The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 14
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
to reach Mexico-and, after their arrival, living conditions were
sometimes nearly intolerable. Added to this, the majority of Mor-
mons never ceased to long for the amenities of life and society in
the United States."' Still, most shared Winslow Farr's elation with
Mexico because of the "breath of liberty" it provided." In the words
of John R. Young who transported his three wives and their families
over the rough trails from Utah to Colonia Dublan: "the journey
to Mexico was long, tedious and expensive, but we were happy, for
we had escaped imprisonment.""
The nineteenth-century Mormon migration to Mexico constituted
one of the largest and most difficult undertakings in the entire range
of Mormon colonizing projects. The very distance involved compels
respect. The colonists measured the distance from Salt Lake City to
Colonia Juirez at 1,500 miles." Travellers commencing the trek from
localities north of Salt Lake City or intending for destinations south
of Colonia Juirez had even farther to go. Polygamists journeying
from Holbrook, Arizona, spent about a month on the road to Mex-
ico."8 Those who charted the trip from St. George, Utah, took from
forty-nine to sixty days." And those travelling by wagon from Salt
Lake City planned on anything from eight to twelve weeks before
reaching church-owned lands beyond the border." It was an undertak-
ing comparable to the great migration west made by Mormons some
forty years earlier. Those going to Mexico even displayed much of the
apocalyptic quality of vision which so characterized their forbearers.
Record is left of one six-wagon party of Oklahoma Mormons departing
for Mexico, singing "O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell"
and "Think Not When You Gather To Zion.""' The entire drama
"B. Carmon Hardy, "Cultural 'Encystment' as a Cause of the Mormon Exodus from
Mexico in 1912," Pacific Historical Review, XXXIV (November, 1965), 439-454-
"6"Diary of Winslow Farr," 74.
"John R. Young, Memoirs of John R. Young, Utah Pioneer, 1847 (Salt Lake City,
1920), 254.
"7Martineau, "The Mormon Colonies of Mexico," IV, 46.
"8"Biographical Sketches of John W. McClaws ...," 13.
""Journal of Anthony W. Ivins," November 27, December 3, 1896; and "The Journal
of Henry Eyring, 1835-1902" (typescript, BYU), 63.
70Martineau, "History of the Mormon Colonies in Mexico," XVIII, 2. There were, of
course, some exceptionally rapid transits made by some of the saints. A group travelling
from Payson, Utah (approximately 55 miles south of Salt Lake City), made the
journey in forty-nine days. Leah Haymore Kartchner, "John Adrum Haymore, A Biog-
raphy" (typescript, BYU), 3.
71This party, originating in Marshal, Oklahoma, was under the leadership of Elder
Edward M. McArthur. Deseret News Weekly, August 17, 1895. Movement of this group
seems to have grown out of a proposal that Catawba and Cherokee Indian converts to
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
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/m1/30/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.