The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 4
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
reaching their respective homes, representatives from the St. David
conference were meeting wagon parties which, having heard the
news, were already on their way to Mexico. Within two months,
between 350 and 400 Arizona Mormons had raced to the boundary
line south of Deming, New Mexico, in search of new lives outside
the United States."'
Once the signal was given, those polygamists who determined to
move to Mexico had then to decide upon a method of transportation.
Those living in Arizona and New Mexico had little choice but to
employ a team and wagon. But for Mormons in Utah and points
further north, a second alternative existed. They could go most
of the way by rail. For the relatively few who took this option, con-
nections were available on the Denver, Rio Grande Western Rail-
way at Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Provo. From these cities, colonists
first travelled to Denver, then south to Deming, New Mexico. From
this point on, travel was by wagon. Although the difficulty of customs
had yet to be faced, as well as a sometimes trying length of Mexican
countryside before the first Mormon colonies were reached, travel
by train was by far the fastest and most comfortable way to make
the journey. The fare was quite reasonable. A freight car capable
of carrying horses, wagons, and machinery, from Salt Lake City to
Deming, cost about $00oo. Beyond that, a separate coach which
would accommodate a family of fifteen or twenty people could be
rented for $35. And the entire trip to the United States-Mexican
border occupied only three days. For the majority, however, travel
by rail required more money than they could afford. Too many
were already in a nearly impoverished condition."5 Team and wagon,
with all its liabilities in labor and time, proved the most common
usage by those who made the long trek south.
Preparations for a move to the Mexican colonies varied with cir-
cumstance but all those who travelled by wagon were counselled
to spend considerable time preparing food and clothing against the
harsh demands of the journey. Days of baking, drying fruit, and
"Ibid. Also see Andrew Jenson's "Juarez Stake" and "Juarez Stake Wards" (unpagin-
ated typescripts, Church Historian's Office, Salt Lake City, Utah); and Hatch, Colonia
Juarez, 1-2.
1"Sometimes the men found it possible to send at least part of their families by rail
while taking the rest south by wagon. Thomas Cottam Romney, Life Story of Miles P.
Romney (Independence, Mo., 1948), 186-188. For more commentary on cost and related
details of the passage by rail, see "Diary of Winslow Farr, 1856-1899" (typescript, BYU),
74; and Lycurgus A. Wilson, "Interesting Letter from Mexico," Deseret News Weekly,
August 8, 1891, pp. 211-212.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/20/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.