Mormon Exodus From Mexico In 1912: Documentary

[smac97]

I just came across this news item discussing a new documentary about the 1912 Mormon Exodus from Mexico:

http://fox13now.com/...us-from-mexico/

Disclosure: My dad is interviewed in both the above news report and in the documentary itself.

The documentary was screened last night at a church building in Pleasant Grove, Utah. We were originally going to screen it at my sister's home, but my dad received so many requests for relatives and friends to attend that we moved it to the church building next door. We ended up with about 150 people attending, including an elderly woman (shown in the news clip) who is 106 years old and is apparently the last living person to have been in the Exodus.

My dad has taught a class at Education Week at BYU several times about the Mormon Colonies in Mexico. I tried to attend once but the room was packed and overflowing into the hallway. It turns out that there are a lot of Church members who have ties back to the Colonies.

Thanks,

-Smac

Edited July 30, 2012 by smac97

[ANACO]

People have returned. Colonia Juarez has a temple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_colonies_in_Mexico

[volgadon]

It turns out that there are a lot of Church members who have ties back to the Colonies.

Curiously enough, I do too.

[CASteinman]

Related story:

Excerpts from an article in the Church News section of the 11 November 1967 Deseret News

At 86, James Elbert Whetton still remembers the time he taught the Gospel to Pancho Villa, famous Mexican Revolutionary leader.

Two missionaries assigned to labor in the town of Namiquipa, located several miles from the Mormon colonies, needed supplies, so early in March, Elder Whetton and Stake Pres. Joseph T. Bentley headed out in buggies loaded with food.

Passing through a mountain area, the brethren were halted by armed men and taken to a guerrilla camp. Later, they were moved into a town which the guerrillas had captured and held prisoner through the night.

Pres. Bentley and Elder Whetton were invited to have breakfast with the man in the checked suit and a light complexioned gentleman. During the meal, the light complexioned man asked many questions about the Mormons. Elder Whetton answered since Pres. Bentley did not understand Spanish.

Finally, the light complexioned man identified himself as Felipe Angeles, a noted and highly trained military officer. He introduced the Mormons to the man in the checked suit Gen. Villa

I always admired the Mormon people, Villa said. They mind their own business.

General, for my part, I wish the whole republic would turn Mormon. When this revolution is settled, I am going to join this church if there is any opportunity for me to do it., Angeles declared.

Why havent any of your people explained these things to me before?, Villa asked. This is the first time I have known anything about your teachings. If I had known these things earlier, this would have been a different Pancho Villa. Is there any chance for a man like me to join the Mormon Church?

He encouraged the brethren to continue their journey to Namiquipa and gave them a hearty abrazo when they parted.

Not long afterward, Angeles was captured and shot by the opposing forces. Villa also met a violent death in 1923 at the hands of assassins.

Years passed. Pres. Bentley died and Elder Whetton became an old man. One night , Pancho Villa, whose real name was Doroteo Arango, appeared to him.

Do you know me, Villa asked.

Si,

You told me that if there was ever any time that you could do something for me, you would do it, the general said. You are the only one who can help me. I want you to do my temple work.

Elder Whetton wrote to the Church Offices in Salt Lake City for permission to do the work and received approval. After the genealogical sheets were prepared, Doroteo Arango was baptized by proxy on Feb 25, 1966, in the Arizona Temple. Whetton himself did the endowment work for the general a few days later. He also had the temple work done for Angeles.

I first learned of this from a copy of a few pages of a Whetton family journal given me by a member of the Whetton family in Mesa, AZ about 15 years ago. Recorded in that journal are a couple of things in addition to owhat is in teh article that might be of added interest:

Felipe Angeles had been trained at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY., and may have been serving U.S. interests as well as advising Pancho Villas forces.

When Brother Whetton told his wife of his dream of Villas appearance, she told him it was brought on by something he must have eaten the evening before.

Brother Whetton also travelled to Mexico to obtained permission from Pancho Villa's wife to have his temple work done.

