Junius Romney was born in St. George, Washington County, Utah on the 12th of March, 1878. He is the son of Miles P. Romney by a third wife, Catherine Jane Cottam Romney. He is the second son of his mother and the third child of a family of ten.

Young Romney had succeeded to the presidency of the Juarez Stake in 1908 when Anthony W. Ivins, who had presided over the Colonies for thirteen years had been advanced to the Apostleship. At the time of his appointment to this position Romney had not yet reached his thirtieth year but he was far beyond his years in the rich experiences which had come to him in the various responsibilities under which he had labored. By nature he was fundamentally spiritual and this natural bent was reinforced by a splendid training in the doctrines of his church. His training in the business world was thorough and his knowledge of men was unusual. Added to these qualifications was a fluent speaking and writing knowledge of the Spanish tongue, intensely important in a land where Spanish is the dominant language.

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"When Villa was hiding from Carranza, whom the Americans backed, he traveled over the Sierra Madres, taking with him several Mormon men as aides. Villa did not harm the Mormons and allowed them to return home.

As they pursued Villa, the American forces set up base in Colonia Dublán. Historian Raymond J. Reed notes, "The Mormons, having already proven themselves capable of getting along with and commanding respect of the Mexican army under Villa, now undertook the task of playing host to the American army." The Army even recruited a few Mormon soldiers as scouts.

But soon, the colonists found their efforts to remain neutral increasingly difficult. President Taft ordered all Americans living in Mexico to leave. Junius Romney, President of the Juárez Stake of the Mormon Church, followed suit in July 1912, directing the nearly 5,000 Saints to return to the United States.

The colonies were evacuated, with only two, Colonias Juárez and Dublán, surviving to be reestablished in 1916. These two colonias, about 18 miles apart, still exist. Both remain beautiful. Colonia Juárez stands by itself, while Dublán has merged with Nuevas Casas Grandes."

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"Once back in the U.S., the colonists did not find life easy. It is painful for men who have owned their own farms and businesses to work as hired hands. Three weeks after the male refugees had arrived in New Mexico on their way to E1 Paso, a band of 35-including both sexes and all ages-decided to return to Colonia Juarez. Others drifted after them, and by 1917 the Mormon colonias were again populated. There were still requisitioning raids, but the Mormons found they could live with them. Not a single case of rape was ever recorded, by the way.

Then, in 1916, came Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, N. Mex., in which 20 Americans were killed. Brig. Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing was ordered to enter Mexico and get Villa dead or alive. But Villa was too elusive to be caught. Pershing, because he paid in good American dollars for supplies, found the Saints so receptive to his troops that when the U.S. finally gave up and called him back across the Border, the Mormons might well have predicted Mexican reprisal. This did occur when General Salazar rode into Colonia Juarez and told the Saints that all their able-bodied men would either join his Mexican army or be shot. He added that they would not only have to fight against the Mexican Federalistas, but also against the U.S. troops in reprisal for Pershing's interference in Mexican can matters.

Bishop Bentley, who had succeeded Junius Romney as stake president, thought over General Salazar's demands and then he made a short speech. Mormons, he said, were peaceful men, who devoted their lives to working and to educating their children. They did not wage war. If Salazar wanted to shoot them for that, let him do so. Bentley was a small man, and quite possibly his spunk tickled Salazar's Mexican sense of humor. At any rate, the last great threat against the colonistas had been avoided.

There were further minor troubles-the windup of the revolution, the depression in the U.S., which deprived the Mexican Mormon polygamists of their markets, and so on-but the colonias have persisted. Today both Mormon boys and girls are usually sent back to the States for college. Brigham Young University and the University of Utah are, of course, favored. But now some of the youngsters complete their education in other States, or even in Mexico City. All are bilingual.

Several of the descendants of the hegira to Mexico have made international names for themselves in the arts and sciences. One, George Romney, [Helaman Pratt and Miles Park Romney's grandson] was governor of Michigan, and he was considered as a possible Republican candidate for President, despite the fact that he was born in Mexico." Now his son, Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts, is being considered a possible candidate for the 2006 Presidency.

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