual surface flow. On either side of the stream were dense bosques (thickets) of mesquite and catclaw. Generally, the Bavispe River valley was similar to that of the Batepito. The river bottom lands had been little affected visibly by the few Mexican cattlemen at theBatepito Ranch. Most of their activities were conducted on the surrounding grass and shrub-covered hills and the bajada which flanked both streams.

About 9,000 acres of the Batepito Ranch were bought by President Ivins for $15,000 in the fall of 1899. These lands had been owned by the American cattle interests of Cameron and Cole who had previously leased them to the Gavilando brothers, Mexican cattle ranchers (Haymore 1962: 37). Cameron maintained partial interest in the well-bred Hereford stock that the Gavilandos raised on the Batepito Ranch. Although the Gavilandos' lease was still in effect, Cameron could not afford to refuse Ivins' offer. To induce the Gavilandos to surrender their lease, Cameron gave them total interest in the cattle. Upon completion of the cattle transfer, Cameron was finally able to accept Ivins' earlier proposal (Huber n.d.: l ). Ivins probably negotiated the transaction with Cameron on behalf of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company since he represented that organization in the previous purchase of the Colonia Oaxaca lands. Contemporaries differ in their opinions about the Morelos land acquisition. As far back as 1919, Joseph Lillywhite claimed: "The colonists had purchased their land-some 27,000 acres-partly from Cole and Cameron, an American firm of cattlemen, and partly from Mexican owners" (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 3253). This testimony seems to conflict with Haymore's statement above or perhaps Lillywhite was referring to land that was in pan obtained after the original 1899 transaction. One of Joseph Lillywhite's sons, Layne, stated in an interview with the authors ( 3/ 16/71) that the Colonia Morelos land eventually totaled 75,000 hectares (one hectare is 2.47 acres) ; all the colony lands were leased from the Mexican government for a 99-year period, rather than being bought outright. Layne Lillywhite was particularly emphatic about the point that the properties of Oaxaca, Morelos and San José were leased. Another informant, Clarence Langford, stated (3/5/72) that his father "bought" and "purchased" land on the Batepito for the later colony of San José. These claims simply point out the confusion surrounding the status and acquisition of the lands held by the Mormons in Sonora.

Ivins felt that about 4,500 acres of the original 9,000 acres could eventually be cleared and cultivated while the remainder of the land could be used for cattle raising because it was virtually unexcelled as grazing land. In Ivins' opinion "the land was rich and fertile and within one day's travel of the United States" (Romney 1938: 122). The reasons for the colonization of this particular section of Sonora were its fine soil and good prospects for abundant water and, even

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more importantly, its virtual isolation. Layne Lillywhite (3/11/72) stated that the Mormon developers and colonists wanted "a place where they wouldn't be mixed up with outside or other people; where they would have a place to raise up their own . . ." It seems clear that these settlers wanted a secure location where they could practice their own religion -which at that time included polygamy. The latter was felt to be especially important since many of the early immigrants to Colonia Morelos had served prison sentences because of their unflinching belief in the necessity of polygamy.

President Ivins spread the word about the acquisition of the new property throughout the American Southwest and the six Mormon colonies in Chihuahua. Thirty-two Mormons traveled to the site of the new colony in the fall of 1899 for the official dedication. President Ivins, assisted by Apostle Abraham O. Woodruff, officiated at the ceremony.

"Jacob Huber and Brother Earnest. After nine days over valleys and mountains, some of the roughest roads I have ever traveled over, we arrived safe at Batepito Ranch, Bavispi (sic} River, the first company to arrive, January 19, 1900. On arriving we found one white man on the river, Brother Samuel Lewis, a member of the Mormon Battalion, a man in his 70's, who had preceded us a few days . . ." (Haymore 1962: 37).

O.P. Brown assisted the colonists in Colonia Morelos in organizing their efforts into a productive venture and by personally financing many building projects. He also helped locate and incorporate additional Mormon families as they made their various ways to the new settlement. The original group of Mormon colonists was quickly augmented by new arrivals as again recorded by L. S. Huish:

"... On January 26th, A. L. Jones and Edward Jones and a son A. L. who had been left in Dublan, arrived also. Brother R. L. McCall from Salt Lake City arrived on January 27th, also Samuel V. Jarvis and two sons. And on Sunday, the 28th, James Butler and two sons, also Brother Craycroft, Farnsworth, and Cardon. Brother McCall's wives were the first two women to arrive... (Haymore 1962: 37).

FIRST CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS

According to Layne Lillywhite (5/l/71), the first house constructed in the new colony was that of O. P. Brown, the resident representative of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company. The house was rather small, made of logs cut from the flood-plain just adjacent to one of the two channels of the Rio Bavispe.

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L. S. Huish's record (Haymore 1962: 38) contradicts this statement since Huish claimed that his log house was "the first in the place." The assembled settlers quickly set about erecting additional structures for the other men and their families. They called a mass meeting on January 28, 1900, to decide where the first canal was to be located (Romney 1938: 121; Haymore 1962: 37.) The original canal's location is in dispute. Romney (1938: 121) stated that it was decided to excavate the initial canal on the south side of the Rio Bavispe. Layne Lillywhite (5/l/71), however, offered convincing evidence that the first canal was on the north side of the river. His statements appear logical because the majority of the colony's settlers had located themselves along the northern bank of the river. Lillywhite claimed that the canal diverted the Bavispe's water at a point just west of where the river leaves a narrow cliff-lined canyon three miles east of the actual town site. The canal was a communal project with men receiving $.25 per hour for shovel work and $.50 per hour if they had horses and a slick scraper or plow (Romney 1938: 121). Within a short time the colonists excavated a canal three miles long allowing them to irrigate approximately 200 acres of land north of the river and east of the majority of the houses. The canal also irrigated the small gardens and house lots located in what became the colony proper. A buhr (a hard siliceous rock) mill was built by David Johnson Wilson near the canal's head; water powered the mill to grind flour for the colonists. Because the original canal followed the lower edge of the first terrace it only provided irrigation water for the settlers who had fields located on the flood plain.

FORMAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMUNITY

On January 25, 1900, President Ivins, Helaman Pratt, and James Henry Martineau arrived from Colonia Juarez to lay out and survey the irrigation canals and the townsite (Romney 1938: 122; Haymore 1962: 37). L. S. Huish assisted them in the survey (Haymore 1962: 38; Lillywhite 5/1/71). The good farmland on the south side of the Rio Bavispe was divided into 10acre plots separated by parallel streets two rods in width. Plots larger than 10 acres were established east of the majority of the early houses. Within the town itself, the land was divided into blocks separated by east-west and north-south streets that were 35-40 feet wide. There were three classes of town lots, varying in quality. They were evaluated at $15, $12.50 and $10 each (Romney 1938: 122). These lots must have been at least one-acre in size, if not larger. Many lots were ample enough to contain a house, barn, garden and a small orchard (Lillywhite 5/1/71).

The bottomlands and terraces flanking the two rivers were likewise divided into three classes. The floodplain land below the "lower canal," as the colonists referred to it, was the most fertile and was valued at $6.25 per acre. Middle-class farmland was priced at $5 per acre; poorer-class farmland was $3. In addition, thousands of acres of grazing land bordering the river valleys were sold for an even lower sum (Rom ney 1938: 122).

In comparison to the land values of those times, these prices seem extremely low. There are two explanations for this. First, the farmland was either bottomland overgrown with dense stands of mesquite, catclaw, cottonwood, willow, and shrubs, or it was located on higher river terraces which were heavily covered with mesquite and creosote. The former class of lands was susceptible to periodic floods while the latter required extensive irrigation. Second, the majority of the Mormon immigrants who founded this new outpost of Zion had only recently fled the United States because of its strict enforcement of laws banning polygamy and cohabitation. Many of these families had been forced to sell their homes, businesses and farms for only a fraction of their worth. Consequently, few of these families entered Mexico with even modest sums of money. Many of them did, however, bring small personal possessions, wagons and teams, limited amounts of farming equipment, and assorted livestock with them. Because of their dire circumstances, many colonists had to buy their land on credit. A 10% interest charge was added for each such arrangement and the land itself was held for security by the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company.

ABUNDANT LAND-KEY TO CONTINUED GROWTH

"On September 24, 1900, the new colony was christened Colonia "Morelos" after one of the most distinguished Mexican patriots of the War of Independence from Spain [José María Morelos y Pavón]. Although Colonia Morelos was organized and founded by Mormons, its population was never designed to be exclusively Mormon. The new founders wanted to be isolated enough to practice their basic beliefs, but according to de la Pena (1947: I: 225-6) the very concession they obtained from the Diaz government stipulated that 25% of the land in each foreign colony apparently had to be reserved for purchase by Mexican citizens. No Mexican originally lived in the colony proper but, according to some of our informants, by the time the first irrigation canal had been completed several Mexican families began negotiations to acquire colony lands (Lillywhite 3/11 /72). Other

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of our informants can recall no Mexicans living within the colony although they state that there were Mexican families residing in several locations near the colony. A limited number of Americans who were not Mormons also moved to Colonia Morelos from time to time.

Colonia Morelos grew from a steady flow of Mormon families who continued to abandon the United States because of its polygamy laws. Others came to Colonia Morelos because they had been assigned to that colony by Church authorities in Salt Lake City. This was done to insure the success of this newest Mormon colony. Additional families moved from the more established Mormon colonies in Mexico, especially Colonia Diaz and Colonia Oaxaca, to the new community because of the vastly more abundant opportunities offered by Morelos.

This fact can be demonstrated through a careful comparison of the farming potentials at Colonia Oaxaca and Colonia Morelos. Colonia Oaxaca contained about 1,600-2,000 acres of good farmland, but this was broken up into 13 separated flats. Much of the farmland intended for cultivation was never fully utilized because of the numerous problems involved in irrigating the upper portions of the flats (Langford 3/5/72). The situation at Colonia Morelos was decidedly more advantageous. Even in 1898 Stake President Ivins estimated that there were 4,500 acres of potential farmland in the proposed area of the initial land purchase - which may even have been an underestimate. Morelos' available bottomland was limited to the east and the southwest by comparatively narrow canyons whose cliffs began to rise almost at the water's edge. No appreciable farmland was available in either canyon but the broad valley opening between these narrow canyons was almost eight miles in length. The colony did not encompass the entire eight miles of valley bottom but Ivins must have had an eye on the possibilities of extending the colony's holdings when he originally selected this particular location for the new colony. In addition to the bottomlands of the Rio Bavispe, practically unlimited farming opportunities existed along both banks of the Rio Batepito which emptied into the Bavispe immediately below the colony. None of this acreage had been cleared and farmed by Mexicans for 10 miles upstream. Farmlands at the Mexican cattle ranch of Carrizo, 10 miles up the Batepito, were minimal. Continuing upstream from the Carrizo Ranch, the Batepito offered essentially uninterrupted farming possibilities for another 15 miles. In the Colonia Morelos district, both the Bavispe and Batepito rivers provided large and continuous tracts of land that allowed farming to be carried on with much greater ease than at Oaxaca.

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The possibilities for water were also better at Colonia Morelos than at Colonia Oaxaca, although both the Batepito and Bavispe rivers were dry from late May to early July during some years. The Bavispe's flow at Colonia Morelos was approximately the same as at Colonia Oaxaca but the significant difference between the two was that water could successfully be diverted from the Rio Bavispe just above Colonia Morelos. At Colonia Oaxaca no irrigation system ever succeeded in utilizing the Bavispe's waters. A large number of canals were required to irrigate Colonia Oaxaca's farmlands since the 13 flats were separated by hills whose solid conglomerate and sandstone sides ran to the water's edge. The settlers at Colonia Oaxaca attempted to construct a community canal from the Rio Bavispe to the townsite. This effort failed because numerous rock ledges impinged on the stream just above the flat where the town site was situated (Langford 3/5/72). Consequently, the majority of the farmlands immediately surrounding Colonia Oaxaca depended upon waters diverted from the Pulpit Canyon, a tributary emptying into the Bavispe just below the townsite. The Colonia Morelos farmlands were continuous and a canal was easily dug on the north side of the river extending uninterrupted from the canyon east of the colony to the confluence of the Rio Batepito. A canal on the south side of the Bavispe also took off from that river within a mile of the eastern canyon. Its length is presently not known, although it could have extended for seven to eight miles until the lower canyon was reached. Other canals diverted water from the Batepito River and provided irrigation for its bottomlands. The flow of the Batepito was superior to that of Pulpit Canyon, again indicating the more favorable conditions enjoyed at Colonia Morelos.

EARLY ORGANIZATION OF LOCAL CHURCH

The town was organized into a branch of the Church under a general supervision of the Oaxaca ward. Lorenzo S. Huish was appointed the presiding elder, and his brother Edward Huish the branch clerk. Later, in 1901, a ward organization was effected with O. P. Brown, Bishop and Alexander Jameson and L. S. Huish, counsellors. John J. Huber was sustained as clerk. (Romney 1938: 121-122; Huber n.d.: 1).

After the town was christened, the colonists were formally incorporated into the Latter-day Saints Church organization. Temporarily, they formed a branch of the Oaxaca Ward of the Juarez Stake, the stake which included all the Mormon colonists in Chihuahua and Sonora. At that time Anthony W. Ivins was President of the Juarez Stake and George Naegle was Bishop of the Oaxaca Ward. Although a bishop was not appointed for Morelos at that time, Lorenzo Snow Huish became the presiding elder, and his brother Edward Alexander Huish the branch clerk (Romney 1938: 122; Haymore 1962: 37). Morelos continued to be a branch of the Oaxaca Ward until the spring of 1901 when it became large enough to be awarded its own ward status. At that time, Orson P. Brown became Morelos' first resident bishop. Alexander Jameson and Lorenzo S. Huish were his two councilors, while John Jacob Huber was appointed the first ward clerk (Romney 1938: 122; Haymore 1962: 41; Huber n. d.: 1). O.P. Brown remained in his capacity as bishop until 1906 when Charles Willden Lillywhite was appointed to replace him (Lillywhite n.d.: 36).

POLYGAMY AND THE MORMON COMMUNITIES IN MEXICO

PUBLIC AND CHURCH DECREES: 1882-1890

Before a more detailed discussion of Colonia Morelos can be undertaken it is necessary to review in some detail events in the United States which occasioned the Mormon immigration to Sonora, Mexico. The first in this series of events was the enactment of the Edmunds Bill, March 14, 1882. With the passage of this legislation the United States Congress defined polygamy as a federal crime and provided the series of penalties already noted. The adoption of the Edmunds Bill did not, however, satisfy the numerous politicians and federal agents who had forced its passage. They continued to lobby for stronger legislation against the practice of polygamy, as well as for legislation that would curb the influence of the Mormon Church in the West, particularly in Utah Territory. These forces openly declared that statehood for Utah could not be achieved until such legislation became law. Various anti-polygamy and anti-Mormon groups were finally able to muster enough national support in February 1887, to secure congressional passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Bill. This bill was so controversial

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that President Grover Cleveland could not bring himself to affix his signature to it. Thus the bill automatically became law without the president's signature within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the United States (Roberts 1965: VI: 146-8).