[smac97]

Here's another interesting story from the Colonies:

My great-great-grandfather, Alexander F. Macdonald, was a patriarch in the Colonies at the end of his life. Prior to that, he led a life full of accomplishments, including the following:

1. A full-time mission in 1850 in eastern Scotland;

2. Emigrated from Scotland to Utah in 1854;

3. Moved to Springville, Utah, served in bishopric and became mayor;

3. Withstood arrest, prolonged confinement, and torture at the hands of the U.S. Military (and yet found time to teach the Restored Gospel to one of his captors);

4. Moved to Provo in the 1860s and managed the Church's tithing office;

5. Assigned by Brigham Young to supervise the completion of the Provo Tabernacle;

6. Sent by Brigham Young in the 1870s to manage the Church's tithing office in St. George;

7. Helped construct the St. George Temple and performed some of the first ordinances there after its dedication, including some of the first vicarious endowments in this dispensation;

8. Served in the Stake Presidency in St. George;

9. Served as mayor of St. George;

10. Worked as Brigham Young's business agent in St. George;

11. Served a second mission to Scotland with two of his sons in 1877;

12. Sent by John Taylor to assume leadership of the Salt River Mission in Arizona (present-day Mesa);

13. Helped build Mesa's infrastructure of roads and buildings;

14. Served as the first mayor of Mesa after it was incorporated as a city;

15. Assigned to help establish colonies in Mexico;

16. Served as first counselor to Elder George Teasdale, one of the Twelve, in the Mexican Mission;

17. Worked as general manager of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company;

18. Called as Patriarch of the Juarez Stake and president of the High Priests Quorum when that stake was organized in 1895 (its immediate organizational predecessor being the Mexican Mission);

19. Fathered 26 children with four wives (yep, he was a polygamist), 14 of which children grew to adulthood. His present posterity is estimated to be around 5,000 souls.

Despite all of these accomplishments, not much is known about A.F. Macdonald. He died in 1903 in the Colonies in Mexico and was buried there. One of his widows was living in a remote colony, Colonia Garcia (about 35 miles away from Colonia Juarez, up in the mountains) in 1912 when the Mexican Revolution spurred the "Mormon Exodus" referenced in the news items in the OP. Due to the emergent circumstances, this woman only had a few days to prepare to leave Mexico.

However, she was apparently concerned about the safekeeping of her husband's effects, consisting of his journals, church records, partriarchal blessings, correspondence church leaders, etc. Since the emergency required the church members to travel light, she could not carry all of these things with her down from the mountains and onto the train out of Mexico. So she gathered together her late husband's effects and ... buried them.

Alexander F. Macdonald was an eyewitness to many of the formative events of the Church in Utah, Arizona and Mexico. He had regular interaction with Brigham Young and other prominent early leaders of the Church. And he apparently kept detailed records of all of these events in terms of personal journals, maintaining church records and correspondence, etc.

Today, almost exactly 100 years later, these journals and records remain buried in the mountains of Mexico.

My father is getting on in years. He is currently writing a biography of A.F. Macdonald. I think it would be a great thing for him if we were able to locate this buried treasure and have my dad include the contents in the biography.

Thanks,

-Smac

Edited July 30, 2012 by smac97

[CASteinman]

However, she was apparently concerned about the safekeeping of her husband's effects, consisting of his journals, church records, partriarchal blessings, correspondence church leaders, etc. Since the emergency required the church members to travel light, she could not carry all of these things with her down from the mountains and onto the train out of Mexico. So she gathered together her late husband's effects and ... buried them.

Alexander F. Macdonald was an eyewitness to many of the formative events of the Church in Utah, Arizona and Mexico. He had regular interaction with Brigham Young and other prominent early leaders of the Church. And he apparently kept detailed records of all of these events in terms of personal journals, maintaining church records and correspondence, etc.

Today, almost exactly 100 years later, these journals and records remain buried in the mountains of Mexico.

My father is getting on in years. He is currently writing a biography of A.F. Macdonald. I think it would be a great thing for him if we were able to locate this buried treasure and have my dad include the contents in the biography.

