Pioneers to the North
Elder Bradley
Lunt Hill
Written
originally in Spanish for the Mexico Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, and published on July 1, 2015 on the Mexico Area Web Page in observance
of Pioneer Day. The following is a translation prepared by the author on July
20, 2015 for the benefit of relatives and other interested readers. Some adjustments
were made in the translated text for the sake of clarity.
See original
article, with photographs: http://sud.org.mx/bc/content/Mexico/PDF/Hx%20Mx/PionerosAlNorte.pdf
See also Page 8
of the July 2015 Liahona, Mexico Area Pages: http://sud.org.mx/bc/content/Mexico/PDF/Julio2015v01web.pdf
Photos are of Gertrudis Guarneros Barrera Haws, with her children, Lizzie and Alma, and of Major William Wallace Haws
Critique, Comment & Correction are welcome!
Critique, Comment & Correction are welcome!
It
was the afternoon of May 2, 1887 when 44 members of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints boarded a train on the Mexican Central Railway and began
their trip of approximately 900 miles toward San Jose Station in the state of
Chihuahua. Traveling among them was Elder Erastus Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles, as well as Helaman Pratt, recently released a president of the Mexican
Mission. The others were adults and minors from Mexico City and the states of
Mexico and Morelos. At this time there is no complete passenger list, but it is
known that one was Simon Zuniga, a counselor in the presidency of the
Coahuixtla Branch, and one of the few elders among the native saints with Church
leadership experience.
The
mission of this select group of Mexican pioneers was to collaborate with members
from the United States in the colonization of Galeana, an arid but fertile
border region that was sparsely populated and underdeveloped owing to the conflicts
between the Apaches and the Mexican populace.1 The Mexican
government at the time supported northern colonizing efforts and had even paid
the train fare for the 42 native Mexicans. For the same reason, the government
had granted colonizing permissions to the foreign (US) Mormons under favorable
terms, in order to domesticate northeastern Chihuahua.2
The
Mormon colonists from the United States were fleeing from the persecution that
the Church was experiencing in those days, and they had previous experience in colonizing
isolated and inhospitable territory, such as the American Great Basin. Some of
them, like William Wallace Haws and his daughters, represented the second and
third generations of Church members. His father had been one of the founders of
Provo at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. William Wallace himself had been a
pioneer from the age of thirteen, first in the flight from Illinois in 1847,
and later in the colonization of Arizona in 1879.3 At the age of 52,
William Wallace found himself a pioneer for the third time: this time in the
border colonies of Mexico, which were for him unknown and unsettled.
Colonia
Juarez was the second Mormon colony in Mexico, founded in the early part of
1886. Colonia Diaz, to the north, had been established previously, and the
colonies of Pacheco and Cave Valley were in the early stages when the Mexican
pioneers arrived. Even though the founders of Colonia Juarez had been together
as a company for over a year, they were barely into their fifth month at their
current location. Owing to a surveying error, they had previously built and
developed a successful community on the banks of the Piedras Verdes River, but
on someone else’s land. They had been obligated to abandon the fruits of their
labors and move downstream, a few miles to the north. Because of this
inconvenience, the relocated saints were living in improvised shelters under
poor conditions.4
For
their part, the Mexican saints had not left their homes under duress. They had
left by choice, leaving their homes in the care of family members and following
the invitation of their leaders to assist in the colonization. They sought the opportunity
to share with their northern brethren and sisters, and participate in the Gospel
culture that had evolved during the 57 years since the establishment of the
Church in New York in 1830.
In
contrast, the Church in central Mexico began in 1879. The travelers with most
experience in the Church would potentially have had a mere eight years as
members. The leaders of the Church and particularly of the Mexican Mission held
the hope that this integrating experience would strengthen the new members’ faith
and understanding of life within the Church. They were going to a supposed Zion.
When
they arrived as San Jose Station, near what is today Villa Ahumada, the English-speaking
colonists picked them up and transported them in wagons for the last 150 miles
to Colonia Juarez. Major William Wallace Haws was one of those who transported
the group.5
The
newly arrived brothers and sisters were well received by the northerners,
especially by the former missionaries they had known during their time of
service over the past eight years.6 They were assigned land for
farming, even though not all were farmers, and they were instructed in
agricultural methods very different from those with which they were familiar in
their southern lands. Several of them preferred to work for better-established families
in the different colonies. For example, Simon Zuniga worked in a tannery.7
Some
of the 42 Mexican pioneers adapted well to the new life, but the majority began
to feel that their future did not lie in Galeana, but rather in the communities
of their birth and the branches where they had been baptized; thus, they
decided to go home. They formed traveling companies and, only weeks after
arriving, began their return to the south. Some were openly displeased with the
conditions they had discovered in the colonies.8 It should be made
clear, however, that the decision to not continue as colonists did not necessarily
mean a decision to distance themselves from the restored Church, as they
demonstrated by their subsequent service.