The Edmunds-Tucker Bill not only strengthened the existing laws against polygamy and "unlawful cohabitation," but it also included a number of measures obviously designed to weaken or destroy the influence of the Mormon Church in Utah Territory. The passage of this second anti-polygamy bill gave federal officials in the western states even greater resolve to enforce the various statutes against those Mormons who continued the practice of plural marriage. Their renewed efforts to arrest and convict violators of these laws alarmed many Mormon communities in the West. Numerous Mormon families tried to conceal their marriage arrangements. Such attempts, however, were often unsuccessful. Husbands and wives were forced to join the "Mormon underground." Thomas Cottam Romney's description of his family's situation illustrates the chaos common to so many in the underground:

"... The U. S. Marshals were relentlessly seeking plural wives to have them subpoenoed as witnesses against their husbands, and mother and father's other plural wife, Annie, were almost constantly in hiding to avoid their clutches. Not long were they permitted to remain in one place. Sometimes they were hiding in fields, at other times in some isolated house or friendly neighbor's house . . ." (Romney 1953: 30).

In order to avoid these hardships, many Mormons fled to the Mexican state of Chihuahua as early as 1885. With the increased pressures from United States Marshals, more Mormon columns threaded their way to Mexico where they hoped to find a refuge for their beliefs. This new wave of Mormons strengthened the Chihuahua colonies and formed the nucleus for the Saints' expansion into the Mexican state of Sonora.

The polygamous Mormon households that migrated to Mexico came from the more conservative ranks of the Latter-day Saints. These families did not feel that they could renounce or forsake what they considered to be divine doctrine advocating polygamy. Continued strong pressure was leveled at the Mormon Church and its leaders until Wilford Woodruff, President of the Mormon Church, issued what became known as the "Manifesto" on September 24, 1890. On first reading, this document seems to advocate the immediate cessation of the practice of polygamy among the members of the Latter-day Saints, but on closer examination the Manifesto really does not renounce the principle of polygamy. In part the Woodruff Manifesto states:

"Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of last recourse, I hereby declare my intention to submit to these laws and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise... There is nothing in my teaching to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably construed to inculcate or encourage polygamy; and when any Elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey any such teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land." (Young 1954: 376-7).

President Woodruff's Manifesto addresses itself to the practice of polygamy, rather than to the principle of polygamy. In reading this official statement, many Mormons interpreted Woodruff's advice as temporary and not touching their theological convictions.

THE "SECOND MANIFESTO"

After the 1890 Manifesto the United States Senate received new information about plural marriages being entered into by Mormons both inside the United States, as well as outside its borders. Because it mentioned "the law of the land," many Mormon leaders felt that the 1890 Manifesto applied only in the United States. This group of Church leaders condoned and even encouraged the practice of polygamy among Mormons outside the United States. Elder John W. Taylor, one of the Mormon Church's Twelve Apostles, openly stated this interpretation and advised Mormons accordingly. Because of this broad interpretation of the Manifesto, he was finally forced to resign his Church office. Taylor's view of the Manifesto seems to have been the one commonly held in the Mormon settlements of northern Mexico. This position is clearly seen in Taylor's letter of resignation of October 28, 1905:

"I have always believed that the government of the United States had jurisdiction only within its own boundaries, and that the term "law of the land," in the Manifesto, meant merely the laws of the United States. I find now that this opinion is different to that expressed by the church authorities, who have declared that the prohibition against plural marriages extended to every place and to every part of the church. It is doubtless true that this view of the matter has been given by President Woodruff and others, but I have never taken that as binding upon me or the church, because it {such interpretation} was never presented for adoption by "common consent" as was the Manifesto itself, and I have disputed its authority as a law or a rule of the church." (Roberts 1965: VI: 400). Because there were numerous Church members who shared these views with Apostle Taylor and because of continued pressure upon the church to stop all practice of polygamy within the church, President Joseph

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Fielding Smith of the Mormon Church issued what is now known as the "Second Manifesto" on April 3, 1904. President Smith's "Official Statement" cited the earlier "Manifesto" and made the following pronouncement:

." . . I hereby announce that all such [plural] marriages are prohibited, and if any officer or member of the church shall assume to solemnize or enter into any such marriage he will be deemed in transgression against the church, and will be liable to be dealt with according to the rules and regulations thereof and excommunicated there from." (Roberts 1965: VI: 401).

In order to avoid the "common consent" objection later voiced by Apostle Taylor, President Smith asked for and received a "Resolution of Endorsement" from the Church's Annual Conference of 1904. The "Second Manifesto" thus extended the applicability of the original Manifesto to Mexico and other areas outside the United States.

MEXICAN GOVERNMENT'S VIEW OF MORMON POLYGAMY

Polygamy in the Mexican colonies has remained a confused issue, in spite of the well known fact that polygamy was largely responsible for the creation of these colonies. This confusion is clearly demonstrated:

"The Secretario de Fomento of Mexico, under date of May 4, 1901, informed me that the number of Mormon colonists in that country was then 2319, located in seven [sic] places in Chihuahua and Sonora. He added: "The laws of this country do not permit polygamy. The Government has never encouraged the immigration of Mormons, only that of foreigners of good character-working people who may be useful to the republic. . . ."(Linn 1923: 614-5)

This Mexican official may not have been aware of the social condition prevailing in the Mormon colonies, particularly since he referred to only seven Mormon colonies in Sonora and Chihuahua. Actually there were eight Mormon colonies, since Colonia Morelos was founded in 1899. Perhaps this official may simply have overlooked this point because of the economic benefits the Republic derived from the presence of the Saints. It is clear, however, that President Diaz and numerous other Mexican officials were aware that polygamy was being practiced by the Mormons in the Chihuahua and Sonora colonies because the Mormons made no concentrated effort to hide this practice from the Mexican government.

MORMON POLYGAMY IN MEXICO AFTER 1904

We come now to the question of whether the Mormon colonists in Mexico, and specifically Sonora, continued to practice polygamy after this second manifesto. Our research indicates that they did. It appears plural marriages contracted prior to 1904 were not forsaken and fathers continued to support their multiple families. Dozens of children were born into polygamous homes in Colonia Morelos after 1904 (Salt Lake Genealogical Society, Microfilm No. 8404). At the exodus in 1912 Mormons returned to the United States with plural wives (Haymore 1962: 48-9; Lewis 6/9/73). It is possible that a small number of plural marriages were newly contracted in Sonora after 1904 but in Colonia Morelos this is as yet undocumented. If such marriages were made, the following remarks, again from Young (1954: 424), might explain why the Saints could have felt justified in their actions:

"In addition to this alleged revelation the Salt Lake coterie (social circle) contended that the Church merely issued the Manifesto as a sop (appeasement, consession) to the Gentiles. In the January, 1939, issue of their publication, Truth, an article claims that Charles W. Penrose, one of the leaders of the Church, made the following statement at an Elders Conference in London in 1908:

" I, Charles Penrose, wrote the Manifesto, with the assistance of Frank J. Cannon and John White, and it is no revelation from God, for I wrote it, and Wilford Woodruff signed it to beat the devil at its own game. Brethren, God has not withdrawn this everlasting principle, or revoked it, for how can he revoke or withdraw an everlasting principle?"

Additional information about the continuation of polygamy in Sonora can perhaps be obtained from the testimony given by Junius Romney, Juárez State President, given to Senator William Alden Smith of Michigan, the Chairman of the United States Senate Sub-committee on Foreign Affairs. The testimony was presented to the subcommittee in El Paso, Texas, in September of 1912, shortly after the Mormon colonists in Chihuahua and Sonora had left their various colonies because of threats to their lives. Senator Smith questioned the religious leader of the Mormon colonists and rather quickly digressed into the fascinating question of polygamy. We present the official record of that portion of the investigation (Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs 1920: 11: 2575-6):

"Senator Smith: Do they practice polygamy there (Mexico)?

Mr. Romney: They do not practice it at present, except as in the United States. The same conditions prevail there as in the United States.

Senator Smith: There are no plural marriages being solemnized at present?

Mr. Romney: No, sir.

Senator Smith: But those that were previously performed -

Mr. Romney: They are supporting their families; yes, sir.

Senator Smith: But you do not know of any polygamous marriages being solemnized now?

Mr. Romney: There are none. I am in a position to know that there are no such marriages being performed. Senator Smith: Did most of these Mormons come from Utah?

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Mr. Romney: The majority come from Utah and Arizona, some from Idaho, and from any localities where there are Latter-day Saints.

Senator Smith: How did they happen to go there? Mr. Romney: We have a good country there at present, and we have established a most excellent school system. The climate can hardly be beaten, and they have gone there because, on account of the climate and other conditions, they thought it a desirable place to live. The social conditions were very excellent in our colonies and financial opportunities were good. It is a new country, and land is very cheap compared with the same quality of land in the United States.

Senator Smith: Is there any more latitude in Mexico than in the United States for the views entertained by the Mormons?

Mr. Romney: We have never had any restrictions there. All the restrictions have come from our presiding officers of the church.

Senator Smith: Voluntarily?

Mr. Romney: Yes; voluntarily on the part of our leaders. Any restrictions in that regard have come from them. The Mexican Government has never interfered in our social conditions in any way.

Senator Smith: In that respect they are much easier with you than they are in Utah?

Mr. Romney: I do not know that it has been called to their attention. I do not know that their laws would be any different than they are in the United States. I do not know how that would be, but I am only speaking of our experiences.

SUMMARY REMARKS

Polygamy as discussed here was not simply a philosophical question for numerous Mormon families. In the 1880s and 1890s it was an overriding concern which gravely clouded all other issues in the homes of those Mormons continuing the practice of plural marriage. Most of the Church leaders eventually resolved this crisis in their own minds and lives-but only after long and agonizing thought and meditation. The solution presented in the two manifestoes diffused the issue for all but a few families. Some of the more fundamental and conservative Mormons were not able to accept this official position. Many felt that polygamy was a divine principle that could not be forsaken, even temporarily. Because of strict adherence to this concept they were limited to three alternatives. First, they could practice polygamy clandestinely; second, if their polygamous arrangements were exposed they could attempt to evade apprehension through the "underground;" third, they could immigrate to a foreign country where the law and its enforcement did not directly clash with this basic religious tenet. Some Mormons journeyed to Canada while others fled to Mexico. Between 1892 and 1904 many of the Saints fleeing to Mexico were directed to Sonora. Polygamous social relationships were the warps of the Mormon experience in Sonora, even though non-polygamous Mormons eventually outnumbered the polygamists. All aspects of life in the Saints' colonies in Sonora were woven around their mutual polygamous heritage. The long-standing harassment and political and social conflicts so prevalent in the Southwestern United States were common experiences shared by all the Mormons who escaped to Sonora. The Sonora colonies consequently were a direct reaction against the chaotic conditions that had prevailed for so many Mormons in the United States. At Colonia Morelos, the American refugees hoped to create a new and stable social and political order.

FAMILY BACKGROUNDS OF SONORAN COLONISTS

To better understand the social and economic foundations of the Mormon experience in Sonora, some knowledge of the individual backgrounds of the colonists is beneficial. The histories of several founding families of Colonia Morelos are presented below. Although diverse, these sketches are not representative of either the entire range of experience brought to the Sonora colonies or descriptive of those immigrants who came after the foundation of the colonies. Mormon immigration to Chihuahua has been discussed (Hardy 1969). However, the Sonora migration differs significantly enough to warrant separate treatment here.

The first party of colonists to arrive in Colonia Morelos included Lorenzo Snow Huish, his brother Edward Alexander, and two of their sons. Their family history clearly reflects the conditions that led so many Mormons to flee to Sonora. James William Huish and his wife, Helen, were the parents of Lorenzo and Edward. The Huish family joined the Mormon Church on April 21, 1843. Soon they moved from Uley, England to Bleavenon, Manmouthshire, Wales, where they resided for 12 years, James William becoming the branch president of the local Mormon Church. James sailed to America on the Tuscarora in 1885 in order. to earn enough money to transport his family to the gathering place of Zion. Two years later, Helen Huish and her six children "received the long looked for letter from the emigration fund stating there were sufficient funds to emigrate to Zion" (Haymore 1962: 7). Finally reunited, the family traveled by coach to Frankfort, Missouri, where they remained until early in1861. Lorenzo described the family's next move:

"... We left Missouri to join the emigration company in Nebraska. Mother walked much of the way across the plains carrying her little one year old baby in her arms, and with me a little six year old boy, bare-footed, walking at her side. It was a long and tiring journey of four

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months, and tried the mettle of the best of them. At times it seemed even the oxen hated it." (Haymore 1962:8).

Arriving in the West, the family proceeded to Payson, Utah. They joined the other residents of Payson in a strict communal life dictated by the rules of the United Order (for a discussion of what the United Order required see Charles S. Peterson's "Take UpYour Mission, Mormon Colonizing Along the Little Colorado River, 1870-1900)". James William Huish and Franklin Demarcus Haymore became local religious leaders in Payson and presided over the quorum (Haymore 1962: 11). In Payson the Huish family made many friends including Anthony W. Ivins, the Tanners, Dones, and Butlers who were later to become fellow immigrants to Mexico.

Lorenzo Huish married Antha Elmira Fillmore in 1875 and then in 1885 Lorenzo also married Annie Eliza Broadbent. He entered the "Celestial Law of Plural Marriage" upon advice from Church officials, but only after prolonged prayer and meditation. At the time Lorenzo married Annie Broadbent, 200 Mormon men were imprisoned in the Utah Penitentiary because of the passage of the Edmunds Bill. Lorenzo fully realized his decision would lead to intense social difficulties.

Emma Huish Haymore, one of Lorenzo's daughters, graphically described the conditions which caused her father to hesitate in taking a second wife.

". . . Young wives could not stay home to care for their little children. The husbands were chased down like foxes before the hounds. Even neighbors could not be trusted. Children were harrassed with rude questions. They were always taught to say, " I don't know." Who is your father? " I don't know." Where is your mother? " I don't know." Where do you live? " I don't know." They were not only under tension when the U.S. Marshalls came, but the constant fear of their coming was equally trying. Every approaching visitor might be an officer or an enemy...." (Haymore 1962:12).

Shortly after his second marriage, the situation for Lorenzo and his two families became even more forbidding:

". . . Now another Law was passed requiring that every person take an oath to disregard their families or lose their franchise. Persecution became unbearable. Annie went into hiding as Mrs. Brown. One day she was hiding under the seat of a wagon going from one town to another. She was covered on both sides by a quilt thrown over the seat. The wagon stopped suddenly with a jerk, and Annie heard voices. They were suspected officers of the Law wanting a lift to the next town. Annie trembled. They climbed on the seat. The driver cautioned the men to be careful and not kick their feet underneath the seat, as he had a case of eggs there." (Haymore 1962:12).