Thanks,

-Smac

Any clue at all where they are? I feel like this is important.

[smac97]

Any clue at all where they are? I feel like this is important.

Sort of. We have a description of sorts left by the woman who buried the records. However, the description runs something like "___ number of paces southeast from the southeast corner of our home." My dad has a post-Exodus map of Colonia Garcia, but not a pre-Exodus map. There is some question about where the pre-Exodus roads and residences were located, and whether they correspond to the current roads/residences.

In a 1938 book, The Mormon Colonies in Mexico by Thomas Cottam Romney, the author quotes the following report about the colonies made in 1914 by Joseph Bentley: "In Colonia Garcia, soon after the colonists left their homes [as part of the 1912 Exodus], native people and soldiers came into the colony and carried off and destroyed a great deal of property, and did much damage to the homes of the colony."

So it looks like the widow's concern about leaving her late husband's effects behind proved to be well-founded. Unfortunately, the subsequent damage to the colony, together with the later abandonment of the colony by the Mormon colonists, makes the task of locating the actual location of the records difficult.

Moreover, even if we knew the precise location, the laws of Mexico regarding "antiquities" are, I understand, quite strict, and would apply to the buried records. So knowing where they are is not enough. We would also need a way to get them out of the ground legally.

Nevertheless, I think it is an important endeavor to consider. The history of the LDS Church has been gone over with a fine-toothed comb. The prospect of locating and reviewing documents which have not seen the light of day and which probably have never been reviewed by anyone other than the original custodian and author ... well, it makes this Mormon's heart pound a bit more quickly.

Thanks,

-Smac

[Bob Crockett]

My grandmother took me to a site in El Paso in 1973 where the refugees were housed for a year or so during the exodus. It was close to UTEP's campus. The site appeared to be chicken coops.

A celebration of the 100th anniversary of the exodus was just had in El Paso two days ago; a cousin of mine organized it.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Bob Crockett

[sethpayne]

I just came across this news item discussing a new documentary about the 1912 Mormon Exodus from Mexico:

http://fox13now.com/...us-from-mexico/

Disclosure: My dad is interviewed in both the above news report and in the documentary itself.

The documentary was screened last night at a church building in Pleasant Grove, Utah. We were originally going to screen it at my sister's home, but my dad received so many requests for relatives and friends to attend that we moved it to the church building next door. We ended up with about 150 people attending, including an elderly woman (shown in the news clip) who is 106 years old and is apparently the last living person to have been in the Exodus.

My dad has taught a class at Education Week at BYU several times about the Mormon Colonies in Mexico. I tried to attend once but the room was packed and overflowing into the hallway. It turns out that there are a lot of Church members who have ties back to the Colonies.

Thanks,

-Smac

Holy cow smac, we are cousins! Well, 2nd. My mom is your Dad's cousin. Daughter of Jessie Taylor & Gaskell Romney.

I was at the event Saturday in PG. Your dad did an excellent job. The best part of the evening was the 106 year old living survivor of the exodus. Amazing.

Edited July 30, 2012 by sethpayne

[smac97]

My grandmother took me to a site in El Paso in 1973 where the refugees were housed for a year or so during the exodus. It was close to UTEP's campus. The site appeared to be chicken coops.

A celebration of the 100th anniversary of the exodus was just had in El Paso two days ago; a cousin of mine organized it.

My parents just returned a few weeks ago from servicing a mission down there. Actually, they were in a town outside of El Paso called Fabens. My dad was born there, and his parents - who met each other while attending school at the Academia Juarez in Colonia Juarez - were the children of participants in the Exodus.

My Dad and brother and I visited the Colonies in 2006. It was a great trip. We even went up to visit the Colonia Garcia site. It's just a tiny collection of adobe homes how - about 20 Mexican families. You'd never know it had previously been a Mormon colony.

Thanks,

-Smac

[smac97]

Holy cow smac, we are cousins! Well, 2nd. My mom is your Dad's cousin. Daughter of Jessie Taylor & Gaskell Romney.

