The Mormon colonies in Mexico are settlements located near the
Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to:
Places and mountains Mexico
*Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona
*Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico
*S ...
mountains in northern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
which were established by members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) beginning in 1885. The colonists came to Mexico due to federal attempts to curb and prosecute
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
in the United States.
Plural marriage
Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...
, as polygamous relationships were called by church members, was an important tenet of the church—although it was never practiced by a majority of the membership.
The towns making up the colonies were situated in the Mexican states of
Chihuahua and
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...
, and were all within roughly 200 miles (322 km) south of the US border. By the early 20th century, many of these settlements were relatively prosperous. However, in the summer of 1912, the colonies were evacuated en masse because of
anti-American sentiment
Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general.
Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Cen ...
during the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
. Most of the colonists left for the United States and never returned, although a small group of Latter-day Saints eventually found their way back to homes and farms in the colonies. Because new plural marriages in Mexico had been prohibited by the church following the
Second Manifesto
The "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of ...
of 1904, generally, those who returned to the original colonies did not enter into new plural marriages and remained members of the LDS Church.
Many of their descendants live in
Colonia Juárez and
Colonia Dublán
Colonia Dublán began as a Mormon colony, located in the state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a part of Nuevo Casas Grandes Municipality. It is one of two surviving Mormon colonies in Mexico (the other being Colonia Juárez, C ...
, the only two settlements of the original colonies that remain active. In 1999, the church constructed the
Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple to serve members still living in the area.
After the Second Manifesto was issued, the LDS Church began to
excommunicate
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
members who entered into new polygamist marriages.
This resulted in excommunicated members forming their own churches, and these off-shoot groups (known as
fundamentalist Mormons) are not affiliated with the LDS Church. Some of these fundamentalist groups later established new colonies and settlements in areas near the original Latter-day Saint Mexican and Canadian colonies. One fundamentalist group, the
LeBaron family
The Church of the Firstborn (or the "LeBarón family") is a grouping of competing factions of a Mormon fundamentalist religious lineage inherited, adherents believe, by a polygamous family community that had settled in Chihuahua, Mexico, by Al ...
, had established Colonia Le Barón in the state of Chihuahua by the 1920s. Many descendants of these fundamentalist Mormons continue to live in the newer settlements, although not all continue to practice polygamy.
Latter-day Saint colonies
Early colonization
As early as 1874,
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
LDS Church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
, called for a mission to Mexico. In 1875, settlers set out with the dual purpose of proselytizing and finding prospective locations for Latter-day Saint settlements. The missionaries returned with positive reports the next year and another group was sent in October 1876. In 1877, Young discussed the idea of colonizing parts of northern Mexico, but it was considered unwise due to the considerable danger from
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
raiders in the area. Young died later that year and leadership of the church fell to
John Taylor as
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
President of the Quorum of the Twelve (also President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President of the Council of Twelve Apostles, and President of the Twelve) is a leadership position that exists in some of the churches of the Latter Day Sai ...
. John Taylor was ordained as
Prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
in 1880.
Taylor continued Young's policy of
missionary work
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
in Mexico, and through the early 1880s colonization was considered on several occasions without effort to begin the process. However, in 1882 the
Edmunds Act
The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882,U.S.History.com is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882 by President Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony in federal territories. The act ...
was passed by the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
. This was part of the by-then 20-year struggle by the U.S. government to curb the LDS practice of
plural marriage
Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...
in
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...
and other locations in the American West. Among other things, the law felonized the practice of
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
and disenfranchised polygamists. As a result, over a thousand Latter-day Saint men and women were eventually fined and jailed. Some were sent as far away as Michigan to fulfill their terms.
In 1885
President John Taylor purchased 100,000 acres of land in Mexico. This act allowed over 350 Latter-day Saint families who practiced polygamy from Utah and Arizona to settle land in Mexico. This was a very strenuous task, but it allowed the men the opportunity to keep their multiple wives without being fined and jailed. These people started their own farming colonies and established their settlements in
Chihuahua and
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...
, where they focused their labors on sheep, cattle, wheat, row crops, and fruit orchards.
End of new plural marriages
In September 1890, the president of the LDS Church issued the
Manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
which advised ending new plural marriages in the United States, although the practice was permitted to be continued in the colonies of Mexico and Canada.
In 1904 the church issued the
Second Manifesto
The "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of ...
, after which entering into new plural marriages was prohibited among the church membership worldwide. Neither the 1890 Manifesto or 1904 Second Manifesto ended existing plural marriages, and many of these families continued to cohabitate (with the blessing of the church) until their deaths in the 1940s and 1950s.