Probably because Lorenzo was liable to arrest at any moment, he was sent to England on a mission. In early July, 1886, he left his families at Spring Lake, Utah, on his 20-acre farm, and did not return from Great Britain until 1888. His wife, Annie, had been forced to join the underground about the time Lorenzo left for England. He had to do likewise shortly after returning to Spring Lake in 1888. Existence in the underground was perilous, causing Annie and Lorenzo to move frequently. Leaving Spring Lake, Annie was in Santaquin in October, 1886, Mona in 1889, and in Spanish Fork in 1891. By 1894 both Annie and Lorenzo had returned to Spring Lake. There Lorenzo was finally overtaken by federal marshals and on February 25, 1895, in the First District Court of Ogden, Utah, he was found guilty of unlawful cohabitation. He served a mone-month sentence in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary (Haymore 1962: 30).

In order to avoid further harassment and persecution, Lorenzo and his oldest son, Alfred, left Payson, Utah, in December, 1899, for Mexico. Lorenzo was in charge of a group of 50 men, women, and children who traveled by train to El Paso, Texas. There the group split with the majority going to Chihuahua colonies. The rest moved on to southern Arizona. On January 11, 1900, Lorenzo and Edward Huish, two of their sons, the Hubers, and the Snarrs left Colonia Dublin for Colonia Morelos. Traveling in covered wagons, they reached the new colony on January 19. Lorenzo remained in the new settlement until May, 1900, when he returned to Colonia Dublin, where he caught a train for his return to Utah. At home on June 3rd in Spring Lake, Lorenzo began a busy summer of work on his farm in preparation for moving his two families to Sonora. He was able to sell enough hay to purchase a team which he took to Mexico. Because of the general uncertainty surrounding the state and federal elections of 1900, Lorenzo could not sell either his houses or his farm; consequently, he had to leave Utah with little capital. Together with other Mormons, Lorenzo and his two families left Payson on November 19, 1900. The party proceeded by train to Denver and Santa Fe, reaching El Paso on November 26. Here the migrants:

"... were delayed 3 weeks in all for the papers for some of the company, during which time the small pox broke out in a company who came a week ahead of us, but who were also detained, so [on} our arriving in Dublan, on account of false report of our exposure, we my whole company of 51 souls, were placed in quarantine for 15 days. We were treated in a very friendly manner, but on being released, we journeyed home {to Colonia Morelos}, arriving January 17th, two days less than one

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year from the time we, the pioneers, arrived a year before in [Colonia Morelos] Old Mexico." (Haymore 1962: 38).

John Fenn's two families also arrived in Colonia Morelos during its formative period. The Fenn family's membership in the Mormon Church goes back to 1848 when George Fenn of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, joined the Church. Shortly after converting, George migrated to Utah where he lived for four years. In 1852, Brigham Young called him on a mission to England. Three years later, in 1855, he returned to the United States with his bride of two years, Eliza Dyer Ward. The family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where John worked for over a year earning enough money to continue the journey to Utah. By 1857, the family had reached Genoa, Nebraska; in 1859, they were in Council Bluffs, Iowa. While in Council Bluffs, Eliza died in childbirth. George Fenn loaded his three children into his wagon and pointed his oxen westward. The diminished family crossed the Great Plains, arriving in Utah in 1860. That same year George remarried, this time to Sarah Ann Jarvis. By 1864 the new family had moved to Gunnison, Utah, where they remained until 1872.

John Fenn, George's oldest child, was born in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, England, while George was on his mission. John accompanied his parents on the long and arduous trip to Utah. He was baptized into the Latter-day Saints in 1862. Matilda Sorensen, who had been born during her family's trek across the plains 16 years earlier, became John's wife in August, 1874. By 1883, the family had lived in Salina, Utah, for at least eight years, during which time five children were born.

On January 10, 1884, John married Lucy Ann Brown in Salt Lake City. John Fenn thus became a Mormon polygamist. In Salina, Utah, John owned "a steam saw mill and salt mines and he was making money hand over fist. When he married the second wife, that messed up everything. He had to get out or go to jail. And he was determined not to go to jail. . . ." (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73). "He was making about 40 dollars a day and they was getting well fixed and then when he married this second wife why

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Deputy Marshals began to chase him. He sold out for a song" (Alvah Fenn 6/30/73).

Sometime prior to April, 1886, John Fenn had moved his two families to Pleasantdale, Utah, where Matilda had two children and Lucy Ann had one. Lucy was living in Pleasant Creek, Utah, a nearby town, in 1888; by September, 1889, she had moved to Teasdale, Utah. Sometime during 1889, John took Lucy on the long trip overland by covered wagon to Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua. While there a voice awoke him one night and told him that Matilda, his first wife, was terribly sick and that he should pray if she was to live. He immediately did this. The next morning he hitched his team for the return trip to Utah. He arrived in Utah with Lucy and found that Matilda had, indeed, been extremely ill, but knowing that John had prayed for her, she had miraculously gotten well (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73, 6/30/73).

Matilda had her eighth child in November, 1889, in Lawrence, Utah, this child was Alvah Fenn, one of our foremost informants. Alvah was born on his father's 40-acre farm near Lawrence (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73). John was not able to remain there at the farm for long: ". . . . Then they [United States Marshals] got tough on him there and so he left Mother (Matilda] there to sell it and he took out with the other wife" (Alvah Fenn 6/30/73).

Mother didn't know nothing. But anyway, she had a dream that a fellow name of Tanner, . . ., in Provo would buy the farm. So she told the bishop and he said, I know that fellow, and he wrote and he come and give her $1500 cash for it. Then she was ready to go. The next trip they got out from Salina [Utah] ... and he went back to settle up some business, rifle on his shoulder, and left Mother uo there and the other woman. And in the night Mother had a dream, she saw the Deputy Marshal come up riding a sorrel blaze-faced horse, that he knew Lucy, the second wife, and would take her back (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73).

Matilda warned Lucy but the latter replied, "Oh, that's just a scheme to get me away so you'll have John to yourself." Lucy finally decided to hide in Koosharem, Utah, in Rabbit Valley, when her 12-year-old daughter awoke and related a similar dream.

. . . So right in the afternoon here come the Deputy Marshal, just like she saw him {in her dream]. Now she told Joe, he was six years old, 'When that Deputy Marshal asks you your name you tell him it's Joe Sorensen, not Joe Fenn.' And so Mother sent him over to bring the cows up closer to the camp, they had a bell on.... and here come the Marshal riding up . . . He stopped and wondered where she's going. She said, 'Oh, up to New Mexico,' and he heard the bell and went down over the hill and thought maybe it was Dad. And he said to Joe, 'What's your name little feller?' And he couldn't remember Sorensen, and he said I forgot (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73).

The Deputy Marshal thought that was somewhat peculiar, muttering "Oh, ignorant little fool," but continued on his way.

Sometime in 1890, John Fenn moved his two families to Arizona. They crossed the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry. While climbing out of the river canyon, along "Lee's Backbone," one of the hitch chains broke on one of the wagons, causing the wagon to roll backwards down the slope. Just before it would have plunged off a 1,000-foot cliff, the wagon crashed into a large boulder. This abrupt stop saved Matilda and several of her children loaded into the wagon, including Alvah Fenn. The two families plodded on to Tuba City, Arizona, where they stayed for two years farming and ranching. John soon prepared to move one of his families to Mexico because of the continuing enforcement of the polygamy laws. He sold a herd of 34 cattle to a man from St. Joseph, Arizona; however, he never received payment for them (Alvah Fenn 6/30/73).

In late 1891, John took his first wife, Matilda, and their children, along with some cattle and horses, and left Tuba City for Mexico's freedom. The party traveled by covered wagon, passing through eastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, often being forced to make "dry camps." They entered Chihuahua at Las Palomas and proceeded to Colonia Diaz. There on January 6, 1892, Matilda gave birth to her ninth child, Millie Belle.

John Fenn apparently quickly returned to Tuba City to retrieve his second family. They arrived in Colonia Diaz after a month-long wagon trip. John's families remained in Colonia Diaz until 1900. Six additional Fenn children were born in this Mormon colony. During this stay John periodically returned to the United States with his first wife to freight between Globe and Willcox, Arizona. The rest of the family remained in Diaz looking after their farming and ranching interests (Alvah Fenn 3!24/73).

In 1900, John again moved his families, this time to Nacozari, Sonora, where new mines had just opened. Leaving Colonia Diaz, the group traveled through Ojitos, Penuelas, Las Varas, and Pulpit Canyon to Colonia Oaxaca. From there they pushed on through Colonia Morelos past "Niggerhead" and then to Naco, Sonora. The family had several teams and wagons and joined several hundred other outfits hauling supplies 90 miles from Naco to Jimmy Douglas' new mine at Nacozari. While in Nacozari John bought a herd of 60 cows from John Holstead (Alvah Fenn 6/30/73).

In 1902, the Fenns moved to Colonia Morelos taking their new herd of cattle with them. They bought land on the south side of the Bavispe River

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near the Orin Barney and William Beecroft farms. Alvah and his brothers were quickly at work making adobe bricks for their two new houses - one for each of John's two families (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73).

A wanderlust seems to have gripped many of the settlers of Colonia Morelos. Also typifying this obsession with continual moving is David Johnson Wilson. Little is known about particular circumstances of his life which may have induced him to uproot so often, but he can be traced around half a continent. Born in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1843, Wilson was a small child when the Mormons trekked to the valley of the Salt Lake after the murder of the prophet Joseph Smith and the destruction of Nauvoo. In Salt Lake City, he married for the first time in 1867. By the spring of the next year the family was in Spring Lake, Utah. They remained there until 1870 when they moved south to Santaquin, Utah, for a stay of about five years. The year 1876 saw Wilson in Hillsdale, Utah, and here the family lived until 1883 when they moved to Tempe, Arizona. They were in the Tempe Mesa area for five years before moving to the new colony of Colonia Diaz in Chihuahua, Mexico. While in Diaz Wilson took a plural wife. But the constant winds of Chihuahua irritated his chronic mastoid infection and in 1898 the Wilsons moved to Colonia Oaxaca, Sonora, where the climate was less blustery. In 1901 they relocated again, in Colonia Morelos, where they remained until 1911 (Lewis 6/9/73; Webb 6/11/73).

PHYSICAL FOUNDATIONS OF COLONIA MORELOS

BUILDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION

Though abandoned by the Mormons for 60 years, a substantial portion of the constructions in Colonia Morelos remain in evidence today. At the onset of this study, detailed photographs and descriptions were made of each Mormon building in the colony. The town site was mapped and selected structures were recorded and drawn by architects. The town is now occupied by Mexicans, but to the observer today the brick buildings are jolting proof that they were not the founders.

The first structures erected at Colonia Morelos utilized materials readily at hand and were of a temporary nature. The dwellings were small and constructed of three types: adobe, logs, or willow poles which were set into the ground and plastered with mud. Once the Mormons were established in these temporary homes, their thoughts turned to the construction of more enduring and stylishly familiar buildings. They were used to the brick buildings of Utah that, though more spartan in decoration and appearance, followed the style in vogue for the United States during the last quarter of the 19th century.

Importing bricks from the United States or elsewhere in Mexico was economically and logistically out of the question. The Mormons had to make their bricks on the spot. In the view of Clarence Langford, pockets of clay in the alluvium around Colonia Morelos were the "finest in the world" for brick making (Langford 3/5/72). With a horse and slick scraper, a trench about two feet deep could be excavated for a pug mill. In the center, a post was set in a wagon wheel hub. Around this a horse hitched to a revolving arm plodded in circles, slowly churning the mud. When this was thoroughly mixed it was packed into a three-brick mold.

Each of the Sonora brick makers, Ephraim Oscar "Old Man" Western of Colonia Oaxaca and the Webb families of Colonia Morelos, had their own personal molds with distinctive indentations to aid in binding. On a cleared area on the ground at the pug mill the bricks were turned out of the molds to dry in the sun. When this process was completed the bricks were fired in kilns. In Colonia Morelos there were two sets of kilns. One group was operated by the Webb families who lived together in "Webbsville," a spur of the colony to the east separated from the other homes by a wash. Langford and Lillywhite related that the bricks were fired for three days. Five to six cords of cottonwood were used for each firing. Some mesquite was used but extra care had to be taken with it because its higher temperatures were hard to control.

The pine forests of Chihuahua furnished the vast majority of the wood materials for the brick structures in Colonia Morelos. Freight wagons brought the lumber over Pulpit Pass from the Mormon sawmills in the Sierra Madres. Doors, window frames, porch pillars, and lathed ornamental dowels were made at the Academy in Colonia Juárez. Pitched roofs were topped with pine shingles cut in Chihuahua. Guadalupe Mountain northeast of the town furnished some of the rough timber for beams (Lillywhite 5/1/71).

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Lime was obtained from two sources.   The most important were the lime outcrops near the stone quarry and in the hills to the east. A secondary source was in the Bavispe River. After floods, lime rock could be found and gathered from the river bed right at the colony. The lime was cooked in kilns and used in mortar. To make cement, white clay was hauled in wagons from the San Bernadino River east of Douglas, Arizona, and mixed with lime in vats and small furnaces. Plaster was made from gypsum gathered from "Niggerhead," a landmark formation 50 miles north of the colony on the road to Douglas.

Significant brick construction in Colonia Morelos began around 1904-1905. After the construction of brick homes began, it was not unusual for the earlier adobe and wood buildings to be converted into barns and store houses. As late as 1907 adobe houses continued to be built by new arrivals who were too impatient to wait their turn for fired bricks (Lillywhite 511/71).

SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLING

The original school in Colonia Morelos was nothing more than a crude shelter erected in the fall of 1901. Carrizo cane from the Rio Batepito was placed on end and plastered with mud to form the walls. Sawed planks with cottonwood stumps for legs served for desks (Huber n.d.: 1; Sellers 1964: 2). The first principal was Alexander Jameson who taught from 1901 to 1906. Teachers under him were Percis Maxham and Martha Cox and her daughter Rachael. The carrizo school averaged about 25 students and in the beginning the fledgling faculty was apparently forced to teach without the aid of books (Huber n.d.: 2; Katie Huish 2/4/73; Sellers 1964: 5).

In 1904 construction began on the combined church and school building, destined to become the largest and most imposing structure in the colony. The first floor was semi-subterranean and was divided into two classrooms. The main room was above this and served as church and meeting hall for the town. Distinctive features were the stage built into the east end and the two-story high ceiling of impressed tin panels purchased in El Paso. The construction of the church-schoolhouse was a community-wide effort and financed by tithing and tax revenues, as were the salaries of the teachers and the janitor.

This is an architectural reconstruction of the Colonia Morelos church-schoolhouse as it would have appeared in 1910. View looks northeast. The belfry on the north side is no longer standing. --Drawing by Britt Ripley

By the time the new building was completed in 1910 attendance had grown to 225 pupils (Sellers 1964: 5). The classes were divided into groups by age and ability and an eighth grade education could be obtained. High school level instruction was available at the Academy in Colonia Juarez and many Colonia Morelos families saw fit to send children, paying a tuition fee of $5-$15 per term and boarding them in the homes of relatives and friends.