Without
a doubt, the trek home by foot and wagon was much more arduous than the train
ride that had brought them in the first place, and progress was slow. There was
suffering along the homeward journey, similar to that of the pioneers who forty
years earlier had crossed the plains of what today is the United States of
America. Of those who abandoned the colonizing expedition, the first to arrive
in central Mexico did so before August of the same year, 1887. Others, like the
Zuniga group, were on the trail for nearly a year.9
The
return of the colonists caused a stir for the branches in Mexico and Morelos.
On one hand, the complaints of the colonists who felt let down, and the accompanying
rumors that they engendered, contributed to the discord that already existed
among the members.10 On the other hand, the branches of the Mexican
Mission were now recuperating some of their strongest members during difficult
times. Brother Zuniga. For example, returned to serve in the Coahuixtla Branch,
and thus helped maintain his family and the branch members in the faith during
the imminent absence of US missionaries.11 In June of 1889 the
Church withdrew the mission from central Mexico because of political problems
the Church was having with the United States government. In 1902, a year after
the reopening of the Mexican Mission, Zuniga was called as president of the
Cuautla Branch.12
Not
all of the southern contingency decided to renounce the project in Chihuahua.
About 25% of the Mexicans who arrived in the colonies stayed there for at least
a while longer. This group consisted of three families, all with the surname
Paez. They retained the original vision of living among their brothers in the
faith and sharing the blessings derived therefrom. The oldest within this group
was Gertrudis Guarneros Barrera, widow of Buenaventura Paez, 31 years of age,
from Iztacalco, Mexico City. She had traveled with her children and some of the
children of Petra Bolanos, the deceased first wife of Buenaventura. Among her
stepchildren there were at least a son and a daughter old enough to work and
help with the care of the minor children.
In
1888, there was an event in the life of Gertrudis that strongly united her with
the colonial community. Not much is known about their courtship, but that year she
married William Wallace Haws, who provided a home for her in the new Colonia Pacheco.13
Gertrudis lived in Colonia Pacheco and Colonia Juarez, even after the death of
her husband, until just before the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), when she
finally returned to her branch near the canals of Iztacalco. She continued
faithful to her testimony and faithful in her service to the Church.14
Gertrudis
and William had three children, but only one, Elizabeth, “Lizzie”, reached
adulthood and was married. Lizzie and her husband, Jose Quezado, spent their
married life in the colonies.15 One of the sons of Gertrudis and
Buenaventura, Miguel Paez Guarneros, reached adulthood and emigrated to the
United States.16
Simon
Paez of Atlautla was Gertrudis’s brother in law, Buenaventura’s younger
brother. With his wife, Juana Bautista and their daughter, Juanita, he spent
around five years in the colonies before returning to Atlautla, where he would
later serve as branch president.17 In 1905, the family returned to
the colonies for a while, later emigrating to the United States.18
Jose
Paez was a young man of about 15 years when he bid farewell to his mother in
Atlautla to join the body of pioneers.19 It is not known who his traveling
companions were in the group, but a romance developed and he married Simona
Paez Bolanos during his time as a colonist. Simona was a stepdaughter of Gertrudis.
The first child from the marriage died in infancy, but not before receiving a
name from her parents: Colonia.20 Jose worked briefly for Helaman
Pratt in 1888.21 The young couple stayed in the colonies long enough
for Simona to learn English before returning to central Mexico.22
Jose
and Simona finally returned to settle in Iztacalco, where she became very well
known for her activity in the Church and for her support to the missionaries. During
the Revolution she visited San Marcos with some local missionaries, to share
her faith and give encouragement to that congregation. She spoke with them of her time in the
colonies of Chihuahua and bore testimony of her good impression of the “American
Mormons”.23
For
the majority of the Mexican participants, the excursion to the colonies was a
comparatively brief episode, though significant in their spiritual development.
Some were strengthened; others apparently remained frustrated. For lack of
documentation, many of the details of the expedition and its participants are
unknown; nonetheless, with the efforts of historians and the cooperation of the
descendants of these saints, more details will come to light in the future,
giving us a better understanding of the earthly and spiritual consequences of
the journey. The Hand of God in this experiment of the northward pioneers will
be revealed more clearly; in the meantime, they all merit honor and praise for
what they attempted to do. The pioneers chose to participate in the experiment;
even though at midstream each family had to choose whether to carry on or to return
home, some were blessed for their decisions, regardless.
Many
of the Paez and Zuniga descendants and their extended families continue active
in the Church and consider it a blessing to belong to the posterity of the
northward pioneers. The Church no longer calls members to a geographic Zion,
given that Zion is comprised of the pure in heart, wherever they are, whether
it be the Sierra Madre Range, the slopes of Popocatepetl Volcano, the Mayan
jungle, or some urban area.24 All the members of the Church today may
sing with one voice:
“For
the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our
God, our Fathers’ God”.25
NOTES
1.
Jane – Dale
Lloyd, El Progreso de Modernización Capitalista en el Noroeste de Chihuahua
(1880-1910), (México D.F.; Universidad Iberoamericana, 1987), 45, 65 y Thomas
Cottam Romney, The Mormon Colonies in Mexico (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book,
1938), 60.
2.
Horace H. Cummings, president of the Mexicana Mission, cited
in Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake City, 13 May, 1887. Journal History of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church Archives.