I was at the event Saturday in PG. Your dad did an excellent job. The best part of the evening was the 106 year old living survivor of the exodus. Amazing.

Cool! I think the Paynes were friends with my Dad's maternal family (the Taylors). Wasn't there a business partnership between a George Payne and Jess Taylor in El Paso back in the day?

I was at the event, too, though I spent most of the time getting the food ready. Did you enjoy the chile n' cheese sandwiches? My mom and I made 'em.

And yes, that 106-year-old lady was a treat. Just think about the changes in the world she has witnessed!

-Smac

Edited July 30, 2012 by smac97

[sethpayne]

Cool! I think the Paynes were friends with my Dad's maternal family (the Taylors). Wasn't there a business partnership between a George Payne and Jess Taylor in El Paso back in the day?

I was at the event, too, though I spent most of the time getting the food ready. Did you enjoy the chile n' cheese sandwiches? My mom and I made 'em.

And yes, that 106-year-old lady was a treat. Just think about the changes in the world she has witnessed!

-Smac

That business partnership sounds about right. Both the Payne and Romney side of my family have deep ties to El Paso and New Mexico.

The C&C sandwiches were excellent ... brought me back to my childhood when my Grandma made them pretty much every week.

To all other board members: WATCH THIS DVD. It is a wonderful story to see that Mormons were actually treated with compassion and kindness by the people of El Paso. You can really tell the current mayor of El Paso has a sense of pride for what the people did for the incoming Mormons 100 yrs ago.

[smac97]

That business partnership sounds about right. Both the Payne and Romney side of my family have deep ties to El Paso and New Mexico.

The C&C sandwiches were excellent ... brought me back to my childhood when my Grandma made them pretty much every week.

To all other board members: WATCH THIS DVD. It is a wonderful story to see that Mormons were actually treated with compassion and kindness by the people of El Paso. You can really tell the current mayor of El Paso has a sense of pride for what the people did for the incoming Mormons 100 yrs ago.

I also liked the interview of the commanding general of Ft. Bliss, General Pittard. The U.S. Army also played an important role in assisting the evacuees.

-Smac

Edited July 30, 2012 by smac97

[CASteinman]

reover, even if we knew the precise location, the laws of Mexico regarding "antiquities" are, I understand, quite strict, and would apply to the buried records. So knowing where they are is not enough. We would also need a way to get them out of the ground legally.

I would not worry about that. I would go, find them and photograph every single item. Then worry about taking the objects back after reporting them appropriately. I would not hesitate to lie about taking pictures if I needed to and would ship them by email out of the country and not have them on my person.

Edited July 30, 2012 by CASteinman

[smac97]

I would not worry about that. I would go, find them and photograph every single item. Then worry about taking the objects back after reporting them appropriately. I would not hesitate to lie about taking pictures if I needed to and would ship them by email out of the country and not have them on my person.

Several problems here:

The act of excavating and extracting the records from underground could itself be illegal. Transporting the records across the border might be a crime secondary to the first crime of digging them up without permission from the Mexican government.

Further, if these records are worth obtaining, I think they could be obtained without resorting to lying. I'm not sure why that's even in the discussion.

It may very well be that the Mexican government would not care a whit about this. That is my hope.

-Smac

[CASteinman]

The act of excavating and extracting the records from underground could itself be illegal. Transporting the records across the border might be a crime secondary to the first crime of digging them up without permission from the Mexican government.

Further, if these records are worth obtaining, I think they could be obtained without resorting to lying. I'm not sure why that's even in the discussion.

It may very well be that the Mexican government would not care a whit about this. That is my hope.

-Smac

I would not trust them in this. And I did not say anything about transporting the records across borders or obtaining them by lying. I said I would lie about photographing them -- if I had to. I would also contact the government through a third or fourth party.

I do not trust them.

Edited July 30, 2012 by CASteinman

[ERMD]

In our little town outside of San Antonio, there are no fewer than 4 families who either came directly from the colonies or are one generation removed.