Thomas R. Condie acted as headmaster at the Morelos school from 1906 to 1908. In 1909 Newel Knight "Baldy" Young became principal. Others who taught in Colonia Morelos were Charlotte "Lottie" Webb and her daughters Estelle and Belle, Lucen Clark, George McClellan, Emma Mortensen, Florence McDonald, Alice Richins, Ethel and Pearl Romney, Nelle Spilsbury and Alice Whiting. Many of the teachers were recruited from Colonia Diaz and Colonia Juarez in Chihuahua. The teachers conducted occasional nature trips on horseback to the mountains and these were a highlight of the school year (Huber n.d.: 2; Lillywhite 5/1/71, 3/11/72).

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FIRST WHEAT MILLS IN COLONIA MORELOS

Soon after their arrival, the Mormons of Colonia Morelos recognized the necessity and commercial potential of milling the wheat they produced. The isolated location of the colony made it grossly impractical for the Saints to attempt to import flour. Equally apparent was the fact that expanding mining operations in the region had produced new camps and towns of miners which comprised ready markets for milled wheat.

The first mill was built in 1901 by David Johnson Wilson; a temporary buhr mill that used the water in the original irrigation ditch for power. This mill proved inadequate to the demands for flour. A new and considerably larger mill was constructed by the Lillywhites three miles upstream from the colony at the spot where the Rio Bavispe emerges from the last canyon. Two walls of the building were formed in part by cutting into the bedrock hillside. Cemented river cobbles and brick finished the remainder. This mill was powered by steam and could produce 30 barrels of flour per day (Lillywhite n.d.: 36).

By 1906, the Lillywhite brothers had negotiated contracts to supply flour to the American-run mining operations at Cananea to the northwest, the Nacozari complex to the southwest, and at Pilares de Teras and El Tigre to the south. Wheat was also committed to the town of Cumpas, 70 miles southwest on the Rio Moctezuma. In addition, flour was supplied to the Mexican communities of Bavispe, Bacerac and Huachinera, upriver from Colonia Oaxaca. The Mormon mill was sparking a new industry.

But the spark erupted into a flame -literally. At daybreak, January 23, 1910, John Black, trained and brought to Colonia Morelos as miller, awoke to the sound of galloping hooves and the sight of the mill ablaze. He raced to the colony and sounded the alarm. Led by Mitchell Lillywhite, the townspeople hurried to form a bucket brigade but by then the mill and the wheat were a total loss (Lillywhite 5/1/71, 5/2/71; Sellers 1964: 3). To this day, the circumstances surrounding the fire remain shrouded in mystery.

Some claim a rival Mexican mill on the Rio Fronteras, 20 miles to the west, hired a Mormon living in Colonia Morelos to sabotage the Lillywhite mill (Lilly white 5/1/71). Others suggest the "some of those fellows down there had it in for Lillywhite" (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73). Probably only miller Black knew for sure because he is said to have recognized the rider as he sped away to the north (Lillywhite 5/2/71).

This mill was built by Orson Pratt Brown and operated by the Lillywhites at the mouth of the Bavispe canyon. The "molino quermado" was mysteriously burned in 1910. In the foreground Mormon youngsters boat on the Rio Bavispe
.--Courtesy Eva Huber Johnson

THE SECOND LILLYWHITE MILL

The burning of the mill caused a crisis in the community Thousands of dollars worth of wheat had been contracted for wheat that luckily was still in the fields. The crop promised to be extra large that year and without a mill it could not be sold as flour. Joseph Lillywhite was out of the colony at the time of the burning but he was summoned quickly. Hurrying to the United States, Lillywhite negotiated a bank loan against the unfulfilled contracts and ordered new machinery from the Wolfe Milling Company of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (Sellers 1964: 3). The shipment arrived quickly by rail at Douglas, Arizona. Word was sent to the colony and a fleet of freight wagons was organized to transport the machinery. For several days the Mormon teamsters camped outside of Douglas in a "wagon colony" while the machinery was being received and loaded. The camp was a curiosity to the residents of Douglas and church groups even came out to have a look at the Americans from Mexico (Alvah Fenn 3/2/73; Lillywhite 5/1/71).

While the new machinery was being freighted to Colonia Morelos, the entire remaining male populace of the colony readied equipment and building materials for the construction of the new mill. The Webbs began making bricks night and day. Stone was brought over from the quarry. Boys carried supplies and un-

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loaded the wagons. When building began, all the town's masons turned out, refusing to accept payment for their work. The women set up a kitchen on the spot to supply nourishing meals to the workers (Lilly white 5/1/71).

This time the mill was constructed inside the town limits, near the east end a block south of the main street. The structure was rectangular and had three stories, the lower one being semi-subterranean. This lower floor housed the steam engine that powered the various operations of the mill. Raw wheat was brought from the communal granary to the second floor load. ing dock. There the grain was weighed, washed and cleaned again by a smutter. The wheat was then taken up to the third floor in cups on an elevator belt. The Wolfe roller was located here. The wheat went through six rollings and in between a mechanical gyrator sifted it. The milled flour then went to a bin where a chute carried it back to the second floor for sacking and final weighing. Awaiting wagons transported it from the dock (Lillywhite 5/1/71).

The community effort was a success and the mill was quickly finished in time to process the harvest of wheat and meet the schedules of the contracts. And what a harvest it was! Each family in the colony supplied one room in their house to store the wheat while the new 60-barrel-a-day mill ran round the clock (Lilly white 5/1/71).

ECONOMY OF COLONIA MORELOS

GENERAL ECONOMIC POSITION OF SONORAN COLONIES

The community effort was The Mormon founders of the Mexican colonies envisioned their settlements as producers of the basic necessities of life, rather than mere consumers of such items or resources. They attempted to create a series of towns that would supply each other with most of the necessities and even some of the luxuries of modern living. Their contacts with the surrounding Mexican communities were planned to be minimal, limited primarily to the realm of economic activities.  The basic economic intercourse was designed to inclue the hiring of local Mexicans to provide the colonists with both seasonal and full-time labor and the sale of the colonies surplus produce or products. In addition to this plan, affecting all the Mormon colonies in Mexico, two closely related conditions must be mentioned in regard to the Sonora colonies. First, the straight-line distance between the Sonoran and Chihuahuan colonies was not great. However, the only road connecting the two areas had to skirt high and formidable mountains, a number of impassable canyon, and numerous treacherous bottomlands. In addition, the very primitive condition of the road itself made travel back and

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forth even more arduous. This forced the Mormons in Sonora to develop a greater self-reliance than was necessary in the six closely interacting colonies in Chihuahua. The transportation to Sonora of the basic items manufactured in the specialized industries of the Chihuahua settlements was possible but costly; consequently, the extent of this commerce was never great. Generally, the importation of luxury items from Chihuahua was prohibitive. This can even be seen in the contrast between Sonora and Chihuahua architecture. By far the vast majority of the houses in Colonia Morelos were more austere and spartan than even the simplest brick houses in Colonia Juárez or Colonia Dublan.

The second basic differentiation between the Sonora communities and their sister colonies in Chihuahua was access to the economy of the United States. At first glance the Sonoran colonies would seem to have had a more favorable position because of their proximity to the international border. In terms of mileage, this was true; however, when ease of access to the economy of the United States was considered, this was not the case. Dublin and Pearson in Chihuahua were connected by rail with Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas. These railheads were separated from the other Mormon communities in Chihuahua by relatively short distances. In addition, a dirt road ran from Colonia Dublan past Colonia Diaz to Columbus and Deming, New Mexico. Agricultural machinery and equipment, as well as the whole range of necessary and luxury goods available in the United States, could be shipped to the Chihuahua outposts with a modicum of trouble and expense.

[On October 15, 1903, Orson Pratt Brown wrote a letter, on behalf of the brethren, to the Governor of the State to request a partnership with the State to build a four mile long road from Fronteras to Colonia Morelos, so that commerce could be facilitated between the two cities and so that produce and other products could be more easily transported. Many thanks to Irene Rios Figueroa for the following letter:

]

The situation that pertained to the Mormon villages in Sonora was altogether different. No wagon road existed between Colonia Morelos and the communities of Arizona until about 1904. Horse trails following the Rio Batepito northward to the Arizona Territory were narrow and unsuitable for heavy wagons, although it was not impossible for light wagons to have occasionally used them. Once permanent towns were established in far southeastern Arizona, the old trails to the south became more important and were quickly expanded to handle heavier commerce. Although Bisbee was founded in the 1870s, it was too remote from Colonia Morelos to be of much benefit. Douglas, Arizona, founded in 1901, initially lacked a well-developed business community. But soon after its incorporation in 1905, it began to provide the Sonoran colonists with American business establishments through which commercial transactions could be channeled. Prior to this time, Deming and El Paso had been the closest such commercial contacts in the United States. During this early period bulky or heavy items ordered through Deming or El Paso by the Sonora colonists had to be transported overland by freight wagons from either Deming or Colonia Dublan. The hauling distance from Deming was practically the same as that from Colonia Dublan. The costs of the two routes were roughly comparable. Small or lightweight items were sometimes dropped off the El Paso & Southwestern trains to awaiting Mormons at various locations along the route of that rail line in southeastern Arizona. These items were then transported overland to the Mormon homes in Sonora. The actual economic significance of the latter type of commerce was probably slight because so little material could be effectively hauled that way.

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BASIC SUBSISTENCE AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

Colonia Morelos was a small, rural, and relatively isolated community, never exceeding a population of 1,000 people, of whom at least 850 were Mormons. The business activities and endeavors of these Mormons completely dominated the economy of the town. Although there was a fairly substantial number of Mexicans residing and working within and around the colony, their activities were usually closely tied to, and often included within, the overall economic pattern controlled by the Mormons. The only exceptions to this rule, prior to 1912, were scattered, large-scale ranches that had dotted northeastern Sonora for more than a century. It was not until after the Revolution and the subsequent exodus of the Mormon citizens from Colonia Morelos that local Mexican residents began to initiate any business ventures of their own. Even these few operations closely resembled those previously established by the Saints.

So industrious were the Mormon colonists of Oaxaca and Morelos that by the turn of the century they were already beginning to dominate the economic picture of the upper Bavispe River Valley. This situation remained in effect until the gold and silver mines at El Tigre and Pilares de Teras were opened by American mining firms. These two mines were so rich that large numbers of Mexican miners soon took their families to live near the mines. Operations at El Tigre, for example, supported at least 600 Mexican families. Although these two mining towns soon surpassed the Mormon colonies in size and gross wealth, they did not diminish the economic position of either Oaxaca or Morelos since most of the foodstuffs required by the mines were produced in the Mormon villages. In addition, all the concentrated ore from the El Tigre and Pilares de Teras mines was hauled by Mormon freighters to either Chihuahua or Sonora railheads (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73, 6/30/73; Beulah Huish 6/12/73; Langford 3/15/72).

All of the primary economic activities were carried on within the actual boundaries of the colony. By far the most important of these endeavors was farming, the very first form of livelihood begun in the colony. The majority of the Mormon families in Colonia Morelos personally owned one or more farms. Some of these farms were only five to 10 acres and furnished but a part of the owner's living. Other farms were larger, ranging perhaps to 200 acres, necessitating full-time attention from their owners. Crops included wheat, corn, bran and hay. Not only was wheat the most common crop planted by the Mormons, but its total acreage surpassed that of all other crops once the Lillywhite mill was in operation. Although each family raising wheat consumed a portion of their crop, most of it was raised to be sold to the local flour mill. Hay was grown as winter feed for the local Mormon stock as well as for sale to nearby Mexican ranches. Bran was raised as a cash crop. After the road to Douglas, Arizona, was improved, much of it was sold in southeastern Arizona. Corn was grown for both domestic use and for stock feed. Much of it was ground up locally in small horse-powered mills and sold to the mines having large numbers of horses and burros. Sorghum cane was grown so that syrup could be extracted from it. Other crops were raised but never approached the acreage of those already mentioned. Some ordinary garden crops were occasionally planted on a large scale. One unusual example of this was Orson P. Brown's attempt to extract sorghum from watermelons grown on his farm just to the east of the colony (Lillywhite 5/1/71, 3/11/72).

As indicated before, another basic activity carried on within Colonia Morelos was that of milling. Charles, Mitchell, Horace, and Joseph Lillywhite jointly formed a milling firm that rapidly became an economic "gold mine" for the local farmers. One or more of the Lillywhite brothers had learned the milling trade in Utah and Arizona prior to moving to Sonora. The Lillywhite mills bought all the wheat that could be produced locally, thus insuring the local farmers an annual cash income. Some wheat may have been grown in Colonia Oaxaca and hauled to the Colonia Morelos mill for sale and processing. Certainly this was the situation that prevailed in San Jose (Langford 3/5/72). Large-scale milling began in Colonia Morelos around 1905 or 1906 and continued as an integral part of the Mormon economy until the exodus in 1912. This industry not only supported the Mormon wheat farmers, but it also provided a number of jobs for both Mormon and Mexican men in the colony. Both Lillywhite mills were steam driven and required

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large amounts of firewood. The Lillywhite brothers hired several Mexican woodcutters to meet the mills' unceasing demands. Seth Johnson was employed parttime by the Lillywhites to haul this wood to the mill. Andres Tabanico filled another important job created by the flour mill - that of fireman. He was in charge of the steam engine powering the second of the Lillywhite mills. Other local men held this position before Tabanico's arrival in Colonia Morelos.

Besides the men in the immediate Lillywhite family, the mill provided employment for several additional men trained in the milling business. John Black was hired to oversee the first of the two Lillywhite mills. Later Elauterio Acosta was trained by the Lillywhites to operate their mill which formed the primary activity of the "Morelos Improvement Company." Acosta had traveled as a boy to Colonia Morelos with a burro train from Chihuahua. Mitchell Lillywhite took a great liking to him and took him in, raising him as a son and personally instructing Acosta in milling. Charles W. Lillywhite directed the overall milling operation. He was also the head bookkeeper for the mill, being assisted by John Jacob Huber.

Almost all the Mormon farmers planted at least some of their land in wheat because that crop could be readily utilized. The acreage devoted each year to

wheat has not yet been ascertained. It is known, however, that this acreage fluctuated from year to year. Layne Lillywhite stated that a typical irrigated acre of wheat produced somewhere around 40 100-pound bags of flour (Lillywhite 3/11 /72). Some years seem to have been much better for the mill than others because either there was an unusually large acreage of wheat or there were particularly heavy yields per acre. Bumper crops were produced in 1910 and 1912. The community fathers had anticipated such bumper crops by requiring that each Mormon family surrender one room in each house for the storage of wheat when the mill and communal granary were already filled to capacity (Lillywhite 3/16/71). This common agreement demonstrated both the community spirit within Colonia Morelos and the economic prominence the flour mill enjoyed.