3.
Chloe Haws Lunt, A Sketch of the Life of William Wallace Haws
(Duncan, Arizona, No date. Published informally for her family. A copy is in
the possession of the author. Also available on many Interned sites.) 2, 4-5,
9-11. William
Wallace Haws was military veteran, having served in the militia of Utah when
the army of the United States threatened to the saints in Utah, 1857-58. His
younger brother, George Washington Haws, participated in this campaign and also
in the so-called "Blackhawk War" of 1865-1872 against the Ute Indians.
See George Washington Haws History by Effie Mae Haws Garn and Laura Hardy
Palmer, cited in William Wallace Haws: weaving lives together, by Chloe Haws
Lunt, Wilbur Lunt and Marian Lunt, (Mesa, Cox Printing, 2006. Digitized
by the Genealogical Society of Utah), 14.
4.
Nellie Spilsbury Hatch, Colonia Juárez: an intimate account
of A Mormon Village (United States, copyright Madelyn Hatch Knudsen, 1954, revised
2012 ), 17.
5.
Chloe Haws Lunt, A Sketch of the Life of William Wallace
Haws, 13.
6.
Simón B. Zúñiga, From the House of Joseph to the Land of the
Restoration (Denver, Bilingual Publications, 2010), 8.
7.
Simón B.
Zúñiga, op.cit., 8.
8.
Journal of Henry Eyring , 1835-1902, July 1887, Church
History Library.
9.
Simón B.
Zúñiga, ibidem, 8 y 24-28. José
Zúñiga, the son of Simon, was one of the few Mexican witnesses of the big
experiment of colonization who managed to leave his personal version of the
experience. He was seven years old when it took the train northward. It is
interesting to notice that the dream of returning to the colonies stayed with
him, and after marrying in 1903, he left Morelos for the second time, this time
with its wife, and set himself up in Dublán, where it was active in missionary
work. After a period there and a stay in Arizona, he moved his family to Salt
Lake City, where it met the prophet Joseph F. Smith and was very active in the Mormon
community, 31.
10.
Journal of Henry Eyring, 1835-1902, July 1887, Church History
Library.
11.
LaMond
Tullis, Reapertura de la misión mexicana en 1901, (Artículo publicado en
sud.org.mx, 5 de noviembre de 2012), 7. “A pesar de que los miembros se habían
apartado de algunos de los principios de la Iglesia, todos los que (Ammon M.
Tenney) conocía se mostraban deseosos de aprender y creer.” El mismo año de
1901, Simón Zúñiga fue llamado por Tenny como misionero de corto plazo para
visitar y fortalecer a otras ramas. 10.
12.
Simón B. Zúñiga, idem, 8.
13.
William Wallace Haws, personal journal, 1 March, 1888, cited
in Chloe Haws Lunt, “A Sketch of the Life of William Wallace Haws”, 24.
14.
Chloe Haws Lunt, “A Sketch of the Life of William Wallace
Haws”, 25.
15.
Chloe Haws Lunt, “A Sketch of the Life of William Wallace
Haws”, 25. The
spelling of Quezado is approximate and varies in different places, because
those who documented were not proficient in Spanish. Chloe Haws Lunt wrote
"Quezedo".
16.
Correspondence
between the author and Jean Munger, great grandniece of Miguel Páez Guarneros,
between May 2014 and April 2015.
17.
Simón B.
Zúñiga, idem, 12 y 35.
18.
Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964, National
Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; Record Group: 85,
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Microfilm Roll: 28. Cited
in Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah.
19.
Letter that Horace Cummings wrote in Mexico City to Helaman
Pratt in Colonia Juarez, 1 July, 1887; Correspondence, letters received, 1886
December-1902 September, MS 199, box 1, folder 3; Church History Library, Salt
Lake City.
20.
Interviews and correspondence by author with Josefina Lopez Garcia,
Judith Páez Lopez and Sara Páez Lopez, descendants of Buenaventura Páez, between
May 2014 and April 2015.
21.
Helaman Pratt papers, Church History Library MS
199_b0001_f0007_.
22.
Interviews and correspondence by author with Josefina Lopez Garcia,
Judith Páez Lopez and Sara Páez Lopez, descendants of Buenaventura Páez, between
May 2014 and April 2015.
23.
Guadalupe
Monroy, Historia de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días
de la rama San Marcos Hidalgo (Tula, 1934). See the events of 13 August, 1917.
Church History Library. Also available in the Internet, https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE3234021
.
24.
Doctrine and Covenants 97:21
25.
The
original Spanish article cites the last line of the 4th verse and the chorus
from "Por tus dones loor cantamos", Hymn 19 in the Spanish hymnal,
which is known in English as Hymn 35, "For the Strength of the
Hills". The message of the English text does not express the same
sentiment as does the Spanish version. The Evan Stephens version parallels the
original poem by Felicia D. Hemans in many ways, though he adds in great
measure the elements of persecution, and gathering to Utah. The Spanish text
also mentions persecution, but seems to imply the notion that Zion is wherever
we are, provided we are faithful, valiant and worthy. This is the intended
sentiment here.
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