Evacuation and return
The anti-foreign sentiment of the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
in 1910 made life there for the Latter-day Saint colonists difficult, with many threats to their lives and property; the colonists returned to the United States. When it was decided it was safe, less than one-quarter of the previous population re-settled to Mexico; most of the refugees returned to their Utah and Arizona colonies of origin. The Mexican Latter-day Saints' colonies did not return to their previous success due to the poor living conditions and farming land. Only two colonies remain:
Colonia Dublán
Colonia Dublán began as a Mormon colony, located in the state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a part of Nuevo Casas Grandes Municipality. It is one of two surviving Mormon colonies in Mexico (the other being Colonia Juárez, C ...
and
Colonia Juárez.
List of Latter-day Saint colonies
Plateau colonies
*
Colonia Díaz
*
Colonia Juárez
*
Colonia Dublán
Colonia Dublán began as a Mormon colony, located in the state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a part of Nuevo Casas Grandes Municipality. It is one of two surviving Mormon colonies in Mexico (the other being Colonia Juárez, C ...
Mountain colonies
* Colonia Pacheco
* Cave Valley
* Colonia Chuichupa
* Colonia García (Round Valley)
Sonora colonies
* Colonia Oaxaca
* Colonia Morelos
* Colonia San José
Prominent citizens
Members of the
have roots in these colonies, including both
Marion G. Romney and
George W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gover ...
having been born there.
Latter-day Saint colonies in other areas of Mexico
Many Latter-day Saint settlements in the United States are in areas that at one time belonged to Mexico, but nearly all of these were already part of the United States at the time of settlement. The exception is
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
itself, which
was settled in the summer of 1847 in what was at the time legally a remote part of the
Mexican territory of
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
. However, the ongoing territorial disputes incident to the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
brought the area officially under US control in 1848 as part of the
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession ( es, Cesión mexicana) is the region in the modern-day southwestern United States that Mexico originally controlled, then ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 after the Mexican–American War ...
.
Fundamentalist Mormon colonies
After the
Second Manifesto
The "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of ...
was issued, the LDS Church began to
excommunicate
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
members who entered into new polygamist marriages.
This resulted in excommunicated members forming their own churches, and these off-shoot groups (known as
fundamentalist Mormons) are not affiliated with the LDS Church. Some of these fundamentalist groups later established new colonies and settlements in areas near the original Latter-day Saint Mexican and Canadian colonies. One fundamentalist group, the
LeBaron family
The Church of the Firstborn (or the "LeBarón family") is a grouping of competing factions of a Mormon fundamentalist religious lineage inherited, adherents believe, by a polygamous family community that had settled in Chihuahua, Mexico, by Al ...
, had established Colonia Le Barón in the state of Chihuahua by the 1920s. Many descendants of these fundamentalist Mormons continue to live in the newer settlements, although not all continue to practice polygamy.
List of fundamentalist Mormon colonies
*
Colonia Le Barón
* Colonia Industrial de la Nueva Jerusalén, Ozumba México
* La Mora. Bavispe, Sonora
* Chulavista, Quintana Roo
Book
''Mormon Colonies in Mexico'' is also the title of a 1938 book by Thomas Cottam Romney. The book details the story of Mormons who sought refuge in Mexico after fleeing from US authorities for
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
. The book is published by the
University of Utah Press
The University of Utah Press is the independent publishing branch of the University of Utah and is a division of the J. Willard Marriott Library. Founded in 1949 by A. Ray Olpin, it is also the oldest university press in Utah. The mission of th ...
.
[ (Reprinted in 2005, )]
publisher's page on the book
/ref>
See also
* The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has had a presence in Mexico since 1874. As of 2020, the country of Mexico has the largest body of LDS Church members outside of the United States, with the church reporting 1,481,530 mem ...
* Margarito Bautista
* Mennonites in Mexico
According to the 2012 estimates, there were 100,000 Mennonites living in Mexico (including 32,167 baptized adult church members), the vast majority of them, or about 90,000 are established in the state of Chihuahua, 6,500 were living in Durango, ...
* Mormon Corridor
* State of Deseret
The State of Deseret (modern pronunciation , contemporaneously ) was a proposed state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Salt Lake City. The provisional state ...
* Latter-day Saint settlements in Canada
* Third Convention
References
Further reading
*.
*
*
*
External links
Mormon Colonies in Mexico Wiki
Mormon Colonies in Northern Chihuahua, Mexico
{{LDS-North-America, state=collapsed
American diaspora in Mexico
Mexican Colonies
Mormonism and polygamy
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico
Immigration to Mexico