The Lillywhite mill provided the flour required by the Mormon households and also furnished the needs of local merchants. Local sales of wheat were made to Mexicans living within the colony or coming to Morelos to buy small quantities of supplies. By far the vast majority of the flour processed within the colony was sold by the Lillywhites in large contracts with mining firms and stores located throughout the upper Bavispe River valley. Even stores located in

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towns as far away as Cumpas negotiated for quantities of Mormon flour. The mill's problem was not a lack of customers; rather it was the acquisition of enough wheat to keep the mill operating year-round.

Another basic means of support involving almost all the Mormon families in Colonia Morelos was fruit growing. Most families maintained at least a small orchard on their town lots for their own needs (Lilly white 5/1/71, 3111/72). The climate around Colonia Morelos favored the raising of fruit and allowed a wide variety to be grown. Two or three types of apples were especially adapted to the local climate, making up the majority of the fruit trees in Morelos. Peaches, plums, apricots, pears, pomegranates, pecans, and walnuts were also grown. Some of the fruit and nuts were consumed fresh by the Saints. Apples were often stored in cool rooms or cellars and were eaten later in the fall and winter.

Most of the fruit intended for domestic consumption by the Mormons was canned. During the summer many of the Mormon women labored canning gallons of fresh fruit (and vegetables) which were stored in glass jars in the household pantry or cellar. Much of the fruit was preserved in metal cans up to five gallons in size (Langford 3/5/72). Such large containers were practical in meeting the needs of families of 10 to 15 persons. Additional quantities of fresh fruits were dried in the hot summer air and stored in each household's pantry. The individual canning efforts produced such satisfactory results that the Mormons were even planning to construct a cannery within the colony. The Revolution was the only thing that stopped the initiation of the project (Lillywhite 5/1/71).

George Bunker, Burr Bradshaw, William Beecroft, Orin Barney, the Yeager and Thomas families, and the three Lee families maintained sizable orchards. These orchards produced large quantities of fruit intended for cash sale. Some of this fruit was sold to the local stores, but the bulk of it was packed to the nearby mines of El Tigre or Pilares de Teras or freighted to the surrounding small Mexican villages up the Rio Bavispe. Apples were especially popular in the mining camps and were transported there by burro trains since no road directly connected these mines with the Sonora colonies. None of the Sonora fruit apparently was ever hauled to Douglas for sale in the United States.

Gardening was an activity that involved every Mormon family within the colony. Most of the garden plots were immediately adjacent to the homes of the Saints and were consequently confined to a portion of one, and usually not more than one and one-half, surveyed town lots. The plants grown in these plots were hose typically grown in any small farming community -onions, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, watermelons and cantaloupes. Although the majority of such gardens were harvested solely for domestic use, some individuals maintained much larger gardens. Robert L. McCall and Burr Bradshaw, among others, grew vegetables for sale to supplement their families' income. Some of these surplus vegetables were distributed through the local stores, but most of them were loaded onto burros and shipped to the mines at El Tigre and Pilares de Teras.

As far as local employment was concerned, ranching and stock raising seem to have been second in importance only to farming. Every Mormon family had some stock which both supplied the family with transportation and food. The number of families involved in large-scale ranching, however, was smaller than the number employed in large-scale farming. Horace Curtis and his two sons spent much of their time ranching. Orson P. Brown was particularly concerned with ranching, hiring David Johnson Wilson to be his buyer. The Lillywhite brothers ran cattle and other stock on their Carrizo Ranch property, while they and the Nichols family jointly operated the combined Caballero ranch and farm. The Naegle families dominated the local cattlemen since John C. Naegle, Jr., owned the Canebreaks Ranch between Colonia Oaxaca and Colonia Morelos. The total extent of these Mormon ranches is not known at this time, but it must have included thousands of acres surrounding the farmlands on either side of both the Bavispe and Batepito Rivers. The grazing properties of the Lillywhites' Carrizo Ranch are known to have extended all the way

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to the tops of the high basalt-capped mesas to the west of the Rio Batepito. This one ranch alone included at least 5,000 acres.

The Mormons did not deal in range cattle solely from their own ranches. David Wilson traveled widely buying up other ranchers' cattle for later resale. Horace Curtis did likewise, eventually driving his herds up the Batepito to southeastern Arizona where they were sold. The size of all the Mormon herds is not known exactly, but they appear to have been substantial. In addition to the United States market, El Tigre, Pilares de Teras, and other regional mining towns provided lucrative outlets for the Mormon ranchers.

Range cattle were by far the most common animals raised by the Mormons in Sonora. In addition there were large numbers of horses kept in the colonies. Mitchell Lillywhite owned a blooded horse imported from Arizona which had cost $2,229 (Senate Com mittee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 3254). This was the most expensive animal in Morelos, but it was a common practice for the Mormons to purchase registered stock in the United States and take it to Mexico for breeding purposes. Because of this fact, Mormon stock was some of the best to be found in northern Mexico and was much sought after by many of Mexico's stockmen. Numerous families in Colonia Morelos maintained small numbers of excellent dairy cows. The cows provided the community's needs for milk, butter, and cheese. Any surplus of dairy products always had a ready market in the immediate vicinity of the colony. George Benjamin Wilson perhaps had the best dairy herd in the entire upper Bavispe River valley. Burros and pigs were also commonly raised by the Sonora Saints. Pigs were often driven up the trail to El Tigre for sale there.

The first store in Colonia Morelos was opened in 1902 by William Henry Hudson. This store provided a wide range of locally produced foodstuffs as well as many of the items found in country stores in the United States during the first years of this century. The logistics of providing large quantities of manufactured goods from the United States necessitated that most of Hudson's stock be of a utilitarian nature. The Lillywhite brothers opened a general mercantile store around 1905. Their store was considerably larger than the settlement's first store. Their stock was probably more varied than Hudson's original stock because they had considerably more capital behind them, the population conducting business in Colonia Morelos had greatly expanded, and the newly opened wagon road to Douglas greatly shortened the hauling distance from a United States supply point. Prior to this, almost all of the manufactured items sold in Colonia Morelos had been freighted to the community from Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua or Deming, New Mexico, via the Pulpit Canyon road. Some of the more fascinating items sold in the Lillywhite store were shoes bought by Joseph Lillywhite in the Mormon shoe factory located in Colonia Dublan. Layne Lillywhite recalls that as a boy he only rarely had occasion to actually wear his shoes (he tied them together and slung them around his neck until the terrain absolutely necessitated his putting them on) even though they were exceedingly well made. The sort of business arrangements which prevailed in the Hudson store are still unknown. However, much of the business carried out in the Lillywhite store was based on credit extended to the customers by the Lillywhite family (Lilywhite 5/1171).

Prior to 1911, the Huish family opened a store on the main street of the town. By 1911 the Haymore family also believed that the Colonia Morelos area would support yet another general store. They began construction of their brick store in 1911 and it opened shortly thereafter, even though the building was not actually completed until after 1912. By 1911 the diversity of merchandise available in the colony had greatly increased because of the expanded road to Douglas. The stores were carrying many more items that were now available and these greatly intrigued both the local Mormon wives and the numerous women traveling with Mexican military units that happened through Colonia Morelos. Nothing is known as to the amount of annual sales for most of the stores, but Edgar Haymore claimed to have lost $25,000 in stock to Mexican rebels in 1912 (Romney 1938: 198). This figure would certainly indicate that the local mercantile houses played a prominent role in the economy of Colonia Morelos.

Beekeeping and poultry raising were common to any number of Mormon families; but most families raised bees, chickens or poultry solely for their own consumption. Several families, however, capitalized on the growing demand for honey, eggs, and poultry by expanding their original operations into commercial concerns. Robert McCall and David J. "Honey" Wilson never had any trouble selling the delicious honey from their numerous hives. Burr Bradshaw and his son, Sam, expanded their chicken coop into a sizeable and profitable chicken ranch. This expansion occurred after the gold and silver mines were opened in the El Tigre Mountains because Bradshaw transacted much of his business with the local mines. The Bradshaws obtained all their chicken feed from local farms. Apparently the poultry business provided the bulk of the Bradshaws' income.

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EMPLOYMENT AVAILABLE TO MORMONS OUTSIDE OF COLONIA MORELOS

There were two basic types of jobs available to Mormon men outside the Sonora colonies freighting and mining. Freighting was the more important since it involved considerable numbers of men and older boys, although it never generated income equaling that of ranching or farming. Nevertheless, freighting was critically important; it insured that the supplies necessary for the establishment and maintenance of the colony were on hand. Mormon freighters and teamsters included men from the Lillywhite families, the two Johnson families, the Fenn family, George Lee and his father, Alvin Nelson, and Lorenzo S. Huish. Francisco Marufu also had a team and worked as a freighter. Originally entering Mexico with little else than their teams and wagons, many Mormons naturally relied on them for their livelihood. However, freighting was usually seasonal or short termed for most of the freighters. Few men were able to obtain enough contracts to support their families solely on freighting income.

Because the colonies lacked cement clay, lime, and building timber, these items had to be transported from the San Bernadino River and the Guadalupe Mountains. This hauling was limited and was often paid for in service rather than in cash. Commercial freighting principally involved the transportation of flour, grains, or other foodstuffs out of the colony and the transportation of merchandise, essential building supplies, and machinery into the colony. Most of the time manufactured items from the United States were picked up by Colonia Morelos' freighters in Colonia Dublin. Lumber, shingles, and turned pillars, used in so many of the colonists' homes, were transported at Colonia Dublin into wagons from Sonora. It seems unlikely that anyone besides the Sonora residents would risk teams and wagons on the Pulpit Canyon road unless absolutely necessary. Flour from the Lillywhite mill was hauled up and down the Bavispe River valley in wagons operating out of Colonia Morelos. The Mormons enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the freighting business in this area of Sonora. The owners of the heavy wagons, however, simply could not compete in hauling materials from the colonies to the two major mines in the El Tigre mountains. Because only narrow trails connected the colonies and the mines, supplies were packed there by burro train.

With the opening of the Pilares de Teras mine in the El Tigre Mountains, the number of freighting contracts available to the Mormons greatly increased. By 1901 or 1902 the El Tigre mine also needed freighters. For several years the rich "black ore" was hauled down the mountain trails to Mormon wagons which hauled it to Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. At Casas Grandes, the ore was again reloaded-this time into railroad cars bound for El Paso, Texas, where it was smelted. Alvah Fenn (3124/73) noted that these contracts were especially lucrative since finished lumber bought at the Hearst Sawmill in the Sierra Madre Mountains was "back hauled" to Colonia Morelos.

The shipping of ore from the mines was revolutionized once the railroad reached Izabal (now Esqueda), Sonora, from Douglas, Arizona. Alvah Fenn and other Mormon teamsters consequently transfered their freighting to the west side of the El Tigre Mountains. Fenn, operating two heavy wagons drawn by four mules each, sub-contracted from a Mexican freighter named Wulfo. The concentrated ore was loaded into the wagons right at the mine sites. Then the ore was hauled 12 miles down the mountain on a narrow, twisting road to the Rio Bavispe. From there a fairly straight road led to Izabal. If the Rio Bavispe was `.up," the wagons were unloaded on the east bank so that the freighters could return for additional loads of ore until the water level lowered. Once the river went down the wagons plunged across the river to begin the last 35-mile leg of the trip. In Izabal, the ore

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was transferred to awaiting Nacozari Railroad Company cars for delivery to the smelter at Douglas, Arizona. (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73, 6/30/73).

The Fenns, Rays and other Mormons from Colonia Morelos also freighted supplies and ore for the mining operations in Nacozari, Sonora, until the Nacozari railway was completed. They also engaged in similar operations transporting supplies and ore to and from the Belen and Buckeye mining districts and Cumpas, Sonora (Alvah Fenn 6/30/72; Ray 6/9/73).

In addition to freighting for the mines, several Mormons were employed in the actual mining processes at El Tigre and Pilares de Teras. This employment, however, commenced only after the two Sonoran colonies were already founded. After 1902, the wage work available at the mines helped support several Latterday Saints' households: John McNeil worked as a supervisor, his son, Edward, was also hired at El Tigre to supervise its concentrator (Lillywhite 5/1/71). In 1911, Marion Ray and several others from Morelos helped string an electric power line from Douglas, Arizona, to the El Tigre mine (Ray 6/9/73).

Realizing they could fulfill specialized needs of the mines, several Mormons formed businesses to provide the products needed. Since charcoal was required to operate the concentrator, Isaac Langford and John Loving constructed three rock masonry kilns above the El Tigre mine. Oak was cut and hauled by burro to the kiln where it was charred in a reducing atmosphere to form charcoal, which was then transported down to the mine where it was used to fuel the concentrator (Langford 3/5/72).

Another product manufactured by the Mormons was cribbing. The extensive network of tunnels blasted into the bedrock to get at the veins of silver- and gold-bearing ores necessitated a great deal of timber. Both Fred Gardner and Alvah Fenn of Colonia Morelos operated small sawmills in the uplands of the El Tigre Mountains to supply this wood. Cutting and roughly milling pine and Douglas fir found in isolated stands in the mountains, they endeavored to keen up with this never-ending demand. Fenn's small operation produced over 80,000 pieces of lumber. The cribbing was hauled from the milling sites to the tunnels by burros. (Alvah Fenn 3/24/73; Lillywhite 3/16/71, 5/1/71).

CHURCH-COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT

The Mormon Church at Colonia Morelos provided civic, educational and religious employment. These relatively technical positions were funded by the Church with monies from the annual tithe. Since Morelos was essentially a religious community, it was both logical and efficient for the local Church to oversee these basic services. The Church directed the surveying of the community from the beginning when the town site and original canal were laid out.

Around 1904, Edward Webb, assisted by Lorenzo S. Huish, was placed in charge of all surveying within the colony. The location for the community churchschoolhouse had to be surveyed, as well as routes for new and expanded canals. New boundaries had to be surveyed as more tracts of land were added to the colony's holdings. Occasionally, Webb and Huish were called upon by individual Mormons to survey new fence lines and improvements.

John J. Huber was contracted by Charles Lillywhite, on behalf of the town, to engineer a 100-meter long tunnel at the mouth of the Bavispe canyon east of the colony. This tunnel was dynamited through a bedrock ridge and was needed to raise the north side canal to a level safely above the river where it would no longer be washed out by occasional floods. This improvement to the colony's irrigation system allowed additional farm land to be brought under cultivation (Huber 6/11/73).

Once the large brick schoolhouse was completed, the community had to provide for its maintenance. Thomas A. Denny, a bachelor from one of the Mormon settlements in Chihuahua, was hired as janitor for the new public building (Lillywhite 5/1/71). Denny did much more than every day janitorial work; he was a handyman in charge of the maintenance on all the communal or church structures in Colonia Morelos.

The Mormon Church provided a school for all the residents within the colony. As mentioned earlier, this was one of the first activities begun by the Church once the basic economic requirements of the colony had been met. The school was staffed by both local adults and teachers recruited from the Mormon villages in Chihuahua. An apparent lack of higher education among the Morelos Mormons, or a preoccupation with their individual household duties, perhaps explains the recruitment of educators from the outside. Clearly the Church officials were interested in their children's education, going to great lengths to provide them with the best physical facilities and teachers available. The calibre of the Mormon instructors from Chihuahua was unmatched in Sonora since many of them had been thoroughly trained in the United States and/or the famous Juarez Academy in Colonia Juarez. The salaries paid the teachers were not great, consequently many of them supplemented this wage by farming or ranching. Some of the money generated within the Sonora colonies and used for teachers' salaries must have been diverted out of the colonies by the Chihuahuan instructors.

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The local Mormon Church provided its officers with some income, although not great. It is not known whether the first branch clerk in Colonia Morelos, Edward A. Huish, was reimbursed. John J. Huber and Charles W. Lillywhite received small sums from the local Church because they maintained the official books of the Morelos Ward. O. P. Brown may have received limited payment from the Church during the 1901-1903 period while he was Ward Bishop. Charles W. Lillywhite did receive a "salary" to cover his expenses while performing his duties as the local bishop from 1903-1912 (Lillywhite 5/1/71). The financial conditions that prevailed in Colonia Morelos in this regard were probably similar to those pertaining to the Church officials in Chihuahua. Upon being questioned about his income from the Mormon Church, Junius Romney, the Juarez Stake president, stated that he did not receive either a "salary" or a "commission" from the Church. He went on to add: "Some help has been extended to me in the discharge of my duties. I have expenses that I am assisted in defraying" (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 2589). The local Church officers in Mexico never received incomes from the Mormon Church headquarters in the United States. Rather, the money for these positions was budgeted from the local tithing.

ADDITIONAL TYPES OF LOCAL EMPLOYMENT

Craft employment had a significant role in the economic fabric of Colonia Morelos. Such work did not involve large sums of money, elaborate equipment, or substantial periods of time. Alvin Nelson and Fred Gardner were highly skilled machinists. Along with Patrick Calhoun Haynie, they owned enough equipment to do the ordinary kinds of blacksmithing and wheelwrighting which were required by the farming

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and ranching activities of the colonists (Beulah Huish 6/12/73; Lillywhite 5 /1 /71 ). Neils Mathusen (Matisen) was originally from Denmark, where he probably learned cobbling. He supplied some of the shoes needed both in the immediate colony and also in the surrounding area (Lillywhite 5/1/71).

The construction trades of Colonia Morelos created needs for other kinds of specialized employment. Stone cutting was undertaken by Edward Van Luven. He quarried and shaped rhyolite blocks that were used as foundations for several homes and the local church. Occasionally he carved headstones for the cemeteries in Colonia Morelos and Colonia Oaxaca. Many Mormons were part-time carpenters. John McNeil often supervised or helped on construction jobs since he was an expert carpenter (Lillywhite 511171). Apparently the carpentry on individual houses was done communally without employing full-time carpenters. The four or five Webb families residing along the eastern margin of Colonia Morelos were the local brickmakers and masons. Because of the involved nature of this work and the time required, their services were paid for in cash, rather than in kind. These families practiced their trades full-time during 1904-1906 when the construction boom took place in Colonia Morelos. After 1908 most of the brick houses had been built and masonry construction was largely limited to one or two stores, the school, and the last Lillywhite mill. The Webbs continued to produce red bricks for the additional local structures and improvements to earlier buildings (Lillywhite 511171). There is no evidence that any local brick was ever sold to anyone outside the immediate colony; fired red brick homes never became accepted in the surrounding Mexican settlements in Sonora.

No one derived a livelihood in the colony solely through the practice of medicine. Martha "Mattie" Curtis was the resident nurse in Colonia Morelos and was called on to deliver babies, administer to the sick and to tend to injuries. Occasional midwives in the colony included Jane Galbraith Brown and Maryellen Willden "Grandmother" Lillywhite. Lorenzo S. Huish "doctored" injuries to limbs (Haymore 1962: 45) and "Brother" Clark served as a much-feared folk dentist (Carmen Fern 5/24/73). Remuneration offered these persons for their services varied widely. Families would pay what they could afford at the time. This might be in the form of trade, produce or even cash. Probably only Mattie Curtis derived any significant amount of income as a compensation for medical skills. Medicine was practiced on a part-time basis only, except during periods when the town was quarantined, as it was for scarlet fever in January; 1911 (Ray 6/9/33).

The Mexican government also provided some employment in Colonia Morelos. Apparently there were two positions; comisario and tax collector. The comisaro was not always a paid position, whereas the tax collector was. The tax collector was important because he collected the annual taxes due the Mexican government after the 10-year tax exemption granted the colonists by the Diaz government expired. Occasionally one person simultaneously held both government positions. Joseph Lillywhite was appointed the original comisario for Colonia Morelos. He remained in this post until he was replaced sometime around 1905 by Lucen Clark, a school teacher from Chihuahua whose Spanish was more fluent than Lillywhite's. Later, one of the McClellan brothers held both the comisario and tax collector positions.

POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR ECONOMIC SUCCESS OF COLONIA MORELOS

The Mexicans living in the small villages along the Rio Bavispe led full and happy lives. Their endeavors were successful in their culture's terms. The Protestant ethic, however, defined success in different terms, largely economic. The Mormons brought this economic definition of success to Mexico, structuring their efforts in terms of it. Therefore, a discussion of the "success" of Colonia Morelos is of more value presented in terms of the standards used by Mormons.

Colonia Morelos was an economic success during the period when the Mormon settlers lived there. The Saints originally came to the colony with little or no personal property, many of the immigrants having to buy their farm lands and town lots on credit. Within a short period of time many immigrant families had not only paid off their loans from the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company but had greatly augmented and improved their holdings. Thousands of acres of farm land had been cleared where previously only dense bosques had existed. Permanent brick homes, mills, stores, and a large church-schoolhouse had been erected. Colonia Morelos cannot be considered to have been a wealthy town, but it enjoyed a prosperity at that time unmatched by any other agricultural community in northeastern Sonora.

What were the reasons behind this unusual economic success? The original colonization of Sonora by the Mormons was not random or haphazard; rather, it was carefully planned, organized, and executed. Survey parties were sent throughout northeastern Sonora to locate the most promising sections of land. Still others were sent to confirm the earlier reports and to establish firm working relationships with various levels of officials within the Mexican government. The acquisition of the Sonoran properties was either originally

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or subsequently handled by the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company, a well-financed and ably directed Church business. This firm saw to it that articles required by the initial colonists were made available.

The colonists entering Mexico brought their own teams and wagons which were used to clear and level productive farm land, dig irrigation ditches, and secure and transport building materials for the construction of permanent homes and businesses. These same teams and wagons provided an opportunity for the Saints to engage in freighting. Prior to the Mormons' arrival, there was little means of transportation in northeastern Sonora other than horseback.

Another contributing factor accounting for the Mormons' success was their ideal of self-sufficiency. The Mormon leaders clearly understood their economic potential if they remained independent of Mexican goods and services. Therefore, many businesses undertaken in each colony were geared to supply all the colonies with products previously unavailable in the region. This was the case with the Mormon sawmills, shingle plants, and shoe factory .located in Chihuahua. Moreover, the Mormon pioneers wanted to exploit the basic resources available in each district in order to open new markets in the surrounding areas. This was especially true of wheat, corn, bran and livestock. The Mexican Mormon colonies were designed to sell more products than they purchased. This economic situation prevailed in Colonia Morelos as well as in most of the other Mormon settlements in Mexico.

The proximity of the El Tigre and Pilares de Teras mines occasioned an unexpectedly large market for the Sonoran colonies' produce. In addition, the mines required Mormon labor and specialized goods. The economic success and growth of Colonia Morelos would certainly not have been as great had it not been for the discovery and rapid development of the rich mining properties adjacent to the Sonoran colonies.

The Mormons' prosperity in Mexico resulted directly from the planning, hard work, and ingenuity which they brought to bear on all their projects. This prosperity was, however, augmented by good fortune as in the case of the abundant markets furnished by the mines. Certainly part of the Mormons' success in Sonora and Chihuahua was due to their seemingly unlimited ambition. No task or project was too large or too complicated for the Mormon settlers to attempt. No detail was too small or too inconsequential for someone to investigate. The pioneer experiences in the Midwest and Southwest proved to be most valuable in the Mexican settlements. This allowed the Mexican Saints to more accurately forecast the prospectsof success for any new undertaking. Mormon cultural values encouraged the initiation of new projects which would not be restrained by the straight-jacket of prior success. The complex of Mormon culture contrasted sharply with the cultural attitudes prevalent in northern Mexico during the early years of this century.

The high level of technology employed by the Mormons also accounts, in part, for their economic success. Sonora's Mormons brought an understanding and appreciation of advanced technology with them to Mexico. This technical background and expertise was utilized by the Mormons in their construction of the Colonia Morelos irrigation system and milling operations. They created larger and more efficient water works and flour mills than were then present in northern Mexico. These projects were patterned after those that the Mormons had known in the United States. The level of technical knowledge available to the colonists quickly led to an economic system that far outstripped the situation that had existed for over a century in the Mexican communities scattered along the Rio Bavispe. Consequently, the Mormons were rapidly able to dominate the agricultural economy of this region.

[The water works for Colonia Morelos were developed by the Mormons, see letter below written by Orson Pratt Brown, to the Governor of the State of Sonora. Many thanks to Irene Rios Figuerosa:

Common social experiences and a common ideology were shared by all the Sonora colonists and may have been partially responsible for their success. The immigrants shared a deep devotion for and a firm commitment to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Viewing themselves as servants of the Church, they followed any orders issued by Church

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officers. The Church certainly controlled where its members lived, frequently moving them about to colonize or bolster new areas for the faith (Peterson 1973). Many of the Mormon families had been assigned to the Mexican colonies and could only leave them after receiving official release from the proper Church authorities. Perhaps the colonists felt they had to expend every effort in their bid to become self-sufficient because of the difficulty in obtaining permission to abandon their assignment.

A communal spirit also existed among the Latter-day Saints living in Colonia Morelos that was certainly economically advantageous. Although Colonia Morelos residents were not bound by the United Order, which had been practiced in the Little Colorado settlements (Peterson 1973), they did undertake community-wide projects. The irrigation canals taken off both the Rio Bavispe and Rio Batepito were excavated by numerous families working together. This community cooperation accounted for the rapid construction of the first canal in the colony, thus insuring that a crop was harvested the very first year. The maintenance of the canal systems was also accomplished through communal efforts. Several community, as well as private, enterprises were saved only because of the widespread community spirit uniting the colonists. An example of this feeling can be seen in the communal construction of the second Lillywhite flour mill. The destruction of the original Lillywhite mill was not only a private disaster; it was also a blow to the community as a whole. The entire town turned out to build a new mill and refused to accept any payment for the services they provided. Through their mutual efforts, the Mormons in Colonia Morelos averted this economic catastrophe, turning it into a blessing in disguise. They not only saved that year's wheat crop and met the Lillywhites' flour contracts, but they expanded the colony's milling capacities by 200676. Obviously the Church's organization and influence accounted for some portion of the village's prosperity.

Mormon ability to secure financing for some of their business ventures significantly contributed to the economic success enjoyed by Colonia Morelos. This ability to secure capital gave the Mormon immigrants a distinct advantage over the typical Mexican citizens of northeastern Sonora. The Mormons knew American bankers and were aware of the procedures available for obtaining bank financing for crucial improvements or expansions. Joseph Lillywhite traveled to the United States shortly after the Lillywhite brothers' mill burned to the ground. There he was able to negotiate a bank loan for completely new milling machinery. In order to secure the loan he stressed that he already had signed substantial flour contracts. If he could install the new mill in time to process the bumper crop of wheat already being grown in the colony, his firm would be able to reap very healthy profits (Lillywhite 5/11/72, 5/2/72). Clearly, the financial support available to the colonists in the United States contributed to the economic prominence of the Mormon colonies in Mexico.

THE EFFECTS OF THE 1905 FLOOD ON COLONIA MORELOS

The year 1905 is one that no Mormon residing in Colonia Morelos will ever forget. A severe drought greatly hampered the colony's ranching activities. In spite of the lack of local rainfall in spring and early summer, irrigation waters allowed the crops to survive. Perhaps the best harvest on record could be foreseen. But the one memory from 1905 that was everlastingly etched in the minds of the pioneer Mormons was the flood that occurred during Thanksgiving week.

The impact of this tragic flood on the lives of the citizens of Colonia Morelos had both immediate and delayed repercussions. The Rio Bavispe's floodplain at Colonia Morelos was very broad, thus precluding the widespread destruction that engulfed Colonia Oaxaca. The river swirled over low-lying islands in its center, ripping out entire orchards and eroding the fertile soil. All but a narrow strip of the John Fenn farm on the south side was destroyed. The rampaging waters also attacked the northern floodplain within the very limits of the town. Relentlessly, the turbulent river ate northward, systematically destroying acre after acre of the "lower fields," the colony's finest farm property. Not only did the swollen waters totally erode the farm land, but they also washed away some buildings located along the north side of the river. Most of the floodplain immediately adjacent to the actual townsite was replaced by broad expanses of worthless gravel and sand bars. So intense and sudden had been the flood that few of the families in the lower areas were able to move their belongings to the safety of the first terrace. Several Colonia Morelos families were left homeless, some even stripped of their livelihood (Alvah Fenn 6/30/73; Huber n.d.: 2). The displaced families in Colonia Morelos were soon joined by perhaps 80% of the population of Colonia Oaxaca. These destitute families suffered an even harsher fate and were temporarily housed in private homes and the schoolhouse. The luckier families in Colonia Morelos provided food and assistance. Some families from both Sonora colonies had lost so much in the flood that they felt that they simply could not begin again in Mexico. The Fenns sold their home and remaining farmland

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to Orin Barney for a wagon team and went to Nacozari and set up a freighting business. Others returned to the United States to start anew with the aid of relatives and friends. Many of the homeless from Oaxaca decided to remain in Colonia Morelos or in the immediate vicinity of the colony.

Quickly these families, helped by more fortunate relatives and friends, began clearing new land for farms. Although the colonists worked relentlessly at the task, it became increasingly obvious that there was simply not enough land to support the increased population of Colonia Morelos. Only the construction of a new dam would have solved this problem by providing the water to irrigate the potential farm land lying on the south side of the river. Because of the financial stress placed upon the community by the flood, the necessary capital for such an undertaking was not available. The most realistic solution was for a portion of the populace to move up the Rio Batepito where additional lands could be cleared. Here water could be diverted from the river and channeled to the new fields without the construction of a costly and time-consuming dam.

FOUNDING OF SAN JOSE

By 1909, the situation became so critical that this move was affected. Many of the Oaxaca families that had taken refuge in Colonia Morelos formed the nucleus of this movement. Several resident families of Morelos also decided to relocate. James Harvey Langford's two families who had still been residing in the diminished community at Colonia Oaxaca joined the new colonization effort. The "Rosavayo Tract" was secured by James Harvey Langford and Charles W. Lillywhite from the Gavilando family and provided the land necessary to support the new community. This tract was nearly equal in size to the Lillywhite's Carrizo Ranch, immediately to the south (Langf ord 3/5/72; Lillywhite n.d.: 36).

Naming their new home "San Jose," the colonists cleared abundant and fertile farmlands. They constructed a series of small irrigation ditches that readily diverted the waters of the Rio Batepito. Within a short time they had completed a number of adobe homes and built a school with at least one full-time instructor. The new settlement of some 300 persons attained its own ward status. The land proved so productive that the townspeople began to make plans for the construction of their own flour mill. These plans were thwarted, however, by the Mexican Revolution.

San Jose resulted directly from the 1905 flood and its effect on Colonia Morelos was marked. Overcrowding at Morelos was relieved, allowing a slower-paced, more economical expansion of that colony. In addition, the crops raised at San Jose provided Colonia Morelos with an even broader agricultural base. San Jose wheat was hauled to Morelos for milling. Rather than competing with Colonia Morelos, San Jose generated increased revenues for the business enterprises in the parent community.

THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION AND FINAL DAYS OF THE COLONY

PRE-EXODUS

The Mormons, since immigrating to their adopted country, had stayed up-to-date and well informed with the social and political developments in Mexico. The Mormons had left the United States because of social laws which had to a large extent been politically motivated. They were considered foreigners in Mexico and therefore vulnerable to racial and nationalistic attacks. They were also prosperous and would have been so even under United States standards. In northern Mexico, they appeared almost ostentatious with their large hand holdings, livestock, businesses and fine homes.

It was no surprise to the Mormons when the regime of Porfirio Diaz collapsed in May, 1911; it had seemed inevitable for months. His fall was viewed with controlled apprehension for they were now without the national dictator who had for 26 years lauded their industriousness and value as colonists. Gone was Diaz' policy of welcoming the foreigner-especially if he had money. The Mormons well understood the ramifications of this. Cries for land and class reform were sweeping the country, but the Mormons maintained a sense of security which stemmed mainly from their belief that God would protect them in their neutrality. The rebel leaders would soon exhaust themselves and conditions would stabilize.

The military victories and ensuing election to the presidency of Francisco I. Madero in 1911 had no immediate effect upon the colonists at Colonia Morelos. The fighting had been largely confined to north-central Mexico east of the continental divide and Madero's popular election gave hope that conditions would soon return to normal. In November, the quiet was broken for the Mormons at Colonia Morelos when 70 bandits under Isidro Escobosa were chased through the colony after having been routed by federal cavalry at El Tigre. The Federals were reported to have been at least as destructive as the bandits (McClincock 1911:272).

A view of a portion of Colonia Morelos a month after the Exodus in 1912. Photo is to the west and shows the Church-schoolhouse (right foreground) and the two-story Huish store (extreme left).

The summer of 1912 saw things at their worst for the Mormons in northern Mexico. Pavcscual Orozco's revolt against Madero gained quick following among the marauding rebel bands in Chihuahua. These loosely

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organized groups became known as "Red Flaggers." They were led by General Jose Inez Salazar, rebel commander at Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, and "General" Antonio Rojas, the dreaded raider who roamed from the Rio Grande to the Bavispe. Federal troops were garrisoned at Casas Grandes under General Augustin Sanjinez. In Sonora, Colonel Alvaro Obreg6n commanded troops loyal to Madero's government.

In the middle of June, Colonia Morelos saw the arrival of 750 federal troops under Colonel Rivera. These were soon joined by 250 more under Obregon. The soldiers, quartered in the streets and schoolhouse of the colony, behaved scandalously. Demands were made on private property and the Mormon horses were saved only by hiding them in the hills. Bishop Charles W. Lillywhite and a committee of citizens appealed to Obreg6n and Rivera to remove the troops a respectful distance from their homes. They were received with insolence. Soldiers continued to bathe nude in the ditches and pollute the water (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: II: 2746).

On or about July 4, these forces were joined in Morelos by 600 cavalry and 200 infantry commanded by Generals Sanjinez and Jose de la Luz Blanco on their way from Agua Prieta to Casas Grandes. They had with them "two Schmerder-Canet 75 millimeter cannons, two machine guns and two fusilez." Leaving Morelos with commandeered wagons and teams, they marched to Ojitos in Chihuahua, Blanco arriving there about July 11 and Sanjinez about July 17. In a letter to D. B. Farnsworth, written in July, 1913, General Blanco stated he had desired to return to "protect" the colony, but Sanjinez ordered otherwise. On July 28, they were attacked by rebel forces from Casas Grandes led by General Salazar which they easily repulsed (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 2732-3).

Meanwhile, the occupation of Colonia Morelos had brought a storm of indignation and protest from its leaders. On July 9, Bishop Lillywhite sent a telegram to Joseph F. Smith, President of the Mormon Church, in Salt Lake City. Lillywhite complained that soldiers had nearly depleted the supplies of the colonists. Smith forwarded a copy of the telegram to Washington, D.C., and to the United States consul at Nogales, Arizona, before wiring Lillywhite advising "prudence and calmness." On July 15, John J. Huber, a prominent Morelos citizen, reported that Mexican officers had quartered in private homes and camp followers plied their trade openly to the soldiers in a manner highly objectionable to the morals of the colony. Cattle were slaughtered in the streets and hen houses and gardens were pillaged. All General Sanjinez could do was to suggest that the Mormons station watchmen at their places of business (Romney 1938: 195-7).

In the face of these depredations, the Mormons in Mexico endeavored to maintain neutrality, hoping to avert the pointed wrath of either side. This position no doubt saved many lives, but the abundant commodities and material wealth of the "gringo" Mormons proved too tempting to hungry and rebellion-crazed troops.

However, the Saints at Colonia Morelos seemed intent on taking as hard a stand as possible to protect their homes and property. In a somewhat sensationalized dispatch from Douglas, the Associated Press reported developments on July 9 by saying, "The Mormons declare they will no longer contribute food or horses to the forces of Orozco. They have armed themselves and declare they will fight to protect themselves against rebel devastation" (Romney 1938: 195). One informant, Layne Lillywhite, corroborates this by describing how rifles and ammunition were smuggled by the Mormons. To avoid suspicion, young boys did the smuggling with the assistance of "Texas" John Slaughter. Slaughter's ranch was located on the San Bernardino River across the border in Arizona. Here the guns were hidden in boxes and taken in wagons to the colony. From there some of the weapons were smuggled by

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burro to the American operators at the El Tigre mine, a favorite target of rebels and bandits. In addition to Lillywhite, other youthful smugglers were Irl Beecroft, Alan McCall, and Earl Skinner (Lillywhite 3/16/71).

Defeated at Ojitos, the rebel general Salazar and his Red Flaggers headed in early August for Colonia Morelos, intent on wreaking vengeance. Before their exodus by train on July 29, 1912, to a safe haven in El Paso, the Chihuahua Mormons dispatched Hyrum S. Harris to Sonora to apprise the colonists there of the grave situation. He reported the imminent arrival of the rebels and advised a flight across the border. James Wilford Ray was then sent to monitor the approach of the Red Flaggers. Ray located the position of the troops and then rode to Agua Prieta to confer with Sanjinez, the federal general.

After their encounter with the rebels at Ojitos, the forces of Sanjinez arrived back in Casas Grandes about August 15. From there they journeyed to Ciudad Juirez to combat other rebel groups. These federal troops were soon needed in Sonora and to expedite their movement the United States government permitted them to cross to El Paso and travel by train to Douglas. This explains their presence across the border in Agua Prieta in late August. Ray met there with General Sanjinez and tried to impress upon him the necessity of protecting Colonia Morelos. Unmoved, Sanjinez continued to do nothing, even after a committee of Mormons tried to persuade him to protect the colonists (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 2733-5).

In the face of this refusal, some 450 Mormons fled to Douglas on August 30 in 60 lumber wagons (McClintock 1921: 273). The trip was not without its own special tragedy. One of the young twin sons of O. P. Brown and Jane Galbraith Brown was thrown from one of the jolting wagons and crushed beneath a wheel (Alvah Fenn 5124173; Haymore n.d.: 67). That evening the Mormons positioned their wagons into a circle and made camp. Eva Naegle Done (4/10/73), a young child at the time, remembers the sadness of leaving Mexico that rainy night when her uncle, Daniel Conrad Naegle, played "Home Sweet Home" on an old phonograph.

On September 3, more women and children departed leaving only about 25 men in the colony as guards. Upon arrival at Douglas, the refugees found that the United States government had furnished them with tents and supplies. A tent-town was set up on the eastern outskirts of Douglas. The city supplied water free of charge and offered the Mormon children an opportunity to attend public schools (McClintock 1927: 273; Sellers 1964: 7). On August 12, 1912, the United States Senate had appropriated $20,000 to aid in the subsistence of homeless Mormons (Sen ate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 3347). Augmenting this was the government's offer of free transportation to anywhere in the United States where the Mormons might care to resettle. Many soon availed themselves of this opportunity and in a few weeks the tent camp was nearly empty (Sellers 1964: 7).

POST-EXODUS

On September 11, rebel scouts of the approaching Salazar force captured Moroni Fenn, Preston Horton Jones, and two other Mormons near the Chuchiverte Ranch. They were marched by Salazar and his 800 men to San Jose where homes belonging to Fenn and others were looted and poultry killed. Lee J. Huber, Layne and Raphael Lillywhite, and Daniel Conrad Naegle also fell into the hands of these rebels. Encamped for the night General Salazar made a speech to a large gathering of soldiers and nationalists. According to Moroni Fenn, he said:

"Your president, Howard Taft, is a vile dog, a low-down coward. Your nation is rotten. The Americans took the i territory of Mexico-Arizona and New Mexico-by treason and now they are going to pay for it with big interest compounded. We are going to run all the Americans out of Mexico. We will kill those who do not run before us. The plan of our revolution is simply to run the American dogs out of this country, confiscate their property and divide it among Mexicans. There is no liberty for us. Porfirio Diaz gave them our lands and, favored them, despising us. Times have changed. Mexico is for the Mexicans and the United States for the gringos. Formerly they were the owners of this country and they made us slaves and killed us. Now we are going to kill them or run them out of the country. We have executed their men, we have ravished their women, we have insulted their men and women in every possible way to force them to take up arms and fight us. They do not fight because

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they are cowards and afraid of us. Their own government despises them and abandons them, and dares not protect them and orders them to run away and escape.

In Colonia Dublin and all the other American colonies in Chihuahua, we have taken all the homes from Americans, killing some of them, and we have outraged their women, seized their lands and their houses, and all of their property, and we forced them to flee from the country with nothing but the clothes they had on. But they do not wish to fight and run like dogs. We will not let them return. We will kill all who try to return to their lands. We divided their lands and their property among Mexicans, and now they have nothing to return to Mexico for. We are going to do the same here in Colonia Morelos, Colonia San Jose, and Colonia Oaxaca. We are going to divide all the property among you Mexicans, among those who swear to kill every gringo that returns here." (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 2736).

All this to shouts of "Viva Salazar! Muerta los Gringos!" During this tirade Raphy Lillywhite escaped. Galloping to Colonia Morelos, he warned the remaining Mormons to hide the 30-40 head of riding stock which were pastured around the colony and flee (Huber 6/11/73; Lillywhite n.d.: 38).

The following day the forces of General Salazar entered Colonia Morelos and began randomly looting and pillaging the homes and stores of the Mormons while leaving property belonging to Mexicans unmolested. Again Salazar spoke to the assembled Mexicans, telling them that all Mormon properties belonged to them (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 2751). Daniel H. Snarr, James W. Ray, and several companions were among the Mormon men who had remained in town to protect their homes. This group approached General Salazar and offered to furnish his men with flour and other provisions if they would refrain from destroying their property. For a reply Salazar took a number of his men to the Haymore store and ordered the clerk, David Franklin "Lynn" Haymore, to provide each of them with whatever they desired. (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 2748). Haymore made an invoice of the merchandise taken, almost $1,100 worth, which Salazar signed for "future payment" (Haymore and Pace 1972: 14).

On September 18, the situation drastically worsened. General Rojas and his Red Flaggers arrived and messenger Layne Lillywhite brought news from Douglas that General Razoran and his band of "2,000 hungry rebels" were headed for the colony (Lillywhite 3/16/71). That night the few Mormons who had remained to guard their property did the wisest thing and escaped to Douglas where they were escorted to the customhouse by General Sanjinez (Huber 6/11/73; Senate Foreign Relations Committee 1920: 11: 2748).

After the exodus of the vast majority of the Mormons, succeeding events at the colony are sketchy and difficult to document. On September 16, 1912, H. Matthewson was reported killed by "bandits" in Colonia Morelos (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 1: 849). September 30 saw 12 Mormons return to assess damage and the situation (Haymore and Pace 1972: 15; Lillywhite n.d.: 38; Romney 1938:200). On arriving they:

". . . found everything that could be destroyed had been destroyed. Axes had been used to chop pianos and other musical instruments to pieces; windows and doors to the stores had been smashed, and . . . the drug and notion side of the Lillywhite Bros. Store ... remained a mass of broken debris. Wheat had been scattered over the streets, cattle had been butchered, fences . . . cut down, trees ... broken down and the Colony presented certainly a devastated appearance" (Lillywhite n.d.: 38)

In October, United States Consul Alexander V. Dye of Douglas surveyed the damage (McClintock 1927:273). On April 26, 1913, Joseph F. Smith, President of the Mormon Church, dissolved the commitment binding the colonists to Morelos and gave official sanction to an abandonment which largely had already been effected (Romney 1938: 237).

During 1913 and 1914 persistent Mormons alternately occupied and fled the colony as conditions vacillated between calm and peril. They included primarily the Lillywhite brothers. Assisted by John Jacob Huber, the Lillywhites endeavored to keep the mill

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functioning in an effort to fulfill their flour contracts. The large Haymore family made a living in the mercantile business and half-brothers David Franklin "Lynn" Haymore and John Adrum Haymore tried as best they could to keep their Colonia Morelos store in business during this time (Haymore n.d.; Lillywhite n.d.).

About May 1, 1913, Joseph Lillywhite and Lee J. Huber were arrested by Mexican soldiers for failing to accept worthless revolutionary scrip as payment for flour. The local comisario gave them each a choice of a $500 fine, a year in jail, or service in the Constitutionalist Army. They escaped to Arizona by persuading him to let them return to the mill to raise the fine (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: II: 2754-5).

In March 1914, a national Mexican figure sided with the Mormons in their efforts to have their property rights respected, but the effect of this was minimal. Combining forces with General Plutarco Elias Calles, and shortly before becoming President of Mexico, Venustiano Carranza marched through Colonia Morelos bound for Chihuahua. After touring the colony with Joseph Lillywhite and seeing what the Mormons had achieved in one decade compared with the stagnation of surrounding Mexican towns, the First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army strongly rebuked the Mexican residents of Colonia Morelos who had earlier petitioned him to apportion the Mormon lands. Carranza pledged to support the Mormons in reestablishing themselves and asked Lillywhite to recall the missing colonists. Carranza's influence was soon gone and shortly thereafter the mill was made inoperativ

Calles' men to keep the forces of Pancho Villa from making use of it. Villa's soldiers, in turn, completely wrecked the remaining machinery (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 32541).

Also that spring, when the United States landed troops at Veracruz, the Mormon hangers-on were forced to flee to Slaughter's Ranch to evade outraged Mexicans. Returning about two weeks later, they found homes looted and 400 sacks of flour stolen from the mill (Huber n.d.: 3-4).

The physical mistreatment and near death of Charles Lillywhite at the hands of General Trujillo and other Mexican army officers in January, 1915, seems to have ended attempts by the Mormons to maintain Morelos as a Latter-day Saints colony (Lillywhite n.d.: 41-3; Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1920: 11: 2755-6). The last days of the colony are clouded. Gaps remain to be filled and important questions are still to be answered. One fact stands out, however: the end at Colonia Morelos was neither swift nor precipitous, as it had been, for example, at Colonia Diaz in Chihuahua. Sonora Mormons made repeated efforts to return to their homes and to retain their investments. They did not give up easily. Against the direction and momentum of the Revolution they had but little chance.

COLONIA MORELOS OFFICIALLY RETURNED TO MEXICO

It was not until after the Revolution was finally over that the legal ownership of the colony lands was given up by the Latter-day Saints. Joseph Lillywhite assumed the position of "head man" of Colonia Morelos after abandonment. As families moved to new homes elsewhere, he was designated the representative of their individual claims. The decision by the Mormons to relinquish their Sonora holdings may have generated considerable interest in another group considering colonization in northern Mexico. Layne Lillywhite has divulged that communist followers of Leon Trotsky attempted to contact his father with intent to acquire the Morelos lands. For one or more reasons, these efforts proved unproductive (Lillywhite 3116/71, 5/1/71).

The political situation in Mexico stabilized with the recognition of the Obregon government and by 1921 conditions were such that steps could be taken toward the legal transfer of the Mormon lands. On June 22, 1921, a meeting was held in Douglas. A claims committee was appointed consisting of L. S. Huish, "Lynn" Haymore, Joseph Lillywhite, William Beecroft and William Curtis. Millard Haymore was dispatched to Mexico City to take the matter up with federal government officials. They agreed to take over

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the land and improvements and pay the Mormon owners $100,000 U. S. currency. (Romney 1938: 263). A date was set for the signing of papers in Douglas marking the transfer of title and Joseph Lillywhite, acting as official representative of the Mormon interests, was summoned to sign for the Saints. Seven hours after signing the documents returning the colony lands to the Mexican government, Lillywhite was murdered in Agua Prieta by persons unknown (Lillywhite 3/16/71). Whether this act was perpetrated by Trotskyites interested in colonization in Mexico, or someone else involved with the land transfer, remains unclear to this day.

On December 15, 1921, Orson P. Brown announced that "the lands of Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico have just been sold to the Mexican Government for $100,000" (Romney 1938: 263). However, only token amounts of that sum were ever paid to the individual Mormon claimants due to excessive legal fees and questionable assessments.

REFERENCES CITED

DE LA PENA, MOISES T.
1947 Extranjeros y Tarahumares en Chihuahua. In Obras Completas, edited by Miguel Othon de Mendizabel, Vol. 1, pp. 225-6. Mexico, D. F.

HARDY, B. CARMON
1969 The Trek South: How the Mormons Went to Mex ico. Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 1-16. The Texas State Historical Society, Austin.

HAYMORE, DAVID FRANKLIN, AND MARILYN H. PACE
1972 Life Story o f David Franklin Haymore.   Privately printed in Salt Lake City, Utah.

HAYMORE, DOROTHY HENDRICKS, Compiler
n.d.    A Record of the Ancestry and Descendants of Daniel and Mary (Shockley) Haymore o f Pittsylvania Co., Virginia. Franklin Demarcus Haymore (1849-1931) with Notes on Related Families, Including Four Wives: Taylor, Lant, Brown, Cluff and Arthur Samuel Haymore. Privately printed. Copy on file with the authors.

HAYMORE, EMMA HUISH, Editor
1962 The Story o f Lorenzo Snow Huish. Privately printed in Mesa, Arizona.

HUBER, JOHN JACOB, Supposed Author
n.d.    Brief History of Colonia Morelos. Unpublished manuscript. Copy on file with the authors.

JOHNSON, ANNIE R.
1972 Heartbeats o f Colonia Diaz.   Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, Utah.

LILLYWHITE, CHARLES W.
n.d. A Brief History and Chronology of the Lillywhite Family. Unpublished manuscript. Copy on file with the authors.

LINN, WILLIAM ALEXANDER
1923 The Story o f the Mormons, From the Date o f Their Origin to the Year 1901. The MacMillan Company, New York

McCLINTOCK, JAMES H.
1921 Mormon Settlement in Arizona; A Record of Peace ful Conquest of the Desert. Phoenix, Arizona.

PETERSON, CHARLES S.
1973 Take Up Your Mission, Mormon Colonizing Along the Little Colorado River, 1870-1900. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.

ROBERTS, B. H.
1965 A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ o f Latter-day Saints, Century 1, Vols. V and VI. Brigham Young University Press, Provo, Utah.

ROMNEY, THOMAS COTTAM
1938 The Mormon Colonies in Mexico. The Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1953 A Divinity Shapes Our Ends, As Seen in My Life Story,

SALT LAKE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
n.d. Microfilm #8404 038819 (Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

n.d. Microfilm #8409 038820 (Colonia Oaxaca, Sonora, Mexico). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

SELLERS, OLIVE A. HUBER
1964 Exodus of the Mormon Colonists From Mexico to Arizona. Privately printed in Ocean Park, California. SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS 1920 Investigations of Mexican Affairs, Preliminary Re port and Hearings of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate Pursuant to S. Res. 106 Directing the Committee on Foreign Relations to Investigate the Matter of Outrages on Citizens of the United States in Mexico. 66th Congress, 2d Session, Senate Document, No. 285, Vols. I and II. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

YOUNG, KARL E.
1968 Ordeal in Mexico; Tales o f Danger and Hardship Collected From Mormon Colonists, Retold by Karl E. Young. The Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah.

YOUNG, KIMBALL
1954 Isn't One Wife Enough? Henry Holt and Company, New York.

ORAL INTERVIEWS

ALLEN, IDA LILLYWHITE
June 11, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor. BATEMAN, CALVIN

June 30, 1973. St. David, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

BROWN, ELEANOR LILLYWHITE
June 11, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor.

DONE, EVA NAEGLE
April 10, 1973. Tucson, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

FENN, ALVAH AND CARMEN FORSTER
March 24, 1973. Pomerene, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

May 24, 1973. Pomerene, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor

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FENN, ALVAH

June 30, 1973. Pomerene, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

FENN, CARMEN FORSTER

June 30, 1973. Pomerene Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

HUBER, LEE. J.

June 11, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By T'. H. Naylor. HUISH, BEULAH HAYNIE

June 12, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor. HUISH, KATIE NAEGLE

February 4, 1973. Douglas, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

JOHNSON, ANNIE RICHARDSON

June 9, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor. LANGFORD, CLARENCE HARVEY

March 5, 1972. San Miguel, Sonora, Mexico. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

October 22, 1972. San Miguel, Sonora, Mexico. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

LEWIS, ESTHER WILSON

June 9, 1973. Phoenix, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor. LILLYWHITE, H. LAYNE

March 16, 1971. Tucson, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

May 1, 1971 and May 2, 1971. Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

March 3, 1972. Elfrida, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

March 11, 1972. Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

June 13, 1973. Elfrida, Arizona. By B. T. Burns. LILLYWHITE, H. LAYNE, and MANUEL TABANICO May 1, 1971 and May 2, 1971. Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

MCCLELLAN, WILLIAM R., DAVID A. McCLELLAN, ESTELLA MCCLELLAN BRADSHAW, and HORTENSE MCCLELLAN FULLER

July 2, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

NAEGLE, MARION BECK

March 24, 1973. Pomerene, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

RAY, MARION

June 9, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor. SHERMAN, GENEVA WESTERN

March 24, 1973. Pomerene, Arizona. By B. T. Burns and T. H. Naylor.

WEBB, HARRIET WILSON

June 11, 1973. Mesa, Arizona. By T. H. Naylor.

CREDITS AND STATUS OF RESEARCH

More than two years ago we began research at the abandoned Mormon colony of Colonia Morelos in Sonora, Mexico. That study has now expanded to include not only historic, but ecologic, economic and anthropologic aspects of two additional Mormon settlements in Sonora. Some literature is available to the person studying the Mormon colonization of Chihuahua, but practically nothing is in print concerning the colonies in Sonora. It is partly it response to that need that our research has been stimulated directly.

We are specifically concerned errs with only one of the Sonoran colonies, Colonia Morelos. This is an interim report and represents only a summary of what we have learned to date. It is far from complete. Our research is continuing and an exhaustive work covering all the Mormons in Sonora is underway. This report stresses primary data. and personal interviews and on-site reconnaissance. Our informants have been persons who participated in the Mormon colonization of Sonora and remember its particulars. Hours of interviews and conversations were held in Mexico and the United States with pioneer Mormons   We have gone to the colony and mapped it as it appears today and with the assistance of informants, how it looked prior to its abandonment by the Mormons. Detailed photographs and records have been made. With the help of architects plans and views of some of the buildings have been drawn.

Many sources of data remain untapped. Besides the memories of the survivors of the Sonoran colonization, untold information exists in the letters, diaries, books of remembrance, family histories and photographic collections of these individuals and their descendants. The need for immediate research is critical. Most of the original Mormon colonists are now dead. Few can be expected to aurvive another decade. A vast portion of the Mormon story in Sonora is unrecorded in any way. Only through the recollection of the people who created it can this history be retrieved. Time is increasingly a foe of the physical remains of the colonies themselves. Battered and burned in the Revolution, the Mormon structures have suffered at the hands of successive Mexican occupants. Houses have been used as barns, buildings have been demolished for their bricks, and even during the span of this study the first store in Colonia Morelos has been destroyed to make way for a new town. plaza.

We are grateful to a number of people who have asisted us in this effort. Foremost is Bernard L. Fontwia, Arizona State Museum, for his continued assistance and relentless encouragement and prodding, without which we could easily have given up long ago. Our informants are responsible for a wealth of new, unrecorded information which they cheerfully passed on to us. From these people ve received, in addition, genealogical and family history data, photographs, addresses, directions, advice, food and drink, and a feeling that a fascinating history was being saved. To the following goes a very special thanks: Mr, and Mrs. H. Layne Lillywhite of Elfrida, Arizona; Katie Naegle Huish, Joe Duthie, and Bill Loving of Douglas, Arizona; Mr. and Mrs. Alvah Fenn,, Marion B. Naegle and Geneva Western Sherman of Pomerene, Arizona, Calvin Bateman of St. David, Arizona; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Goldsmith, Eva Naegle Done, Arthur W. Elrey, and Franklin "Lant" Haymore of Tucson, Arizona; Annie Richardson Johnson; Don C. Lillywhite, Ida Lillywhite Allen, Eleanor Lillywhite Brown, Lee J. Huber, Beulah Haynie Huish, Marion Ray; Harriet Wilson Webb, Estella McClellan Bradshaw; Hortense McCellan Fuller, J. Frank Gibson, David A. McClellan, Jr., William R McCiellan, Milo E. Ray, and Velma Langford Roberts, of Mesa, Arizona; Esther Wilson Lewis of Phoenix, Arizona; Beryl Naegle Mortensen of Tempe, Arizona; Clarence H. Langford of San Miguel, Sonora, and Manuel Tabanico of Colonia Morelos, Sonora. Professor Robert C. Giebner, John Jarchow and Britt Ripley of the College of Architecture at the University of Arizona spent many hours in the colonies and at the Drawing hoard painstakingly measuring and drawing the major buildings for recording and preservation.

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For this service we are indebted to them. We sincerely appreciate the never-failing cheerfulness of Annette Shiffer while transcribing tapes recorded under less than ideal conditions. We are grateful for the editorial assistance of Charles W. Polzer, S.J., and to Miss Hallie Houck for proofreading. Finally, we thank Robert C. Buettner and other friends too numerous to mention who assisted in the field.

THE CONTRIBUTORS

Editor's Note: This paper won the award as the best article on Southwestern history written during the year by students in Arizona institutions of higher learning, It was presented as the program for the April, 1972 meeting of the Tucson Corral of the Westerners, Inc.

BARNEY T. BURNS was born in 1945 and resided in Carlsbad, New Mexico, until he entered the University of Arizona in 1963. He completed his B.A. in anthropology in 1967 and his M.A. in anthropology in 1970 at the U. of A. Since 1970 he had been working on his Ph.D. in anthropology. His dissertation involves an analysis of archaeological data, crop yields, tree rings, and climatic data, in an attempt to determine if the Mesa Verde area of Colorado was abandoned because of crop failures. Barney was a Teaching Assistant in Anthropology for three semesters and for the past three years has been a Graduate Associate in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the U. of A. He has worked for the School of American Research and the National Geographic Society and has done archaeological field work in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico.

A native of El Paso, THOMAS H. NAYLOR first became interested in the Mexico Mormons as a teenager visiting the colonies in Chihuahua. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in anthropology from the University of Arizona and is currently working towards a doctorate there in history and dendrochronology (tree dating). He has done archaeological field work in the Southwest, Kansas, Israel, and in Chihuahua, Sonora, and Oaxaca, Mexico. Recipient of a research fellowship in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, he has been involved in expanding tree-ring dating into Mexiro. Tom is presently working at the Tree-Ring Laboratory on a three-year National Science Foundation project to develop three-ring chronologies in northern Mexico by utilizing wood materials in colonial churches and historic buildings. (Also author of "Rage Against the Machine and the recent, very well-received, "Affluenza")

The authors are continuing research for a larger, complete work on the Mormon colonization of Sonora. Anyone having any knowledge or information concerning this topic is invited to contact them.

1973 OFFICERS OF TUCSON CORRAL

GORDON BALDWIN - - - - - - - - Sheriff
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CLAIR STROUP -   -   -    Keeper of Marks and Brands
JOHN MCCUTCHIN AND GEORGE HERRICK -   -   -  Wranglers
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EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor: Otis H. Chidester; Associates: Gordon Baldwin, Don Buféin, George B. Eckhart, Don Schellie, James E. Serven, and Henry "Pick" Walker. Price of this issue-$1.50. All other issues $1.00 per copy. Smoke Signals may he obtained by writing to the editor at 1937 E. Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, Arizona 85719.

Copyright 1973 by the Tucson Corral of the Westerners, Inc.

Copyright 2001 www.OrsonPrattBrown.org